We had snow in Chicago this past weekend, followed by temperatures in the single digits. This puts me in mind of how rude it is for guests to arrive excessively early, as when January decides to show up in November.
The question is, what does this portend for the rest of winter. According to the Weather Channel’s Winter 2019-2020 Outlook just released today, it portends lousy. My part of the country is supposed to have a normally cold December, or something close to it. But January and February are supposed to be in definite “Colder Than Average” country.
This isn’t true for everywhere in the country, so you might want to check out the Outlook yourself. Here’s a link.
Of course, Colder Than Average can mean a lot of things, so it might not be so bad. Or it might be.
November’s sudden attack of cold and snow did a number on many plants that had been holding onto their leaves. Suddenly they went from green to freeze-dried. It was all very abrupt.
It’s unwise to spend a lot of time worrying about something you can’t control, but who said I was wise? I can look on the bright side, though: with the ground frozen, the damn rodents can’t dig up my bulbs.
gardeninacity 
We got clobbered down here too. Very rude indeed!
I wish you endurance and good cheer. Thank you, as always, for sharing your weather and garden with us!
Thanks for the good wishes!
If only Mother Nature would listen and reprimand winter on its rude early arrival. Based upon the number of acorns down here, those rodents should have enough food and leave your tulips alone for sure. 🙂
Unfortunately there are few oaks in this neighborhood.
Hmm, this forecast may portend well for our cherry-picking winter in Quebec, but this last storm sure hammered natives and non-natives alike.
Well, I wish you a successful cherry season. My son lived in Montreal for a year, I know your winters are fierce.
I laughed out loud at your comment about the rodents, but really got me was the photo of you heading off in March. If that’s not an expression of weary resignation on your face, I don’t know what it is. With luck, this snow will melt and things will moderate a bit. You deserve a bit of respite.
I was definitely winter-weary at that point. For now, though, the snow is melting.
Gosh that looks cold!
It was!
Looking at the photo of you in the snow, really brings home to me how difficult every day life must become…..imagine catching planes in that weather? …..if they are able to take off and land.
Here’s hoping the bulbs are enjoying, and growing in this weather.
Judy does a lot of air travel, and winter can definitely play havoc with her schedule.
sitting in airports waiting for delayed flights is no fun..one of my daughters flies a lot…very tiring!
I feel your pain. We are having the same weather here in Maine, and the prediction for January and February is similar to yours. Chuckled over the comment of the rodents and your bulbs.
Well, we’ll all suffer together.
And misery loves company? 😉
LOL at your “silver lining”! Only today has the ground thawed enough from the now-retreating arctic dip for the squirrels to bury their winter stashes. I see them hard at work and just look away; I don’t even want to know where they’re digging. May’s crop of black walnut seedlings will tell the tale…
Very thankful we have no black walnuts nearby. There was a huge one just over the fence when we lived in Wisconsin.
Your cold snap was even reported here and I thought of you and your poor garden, but you are right about the rodents… it will hopefully put a stop to them digging! Hope this doesn’t mean a long and cold winter for you.
That’s what I’m hoping, but it’s best not to dwell on it.
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately looks warmer-than-average for my region. Sigh.
Can we trade?
Oy. Not what you needed.
Snow already? I do call that rude and unnecessary in November. Glad you can find a silver lining. No snow here, just constant rain.
That can be wearying as well.
Oh, how true, about guests arriving excessively early! We (in Kentucky) got the snow and plummeting temps a couple of days after you. We feel your pain. Onward!
Not much choice, is there?
I heard you had gotten snow. We’ve had plenty of cold but no real snow.
It can’t last forever. I’ll be taking photos of skunk cabbages flowering in March as usual.
Yes, better to take the long view.
Oh no! That really does look like a rude arrival!
It certainly was!
You are freezing, Australia is burning and in Italy they are drowning…… I hate Winter !!!
It’s been kind of rough, and it’s barely gotten started.
Over here we can’t complain so far, the watershortage we had is almost solved, we have a bit of nighfrost once in a while…but I don’t like Winter 😀
Well, it’s not winter in Australia . . . or is it? If their months are the same, shouldn’t their seasons be the same too? . . . even if ‘winter’ is the hot and dry fire season?
At the moment it is Spring in Australia, so the hottest weather is still to come…Did you see the map of Australia where you can see where the fires are located ? So if everything is already bone dry, what’s it going to be in Summer !!!??
Australia is one of the few places that gets worse fires than ours. The only advantage is that is not so populous. It takes months for our fire season to develop. It typically starts at the end of summer, although there are often bad fires much earlier. The region is still rather damp in spring. Our fire season just ended a few days ago, with the first storm of the season. If California started out so dry in spring, the fires would be catastrophic.
I’ve seen the Californian fires on tv, so many people lost their homes !
There are so many people here that it is impossible for none to be in the way.
And does insurrance pay for all the damage and burned houses ??
That would depend on individual policies.
Ofcourse you have to have insurance first and I know insurance companies surch for reasons not to pay but it is possible then, at least that is something.
You did make me laugh ! .. about the rodents and bulbs,that is .. Last Saturday I was on my hands and knees trying to break up some soil in the front garden, for those last daff bulbs I wanted to plant .. it was just too frozen out front .. but by golly ? I was able to dig up enough soil in random spots in the back garden to get them in .. no wasted bulbs even though it upset my planting design in the front garden curve, for Spring … there is always next year right ?
This year .. winter came harder and faster than in a multitude of years .. it is going to be a VERY long winter I fear.
I’m afraid you’re right. Glad you got your bulbs planted!
You are looking a bit frosted yourself! According to the link you gave, I am exactly on the line between slightly below and slightly above average for the winter. Which probably means we will have our typical yo-yo temperature swings from too cold to too warm, and no one can predict what season tomorrow will be!
At least it won’t be boring.
Love your attitude!!! The bulbs you planted will do especially well next year!
Thanks! I hope so!
Oh my!!! That is early, it’s looks perishing, as do you in the earlier photo. xxx
That other photo was me after a long winter. As of today the snow is all melted.
I am just getting this almost two weeks late. You must be quite into winter by now. We are just now getting our first real rain since last spring!
So glad you’re getting rain. It’s rainy here right now and not as cold, for the moment.