I think that some of the "polar vortex" news for next week is a bit exaggerated, but I very much appreciate the concern. Yes, it will get cold next week, but I don't think the weather pattern is anything as extreme as what we endured last year. I'm hoping not to see that again this Winter.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: Polar Vortex: The Most Misused Weather Term of 2014

And it doesn't look at all good for the drought breaking out here, either.

CURSES!!!

Jeri

poor animals

Can't the cold weather wait a little?

We are going to have a hard frost this Thursday, that's about as bad as it's going to be. But I think this year will be a lot like last year. At least I am better prepared this year.

Well, at least in my neck of the woods winter has hit with astonishing speed and brutality yesterday. We only had our first frost a week ago, and up until Monday morning it was 60's and sunny. In fact, all of October was simply gorgeous, and we nearly were out for Halloween in shirt sleeves. People were out in shorts raking leaves this weekend and the majority of the leaves haven't dropped yet.

Yesterday afternoon it went from 65 to 10 degrees F by midnight, with a truly vicious 35 mph wind that was remarkable even for windy Nebraska plains. We woke up to temperatures in the teens that meant pulling out not just a jacket, but the big heavy winter coat, scarf, and mittens. Oh yeah, and boots. Because it also snowed a few inches (in EARLY NOVEMBER?? Usually we're hoping for a little snow before Christmas, but...). Not just snow either. Since the ground and pavement was so warm the first snow hit and turned into a good inch of ice that now stubbornly refuses to budge in the low teen temps. There were all kinds of cars skidding all morning, and I heard someone talking about a street nearby where people just parked their cars in the street and walked because people were trying for an hour to push them and couldn't get any traction at all.

To top it off, for the rest of the week or more's forecast, the temps aren't getting above freezing and the lows are down near 10. That's late December weather at best for us. I agree that the polar vortex term is overused and I will avoid it myself, but I'm afraid I'm going to be substituting some four-letter words if this winter is like the last one.

At least I was able to finish packing the leaf bags around the edges of all my beds this weekend and had already protected the teas a good month earlier than usual for me. I had to finish this before next week, as I'll need shoulder surgery and will be out of gardening shape through December. You know it's going to be a bad winter when shoulder surgery is your source of "good news".

Just kvetching, of course- the weather will be what it will be, and my winter losses last year didn't turn out any worse in terms of actual rose death than previous years. It was all the disheartening loss of bloom. Still, we cold zoners reserve the right to complain heartily about the weather this winter, starting (unfortunately) now.

Cynthia

Today is the day. It's already very dark and windy and our temperature, which was a fabulous 63 degrees earlier, is falling like a rock now. We did a clean up of the leaves this morning. There will be more but they may be snow covered soon and we'll be unable to suck them up. I'm not worried because we already have 24 bags saved for winterizing the roses with. This is really only a couple of weeks earlier than usual. We've normally gotten this type of weather on Thanksgiving weekend. I'm thinking this polar vortex thing isn't much different than it's always been. They just have a fancy name for it now. The Weather Channel loves the drama!

It's sure different here! Frost is way sooner and parts of the state got snow November 1st. Sinuses are terrible because we're hot then we're cold and it keeps going back and forth. I have everything ready though, Thank Goodness!

Get used to it. As the Arctic Vortex continues to weaken due to climate change unstable polar winds are more likely to extend downward further and earlier. Forecasters are calling for another cold winter, although snowfall should THANKFULLY be less extreme in the Mid-Atlantic states. For now we are looking at mild winter conditions for the next two weeks. On the other hand California is supposed to be warmer and drier this winter. As the state gets most of its precipitation in the winter the record breaking drought will see little to no relief in 2015. At least that is what NOAA says.

And here we're having much warmer than usual temperatures and rain rain rain. Lots of flooding in parts of Italy where the rain can't run off (think excessive cement). Our farmer neighbors' land is slumping here and there. We're sitting tight and feeling fairly comfortable, I hope with reason. It looks like we may be going into a third sodden year. I sure wouldn't trade weather with California or the midwest, but I wish we could send off some of our rain and warmth to you folks to take the edge off your weather.

Today is supposed to be the last nice day for a while... 50's here falling to 30 by tomorrow morning. Yikes! I hadn't realized they were predicting another polar vortex for the winter and hoped this was just a short term cold snap. I used to prune my roses over Christmas break but it's been too cold the past couple of years. Last winter was particularly brutal.

