April 12, 9:45 AM
Beautiful Morning!
A very lovely early spring morning is underway for us. A few clouds in the sky, but mostly it is just a blue sky. Sunshine makes all the difference for us after long months of mostly overcast. Birds are chirping outside and they seem to notice the change as well. I awoke early this morning and just listened to them singing outside for awhile.
Leaves are rapidly bursting forth on the trees. There has been a big change with them even since Easter. It is delightful to have their return so close now!
Yesterday was a throw-back to earlier weeks: high of 56 and murky overcast with .30" rain. Rainy days will be back, but they will be "Rainy Spring Days". Winter is gone and we are just looking forward now.
But, with all of this said, there is a chance of showers today. No sign of them right now, but I do see radar showing some possible light showers creeping north up through western Washington.
Soon I am off to take my mom to lunch and this sunshine will give her a big lift I am sure.
April 9
Wonderful Easter and Spring Days
It is too late to write much tonight, but I have to note the wonderful weather we have had over the weekend and into today! A high of 74 here was reached on Easter Sunday, and another 73 today! Everyone has loved it! So nice to feel the warm sunshine. Officially it was the first time we have reached at least 70 since late last September! Whew!
April 8, 1:20 PM
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!
Happy Easter to All!!!
A lovely day today - currently 68 degrees under
high, thin, overcast and no wind!
April 5, 10:15 PM
Today ended up pretty stereotypical for spring. A lot of clouds, some afternoon sunshine with clouds not far off, now-and-then showers, and not too warm. The high for us was 56, low of 38, and .25" rain today. But when the sun was out, it surely did appear to be "spring".
April 4
I just flipped the fireplace on to take the chill off the house, on another gray, damp, and chilled morning. It is 42 outside at nearly 9:30 AM and although not raining, there is that damp feel. This is spring.
A few nicer days have shown up, almost by surprise, but so far they are few, then quickly followed by a lot more gloomy days before the next surprise comes. We have topped 60 once this week - clear up to 66 here on a sunny, but a-bit-too-breezy day - on Monday of this week. A welcome and nice day. Two of my kids managed to dig up a good portion of our garden space that day. My daughter said it was perfect digging. I expected it to be too soggy. So a few pleasant surprises now and then. And another fun surprise came last evening. Driving home from the mall early in the evening, we had a just wonderful play between the clouds, sunshine, light and rain - all at the same time. Not an often occurance, but surely was delightful driving along under mostly heavy clouds, but enough breaks to let the very low setting sun shine underneath the clouds through the falling rain and illuminate everything in quite weird shades of golden light, finally accentuated by a pretty rainbow. If only I had my camera along with me....
The weekend ahead is showing some promise so far - especially Easter Sunday. Warmer and maybe sunnier! But, we aren't really pulling out of these doldrums even if that happens. Showers, even some chances of thunderstorms, clouds, and cool remain the general theme of the next week. But, truth be told, this IS spring around here. I often think that when people say "where's spring?", what they really mean to say is that they want Summer. Two different kettle of fish in the Pacific Northwest.
I just took a look at my stats for February, and by surprise, many of those stat numbers I list are within one degree of each other, as well as winds, etc. March was wetter. Otherwise, February and March were nearly identical months, statistically speaking. A quite slow progression out of winter.
April 4
Sunrise: 6:40 AM --- Sunset: 7:43 PM
(gaining 3 minutes, 24 seconds tomorrow)
MARCH in REVIEW
Average High: 52
Average Low: 36
Highest Temperature: 62 (3/24)
Lowest Temperature: 27 (3/7)
Coldest High Temperature: 44 (3/12, 14, 18)
Highest Wind Gust: 31 mph (3/20)
Wettest Day: March 29 (.97" rain)
Days of measurable precipitation: 23
Total Rain for March: 5.90"
Total Snow for March: 1/2" plus multiple days of trace/flurries
Note: Officially for Seattle records, this March was the third wettest on record. The official gauge measured 1-2 inches more rain than we did at home. And BriarCraft's rain report from SW Washington was much higher than ours, so while it seemed pretty rainy for us, we were on the mild side, apparently. Not too surprising. We are often rain-shadowed by the Olympic Mountains. A newspaper article recently highlighted how so much of the country was experiencing a March heat wave. Not so here. In fact, March was the month that ran the most below normal in temperature for us since last May. As I have said before, the heat/cold seem to balance out across the country. Hot one place, going to be cold in another.
