First snow of the year

vickeym

Woke to our first snow this morning. Snowed till mid afternoon. Fortunately it was warm enough it did not stick. Raining now, so won't be anything on the ground for morning. But more in the forecast. So not ready yet. lol

Michelle D

@vickeym snow in October is not common here. I wouldn't be ready either! I'm just starting to get used to the shorter daylight hours.

LaurieLovesLearning

@vickeym We had a threat of snow last week. If we did get any in that night, it had melted by morning.

We have not yet seen snow. I've still got a lot to do, so it can wait a while yet.

All I have left to get from the garden is a few seeds and the sunflower heads. Portions of the garden have already been tilled.

Torey

Not ready here, either. We've had two nights in a row of -2C, but still very warm during the day. 20C this afternoon. So I'm hoping it (the "s" word) is in the far distant future.

At the top of my list for tomorrow is getting garlic in the ground. So that will involve raking leaves, too, for cover.

I have one cabbage left and quite a few beets and carrots still to deal with. Then the garden will be pretty much done. Hubby has started tilling some of the already emptied beds.

vickeym

We have had heavy dusting of snow a couple times so far. Nothing has stuck... yet. But it will be soon. Forecast over the next ten days has highs in the freezing range. Not looking good for getting my walking onions that arrived last week into the ground. Was hoping for a bit warmer temperatures so I could get them in without them freezing and not surviving the winter and having a chance to grow.

VermontCathy

10 days to Halloween, and we still haven't had first frost! I have harvested just about everything in the garden, though. Frost will kill the last few tomato plants, and then we'll be in fall/winter garden.

jowitt.europe

we had rain in the valley yesterday. The mountain tops 2500m - 3000m are already white. The first skiing World Cup is next week in Sölden. It is more and more controversial to have ski races so early in the year. They use a lot of artificial snow. The driving force is profit, of course. The organizers want to bring skiing tourists as early as possible. At the cost of nature.

Torey

Snow was in the forecast for us tomorrow but that changed to mid-week and now it seems to have been taken right out of the forecast for the next week. Chilly, though. Highs of 0C starting mid-week with overnight lows down to -9C (15F).

We have had fresh snow a couple of hours east of me, in the mountains above 3000 m. That isn't uncommon for this time of year and actually might be a bit late.

Snow is forecast for the northeastern section of the province tomorrow but that is quite a long way from me.

vickeym

We still don't have snow in the forecast, but the cold is here for sure. Highest temperature I saw on Friday was 30F. Yesterday it was 6F at 9:30 am. This morning was 8F. Was a bit chilly in the house yesterday morning. We heat with wood and neither of us woke up through the night so didn't put any more wood in the stove. It was 55F in the house.

LaurieLovesLearning

We are getting rain today, but there is 5-10 cm of snow supposedly coming. There are quite a few days with snow in the forecast. Our highs drop from today, with two days' highs at the freezing mark. Our lowest low forecast at this point is -10.

We'll see what develops. I'm so very much not ready. Some windows, & yard cleaning need to be done. Bird pens still need to get ready too.

VermontCathy

We kinda-sorta had first frost last night, with some frost on the windshield of the car left outside. But I didn't see any elsewhere, and even the tomatoes seem to have survived. The low appears to have been about 32 - 33F.

There's no frost in the forecast for the coming week, with lows of about 42F, so it looks like we will be in November before we get a "real" frost.

Torey

I felt a tiny bit of rain yesterday when we were out for a walk. Almost not noticeable. However, an hour east of us had a dusting of snow. Its cold this morning, though. -7C at the moment, dropping to -10C tonight.

We have no snow in the forecast for the next week for my immediate area but other parts of BC are getting it. Up to 6 inches forecast for the southern mountain passes and the northeast corner of the province has received some snow over the past couple of days.

Does everyone in possible snow regions have their winter tires on yet? We put our studs on 2 weeks ago.

LaurieLovesLearning

And, we have snow. We should have 10-20 cm by the time it's done on Wednesday, they say.

We got a lot done today, and will be heading out again right away until it gets dark. Hopefully we get a lot more done. We probably only have an hour left of light.

It isn't supposed to get above freezing for at least the next week. This reminds me of the winter weather we always got, when I was young, around this time.

Winter tires will be going on our daughter's vehicle this weekend.

MissPatricia

Snow? It almost makes me miss living in New York or Pennsylvania. I like the snow, but hate driving in dangerous conditions. Also cannot stand the cold. But pictures of snow still excite me.

vickeym

@MissPatricia I'm right there with you. I like to look at it but being cold or driving in it, not so much. And my job is a driver. lol

Michelle D

We just had our first frost a couple of days ago. I think snow is still a long way off.

