"WoooHoo!" Last day of WINTER!

[azsnowman]

Where did this winter go? All in all, it was a bummer here at the house, total snowfall for Nov-present, only 43"...hardly a drought buster BUT..it WAS the coldest winter in 38 years of record keeping by all reporting stations SO....the Western Balsm Beetle ran it's course, after destroying over 200 million prime, old growth Ponderosa Pines The outlook for this years wildfire season is grim. The forest floor is already dry, the duff (dead limbs, pine needles etc.) is already in late April conditions, pushing the fire danger to Moderate.

I for one and ready to kiss this winter good bye and NOW I'm ready to complain about the heat "LOL!"

Dennis

[tropicana]

Yeah...good riddance to Winter. Finally...I have been waiting for this day for a long time.

Toronto, on Lake Ontario's north shore, saw approximately 91cm of snow from November to the present (march 19)... the average winter snowfall is around 135cm.... so it wasn't as snowy as normal.

A lot of the precipitation fell as rain... with nearly 214mm of rain falling.

January 2004 was the coldest month on record since January of 1994 ( 10 years).

BRING ON SPRING.
Though, largely, Spring is just another day on the calendar ..we know from experience if you live in Toronto.( until we get safely into May)

Things I love about Spring in Toronto.

1. ice pellets
2. freezing rain
3. being sprayed with slush by SUVs going MACH 10 down Queen Street
4. the extra 15 minutes that are tacked onto my commute
5. frozen sidewalks
6. unshovelled sidewalks
7. the knowledge that my daffodils and tulips (which had just begun to poke their heads up from the ground) are now all nice and snug beneath several inches of frozen snow
8. wet feet
9. cold wet feet
10. knowing that in a few months when we are melting from the heat we will be wishing it were April again

Ahhh thank god its spring in just a few short hours.

-justin-

[stormraiser]

It may be spring on the calendar, but this is Buffalo and I don't expect spring until June or so

[Aslkahuna]

for those in the MST and PST time zones as well as HI and AK, Spring begins tonight at 11:49 pm MST. Definitely Spring like weather here minus the winds-Thank Goodness. The latest drought outlook through June calls for Drought to persist in AZ/NM. Although we here in SV have managed to come up with a good wet late Winter, most of AZ has not participated in this. My new monsoon outlook will be issued on my homepage in May but bottom line is that the drought conditions wil have a deleterious effect again.

Steve

[Stephanie]

Dennis - you said that the beetle "ran its course". Did the cold kill them off or was it just a phrase to say that they did more damage? I hope those little suckers are DEAD!

[nystate]

Certainly not spring like weather here- highs later this week aren't expected to get past 20 F.

[BritBob]

Yup, I certainly won`t be missing it. From my totals. Moncton, has seen close on 306cms +/- 10cms since November.

I know parts of Newfoundland and Labrador have seen at least double what I`ve seen. I`ll dig up figures later:)

For those interested I took a few new snaps this afternoon of ice floes jammed under the highway bridge.

http://www.maritimesweather.com/Gallery_7.htm

[weatherlover427]

I think we're a bit below average here so far this season and will likely end up that way. That's what we get for a slow start.

[azsnowman]

Dennis - you said that the beetle "ran its course". Did the cold kill them off or was it just a phrase to say that they did more damage? I hope those little suckers are DEAD!

There's 2 ways to rid ourselves of the Balsm Beetle, moisture or cold, WELL, we had the later......below normal temps for 2.6 months wiped the little suckers OUT Not sure if it was a 100% kill, we've been doing a 200 acre core study for the past 5 weeks in one of the hardest hit areas up here, we've not found a single beetle, a *few* larve but even they weren't in good shape.....let's keep our fingers x'ed that it is a 100% kill! NOW.....the worst part, with the lack of moisture and some 185,000+ acres of dead Ponderosa Pines, this fire season is VERY BLEEK, one lightning strike and these trees will go up like a gas refinery!

Dennis

[Stephanie]

Dennis - you said that the beetle "ran its course". Did the cold kill them off or was it just a phrase to say that they did more damage? I hope those little suckers are DEAD!

There's 2 ways to rid ourselves of the Balsm Beetle, moisture or cold, WELL, we had the later......below normal temps for 2.6 months wiped the little suckers OUT Not sure if it was a 100% kill, we've been doing a 200 acre core study for the past 5 weeks in one of the hardest hit areas up here, we've not found a single beetle, a *few* larve but even they weren't in good shape.....let's keep our fingers x'ed that it is a 100% kill! NOW.....the worst part, with the lack of moisture and some 185,000+ acres of dead Ponderosa Pines, this fire season is VERY BLEEK, one lightning strike and these trees will go up like a gas refinery!

Dennis

Well, that is good news. Hopefully it signals a turnaround for you out there, between the beetle kill and the beneficial rains that Steve had down in the Sierra Vista. I'll keep everything crossed regarding the beetle and for a much clamer fire season.