HERD ABOUT IT?

by ana grarian

We have had, overall, a wonderful summer in CNY. I say that with a bit of trepidation because it is warming up again. The summer started off quite hot, but just about time I was going to give in to the air conditioner, it cooled off again. Daytime temperatures have been comfortably warm. Definitely shorts and tank top weather, but not – someone please shoot me now weather.It has been a great summer for getting things done. A fan is enough to cool you off and the nights get down cool enough to sleep.
It’s also been a bit peculiar. Our hottest day was in June. Don’t let the official sites fool you. We’ve had temperatures of 100 degrees this summer. For some reason all the stats are taken up on the hills with no record kept from downtown. Now normally our hottest weather would be hot and humid in July and hot and dry in August. I’m not complaining at all.

I’ve tried to find out why the weather is skewed, but apparently my googling skills are insufficient.
Mostly I would like to know what the prognosis is for the winter.If I have to shovel, I’ll take it in stride, as the past few years have had disturbingly low amouns of snow. Last year I think I had to sweep my sidealks a couple of times.
We’ve had plenty of rain, and though we started out the year with 10% of the Northeast US in drought conditions, we currently are 100% out of drought. That is a good thing. So far it has happened without an awful lot of flooding, but some locations have had some devastation. (Did you know that US aid to flood damaged areas is based on $$ of damage? So, wipe out a few McMansions and they get aid to rebuild, wipe out a poor neighborhood, and the community gets nada. Thank goodness for skilled Pastors and helpful neighbors)
We had an interesting storm here. 5 inches of rain in a rather short time that wiped all the gullies and ravines (we have a lot of them) clean of debris and residue. One local highway was strewn from top to bottom and side to side with rocks. The deep ditches which are filled with large rocks were rippled from the water pushing down hill. Many folks lost driveways.
Gardens have of course flourished in this weather. Lawns are green and trees are full. Many flowers have grown so tall they need to be staked up.I haven’t heard how the farmers are doing. So many folks do haylage rather than dry hay, so I don’t hear as much about baling problems. I’ll have to ask next Sunday at church.
To all the folks experiencing drought and wildfires in the west. I wish you all the best, and wish that we could share some rainfall with you. I’ve never experienced a wildfire, nor a forest fire of any kind. It must be nerve-wracking. And of course devastating when it hits your home. Nature is a powerful force to be respected.