Where’s the Snow?

December 14, 2011 - A rainy days in the woods. Will 2012 be another mild winter?

I went outside this evening to put out the dumpster for tomorrow’s garbage pick-up. At this time of the night (7:30 pm) the temperatures should be dropping. Instead it has climbed two degrees to 58° over the past hour. All the Thanksgiving weekend snow has melted as well. This weather wouldn’t be unusual if the calendar showed October, but today is December 3^rd. At the very minimum, the ground should be blanketed with a layer of the white stuff and evening temperatures hovering in the 20’s.

It looks again like another mild winter. Of course, Mother Nature has a way of making me eat my words and this spell of unusually warm temperatures could change overnight into a blizzard. But for this late in the year, I am appreciative of the warmer than normal temperatures. No boots, mittens or heavy coats are required. I don’t have to scrape ice off my windshield or turn up the car seat heaters.

But it does give me pause to wonder what this strange weather is doing to the wildlife and plant life outdoors. Are the bears, chipmunks and bats hibernating? If they are not, will they be unprepared if and when winter does arrive? What will happen to their life cycles if they don’t get the requisite 3-4 months of deep sleep?

Many animals time their breeding seasons to correspond with spring births. With a warmer winter, will babies be born in January and February, rather than in March and April? And will they survive if the weather returns to its normal blustery pattern?

I recall last winter when all my forsythia bushes began to bud in February. Many of the buds dropped off the branches, unable to grow in the colder temps that returned after the warm spell. The local orchard crops took a beating as well when unusually warm March temperatures accelerated the flowering of cherry and apple trees. Then April came and the temperatures plummeted, killing the blossoms, ruining most of the year’s crops.

As I write, heavy rain has started to pour down. I am grateful for the high temperatures for there will be no icy roads tomorrow. But it is winter and living in this area of the state, snow is expected. Businesses here depend upon it and the employees whose livelihoods rely on tourism and winter activities will pay a large price as well. With a sigh of resignation, I have to admit, it is time for snow and winter to come.