I wish we could have a little of that California heat in exchange for some of our rain to moderate the extremes.

Love snow! Hiking/snow shoeing in the snow is priceless! You should all try if you get any this winter. Getting some tomorrow, I'm excited. :-) Here is a photo from last winter, Pretty?! :-)

One more photo from last winter.....beautiful?! :-)

They're both beautiful photos, Summerseve!

I'm very fond of snow too but I have to admit that I get sick of it pretty quickly if it lasts more than a couple of days.

Anyway, I've not been paying much attention to predictions for this winter. The weather seems pretty normal here so far. Part of me wants a cold snap, just because I'm bored with nothing happening weather-wise. We've not even had a real frost yet.

It is cold in Tulsa, OK. We do not have the snow, and may not get it this year, but the night before last our wind chills were 14-16. The wind in Oklahoma is always a problem. When I look at the pictures of the snow from Summerseve, I think about wind, and how many people are wounded or killed by the falling branches, falling because of the high winds.

In anticipation of the weather, I spent Monday watering, and have removed all soaker hoses, and all but 2 long hoses.

Last year I lost or lost down to the "own roots" many of my roses and the drought was the problem. We would get ice or snow and then I feared watering thinking the hoses were not free of ice. Now I can use the two hoses, and I will need to carefully check them, but make an effort to keep the water going.

I need to look up Polar Vortex. I do not even know if it is a myth, fact, or trendy words to encourage readers.

Sammy

Thanks Hoverfly9! :-) Love the outdoors in the ice-age, snow covered earth looks like from a crystal tale........ the temperature in those photos was around 15ðF (-9ðC). Pretty cool?! :-)
Sammy, I hope you can get some snow, and you will see how pretty it is. :-) We lose power due the high winds once in a great while, so most of people here have generators. Driving is not bad if you have good tires and 4x4s. I love my 4matic car, no issues driving on the ice or in snow. Good luck with your roses in the winter.

snow down at our elevation this afternoon (1100') in East Tennessee; we've already seen (from our distance major accumulations on the Smokies from over 6000' down to 2000'.

This is so not amusing.

24 degrees here this morning.

Snow is gone, 35ð F (1.6ð C) this morning, have to wait for next storm....ski resorts are opening soon, snow tubing is another fun thing to do if you like snow. Moving my 25 rose trees (in pots) into the garage this weekend, still have a lot of buds on them.
Cold weather promotes fur retail sales, last year fur price went up. Hunting season started here today, wish all the hunters have a safe season.
And be safe for the gardeners who don't like beautiful snow, watch your steps, it can be icy. :-)

There are two of my roses that really seem to enjoy the PV. Polar Star and Iceberg.

Summerseve, you do not say where you live. I used to love the snow also. We lived in Indiana where it was beautiful. We owned better snow shoes, clothing, and general supplies, and the snow was fun.

In Oklahoma the snow is not as frequent. It melts during the day, then freezes at night, so we have just a little snow, but way too much ice.

The cities do not have as much snow equipment as in the north, so we are often stranded at home or on the road. Some people do have generators to use if the power goes off, but storing them is a problem.

I am happy for you that you love the winter so much. It certainly can look beautiful.

Sammy

Sammy, I am by Great Lakes, close to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It's a snow country here-6 months of winter. We have learned how to have fun in the winter- forced by nature. I hear you driving on the ice is no fun. Be careful. There are 3 things sold most before every snow storm: bread, milk and bathroom tissues! :-)
I mulched some of my roses last month, hope this winter won't be as cold as last one. Dress warm everyone.

Last winter we no winter to speak of, but two years ago we had snow on the ground practically all winter and into late March, and it was extremely wearisome. It wasn't all that cold, so the snow would melt, then more would come. We had to get our daughter to the bus stop and pick her up, six days a week. It was on with the chains, off with the chains, on our ungaraged car in the dark, continuously. Our roads are steep, narrow, and winding, which makes driving kind of scary; in fact DH does all the driving in that kind of weather because I grew up in Florida and have never gotten confident handling a car on snow and ice. Our second car was totaled that winter when DH skidded on ice and the car behind hat was passing him hit him.

