November’s Wild Mood Swing
On Friday and Saturday Chicago got the biggest November snow storm in 120 years. Which is strange, because for about three weeks November had been doodling along acting like a nice October. Then suddenly there’s a wild mood swing and it feels like we’re in January.
On Friday it felt like suddenly the world had been transformed into black and white. First there was rain, which froze as the temperature descended. When the snow came, it was wet and heavy.
Perennials, shrubs, and tree limbs bowed under the weight. During the night I was awoken by the sound of branches breaking. Fortunately none of my trees or shrubs had serious damage.
Our bird baths were full of freezing slush, so I emptied the fountain and set up the heated bird bath, which I refer to as the Bird Jacuzzi.
Our ‘Golden Raindrops’ Crabapple was still holding onto its leaves when the snow came.
On Sunday the sky cleared and the sun shone, but it was still cold.
The ice on the branches glittered a bit in the sunshine.
The bird feeders were busy. Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Juncos, and Redpolls were fortifying themselves against the cold.
Has winter made an early surprise visit to your garden?
gardeninacity 
Great photos! Such a strange fall here in Chicago and now this. So far, lots of drooping branches on the shrubs and trees but nothing broken yet. To top it off, saw Sandhill Cranes migrating today.
Glad to hear nothing is broken. Where do you see Sandhill Cranes?
Just brrrrr. Glad you’re taking care of the birds.
I do my best!
My goodness that storm came in fast! We had family flying out of O’Hare to head to PDX and got delayed by over a day….glad your shrubs are safe. The birds have a good friend in you!
Flying out of O’Hare can be a risky business. As for the birds, I do like having them around.
Ha, the same happened here in Berlin yesterday. After all too warm weather all November, it surprised us with huge snowflakes yesterday afternoon. I love the term bird jacuzzi, btw
A dramatic shift in weather seemed to happen in a lot of places. Maybe I should get “bird jacuzzi” trademarked.
That’s a real coincidence – we had sudden a temperature drop on Saturday and after the rain a sprinkling of snow. November was so mild until then, but winter has definitely arrived now!
Though here it’s warmed up again quite a bit.
I gasped when I began reading Jason; what a shock. Heavy wet snow is the worst kind for plants. After an exceptionally mild November here we are forecast temperatures dipping down to zero during the nights this week. Keep warm!
I was shocked a little bit, too. I was just picking up lots of fallen branches in the back garden.
It’s been very cold here in the UK this weekend too. By cold I mean about 3 degrees! No snow for us (yet) but there was some farther north. What a transformation in your garden. Lovely photos and how wonderful to see a red Cardinal. That’s a corker of a bird to see in the garden.
The Cardinal is one of my favorites. A common bird here, so that sometimes you forget how striking it is.
We have woken up to frost this morning here but no snow. Gorgeous photos of your wintery garden and your fabulous red cardinal.
Thank you. We really need that Cardinal to liven up the black and white of winter ..
Wow! What a transformation. Its been wet and warm here for the last six weeks, but we have our lowest temperature so far this morning (30 F at 5:25 am), so I’m expecting to see frost when the sun comes up.
Well, at least frost is better than floods.
Stunning photos thank you. Dipped into the thirties on the Gulf coast last night. Covered the potted plants with sheets and picked all the datum as yesterday
I still haven’t gotten the leaves raked.
Winter tried to move in this weekend. We only had rain tho. After the rain the temperatures dropped dramatically. We are due a warm up at the middle of this week tho. It looks like a nice table setting for your birds. Do they eat the grapes? My birds ignore grapes when we set some out for them. Redpolls at your feeder! what a treat. I haven’t seen them very many times ever, never at our feeders. Try to keep warm.
They peck at the grapes a little bit. I put them out there because there was a bunch of grapes that were forgotten in the back of the fridge.
That heavy wet snow takes a real toll. I’m crossing my fingers as I type this. đŸ™‚ The ‘s’ word hasn’t visited us yet, and the temps have been in the 40-50’s. The pellet stove is working away, but all in all November so far has been kind to us.
Surprised to hear we got snow before you did!
I like your comment and the fact that we didn’t get the early snow. đŸ™‚
Oh my, that did come unexpectedly did it? That first snow fall is always the best though isn’t it? Except yours did look heavy and probably did some damage. Ahhh, your fine feathered friends love to visit I see, and are those grapes I see as an offering? đŸ™‚
Yes, those are grapes that were forgotten at the back of the fridge. Sometimes the Cardinals will take a bite.
A chilly 30f here in Raleigh, NC! đŸ™‚
That doesn’t sound too bad!
