Predicting a hard winter?

[ahahahni1]

My husband has been telling me that we in texas have not had a hard winter and have been due for one and he thinks this is it. He says this every year but yesterday we saw a flock of geese flying south. Quite honestly it rattled me. Our preps are not where they need to be and we rent a mobile home way outside town. What is your opinion about this winter and also what would you suggest doing in order to help keep us warm. We rent so a wood burning stove it out of the question.

[chickenista]

I can only go by what I see and what I have been seeing has taken me by surprise.
Mice, wasps and crickets moving inside already. My porchlight bugs are gone. I can sit out and read without getting divebombed constantly. The fruit trees are bending to breaking they are so heavily laden. And in the higher mountains I saw some leaf change.
And even though it is still hot ere.. there is a nip in the breeze. It just feels different outside.
None of these things happen before October usually.
It all just feels ...... weird.

[Sherrynboo]

The 2009 Farmer's Almanac is predicting a colder than usual winter for 2/3 of the nation due to a lack of sunspot activity, I believe. It has been more like September here in GA since August arrived. I was looking at the weekly forecast and it is not supposed to get out of the 80's! Some of the sweet gum leaves are beginning to turn too.

Sherry in GA

[no1cowboy]

2008 Farmers' Almanac
predicts a "two-faced winter"

“Mother Nature is once again keeping all of us on our toes,” reveals Editor and Philom., Peter Geiger, “we know she likes to throw curve balls at us from time to time and this winter it looks as though she’s going to reveal a possible split personality.”

This “two-faced” Farmers’ Almanac forecast reveals a colder than normal conditions for the eastern half of the country – chiefly those areas east of the Mississippi –with snowier than normal conditions expected.

For the western half of the country – mainly those areas west of the Mississippi – the overall winter will be milder than normal, with near or below normal precipitation. Quite a change from last year, when cold and stormy weather came blasting.

For areas lying along the Mississippi, the news is less clear-cut, as wild fluctuations in temperature and precipitation are expected throughout the winter.

“Near and along the boundary zone between the mild, tranquil West and the cold, stormy East, we look for some large scale vacillations,” said Caleb Weatherbee, weather forecaster for the Farmers’ Almanac. “From wintry to springlike and back to wintry; almost like a meteorological pendulum undergoing a series of pretty wild swings.”

[Ravenlost]

We're having a more "autumnlike" August here in MS too and I'm not about to complain! Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Some things to help keep a mobile home warm:

1. Make sure you have good underpinning

2. Put thermal curtains on windows and/or bubble wrap over them.

3. Make sure you don't have air leaks around vent holes (check where your water pipes come into the home) and doors.

4. A windbreak on the north side of the house is ideal.

5. An electric blanket on the bed would be helpful too.

[farmwife]

I say it feels like fall here too! The evenings get cool! I am not complaining but thinking it is time to get the woodstove in soon! I am looking forward to have wood for this winter and not relay on oil. We will have that for backup!

Oh, if you have any air coming in maybe use that stuff in a can! Spray insulation or something like that! My husband goes wild if you give him a can of that!

[EDDIE BUCK]

The poplar trees here have begun dropping their leaves already, a little early. The rattlesnakes are crawling back to the big woods pocosins where they winter in my area.

[Michael W. Smith]

The past two weeks have been cooler than usual here (August is usually the hottest part of summer and so far, it's been cool.)

You can really notice it in the evenings - it's gotten down into the 50's and I think in some place gotten down into the high 40's - for August?!? Strange!

Even tonight, as I type this, the crickets really seem to chirping tonight - you know the type of chirping "Summer is over and Fall is here."

I predict an early winter.

[fretti]

I put film on the inside of all my windows once heating is required. You cannot believe the difference this makes in the house! We have newer, double-paned windows and the house still benefits enormously from the window insulation. I do make it a habit to open one of the doors for at least a few hours every week or more often to let in fresh air. Other people use bubble wrap but the window film is crystal clear.

The other thing you can do is to put the insulation around the outer wall outlets. This will keep cold air from coming in through those openings.

I also put insulating bricks into the air vents around the foundation of the house. I don't know if you would have those or not.

None of these are expensive and make a huge difference!

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by Sherrynboo

It has been more like September here in GA since August arrived.

For the last several days it's been October here!

[greeneyedgirl70]

We have noticed the same weird weather here. Mornings and evenings are so chilly. Normally it is so hot here and it gets into the 50's... More like Oct fall weather here also.

Our fruit tree's have also been so full we had limbs break even though we propped them.

Some of the things we are doing to prepare for a hard winter is can all we can get from our gardens and fruit tree's!

Make sure we start preparing to have all the extras like oil lamps, extra lamp oil, candles, flashlights and extra batteries, storm radio on hand. lighters, water proof matches, Lots and lots of water in jugs and bottles to drink. Extra kerosene for our heater.
Those are a few things we always try and keep on hand at any given time "just in case"


It is ironic how everyone in different area's of the USA / Canada are noticing the same strange weather changes. It makes one really wonder what we are going to be in store for.

[stanb999]

I think this picture should say it all... This Photo was taken yesterday.

[hmsteader71]

I had wondered earlier this summer when I saw more turtles than I had ever seen in a year. I would see them almost every day. Some very big ones too. I didn't know if that was a sign of a harder winter or not. We have had a much milder summer this year also.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by stanb999

I think this picture should say it all... This Photo was taken yesterday.

The trees here are doing the same thing. A couple months early!

[wdchuck]

This has been the coolest(temp) summer in my lifetime, not one 90*day for our area, lows consistently in the low 60's-low 50's.
Have been able to get along with fans, open/close windows at wakeup/bedtime, draw curtains, that whole routine.

Our trees are changing, dropping leaves about a month early, but we've had less rain than should be for these months, so that may play a part. Many natural signs of early cold or snow, and long winter, around our 'stead.

[GoatsRus]

Well, we're in the worst Aug drought in 60 years so naturally the trees are losing some of their leaves. This whole week and next week is in the 90's and this morning it was already 74 degrees when I came into work at 6 am. I don't think anyone told TN that it's supposed to be an early fall/winter.

[texican]

The year before last we had 1 day in August that was cool... it was in the 70's, when it should have been over a hundred... Locals saw it as one of the signs of the apocalypse...

Presently, we're in a six day cold snap... and it's raining... unheard of this time of year. If this is global warmings fault, how can I encourage it to get worse...

A hard winter would be a mixed blessing...

[NickieL]

It's been an unusually cool august. Usually its hotter then hades here in august. I see trees changing colors already and not just the cotton woods either, maples and others too.

[mamita]

all winters are hard. lol sure...some have lots of snow, some have massive snow...but they're all 'hard'. that said...we've had cold Aug. that led into horribly hot Septs. so our chilly Aug. isn't abstract at all. (just welcomed) we've had such warm Nov. that led up to Thanksgiving....only to have us in a deep freeze..not seeing the road surface until April. winter is..............winter. here in the north you prepare for it, and IF..IF...you are lucky enough to get a mild one...you feel blessed. but you never know THAT until it's OVER.....so you always prep for the worst. no matter what source guides you.

[Helena]

what is a hard winter in Texas ???