The weather

[Ironwood]

Over 50" here in 30 days. We have about 20" or so on the ground, NO where else to put it., rain coming, glad to have shovelled most of my shop related roofs. House is standing seam metal.

Ironwood

[WDH]

You guys and girls up there really got pounded.  Again.  I do not envy your situation.  Stay safe and keep up your spirits.

[stonebroke]

Ironwood

I would much rather have 50 inches over 30 days then 3 days. But we are probably more used to it than you are and better prepared.

Stonebroke

[isawlogs]

 Its been real mild here for the past few days , got 30 or inches middle of last week , most of it in about gone , now .. this evening I have a bat flying around , Never seen a bat come out this early. I dont know how it will survive , aint any bugs out yet that I have seen.

[Ironwood]

I used to play up in the Adirondacks, and had an Army buddy in Crogan. I know how serious thing can get up there, not just snow, but temps too. I usually drove up there 3-4 times a winter for about 9 years, usually "hammering" to get into the high peaks to backcountry recreate. Coldest I slept out was -20, exhale and vapor turned to ice and fell back in your face.  . I am GOOD at winter driving from all those trips, nothing would stop us, even closing I-81, I-87 or thru Old Forge. I have sliced and diced that trip every way possible. Your living in SERIOUS country. Got stuck on Rt. 3 one time from a downed tree, old timer in Cadillac pops his trunk and grabs his Stihl to chop it up.  ;) survival comes quick up there, most folks around here would fall to natural selection up your way :D

Ironwood

[Brucer]

And on the other side of the continent ...

You guy's in the east are seeing the kind of snowfalls we will typically get. We only got a couple of inches of snow in February, instead of the metre or so (40") that we average. The snowpack looks like it does in mid-April.

This evening when Barb and I were walking home from my daughter's we saw a fresh bear paw print in the snow just where our 1/4 mile driveway meets the street. We don't usually see bear signs until mid-April. End of the March is the earliest I've seen them, ever.

My friend Allan, who rents me his FEL each summer, spend a couple thousand bucks putting a cab on the loader last fall. He's only been out plowing snow 3 times this winter and only had to haul 5 semi's up the hill (usually it's a dozen a week). Now he's joking (I hope) about raising the rent this summer to pay for the cab.

I hope the DanG continent don't tip over from the imbalance :D :D.

[stonebroke]

Ironwood

I am in the Catskills, That is part of the problem. we get hammered by the coastal storms more than the Adirondacks. This lastest just stalled and spun just east of us. It was right on the edge to. A couple of degrees and all we would have had is rain. In the Hudson Valley it rained and ten miles away there was thirty inches of snow. Wet heavy snow, It is like trying to plow setting concrete. You have got all the southern storms this year that we missed but we caught up on this one.We had about seven weeks with hardly any snow.I only have about four or five more days plowing before I get everything cleaned up.

Stonebroke

[SwampDonkey]

Where I am we get a little storm and by days end it's all water in the ground. Haven't had any snow to even accumulate an inch in weeks. A little wet snow last night, real mild and rain coming, but just the warm air will melt that little skiff off. Suppose to be mild and sunny from Wednesday to the end of the week. We won't have hardly any snow by Sunday in the fields and there isn't much in the woods, but it last longer in the shade. I'm surprised the robins have not been here days ago. Tapping is about a month early.

[Ironwood]

Stone, now I see where you are. Gotcha. Travelled thru there many times to avoid lake effect on I-90 and I-81, then we would hit the Northway to Warrendale/Elizabethtown area. Sliced and diced ;)


Ironwood

[Cedarman]

Isawlogs, about the bat you saw flying.  There is a major problem with a fungus attacking bats in the east from Canada down through Virginia.  It gets them while they hibernate.  Sucks energy out of the bats.  They wake up early and are hungry so head out looking for food.  They are dying by the millions in the last few years.  Fungus is not contagious to humans.  It started in or near Howe Caverns in New York about 4 or 5 years ago.  It could exterminate several species or eliminate several of them from the Virginia's northward.  Fungus doesn't like heat so southern states should be ok.

Sorry about digressing from the weather.
Back to snow, rain, mud, ice, sleet and other enjoyable aspects of the dark months.

[SwampDonkey]

Our bats here go to the Fundy coast in caves they have discovered. I don't think bats are long distance migraters like birds. My uncle gets 20 or so bats that come and roost in the eves of the house during summer. He's next to the river. I rarely see one here at the house, no water. I have not seen any take residence in my bat house yet on the woodlot during summer, next to beaver ponds. I do see droppings around the base, but no bats roosting during the day.

[Cedarman]

Bats do migrate a good ways, but not as far as birds.  The disease is called WNS for white nosed syndrome.

[WDH]

Sorry about digressing from the weather.

Richard,

Trying to divert our attention I see  ;D.  If it ain't food, its bats  :D.  I don't think that most would consider bats food  .

[SwampDonkey]

Never had bat wings? 

I saw one show of Globe Trekker, they where on some Island in the Pacific serving stuffed bat.
:D :D

[WDH]

Notice that I said, "most".  There are always exceptions to any rule.  It even gets hot in Canada once and a while  :D :D.

[bd354]

  Buffalo Bat Wings!!  Tastes like chicken.

[WDH]

Cedarman,

See what you started?     ;D

[Cedarman]

I'm blaming it on Isawlogs.  He saw the bat. :D :D

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

I'm blaming it on Isawlogs.  He saw the bat. :D :D

But....

I thought he sawed LOGS!

???

Herb

[Magicman]

I guess that I should be ashamed.  The weather that I complain about as being bad, would actually be good where some of you guys are.  We did get a soaking  rain yesterday and today it is 40^o and wind blowing.  It will dry up enough for me to haul logs tomorrow, and be pretty for the rest of the week.

After your snow melts, then I guess that you will be soggy and muddy until the ground finally drys and hardens.  And then there are those of you that depend on ice and frozen ground to get logs out so that you can saw this Summer.

Thanks for the information that is shared on FF.  It helps some of us to "walk in another man's shoes" for a bit and try to understand the challenges that we all face.

[SwampDonkey]

  It even gets hot in Canada once and a while  :D :D.

Yeah, we get a good one in once in awhile.  ;D ;)

It was 42 F here today and it's still winter. :D

It's surprising though, how fast the ground dries up when there is no melting snow feeding the mud. :D We often start to farm here in late April, but not the last 3 years. This year I say yes they will. Not much frost and the water is disappearing fast like through sand.

[thecfarm]

Seems like the end of April here not March.Went for a drive yesterday on a differant road,only 15 minutes from here,the fields are still white with snow. Mine have been bare for a week now.But 15 minutes in the other directions the fields have been bare for 2 weeks.Temps are high,we broke a record the other day.Wind has been blowing almost daily,does hurry up the drying out process some.No big run off this year,we had the big run off back in Jan.Not the mud like what we usually have,no snow to melt.Suppose to get below freezing next week.We could still get a good size snow storm.But no matter what,it won't last long now.

[SwampDonkey]

There is snow around the house where it is shaded, not much though 90% of my house lot is snow free. There is only 3 or 4 inches of snow in the road to my woodlot. Once the snow goes, that road dries up in a  week. The back country has 2 feet in the woods and east of here the fields are still white. No frost in the ground and no water. :D

[stonebroke]

We still have total cover,no bare spots.Funny since it has got above freezing every day in march. Ground is still froze hard under the snow. At this rate we will have bare spots by april.

Stonebroke

[okmulch]

First day of spring and we have 6 inches of snow and getting more over night. Yesterday it was 70 degrees. Talk about a shock!!!!!