Baby it's cold outside

Meece

Oh, I think sarcasm helps no matter where you live, Karen.

Eph3_12

IT'S POURING!

lvtwoqlt

My driveway does not get much sun on parts of it due to some large bushes on the south side and the house on the North side. That is the area that usually causes problems with the snow/ice trying to drive up.  I asked my son last summer to help me cut back the bushes on the south side but it didn't get done. I told him the bushes will be cut down before the winter sets in in 2011. He starts back to class next week and won't be able to help me much. Today it is supposed to get above 40 degrees. I have sprinkled some rock salt on the areas of concern but it hasn't melted much because it is too thick.

Sheila 

Meece

We got about .28 inch since 1:00 am.  Other locations have had around .41 inch.  Haven't looked outside to see if there is "ponding".  The heavy rain is supposed to continue for another hour then slow for the rest of the day.  Weather.com indicates lighting around 10 am, but our local weather-guesser didn't mention it.

suzwes

It's 19 degrees today and (surprise, surprise) CLOUDY!  That's it.  I've got nothing else.  I'm hoping for a different report tomorrow though.

I've never heard of road ponding either but I do know that in the spring DH and I will look out the window at the low areas of our property and enjoy what we call the "Wesolek Ponds" that are termporarily created from the melting snow and spring rains.  Road ponding?  hmmmm.

Meece

I looked and "ponding" isn't even a word.  The meteorologist even had the term posted on the screen as a warning.

suzwes

I do believe in Michigan we call it flooding.  Dang Weather guessers!

Maureen813

Ponding is a common word used in WNY caused by low lying areas filling with water.  When driving can cause hydroplaning of the car.  It's an area that you think you can drive threw however your car floats when it reaches the deepest point. 

Meece

Oh, thanks for clarification.  I know what the water can do, just never heard the term before.  We usually just call it "flooded roads".

raeinnz

No 'ponding' in NZ either - we have flooding and the lower half and the top of the North Island has had some in the last few days but we have missed the worst of it as usual - I think I live in paradise!

Same temp as yesterday predicted today (73) but it is overcast and feels a lot cooler.  Drizzle possible but fine so far.

Maureen813

Hey Meece, maybe your meterologist is new to your area originally from WNY (LOL

Raeinnz: 73 degrees???  In my area we're all celebrating the POSSIBILITY that the temp will hit high 40's on New Year's Day. 

Maureen

suzwes

Keep talking about the nice weather in NZ Rae, it gives me hope that spring and summer will come again.  I'm living vicariously through your weather reports.

mbtlcsw01

Hello everyone.  We are @ 48 degrees right now, but back up to the 70's tomorrow.  This has been the coldest recorded December in history in Tampa Florida.  Seriously, we are having to go out and buy real coats and stuff.  No more fip flops for awhile.

suzwes

Hi Mary,  I've missed you!  Do you want me to loan you a coat temporarily?  So funny, MSU is in Orlando for the bowl game against Alabama.  The Alabama boys went inside to practice yesterday cause it was so cold and the MSU guys were outside - they're so used to cold weather!

mbtlcsw01

Suzette, that is funny.  It got up in the 50's yesterday so not too cold to practice football outside.  My DH has a new job working for the National Chaplain Center for the Veterans Administration.  He will work remotely from Tampa, but has to spend 3 weeks in January in Hampton, Virginia.  Just ordered him real cold weather clothes from lands end tonight so he won't freeze to death.  I have a coat in my closet that has to be dusted off but would get me through reall cold weather

karen1956

Denver was in the mid 50's today....tomorrow in the mid 20's....but on Friday they say we will be lucky if we get out of single digits....snow is supposed to start mid morning tomorrow....not sure how much we are supposed to get...it has already starting snowing in SW Colorado.....I guess tomorrow will be a day to stay close to home...maybe finally go through my clothes like I said I would so I could make a big donation before the end of the year...I guess enough procrastination!!!  New Year's Eve is Shabbat so we will be home nice and warm...nice dinner then veg out!!!

lvtwoqlt

Right now (6:15 am) temp is 29 calling for highs up to 50's. I still have snow and ice (packed snow) in my driveway and yard about 2 inches thick where it stays shady. I still drive up my driveway carefully because of the ice. The rock salt didn't help thaw it much. You would think that the upper 40 degree temp would melt the snow.

