Happy Groundhog Day

[Catherine]

Happy Groundhog Day.
This is the mid point of winter. We have been through six weeks and we have six weeks left to go.
Whatever the groundhog has to say, every day from now on is moving us towards spring.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...VV5VEbPweg

It seems the groundhogs have had a lot to say over the years.

Five fun things about groundhog day:
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...XmHaRTAmzA

I will let you know what the groundhog has to say as soon as he says it.

[Catherine]

It seems there is not a total agreement among groundhogs this year. Actually they seldom agree and they frequently don't get it right.
However in this case I choose to believe what I want to believe.
The Canadian groundhogs say early spring and that is good enough for me.
If they want to have six more weeks of winter in Pennsylvania they are welcome to it.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

So contrary to the evidence of the actual weather outside, I believe we will have an early spring this year.

[LPC]

The weather is Canada and the USA isn't always the same, anyway!

[Catherine]

I'll say. They are having tornadoes south of the border(a long way south) and we are having an ice storm. That means it is warm enough to rain and cold enough for it to freeze on contact with everything. The sidewalks are like greased glass and the ice clinging to buildings  is falling in big sheets. Tree limbs are breaking under the weight and power lines are down in many areas.

The good news, a warm front is one its way and should melt the ice if a cold front doesn't get here first.
We may have an early spring, but winter is still playing with us for a few more weeks.

[LPC]

So maybe the groundhogs are giving their local predictions, so they are all correct, haha!

[Tobi]

Those groundhogs know their latitudes! They are not stupid. They are all good geography students  

I think there is an early Spring here where I live in UK. Snowdrops are everywhere. I saw a handful of tiny Periwinkle flowers the other day, clinging to the ground, but nevertheless, in flower. Buds are on the daffodils...and I even saw one starting to open into a flower yesterday.
Primroses are starting to flower in my garden. But they can go on doing that until June.
However, even though signs of Spring here are early, that is no guarantee we won't get snow yet! We could get snow even until April.

That freezing rain has to be the worst weather Catherine. It is the most dangerous I think, and very unpleasant.

[LPC]

Last year (but not this year) in this part of France we had buds and flowers coming out because of a warm January/February....then a very cold spell damaged them. This year the cold came earlier (December/January) and we hope that all the buds and flowers will survive.

[Catherine]

Quote:Last year (but not this year) in this part of France we had buds and flowers coming out because of a warm January/February....then a very cold spell damaged them. This year the cold came earlier (December/January) and we hope that all the buds and flowers will survive.

It is brutal when that happens. Sometimes they don't recover and you go a year without certain flowers and seeds and fruits.

Quote:That freezing rain has to be the worst weather Catherine. It is the most dangerous I think, and very unpleasant.

It is the most dangerous. Not only is the ground coated with ice and impossible to walk on, everything else is coated with ice and big chunks can fall anytime and anywhere. People get hurt.

We got our warm front to melt the ice, now the cold front has dropped the temperature and it is bitterly cold.

Quote:So maybe the groundhogs are giving their local predictions, so they are all correct, haha!

Quote:Those groundhogs know their latitudes! They are not stupid. They are all good geography students  

This is it. Every city needs its own groundhog to give the local scene. Toronto has groundhogs, we just don't consult them. We would need more than one anyhow. From the east side to the west side and from the north to the south, the weather can vary.
I live closer to the lake and we get all kinds of lake effect weather. The north side can get the edge of something called the Snowbelt. The west gets the prevailing winds first  and sometimes things change after they get into the first river valley.
I don't go to the east side of town so I don't know what happens over there.

I am surprised the groundhogs don't give up weather prediction. They couldn't possibly get it right.