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Re: temperature map
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:36 pm
by JWH
Fascinating article about the blocking ridge drying the west.
The massive "S" kink it's putting in the jetstream its whats letting the polar vortex plunge in the east.
http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0121/Ca ... idge-video
Sadly It doesn't sound like the ridge ends anytime soon.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:59 am
by stevelau1911
If the forecast is somewhat accurate, it looks like the most brutal part of winter is already over.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:44 am
by zxylene
I hope the coldest part is almost over I am not sure many of my boos did well this winter
Re: temperature map
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:05 pm
by dependable
I would be interested to know from any southern members if this cold snap helped with any of the invasive species coming up from central america. I was thinking it might help with those Argentine nesting ants, for instance.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:37 pm
by Tarzanus
dependable wrote:I would be interested to know from any southern members if this cold snap helped with any of the invasive species coming up from central america. I was thinking it might help with those Argentine nesting ants, for instance.
Extremes such as cold weather this winter usually make life harder for non-endemic invasive species. They can get weak in a couple of seasons like that, and soon get replaced by more adapted local species.
On the other hand... someone said that cold winter kills mosquitoes, slugs, snails and similar vermin, and that after a mild winter, these creatures can appear in larger numbers... I've seen the opposite lately. After cold winter, slugs attacked even the most slug repelling plants, there was abundance of ticks, mosquitoes, flies,... I think that winter killed more predatory species than those it was supposed to. After mild winter last year, we've had enormous number of frogs and dragonflies that eliminate most of the biting insects.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:10 pm
by johnw
dependable wrote:I would be interested to know from any southern members if this cold snap helped with any of the invasive species coming up from central america. I was thinking it might help with those Argentine nesting ants, for instance.
In the city here we are battling European fire ants that appeared in the last 10 years and have gotten worse in the past 3-5 years. They are very small, extremely aggressive and the bites very aggravating. Last summer I knelt down in the garden after dusk to take a picture and got 30+ stings on the leg. My leg was afire for an hour or more, the strange leg-writhing lasted an hour. The neighbour's kids cannot lay out in the sun in their yard.
Do I want to hear about these Argentinian ants?
Re: temperature map
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:33 pm
by Tarzanus
Ice, ice, ice all around...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC_NmkMBKP4
I don't think one single tree will keep all it's branches this year. Well, there are many trees down with their roots ripped out due to weight of ice. Power down (there are people with 3 days power and water outage and it doesn't seem they will fix it soon, not if it doesn't warm up a bit), villages cut-off from the rest of the world, no power and for some of the most unlucky - no water.
This is one strange winter. Not in a good way.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:56 pm
by ShmuBamboo
dependable wrote:I would be interested to know from any southern members if this cold snap helped with any of the invasive species coming up from central america. I was thinking it might help with those Argentine nesting ants, for instance.
The Argentine ants are impervious to cold spells in my experience of living with them in California. The problem with them is that they are in effect one giant nest and considered a global super-colony. They are well established in California and are up into southern Oregon now. Southern Oregon got down to anywhere from 0 to -10 F in December, a lot colder than the Southern US got in the last Polar Vortex visit. Any ants that survive in warm spots (like in buildings and under houses) will just re-colonize. Oh, and unlike red fire ants or European fire ants, Argentine ants do not sting, per se. They do outcompete every other type of local ant species though, many of which are becoming extinct. Evolution in action.
I think the cold would be more effective against species like the Africanized honey bee that are susceptible to cold, and maybe the red imported fire ants in the south. I was in Huntsville, AL on a business trip once and made the mistake of walking across a lawn. Never again. Though that area had a native species of similar fire ants before the imported ones came along. Certainly the effects of the cold here will be to kill off a lot of plants, like less hardy bamboos, most eucalyptus, and other semi-hardy plant species bought here at nurseries. Many perennials in California are grown as annuals here. This year is going to kill far more species. The native trees are impervious, and actually Doug fir trees will thrive in this weather. They require cold temps to grow well.
Re: temperature map
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:51 am
by pokenei
Looks like there's a slight warming trend through the later half of February.
However, comparing the forecast from theweathernetwork.com (top) with accuweather.com (bottom), there seems be a difference of 6 degrees Celsius on Feb 22!.