On the other hand, our weather is mild enough that, when it's not raining and there's not a foot of snow on the ground, I can work in the garden through the winter. We plant until Christmas and then I prune through March, and with several hundred roses I need the entire time. That winter of snow a lot of roses never got pruned (they can take that, too).

It looks like we may be in for another winterless winter. Normal, or average, would be nice, but at least let's not have snow on the ground for months straight.

Melissa

A weather scientist on NPR yesterday said the "polar vortex" is just media BS--what's happening is no different from normal strong cold fronts that move south nearly every winter. Last year was just an unusually cold winter in the eastern half of North America.

This post was edited by michaelg on Sun, Nov 16, 14 at 10:30

And even that 'particularly cold winter' depended on where you are. We didn't get below -10, which simply counts as winter here. The place that did seem to get cold was the upper midwest. That was really the only area of the country that was getting lows below their official USDA zone range.

I agree, Michael. It's Weather Channel hype. Is it getting colder in the winter? Maybe. We have about a 20/25 year cycle here where the average temps go up and down. We've always had cycles of warmer and colder weather. We just didn't have TWC to name them for us, lol!

I agree this just seems like normal winter weather but we are now in the new age of 24-7 news coverage from weather to politics, so that makes everything a NEWS ALERT and WEATHER WATCH lol.

This is not a normal winter for us. South of us just got 7' of snow with high wind 30-40mph last week. I am just outside the snow band, only got 8.5" of snow. Check this out: http://www.weather.com/news/news/lake-effect-snow-buffalo-new-york-great-lakes-photos-20141118
Now they're dealing with flooding in the next three days.
Stay warm even you're having a normal winter in your area.

Here are more snow photos from the two snow storms......
http://yourtake.wgrz.com/gallery/12236

This isn't normal for us. I think the eastern half of the US is getting most of the not normal winter weather and maybe some just southern states , not sure, but that's how it looks to me. I have Pneumonia, something I've never had, although I'm sure the sarcoidosis isn't helping. They are wanting to cut on me some more, something I've been putting off. Halloween was freezing here, that's when I first got sick. Then hot/cold doesn't help when you get sick. I hope everyone stay's warm and has a happy holiday season. I wish NY Luck with all that snow they have as well. Chris are you in that mess? Wish you the best.

I once lived in Buffalo for three years while I went back to school, but no more. Now I'm in central NJ. The other Chris on here is on Long Island, one county over from where I used to live. We got some earlier-than-normal cold, but our precipitation fell as rain during the warm days beforehand. And now it's inching back up to a high of 39 for today, 54 for tomorrow, and 70 with rain for Monday. Then it dips down to a high of 52 on Tuesday, with a high of 39 and snow forecast for Wednesday....then up again to 45 for Thursday. Up and down, back and forth -- this is more of a "normal" Winter for here, though it's coming a bit early.

:-)

~Christopher

Alana7bSC, get well soon and dress warm in zone 8! And Chris, you were in my neighborhood once, I hope you still remember that crisp cold fresh air, it's really fresh, it hurts your throat when you breathing in the icy air. :-)
When the temperature drops around sub zero in the morning, I could see street lights shooting up to the stars- due to the ice crystals in the air, that's just beautiful, like "northern light" in the sky! I will try to take a pic this winter if the "northern light" shows up again in Jan-Feb. It's not too bad here if you have proper gear, just watch out for the icy air.......

We're just getting past a few days that barely topped out above freezing (if at all), which came after a few days that were a bit warmer. Looks like we're in for another roller coaster set of temperatures in the next week. I know it looks crazy, but this is the kind of "Winter" I usually see here -- NOTHING like last year.

Also note that the temperature at the time I snapped the pic of my iPhone's weather app was already above the predicted high.

:-)

~Christopher

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 15:52

We haven't gotten above freezing in the last week but today, tomorrow and Monday are going to be in the 40s so we're out trying to get everything in the yard winterized. It is a few weeks early for it to be this cold here but not all that unusual. I have been doing my potted roses on Thanksgiving weekend for the last few years. So this hard freeze is about 2 weeks a head of schedule.

I have to admit that enormous lake effect snow storm was strange and uncommon. I think it would be for any year. I wish there was some way of shipping all that stored moisture to all our rose friends in the South West that need the water! Just fill up some refrigerated big rigs and head West!?