Meece sometimes the weatherman uses the term 'road ponding' when there is water laying deep on the lower parts of the road, but I consider it flooding. I guess that flooding is running water (like from a stream) and ponding is just accumulation of water on the road.

Sheila 

Meece

I thin k you are right, Sheila.

It is currently 32 degrees and supposed to reach mid 40s later on.  I had to go out yesterday to batten down the hatches on the greenhouse.  The wind was really kicking up, but it was a nice 77 degrees inside.  That's warmer than the inside of my house!

suemed8749

It is snowing in my backyard in Phoenix! Snow is falling in my pool, on my petunias and geraniums and bouganvilla and oranges. Crazy, crazy weather.

Meece

Can your Bouganvilla take the freeze?   Mine didn't like it.Although it is in the low 40s, the sky is blue and beautiful today.  Crazy weather indeed.

suemed8749

A few years ago we had a hard freeze and the bouganvilla died back all the way to the ground. They came back and are beautiful again. But most years just the top branches die. The nurseries here ran out of frost cloth yesterday, but I will put sheets on the tender plants tonight. I bet they will have the smudge pots and sprinklers going in the orange groves that are left here in the Phoenix area.

Meece

I couldn't find the frost cloth I usually buy this year.  They said they weren't going to carry it.  WHY?

I stuffed my greenhouse with as many plants as I could and put the last frost cloth I had around my tender plants on my patio.  Fingers crossed.

suemed8749

Good luck! My daughter has some nice tomato plants - I told her to come get some old sheets. They also recommend moving your Christmas lights to your plants - the old school, heat-producing kind, not the LED lights.

They still sell the frost cloth here, but I saw on the news that it was sold out every place. Can't imagine why they don't carry it in S. Ca.

Meece

They used to.  Oh I know of a nursery where I could get it but they charge a premium for it.  I'll opt for the sheets.  I have one tomato plant in the green house.  I had to make choices of what to rescue.  I have used the white Christmas lights and it does work, just makes it bright outside the bedroom window.

Maureen813

In WNY I've used wet newspaper and had good luck, just need to take it off the plants when the sun comes up.

Meece

They run the smudge pots and sprinklers on the crops here.  I jsut remembered my strawberry patch.

raeinnz

They use sprinklers for avocado trees here but use giant fans or helicopters to keep the frost off kiwifruit and berry fruit in our region.  In the apple orchard growing area further south they still use the pots I believe.

Fine and very humid with a breeze and fluffy white clouds passing over today - DD3 and I were  sweaty when we finished our walk today. 72 predicted but feels hotter than that!

Suzette - I will be living vicariously through your summer when we are in winter, although I am a bit embarrassed to call our winter 'winter' after hearing what hard weather and cold temperatures you ladies deal with in winter 

raeinnz

News just told me we had 81 degrees today - wohoo, I love summer! 

5.5 hours til the new year - a nice night for it!

Eph3_12

Rae-sorry but that just seems totally bizarre to me!  It's still the 30th where I am.

raeinnz

lololololol Joni - truly bizarre.  Was always crazy when I flew from NZ to LAX that we left at 8pm one day and arrived at 10am the same day after 12 hours flight - no wonder we suffer jet lag 

3.5 hours to go now and here I am all alone - DD1 and 2 off at music festivals and DD3 gone to her friends place for a bonfire and DH worked so hard today finishing our outdoor roof area that he has gone to bed early!  Sounds like Meece on Thanksgiving night - everyone deserted her.  We are made of tough stuff - the last ones standing!