I had to laugh at the ‘Antarctica’ comment. He’s not wrong because the Polar Vortex has been pumping Arctic air into the US for a couple of weeks now. My youngest brother used to live an hour north of us & he keeps saying ‘I told you it would be cold’ ... it’s colder here than our Old House by 5-10 degrees which doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a difference. Average snowfall here is 16” and at the Old House it’s 10” and most years, we didn’t get much at all. Little bro has been living on the coast for some years now and the climate is actually ‘subtropic’ ... he likes to remind me of that when his garden is going great guns & I haven’t been able to plant yet, or we’re freezing with snow & he’s able to get on the beach with much warmer weather.
Anyway, we are going to be very cold again with snow squalls Friday, then highs just in the 20’s for the weekend. After Monday, there is a warming trend as the Polar Vortex retreats toward Siberia. My favorite non-TV professional weather met says this weekend will be the last of the really cold Arctic temps - I hope he’s right!
In the meanwhile, back in Florida, the cold snap has cold-stunned iguanas dropping out of trees! The FL wildlife folks are asking people to turn them in - they’re invasive and this is a good way to get rid of a lot of them .... they’re humanely euthanized.
As “frozen” iguanas rain down in Florida, wildlife officials say: Don’t just film them — turn them in
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/frozen-iguanas-fwc-disposal-sites-cold-weather/
Snowfall average here is around 28-30”. The first year we moved we had 60”. A snow blower was hubby’s Christmas present the next year, and he has made good use of it ever since. I still use the shovel for when it’s not so much at one time, but when you get more than 3” in an overnight, it gets too heavy for me to use. Out comes the snowblower.
A subtropic climate sometimes sounds lovely. Does it get very hot there in the summer? 5-10 is a big difference. When we first moved to Ohio, I thought 5 degrees would be fine, but it was quite the adjustment for me!
Those “frozen” iguanas are interesting. Scoop em up and get rid of them!
Thanks for the info on the frozen iguanas. I’d read about it, but no-one mentioned what was done with them. Were they lovingly nursed back to health? Tossed in a freezer for safekeeping until the weather warmed up? Turns out “humanely euthanized” is their fate. Just as well.
Living in the Mid Atlantic area for many years I have been enjoying a tolerable climate. I do remember decades ago, waiting for a bus to work and seeing a bank temp of 2f, and not enjoying the memory again. However, the big shock was going to college in the Mid West. First winter saw temps of -24 to -26f before slacks and leggings were fashionable for women. My knees would be nearly frozen by the time I arrived at first class, and bright burning red as I left for the next one. Nice, however, to be able to store all that fattening free cafeteria food between the window and storm window in my dorm room. Thanks heavens the next winter long lower garments were the fashion.
The first summer in my own off campus room we had a week of 105 to 107 temps with nights around 90 and NO AC. My future husband had a scholarship at a Mid Atlantic school and I moved there to marry. After school the promised job did not materialize and he wanted to return to the Mid West guaranteed job. I told him our marriage would not survive Mid West weather, so it survived for 44 years near the Atlantic Ocean he loved, and his beloved boat, until Alzheimer’s got him.
Now, back to gardens. I had bought a lot of bulbs—tulip, daffodil, crocus, hyacinth. I got some planted in Zones 6 and 7, before premature winter got in the way. Can I plant them usefully in Zone 7 if our ground thaws in the next few weeks?