Claude Clemmons Online » Weather

Spring Raking and Pruning

Claude — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:02:32 +0000

Today was a good one for working outside. I have so much yard work to do, but it is hard to get motivated sometimes. Especially with all the rain we’ve been having. The wet leaves and mud are not conducive ro yard work, and the very few days we’ve had with no rain are days that need to be spent doing other things.

I had an extra hour this morning, so I grabbed my jacket and rake and headed out. The front yard didn’t need much attention – just a few odd burr balls and small twigs. But the back yard is a mess of burr balls, a layer of leaves and lots of twigs and branches that have fallen over the winter months.

Some of the bushes need pruning but I can’t find my pruning shears anywhere. I wasted a good 20 minutes looking through boxes in the garage for those things. Looks like I need a quick trip to Lowe’s to buy another pair of pruning shears and maybe a couple bags of weed and feed for the lawn.

Mud Season

Claude — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:45:53 +0000

The good people up North, like in Maine and New Hampshire, are used to a wet Spring. In fact they brag about having 5 seasons up there, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Mud season.

We have had so much rain here that we are having a Mud Season. I haven’t heard anyone else call it that – maybe I should drop a note to the weatherman on TV and suggest it? I want credit for the phrase, of course. And let’s hope it is over soon so we can move forward to a proper Spring.

No Snow Yet

Claude — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:10:42 +0000

Here we are into January and we have not had “winter” yet. There has not been any snow and it is not cold – knock on wood. Not just here in Tennessee – but most of the country is having unusually warm temperatures. This morning I saw a news report that a lot of ski resorts are having trouble keeping snow on the slopes – it is not cold enough for man made snow. I find this a little troubling. Not that I can do anything about it, but I worry that the lack of snow will mean a drought for many places this spring.

Garden Progress

Claude — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:56:26 +0000

The garden is doing really well this year. I have had to do a little extra watering this week due to lack of ran, but that’s no bother. I just make sure I do all the weeding and watering early in the day – before the bugs come out. I think I hate swatting bugs worse than pulling weeds.

We should have plenty of tomatoes by the Fourth of July and the squash is almost ready to pick for some tender baby summer squash slices. That reminds me I need to find the summer squash casserole recipe that my telephone guy was bragging about.

Bad Weather

Claude — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:45:18 +0000

The phone ringing at 5:00 am woke me up. My daughter was freaking out because we had some severe thunderstorms and her power went out. So she had no way to know if there were tornado warnings going on or not. I turned on the local news and saw that it was just a storm blowing over and promised to call her back if I heard anything worse headed her way.

Of course, I can’t go back to sleep after all of that. So I’m, up, tired and cranky. Happy freaking Tuesday, people.

Four Weeks to the Day

Claude — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:23:51 +0000

The cool thing about the month of February is that it is exactly 4 weeks long. And that means that whatever day of the week a certain falls on in February, the same date will fall on the same day in March. So, if February 1 falls on a Tuesday, the March 1 will also fall on a Tuesday. Plus, February is last of winter for these parts. Spring is almost here.

September Already

Claude — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:11:28 +0000

Here it is September and only four months left in 2010. The year is dissolving quickly. The weather has turned cooler, the trees will be bursting into bright colors in a couple of weeks. Next thing you know it will be Christmas and then a New Year.

Already Melting

Claude — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:56:58 +0000

Well, parts of the state got about 6 inches of snow, but at my house we have about 4 inches and it is already melting.Of course, all the schools are closed in the interest of safe driving by school bus drivers who have to go up the treacherous mountain roads covered with snow and ice.

The snow was very dry and not the kind that makes a good snowball or snowman, but seems to be good for sledding. I have seen some neighborhood kids dragging sleds behind them as they walk down the road toward the farm. The snow would have blown about if there had been any wind. Thankfully, we didn’t have much wind and there are not large drifts anywhere that I can see.

We just have to let the sun do its job and melt this damn stuff. I’m not going to waste my time shoveling snow when it will be melted in a day or two.

Here comes the snow

Claude — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:54:55 +0000

We’ve had some snow already but now the “big one” seems to be headed our way. The weather forecast is for anywhere between 3 inches and a foot of accumulation. It just depends on whether the approaching storm from Texas and Oklahoma end up head straight East or if it takes a utrn to the north. We’ll see by morning which way it goes.

Sprites are Real

Claude — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:12:11 +0000

I’m the first to admit that I am obsessed with the weather. I keep an ear and an eye out for weather alerts and watch the skies for signs of rain or storms. I’m especially cautious when it comes to lightning, as a good friend of mine was killed in a lightning strike just a couple years ago.

For years pilots and other non-scientists have known about a natural phenomenon with lightning, called Sprites. These are short bursts of light that rise up above the storm clouds and then fall back down into the cloud. They last for just the blink of an eye, so it was hard to capture them on film until this past decade or so. Now we do have cameras and video of the sprites and they look like amazingly like jellyfish for their short violent lives. I saw a video of sprites on the LiveScience web site.