The Spell Has Broken
The local news station reported it as ‘the bull-headed high pressure ridge’ when referring to our highly unusual stretch of clear cold weather since the middle of January. After the buckets of moisture we experienced since the beginning of the rain year that started October 1st, it was as if a fire hose had dried up and nothing but a few days of minimal moisture graced the area. Our ridge had given us lots of sunshine but those cold nights with daytime temperatures hovering around the freezing point, the ground did not have a chance to thaw before re-freezing the next night.
Unless there is an outright rampage, broken structures and missing critters, I would hesitate to call anything bull-headed but the weather has had me concerned about the year ahead.
During the last 24 hours the weather pattern has changed dramatically. Upon waking up in yesterday I noticed the outside thermometer read above the freezing mark, the first time in the last two weeks. By 10am we could see miniscule bits of moisture in the air, not actually falling as rain since they were so tiny but floating around as if unsure how to fall.
By the time for evening chores, rain gear was needed as the rain was pelting down in a steady beat. That on top of frozen ground barely melting the hard pack frost and leaves a slippery mud layer that is hard to walk on. Even the cows are extra careful to stay to the paths that they had packed down flat over the last cold stretch since veering off could hurt their hooves.
This morning the rain gauge showed 64/100ths of an inch of rain and everything re-froze over night with a rain/snow/pellet mix. I had to bring the gauge inside to allow the frozen moisture to release the tube for emptying. Everything outdoors is covered in a lumpy thick coating of ice. Each blade of grass, each needle on the trees are all weighed down and the county road is very slick. Now we wait for the sunrise, the temperature hovered around 30 degrees all night long so it should not take too long for the ice to disappear.