Your Weather 2023

[SPedigrees]

all those burned out areas now won't have as much fuel for many years as they recover. they'll grow again.

That's a bright spot anyways.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Yes, there will be plants that will grow again but my concern is that, locally, we are losing our lower elevation forest to be replaced by grass and sagebrush. And areas of grass and sagebrush burn quite readily, to be replaced by ... ?

it depends upon if the area is previously disturbed, farmed, grazed or somehow managed or just left alone and how much the climate has changed. if there are invasives around that will move in or if there are enough natives that will regrow. i don't know much about sagebrush but i do know there are arid tolerant and heat loving plants that can survive but if they are not planted anywhere near the burned out areas then they won't have a chance to get there to get going.

 

[digitS']

This is quite "off the top of my head."

There is a type of sage that grows in our Lodgepole & Ponerdosa Pine forests (Aspens, Douglas Fir, Vine Maple, Elderberry, Service Berry, Snow Berry, etc. ). Out in more arid areas ~ which begin just about 30 miles away ~ there are several types of sage. I have been told that cattle eat one of them and the grazing pressure has greatly decreased their numbers.

Dry enough, and further into the basin, we have conditions that reach "very vulnerable" levels and it is a very large area of the West ...

 

[ninnymary]

It's been 91* the last couple of days which is very hot for us. Most of the houses in Alameda don't have ac's since we seldom need it.

We have a portable ac window unit in the bedroom which is to the back of the house. We also have a free standing one in the parlour which helps cool the living room and dining room. The high ceilings hinder it's effectiveness but at least it's something. Our kitchen is in the middle of the house and it gets hot! But there is absolutely no where that we can put a unit in.

Having the 2 units was way cheaper than installing central air. We just have to make sure we don't run them all day and have our electricity go up.

Tomorrow we should get back to mid-70s.
Mary

 

[Phaedra]

Surprisingly, it seems our October is warmer than expected. Besides the first batch of tulips that I have already planted, the rest I will wait after the first frost.

 

[catjac1975]

That would be true in a normal year, but this summer was anything but normal.

The explanation is apparently two-fold. First, as with many other plants, the sugar maples suffered from a lack of sunlight this year and they weren't able to produce normal amounts of either chlorophyll or melanin (I forget which they said, but the substance that causes color in leaves, both green, and later yellows, oranges, reds as that substance declines). Second, because of the relentless rain, a large number of maples were infected with a fungus named anthracnose which is preventing them from turning colour now.

Newscasters are using the word "muted" and I guess that is true enough, but I think "drab" is more to the point. They hasten to say that although muted, the colors are still pretty, in an effort not to dissuade the usual influx of fall tourists to the state. Personally I think it would be wiser to tell the truth and advise postponing leaf-peeping vacations, rather than have them come and feel let down and tell their friends that the colors weren't so great.

We should send them out your way instead, it sounds like. ;-) Have you been bothered by the forest fires, or are you in an area far away from them?

I spent a few days near Camden Maine. Barely a tinge of yellow. I thought this would be a pretty colorful time of year.

 

[digitS']

Many of our trees are dropping their leaves today with the falling rain .

I had about an 8 block walk. It was between showers and when I started out, I was under a Maple and thinking that being careful walking would be a good idea with all the wet leaves on the sidewalk. Returning, maybe the breeze was right, the fragrance of the leaves and everything wet was pleasant and different from what the air has been like for months & months.

The Honey Locust and others are also shedding leaves rapidly but the Maples are all looking like Japanese Maples these days .

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

some of those maples can get so bright.

they are surely a welcome sight.

i may not be able to see them tonight.

oh woe is my plight...

 

[SPedigrees]

I spent a few days near Camden Maine. Barely a tinge of yellow. I thought this would be a pretty colorful time of year.

Last year it would have been! I hope your vacation was nice despite the lack of color. I love the Maine seacoast anytime of the year.

 

[catjac1975]

Last year it would have been! I hope your vacation was nice despite the lack of color. I love the Maine seacoast anytime of the year.

Went for family-not foliage. I was just surprised.