today is our "we're going to tease you with warmth before the deep freeze" day... it's already 36F, and it never reached that temp yesterday. We're projected to hit 59F, so I'll spend some time today spreading leaves over beds to protect new plantings.

Other than that, it's another "stay inside" day, unless I find some errands to run

I am old enough to remember it.

I was looking forward to global warming since there are some zone 5 plants that do not do well here in my zone 5 gardens. At least we will have a lot of snow coverage to protect the plants.

Our high today is supposed to be 7*F with a low of -26*F. This does not include the windchill, which is supposed to be in the negative 30 to 40 range.

Needless to say, I am not going outside today. When I let the dogs out I stand right next to the door so I can let them back in as soon as possible.

I am thankful that my garage is insulated. I will go out and turn on a space heater near my pipes for a while today just as a precaution. I live in a split level and the upstairs bathroom pipes go through my garage.

I am not a true believer in global warming, even as more and more scientists lean that way. I am a believer in natural extremes, normal fluctuations in temperature. It takes hundreds of years to get true averages and normals, and we have only been truly tracking weather for just over 100 years. I think it was in the 14 or 15 hundreds that there was a long term mini ice age in Europe. I understand that these weather extremes are described as a side effect of global warming, even as last months average temperature was 7 degrees below average ( a single degree or two is not as significant, 7 degrees is a lot) in my area.

And yes, today's football playoff game in Green Bay will be in the top 10 coldest games of all time, but it might not break the record set in Green Bay during the infamous Ice Bowl in 1967. So we have had extremes before - and will have them again.

Is this global "warming" or is are the extremes normal fluctuations? Don't know. But let's face it, Mother Nature is one of the few things we CAN'T control. And it is glorious. And dangerous. And beautiful. And exciting. And extreme. And scary. And not completely predictable.
Jan

I am also old enough to remember scientists were worried about global cooling. I believe the earth goes in cycles. If you check weather reports back in the l880's and l890's (and most newspapers have those records) you will see that it was sometimes a lot hotter and a lot colder than what we are experiencing today. And they didn't even have all the greenhouse gases then that we have today.

weather runs in cycles (says the non-scientist) -- and I don't think mankind has nearly as much an effect on temps as some folks would like us to believe.

Our governor has ordered all schools in MN closed on Monday because of the cold. Today it is six below but the wind is wicked. Will go out in a bit and try to get the ice from the rain we had the other night off the steps and sidewalk. Already sprinkled salt on it so hopefully I can get most of it off so it is safer for walking.

I'm happy with my 23 degrees that it is right now. Even with the breeze, it's only 17. Warm in comparison to what some of you are going through! It is a beautiful, sunny day out, and looks very warm! It's not, but at least it looks that way!

Enough with this winters horrid and cold weather already and it is just the beginning of January. Who knows what cold we will all have to endure still. I am ready for spring to get here.

Temperature is dropping to 2° and snow is falling heavyly, expecting up to 10" today and another 6" overnight.
Tomorrow the high will be 2° with a low of -18°, windchill about -20°.

Dreary, raining slightly and foggy out.

The school systems in the area are announcing closing for tomorrow, most likely they will also close Tuesday and Wednesday.
This will give me more time to finish grading final exams and do some sewing.

I just saw where the schools in the entire state of Minnesota are all closed for tomorrow. I used to love 'snow days', that might be the biggest thing I miss about teaching. No more snow days.

The sleet just started here, I think we are on the southern edge of this storm, so we'll get something but probably not so much snow.

At noon today the temp was 45f, now it's 29f at 3:40. Rapid drop.

Yeah we've got at least 10 inches on the ground already and it's still snowing. This is on top of 8 or so last week. Winds are starting to pick up and the temp has dropped 10 degrees in the past 2 hours.

My post is going wonky on me for some reason.

Gerry, I wish we had your snow cover. We only have an inch or so. We were supposed to get 6 inches. I hardly have any mulch left… have not bought any since I quit working several years ago. This will tell me what is hardy and what is not!

Last estimate for us is -15 actual, I think, for tomorrow night. Some say -40 windchill.

I have 3 garden cats. Two of them cannot really be handled so I cannot bring them inside. I am worried for them tomorrow night. I have big boxes for them with goose down jackets in that I got at Goodwill years ago, and other beds and boxes with assortment of wool sweaters, fuzzy blankets, straw, etc. The boxes are actually double boxes - a box within a box, and in between is stuffed with wadded up newspaper for extra insulation. They have a heated water bowl, litter boxes, the little pole barn has plywood with styrofoam behind it for paneling - but still - it is going to be very cold. We already have them locked in for tonight - they get locked in every night - and we won't let them out tomorrow at all. The three of them are a mom and her two daughters and they all get in one box together and lay in a heap when it is really cold. I fluffed all the bedding up, did what I could for them… still, I wish I could do more. Any heated beds, or light bulbs etc, though I think would be a fire hazard. They have thick coats and a nice layer of fat on them. Not sure if there is anything else I can do. This is their 10th year here, but it has not been this cold in nearly 20 years. And, they are probably considered elderly cats now.

Here are some of the boxes a couple years ago. I now have a wheel barrow in front of the boxes fixed up with a lot of remnent plush polar fleece in it for them to nestle into also. And, my knock of Garden Way cart is full of old leaves and straw stuff that they burrow into. And, this was the "summer" arrangement. In winter, I have my ex husbands old Air Force Goose Down sleeping bag that I throw over all of it.

I was planning on making chicken and noodles for Mom and I tomorrow, I could take some warm chicken and broth to them periodically.

About the only other thing I can think of is that I have those microwave heat pads I use on my shoulder, but they don't stay warm, for me, but about half an hour, that's inside. Not sure it would be worth heating it up to take out to put with them? Plus, their claws and habit of "scent marking" everything would probably ruin it for my use.

If anyone can think of anything else that I can do to make it better for them, I am up to trying. At least I only have to worry about the actual temperature. They should not have "wind chill" -- there might be a little draft in there, but not much. I did put some heavy cardboard up over the bottom of the windows.

I think they will be fine. They are acclimated to being outside and have shelter.

...and they have each other, which is waaaay better than a single cat trying to keep itself warm.
they'll be okay

Our recent ice storm pics in the gardens:








the freezing rain left us with more than a half inch of ice.

Yikes!

currently 43F and drizzle... so if we DO get those cold temps tonight, the roads will definitely be dangerous. I'm safely inside, and I don't even think I'm putting my trash out tomorrow. It can wait until next week for pickup.

It is blizzard conditions here now and my solar lights are barely working because they are buried in snow. The wind appears to be picking up and that will mean wind chill when the temps drop tonight.