Oh No, I hear peepers outside in January!

[shellyr44]

Our weather is so screwed up. I hear peepers outside. It's january. We are supposed to be up to our butts in snow and freezing. Could this warm waether be the reason my chickens have stopped laying. Have never had this problem before.

[Ravenlost]

We heard them last night too. Plus, my strawberries are blooming and I am finding ticks on the dogs. It's insane!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Yes, I saw a little green stickey toed frog last night. It's definately a problem.

[jimarh]

It is warm plus soggy here in Indiana. Have had tons of rain. My hens are up to their knees in mud..........ick. The redbud tree is budding. Very strange.

At least, haven't used much propane for the furnace. Last year this time, ordered the second tank - this year only down to 50%. Good news for the pocket book anyway!!

[Shygal]

Its 70 DEGREES here on the mountaintop in Vermont. 70.

We have had 2 inches of snow for 3 days and thats it for the winter. Im wondering how the water table will be affected, the maple syrup season is going to be awful, and Im worried how if things bloom and bud then we GET winter finally, what long term impact it will have on the bees and frogs and trees, etc.

I know I hate winter and Im enjoying this immensely but it may have a negative affect on the ecosystem this year.

But it sure is nice to have the windows open and no woodstove going!

[SeptemberWolf]

There are buds on the willows now. This is northern Minnesota, for Pete's sake! These buds are more than two months early. Ice-fishing contests called off, outdoor hockey rinks slushy, and very very very dry air due to so little precipitation here. The John Beargrease sled dog race at the end of January is in doubt. We are on top of a major aquifer up here, and the mining industry uses a lot of water, and lake levels are lower than they've been in a LONG time. This affects the lake ecosystems, the fish and flora. Although it is nice not to have a big heating bill, I'd rather chop and split and pay for the fuel than suffer the consequences of odd dry weather. My driveway, which is on a slope, is a solid sheet of ice, thanks to the melting of the 4" of snow that did manage to, finally, fall out of reluctant clouds. I say - too weird!

[Sharona]

Here in central New Hampshire too! Buds on the trees, flowering bushes have new leaves. My neighbor said she saw daffodils and crocuses coming up!

[Cyngbaeld]

I had to close the windows and turn the heaters on! Mud, mud, mud! I think the drought has busted in my yard at least! LOL

[GrannyCarol]

Two words:

Global Warming

I guess it's seriously starting to affect us, not just the perma frost that has been melting in Siberia and the ice packs breaking up where there has been ice for centuries.

It's going to get rough - I believe that over the next few years this is going to get crazier and crazier. I truly fear for my children and grandchildren, what we are leaving them will be a horrible mess and it may be still within my own lifetime (I'm a granny, but not THAT old!).

I know what i am doing, but I doubt it would be the popular choice.

[Tracy Rimmer]

Southern Alberta is unseasonably warm right now, too, although it IS colder than it had been up until a few days ago. I can't remember such a warm New Year.

I don't like winter, either, but I am also concerned about the effect on the ecosystems. I guess I'll just have to trust that Mother Nature knows what she's doing, and whether this is proactive or reactive, we'll just have to trust her.

[tinknal]

I saw a flying insect today.

[seedspreader]

We've got bulbs popping here... but in a week and a half it's supposed to be single digits cold...

[jen74145]

Yep, my bulbs are sticking their stupid little buds up too: down, down, I say!

And whee, mud. Haven't had sunshine in a week, all gray and muddy and nasty. Even my ducks are starting to seem resentful, just lying around the yard in fluffed up, angry looking lumps. And, in the past ten days, from four hens we've had a grand total of three eggs. Slackers.
Can't establish any garden beds (too wet), can't build that larger coop (way too wet)... blech.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by GrannyCarol

Two words: Global Warming

No it isn't only because of that. Gesh it is just a Strong El Nino year that is all. That was also the reason for such a LOW and I mean LOW Hurricane season for the USA~! Yup that is all it is. and that has caused the jet stream to be WAY into Canada Stopping the cold from getting into the States. But we do have somewhat of a Elberta Clipper coming in tomorrow dropping the temps ah yes that is what I said Temps going DOWN and in the Northern Part of WI. 6 to 10 inches of snow. Global warming Sure there is We Have been coming out of an Ice Age for the last 300 years. What do you expect the Globe to be doing Cooling off

[MelissaW]

I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of hard freeze. If it doesn't, I'd wager we will have an insect plague of biblical proportion this summer. I love the peepers...sweetest sound in the world, but I'm not ready for them just yet!

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by MelissaW

I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of hard freeze. If it doesn't, I'd wager we will have an insect plague of biblical proportion this summer. I love the peepers...sweetest sound in the world, but I'm not ready for them just yet!

Mellisa, insects reproduce so rapidly that the number of winter survivors don't really affect population. The determining factor will be the conditions during their breeding season.

[hillsidedigger]

OK, Arabian Knight, its a strong El Nino

but the El Nino of 1983 would be a good comparison, I think, similar pattern to this point just stonger this time due to 'human caused climate change', maybe, maybe not. The Rockies and the Pacific Northwest got deluged that winter.

In 1983, it did not start snowing in the East until late January and did not stop until April. Second greatest snow totals for the season ever recorded here locally in WNC with the foothills getting 2 to 3 feet and the high mountains getting 12 to 15 feet. Only 1960 was greater and it was El Nino also.

We'll see.