I know our winter hasn’t been as harsh as what many have experienced this year, but I’m tired of it. I’m not complaining. It is what it is. But I’m tired of it.
We usually get some cold weather and, most years, a bit of snow and ice, but we also usually have some pretty nice weather on a lot of Arkansas winter days. Most years, in fact, a lot of the grassy vegetation actually stays green and it’s warm enough that our electricity usage doesn’t rise too much above that of rest of the year.
Not this year, though.
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December 6th |
It got cold in late November and has pretty much stayed cold ever since, cold enough that almost all of the vegetation is now brown. We really haven’t gotten any more snow and ice than normal. In fact, it’s been pretty dry this year and, with the dry vegetation, there have been more winter wildfires than normal.
We did have one ice storm in early December that resulted in extensive power outages in our area, including us. Fortunately, we had plenty of advanced warning and had the house connected to the camper generator so that we could power lights in a couple of rooms and a few electrical outlets. Power was out for us for about 10 hours or so. Some people on the local rural electric coop didn’t get power back for nearly a week.
And the heat pump seems to be on constantly. I know it cycles on and off, but it certainly has been getting a workout this year and seems to be more on than off.
We don’t use or fireplace much, even though it has an insert with a blower. It’s a backup heat source for us, in case we lose power or a problem with the heat pump. What firewood we have is reserved for those kind of emergencies.
Some people say that this winter is the way winter used to be. If so, winter used to really suck.
I hope this isn’t the so-called “new normal” for winter weather.
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It has been a very normal winter so far for us over here.
Rummuser recently posted…The Wonderful World Of Wall Paintings – Rajasthan.
That's great.
After I posted this, we lost power from an ice storm and were out of power for a couple of hours. We were fortunate to get it back so soon. There are still many people in this area who haven't and last night was brutally cold for this area. Right now it's 12.7°F (-10.7°C).
Hi Mike .. have you changed up your site since I've been 'away' .. ie I've had to sign in …
Been having some work done, so I feel I want to live in this rented flat – nearly back to normal, which will be a clean, tidied up, charity shopped dumps, etc etc .. Hilary – ready to go again …
… by which time I hope it's stopped raining. We're lucky here … but honestly you can't believe the weather we've been having around our coasts … talk about flooding ….. I'm sure at some stage in the last few centuries it's been worse … but with all our building we make matters worse …
Cheers and see you around a bit more .. Hilary
Hilary recently posted…Hilary, Hilary, where have you been? I’ve been to London to look at … so many theengs! Part 2/2
Yes, the site has changed. I was shifting to a new version of Thesis blog framework and the blog software wasn't displaying anything but a white screen. In my frustration, I wasn't as careful as I should have been and ended up deleting the whole thing without having a complete backup. There's a more complete explanation on the post Unintentional Reinvention.
Yes, that's one real human impact on climate –> local changes because of population growth, construction and land development. That flooding sounds terrible.
Wet and windy are how I would describe our winter, with flooding in many parts of the island of Ireland. More warnings are out for tonight too.
Maybe we should move to India until our own weather settles! 😉
Grannymar recently posted…Thursday Special ~ Supersex
We haven't been above freezing for over a week. Our normal high is about 55°F (12.8°C). We've gone from mostly brown everywhere to mostly white, with snow yesterday and more coming after the weekend.