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Briar, I agree that by this time of year sunshine makes a huge difference. Now the next thing is to work toward getting some consistent sunshine and be able to leave the sweaters and coats inside! Sometimes I feel colder outside now than I do back in mid-winter. Kind of a funny phenomenon to me.
Thanks for telling me about the Hawaii trip with your husband. I get frustrated with all of the time I spend alone, but you are right, I should just enjoy the times we do have.
Weather here is remarkably similar to yours. We have had 50-60F degree days and an occasional shower. Most of the time it is blue sky and light winds. The tulips are blooming about 4 weeks ahead of schedule. A few nights have been right around 32F, so our heat is often running at the beginning of each day. Like you, it is possible we will see a few wet snowflakes this time of year...but I hope not!
Here's hoping your sunshine continues and spring really breaks out in earnest!!
The grass is growing here, but it's too wet to mow. Before long, the cats will be able to hide in the middle of the lawn. It was just starting to dry off these last two warm sunny days and now the rain is back. How's your yard doing?
Australia is a long trip for only a week. My husband also adjusts well to long flights. His longest flights were last year when he worked in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He made three trips and then decided that was a bit TOO far to work and live in the U.S. That is when he accepted the job in Chicago. At least he is now able to drive the 3 hours home each Friday afternoon for the weekend!
Have a good Thursday. The countdown to summer is beginning at school.
I did go up to the high school and take some photos of the "canyon" that is the soccer field. The coach had hired a front loader to come in and push the snow off to the sides of the field and the snow berms surounding it make for an interesting pic.This is done each year but this year it is really impressive. My son hopes they can get on the field by next week because the team is making the long drive up to Anchorage to play in the big dome and he is getting quickly tired of that! Not to mention that he is anxious to drive his restored dodge dart that doesn't have any winter attire and can't get out our road to the main paved road just yet. So, bright sun is good,
we hope the storm track stays down by you guys. Sorry!
Briar: We have mowed our lawn a couple of times now. We are on a hillside and perhaps drains better than your yard, as it hasn't been too wet to mow, lately anyway. You also have had a lot more rain. But it is just recently that sections have dried enough to mow. I did do a quick turn around the yard on one of those sunny days - general clean up from winter. No planting of anything new yet!
Polar: I am excited FOR you to be seeing signs of spring!! I know what a slog this winter has been for you and all of Alaska. A high of 45 is such a big improvement and I know how that can feel "hot" after so long being so much colder. You should post a photo of the soccer canyon and what it takes to play high school sports in the Far North! As for the storm track, I am usually happy to have it overhead, but the few teases of spring we have had, and this morning's sunshine, is starting to make even me begin to long more heartily for much nicer days. Maybe we can send the storms even further south - like southern California, who needs it!
I managed to mow one section of the yard late last week. While it's cool here today (warm by Polar's standards) at 47F, I might see about mowing another section this afternoon. We had about 1/3" of rain yesterday, but the grass doesn't look too wet. If I don't mow today, I may not get another chance until next week. I'll just have to dig out that heavy flannel shirt I use as a winter jacket.
I liked a traveling husband better when the kids were still living at home. It gets a bit lonely here at times now - but my job at school certainly keeps me busy and I enjoy working in the yard in the evening and also walking at least 40 minutes a day. (The long, light evenings are great for getting outside - not dark until 9PM now.)
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