February 18, 2011
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Don’t get your hopes up! (too high)
The thermometer got up to 59 today. The sun came out and shone for all it was worth. It was almost enough to make the uninitiated think that spring had come to Upstate New York. Alas, to all those who have never spent a February in this part of the country, this is what we call a February thaw. If anyone out there is thinking that I am being pessimistic and lacking totally in the hope that is supposed to accompany days such as this one; look at our weather forecast for tomorrow. Tomorrow our high is supposed to be 32 with a chance of lake effect snow (with accumulations). The winds that have been coming out of the south/southwest today are supposed to shift into the north/northwest.
In spite of my knowledge of the vaguaries of the weather in this part of the country, I came home from my errands today and banished MK and Layn to enjoy the fine weather while it was here to enjoy. I too took advantage of the sunshine and warmth to soak up both and store it for the coming cold tomorrow. We even opened some windows to air out the house and are risking the wrath of the men by ignoring the fire and letting it go out.
One result of the warm weather this week is the amount of snowmelt that we have experienced. When I took my walk I checked the creek and discovered that someone forgot to tell it to stay in its bed.
This willow tree is totally stranded on an island composed of large blocks of ice that have floated downstream.
On the other side of the road the water comes out of the culvert and boils its way down the valley. The sound is exciting and frightening all at the same time. It reminds me of the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
It really is a fascinating sight. I think I could stand on the bridge and listen and watch the water until the creek was calm and back in its bed again.
Comments (5)
It’s the same here. My husband thinks Spring is here. I told him it’s just the Spring thaw. Winter will come back, though briefly we hope.
Same here. From -10 to +79 yesterday all in one week. Wind is coming from the north now even though temps are still in the 60-70 range. Won’t last. But a nice break and most of the 24+ inches of snow is melted and due to the STRONG south wind yesterday it has dried up some.
@TheSunnyC - It will take more than one day of wind to dry this place up. We would need a week or more. I have a good 3ft of snow pile up under my window here that hasn’t melted one bit. (east side of the house.) There are rivers running down both sides of the road into the valley and the creek has been rising all day. I can hear the water when I open the front door.
Our change in temp has already started though. We have dropped 10 degrees in the last hour. MK just went down to start a fire ’cause it is getting chilly in the house. Too chilly for Layn anyway.
Oh wow~ this stirs so many memories! We lived right across the highway from the Erie Canal~ and on the otherside of our house was a creek. But I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the creek!
Thanks for sharing your world with us.