This year we had a 106 day drought in southern BC, first time ever in my 62 years living in the fraser valley. October was the driest on record. We finally got a nice rain fall that extend for approx. one week at the end of October thru the first couple days of november. Now over half way thru November, it is shaping up to be another record for the driest November we have ever had. Although most of our maples gave their usual fall colour displays we notice many of the trees leaves now have not fallen off the tree but rather they have dried and crispy to the touch. Just like they would do when sitting in a greenhouse. The bud set's are all looking very healthy for next year. Even our large poplar's and Canadian maple tree still have most of there leaves, all dry and hanging on the branches. Again, this is the first time I have seen this. I am curios if it may harbour more insect habitat over winter if in fact the leaves do not fall. I will be monitoring this thru out the next several months and update as well
Very interested to hear how your trees fare Otto. It has been a strange year of weather all over the world. My trees have dropped their leaves as normal. But we have had a lot of rain in October and November, so everything seems OK. Lots of buds appearing early due to the very mild Autumn. But I think the frosts this weekend will slow that down and they can go to sleep. I do think 2023 will see some casualties as they will definitely react.
October was the hottest month in France since 1946, and probably the driest too. The weather station that was close to where I live has apparently stopped sending data, so these are from 25 km up north : Average temperatures : 20.5°C, max. : 25°C on 27/10, min. : 16.2 (last year's average : 17.3) Rainfall for the month : 45.5 mm, very low here for October, last year : 61.9, and it was already a warm, dry October. November so far : Average temps : 14.5°C (+4.1 compared to the "expected temperatures) Rain : 14.8 (-74%) Not really the case here, except for seedlings, some of them over 3 feet high - 60 cm, that are near a wall that gets the sun at noon for 2-3 hours, then 3-4 hours before sunset. No frosts here, and none forecast for the 2 weeks to come. But rain : at last ! the water tables were beginning to get to a critical level and between Orléans and Paris is the plain where the largest fields are - wheat, maize, sunflower, colza,... (La Beauce is nicknamed "the granary of France - le grenier de la France"). I still have a pair of "Moonboots" that I bought in the early 80s in the garage. I used to put them on for a couple of days a few years ago when there was still a bit of snow in February. Totally useless now where I live I'm afraid, a collector's item...
