Well then, that sounds very nice to me. I don't believe I have visited that area for something like 35 years. I certainly hope you have a wonderful spring and summer.
Interesting to hear all the snow stories and of course the heat in California. So I thought I would throw in what its been like here in January. Well it was the driest January on record. We actually had no rain for the whole month. It does not bode well for the rest of the year !!! D
Very dry January here too. By early February I even resorted to giving potted maples a drop of water, something I never normally do in winter..... Of course it rained heavily the very next day!
BTW, one can just click on Portola Hills, CA below Soumil's avitar and Google Maps will open in a new tab showing exactly where Portla Hills is. Similarly, one can click on Anacortes, WA to effortlessly see where I am or, likewise, see the location of any other poster on these UBC forums.
Not sure if we can call "no rain" as extreme weather, but I see down in Australia that they are having some very nasty bush fires. Does this mean that mother nature is saving up your rain supply to cause flooding later in the year? Heavy flooding in Brazil, deadly landslides in Ecuador, flooding in Rotterdam, waterfalls at Uluru in Australia, storm Corrie batters the Netherlands, blizzard conditions in Moose Jaw, countless multi-car pileups due to the heavy snow and ice conditions throughout the midwest in the States,. Where does it all end, or is this going to be our new normal?
It's been very mild here for about 10 days, one night at -1°C, the other nights between +4 and +8, and around 10-11 during the day. I took the tram to the city this morning and spotted quite a few trees with white flowers, probably Prunus of some kind. Young apple seedlings (1st photo, Van Eseltine, from seed) are usually the first ones to bud out, and Chinese quince (2nd photo, Pseudocydonia sinensis) too. But so far, only a couple of young Acer morifolium (3rd photo) are showing signs of waking up, all my other maples, including 'Little Princess' which is one of the earliest ones, are still in dormancy. ... and oh, Japanese quince too, Chaenomeles japonica, but I haven't taken photos yet.
You're a lucky man Alain. We hit 12ºC here yesterday for a short while, but unfortunately there is still at least half a metre of snow on everything. Perhaps the warmer days this week will get rid of the rest of the snow!
I forgot to add that we're going to have low temperatures again next week from next Saturday, and that will last for a couple of days, 0°C to -4°C, but above 0 in the afternoon, and for not very long. I don't mind : when trees bud out too early, the risk of frost damage is important, like last year. It might sound very late, but the "tradition" says one shouldn't plant tomatoes before "les Saints de glace", 11-13 May. I did it once, and had to buy new ones... For those who follow a Catholic calendar : «Mamert, Pancrace, Boniface sont les trois saints de glaces, mais saint Urbain les tient tous dans sa main. » Il faut donc retenir que les Saints de glace tombent les 11, 12 et 13 mai de chaque année. PS : I can't imagine calling a child Mamert or Pancrace. <LOL> Boniface is now quite a common name in the South-west of France, the country of rugby. Though I'm not from there, I follow the rugby calendar, 6 nations 2022. ;°)
When our daughter became a French citizen (officially) some years ago, the magistrate, before the swearing, offered her a list of French names, all of the Catholic saints basically along with some other French classics. (Who in France doesn't know a Marie-Claude, Marie-Dominique, Marie-France?) Apparently it is up to the new citizen to decide whether to "integrate fully" into the culture with the name change, and the parents are not allowed to express an opinion. Luckily she didn't change! January was pretty dry here except for the beginning, and also warm, though with a couple of cold snaps that have kept things from getting too early. We're just into hellebores and crocus' now. Lots of cherry blooming in Paris. I thought it had been quite sunny, but on the month's data I see only 8 days of full sun! Decent amount of wind but no major storms.
whats the coldest temperature you experienced in France? when was it? @AlainK , @emery would like to know. ive heard that western europe has a mainly oceanic climate with some small continental influence, is it similar to the PNW?
For my area, you can look here : Climatologie de l'année 2022 à Orléans - Bricy - Infoclimat Oct. -0.9 Nov. -2.9 Dec. -3.1 Jan. -4.6 Feb. -2
In Paris the weather is a couple/three of weeks more advanced than here. I was in a rose garden on Thursday, there are already a lot of blooms.
Finally seeing some winter here. It was like summer for 2 months since december. Now its trending below average temperatures
I guess the only consolation is that there are no leaves on them yet (apart from @maf ’s Kotohime!!!)