LaurieLovesLearning

@MissPatricia @vickeym For me, it depends. Sometimes I like the adventure of driving in the snow in not the best of conditions (blizzard... ice not so much). It can be pretty exciting. Thankfully, we've always made it to our destination, even if we need to change our plans for some reason.

I remember doing so many times with my parents when we went to my grandparents' for Christmas (usually it was very cold & in a snowstorm). I also remember being in the car with very cold toes in my boots too. :( That part was never fun. Getting stuck in a certain place on the road when we were within a mile if their house was exciting. That back road could sure fill up!

I get more concerned about driving in the winter if it's one of our kids who are out somewhere.

The other reason I like snow/blizzardy weather is that is can (occasionally) give everyone a reason to have to stop & stay put at home & enjoy staying put & being warm. Summer doesn't give that gift.

I guess I'm getting more accepting of the snow. Surprisingly, I wasn't as excited to see it this year. I guess I've been so busy, and our fall strange enough, I wasn't quite ready to welcome it as usual.

I will appreciate the clean air!

vickeym

@LaurieLovesLearning what a great point of view. We rarely get shut down for snow. Though occasionally the schools do. Most jobs still open and expect you to be there.

I deliver food to seniors and disabled so many of them count on me bringing them food in order to eat. Plus in our area things are pretty spread out. Friday was 111 miles for my route. Most of it on back roads which are not plowed or can take a lot of time to get plowed.

That part isn't as much fun. Lol

But I am going to work on seeing it in a better point of view this year. Thanks for the new perspective.

Michelle D

We are getting snow now. It was not in the forecast. I'm hoping it doesn't stick. I'm not at all ready.

Torey

Well, its here. Sort of. It started raining about an hour ago but the temp dropped and we have a dusting of wet snow on the ground now. However, its raining again so its not going to last long.

The original forecast a couple of days ago said we were going to get 10-15 cm (4-6"). That changed yesterday to a forecast of rain and this morning it has changed to include both rain and snow. After today they are saying no chance of frost for several days and daytime highs of 8-9 C so any more precipitation will be in the form of rain.

That's a very good thing. We need some of that moisture to sink into the ground if possible. The humidity has been very low; things are so dry. Even though we've had overnight lows down to -12 C several nights, our gravel road is still very dusty. No moisture to freeze in the ground.

I have to go out today but will wait for a couple of hours so I can avoid any slushy patches that I might run into at higher elevations. There is a climb (and then a drop) of several hundred feet between me and town.

vickeym

We got around 2 inches of snow the last couple days. Rained lightly on it late yesterday afternoon then turned back to snow. About an inch in the forecast today. But starting Sunday and through Thursday forecast if for about 17 inches with almost 8 inches just on Tuesday.

It looks like we are in for an interesting week of driving. :(

LaurieLovesLearning

@vickeym That's a lot of snow!

We have snow for quite some time already, but not that much. It seems to keep coming, though.

Apparently, our soil temperature is currently at +3°C (so just above 32°F). We are supposed to get temperatures just at or above freezing for the next week, with a possible spike up to 8°C on Tuesday.

The moisture is badly needed here too, but I am hoping that after this, that the ground freezes, then we get lots of snow to cover that. I want it to stay at that point & the roads to be bare.

vickeym

@LaurieLovesLearning I want similar results. We don't really need the moisture, it rained basically "ALL" summer and fall. But we have had freezing or below for some time now and the 10 day forecast the highest we get is 29F with lows reaching down to 7F.

I would prefer we get snow before we get the freezing temperatures. When the ground has a chance to freeze it takes forever for things to drain during breakup, (when things are melting.) Leaves everything icy and more dangerous

LaurieLovesLearning

@vickeym I prefer frozen mainly for the benefit of having my "unskirted" chicken pens having the protection of frozen ground.

Also, when I was at the nursery, I learned that putting water down around tree roots so that it can freeze around them for the winter offers both root protection and a good "first watering" in the spring. This gives the tree a better start as everything thaws.

I thought we'd got that done, but since our ground is still so warm at that depth, we should most likely give them one more drink after our warmest day coming up.

Torey

@vickeym I was just watching the news and saw that Anchorage has received record snowfalls. Over 5 feet going through some of the passes! WOW!

Did you get a similar amount?

We keep having snow in the long range forecast but by the time the dates get here, it has changed to rain. So we still have nothing on the ground in my area. There is some about an hour east of me and the mountain passes to the south of me have had snow warnings a couple of times. A high of 8C (47F) for today with mixed sun and cloud. Didn't even freeze last night.

vickeym

@Torey Right now we only have a couple inches ours is due to start tomorrow evening. But it looks like it will keep snowing from there for a week or more with a lot predicted almost every day. Some days showed as much as 7.7 inches for the one day. Not looking forward to that much that fast.