Winter came to you in a rude rush with that heavy, wet snow, but glad you were able enjoy an extended mild fall this year. The photos are wonderful. I like the first one, all black and white except for the red hydrant. Beautiful birds.
Given the mild fall until recently I shouldn’t grouse too much about the sudden snow and chill.
Here in Montreal we are still enjoying an unusually warm November, with sunny skies that are definitely not the norm. Temperatures are meant to fall dramatically during the week, then to rise again on the weekend to 13C /55F. I wish I hadn’t cut the garden back so early!
Odd that the cold has hit us here before it gets to you!
Sorry to see that snow arrived so early for you — but that same cold front finally broke the heat in zone 10. Today is a windy, low humidity day with temps in the 70s. Stay warm!!
Are you trying to make me jealous?
Oh dear! Crazy weather, but they do make dramatic photographs. Grape fest for the cardinals. I hadn’t thought of feeding grapes to birds.
I only do it when the grapes are well past their prime.
Glad there was no serious damage! This morning, I woke up to find a dusting of snow in our yard at the little house in the big woods. Nothing like what you got, though! Time to bring in the rest of ornaments and lawn furniture!
Yup. Before they’re lost in the snow drifts.
Thanks to you, Jason, for convincing me to plant tulips in pots…for the first time for me. Of course, I had to go overboard. I just finished seven pots. Will post the results next spring.
I’m eager to see your blooming tulips in the spring.
We had a pretty big temperature drop over the weekend but nothing like this! (thank goodness) I hope your plants were hardened off before things got really chilly.
They’re pretty much either dormant or dead annuals.
Oh Jason that does look cold, we have had similar weather here, I like your mood swing description, very apt. Although no snow storm just a big drop in temperatures, our weather is rarely as dramatic as yours. I hope there is not too much damage in lovely garden.
No serious damage, though the perennial stalks are no longer vertical.
Overt here we went from soft and wet to sunny and freezing ! I hate frost and cold !!!!!
I feel your pain.
Frost, not snow, here. Either one transforms a sorry looking garden into a winter wonderland…temporarily.
The snow is almost all melted as of right now, and rain is coming down.
I love the photos of all that snow, but I guess the reality of living with snow is quite different.
I bet the birds love the bird Jacuzzi……nice idea!
The birds really need water during a cold winter – otherwise they have to eat snow and use more calories to stay warm.
We’ve seen a few flakes but nothing like that. It reminds me of the Thanksgiving day storm we had last year. We got about a foot.
At least the leaves were off most of your trees.
We’re getting rain right now and it’s supposed to last through Friday, I don’t think we’ll have a white Thanksgiving.
Craziness! Fall is lingering here and I’m enjoying every minute. đŸ™‚ I’m glad your trees escaped major damage.
I enjoyed the mild fall weather while it lasted but it also made me nervous, afraid I was being lulled into a false sense of security, which I actually was.
So am I. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, Tammy!
Last year, we had 14″ of snow the day before Thanksgiving and never saw bare ground again until April. This year has been very different — El Nino winters are usually drier and warmer than average in New England as the big storms come up the east coast and go out to sea to our south.
Yikes, 14″ of snow before Thanksgiving – that would be a little overwhelming.
Yes, winter is here, too. I’m glad we didn’t get the worst of it, but five inches was enough. The birds and squirrels have been fun to watch in the snow. đŸ™‚ You are so kind to your birds to give them a warmed bath. đŸ™‚
If I was out there, I’d want a warm bath, too.
Lucky birds to get a jacuzzi. That is a great shot of the red cardinal. We had frosts at the weekend, but are now back to warmer temperatures. Glad your garden survived intact.
Wow! I would probably go into some sort of catatonic hibernation if we got that much snow this early, LOL. Out of morbid curiosity I looked up the earliest monthly snowfall on record for our area, and it’s only happened 8 times since 1947 and with one exception were all 2″ or less. The one exception was in 1989 when we got 7.5″ during November — and then for the ENTIRE rest of the winter only 3″ more fell! Talk about a mood swing, LOL
One extreme to another!!! It is pretty though as are your fortunate birds!!!xxx
Hello Jason, a few days ago we were given a rude interruption to our unusually mild November weather with a few days of cold and frost – no snow though (we are in the South) – but things seem to be warming up again. The days are getting very short though, going to work when it’s only just getting light and coming home long after dark and they’re only going to get shorter!
Surprisingly we were spared…now last year we got hit with lots of wet snow in mid November.
We had an inch of snow this morning but it was all melted by late afternoon.