Well, is it just what came around comes around again? 'They' say that we are heading towards a Mediterranean type climate here on Vancouver Island, time will tell.
My dad told stories about the harbor (salt chuck) freezing over here when he was young, they actually drove horse drawn wagons on it over to the two nearby islands.
When I was young I can remember warm sunny winter days where one didn't even wear a sweater. I can also remember winters where it seemed to snow with freezing temps. right through November into March.
When we got up in the morning we glued our ears to the radio each morning to see if the schools were closed. Needless to say mitts, snowsuits and gumboots were ready to jump into, sleds propped up just outside the back door. The city used to block off hospital hill road for sleigh riding
.
In around the mid 60's we had many winter days when we had snow and ice and temps below 0ºF. Our last two winters were very mild, no snow and the temps might have dipped to 32º for a few days but that was it.
Last summer was the hottest I can remember in all my years, we broke the record for heat in recorded history here, records have been kept for over 100 years. We were eating vine ripened tomatoes from our own garden July 1st. this year we were into September before we had our first ripe tomato.
Things I have noticed tho... is the wind, we are having wind storms like nothing we've ever had before and they have been causing a lot of damage and we don't seem to have 4 distinct seasons anymore, more often than not winter runs smack into summer skipping spring altogether. Frost used to end around the end of March, now it's well into April or even May and has been for quite a few years.
September this year has been wet but I don't think that's unusual, it's just that the last few years it has been quite warm and dry, people forget the rule of the thumb around here for years was if you want to put in a new lawn do it in April or September.
Most of what I think of as a normal year we don't harvest ripe tomatoes from the garden until August unless they have been given some extra protection, lately we've been spoiled. When we are very lucky some of our summers drift into a fabulous Indian summer, sunny warm days with just a hint of freshness in the air, not this year but maybe next
? The skies just keep opening up and downpour after downpour, at least it's good for our forests, and the fish can actually get up river to spawn this year.
All in all we never know what kind of year we'll have here, Global Warming, Climate Change? I do know we are going to have to start treating this earth of ours much better than we have been. I know it's just a bit in the bucket but if we all do what we can, grow as organically as possible, recycle what we can and stop being so wasteful, stop buying these throw away items, I have to admit I've been guilty of this but I'm trying to clean up my act, every little bit helps.
Annette
), had a warm growing season, also. The competition exists only in my own mind ... Spokane was just about in the middle of the North Dakota cities for growing degree days.
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