Tag Archives: Weather

Dare we Dream of Spring? Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2011

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Update 2011-02-02: Flatbush Fluffy didn’t see his shadow this morning. He did see his reflection in the sheet of ice that covers everything. Not sure what that means.

The snow in the backyard – undisturbed by shoveling, snowblowers, drifts, and pedestrian traffic, save for a few small, furry quadrupeds – is above my knees, about two feet. As I write this on the eve of the last day of January 2011, there is yet another Winter Storm Watch in effect, the billionth this Winter.

For the first day of February, the National Weather Service predicts snow, snow and sleet, freezing rain, sleet and snow, ice, freezing rain, snow and sleet, snow, then freezing rain, in that order. That’s just Tuesday. It continues into Wednesday, Groundhog Day, with much the same result. The sole consolation is that come Imbolc morn, Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will not see his shadow. Dare we dream of Spring?

Flatbush Fluffy

The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.

Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2, has its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolog [Wikipedia: Imbolc]. The date is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year, the midpoints between the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstice.
– NOBLE Web: Groundhog Day

The other cross-quarter days are Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain, associated with All Hallow’s eve, Halloween. The quarter days are the equinoxes and solstices, dates I also like to observe on this blog. The cross-quarter days fall between the quarter days. At the Spring equinox, day-length is at its mid-point, but the rate of change in day-length is near its peak. At Imbolc, day-length acceleration is near its peak; we are rushing toward Spring and Summer.

This is my fifth annual Groundhog Day post.This May will be the fifth anniversary of this blog. I am grateful for all the grace and privileges that have allowed me to continue doing this, and grateful for all my readers, friends, and community this endeavor has brought me over the years.

Regardless of the weather.

Related posts

2010
2009
2008
2007

Links

Wikipedia: Imbolc

Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2010

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Update, 2010-02-02: Swing, and a miss. It’s overcast this morning. The sun is up, and visible over the rooftops, but no shadows. Spring will arrive on time! (Oh, and my neighbor’s Snowdrops are up, if not yet in bloom.)

If the National Weather Service forecast for tomorrow morning is correct on this point, the sky will be clear for dawn in Flatbush. Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow, promising six more weeks of Winter.

Flatbush Fluffy

Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2, has its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolog [Wikipedia: Imbolc]. The date is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year, the midpoints between the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstice.
– NOBLE Web: Groundhog Day

The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.

Related posts

2009
2008
2007

Links

Wikipedia: Imbolc

Winter Storm Warning

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Update 2009-03-02 08:00: Just back from shoveling a few hundred square feet of steps, walkway and sidewalk. Snow is 5″ deep on the sidewalk, 6-6.5″ deep on the ground, drifting higher. Snow is still falling, and predictions are for another 2-4″ during the day on top of what we already have from last night.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the New York City tri-state area from 6pm tonight through 6pm Monday evening. A “major snowstorm” will drop 6 to 14 inches of snow, depending on location, with wind gusts up to 35 MPH.

The point forecast for Flatbush is projecting accumulations of over 13″ and steady winds of over 25 MPH.

Alternate side parking rules are suspended city-wide to facilitate snow removal.

Update 2009-03-02: All NYC public schools are closed, the first time in five years.

Links

Snow Along the East Coast, NASA Earth Observatory, 2009-03-03

Hazards: Winter Weather, NYC OEM

Brooklyn Last Frost Date and Spring Planting Calendar

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  1. Go to the Spring Planting Calendar setup by Skippy’s Vegetable Garden
  2. Enter the date 04/21/2009 as the “Last Spring Frost” date for Brooklyn.
  3. Click the [Generate …] button.
  4. See how late you already are!

The hardest part of figuring out when to start seeds or set out plants is knowing when the “last frost date” is for your location. NOAA has a set of charts of frost and freeze dates on their Web site, one for each state, with a set of date for each of their measuring stations. Here’s the explanation NOAA provides:

This product contains station freeze/frost probability tables for each state. Given are the dates of probable first and last occurrence … and the probability of experiencing a given temperature, or less … probabilities are given for three temperatures (36, 32, and 28 °f) at three probability levels (10, 50, and 90 percent).

The chart for New York state [PDF] lists four stations in New York City, including one on Avenue V in Brooklyn. Let’s look at the Spring-relevant subsection of the New York state table for NOAA’s Brooklyn station:

Threshold (F) 90% 50% 10%
36 Apr01 Apr11 Apr21
32 Mar21 Apr01 Apr13
28 Mar10 Mar24 Apr07

To get the “last frost date” for Brooklyn, I chose the most conservative – the safest – values: the highest of the three temperatures, 36F, and the 10% probability threshold. The date given is April 21. That means that there’s only a 10% chance that the temperature will drop to 36F or lower on or after April 21, so that’s the date I used for “Last Spring Frost” in the Spring Planting Calendar.

Links

Spring Planting CalendarSkippy’s Vegetable GardenNOAA charts of frost and freeze dates

Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2009!

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The sun has not yet risen this morning, but the sky is clear as dawn lightens to day. It’s likely that “Flatbush Fluffy”, the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow today, if only he would get out of bed.

Happy Groundhog Day!

It’s a very different Imbolc than last year. Yesterday and today are the first days since December that I remember we had nighttime temperatures above freezing, which is a deep freeze for us. Last year was the first NYC January without snow in 75 years. This Winter we’ve been hit with multiple snow storms. I think we’re up to five. Also unlike this time last year, there’s been no sign of my Spring early warning system: snowdrops and crocuses. So I guess we really are in for a few more weeks of Winter.

Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2, has its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolog [Wikipedia: Imbolc]. The date is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year, the midpoints between the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstice. – NOBLE Web: Groundhog Day

The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.

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Related posts

2008
2007

Links

Wikipedia: Imbolc

Winter Wonderland

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The south side of Albemarle Road looking east from Rugby Road around 10am this morning.
Albemarle Road, south side, looking east from Rugby Road

After shoveling and de-icing the steps and sidewalk this morning, I walked over to the landmarked Prospect Park South Historic District for the photo op. I’m glad I did. I was rewarded with these beautiful, snowy images.

I concentrated on Albemarle Road as part of my research into the history of its design and documentation of the current landscape for my Urban Garden Design class at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Somebody has to do it.

Looking toward the northwest corner of Albemarle and Rugby Roads
Albemarle and Rugby Roads, Northwest corner

Albemarle Road, South side, looking west from Buckingham Road. Behind the chain link fence on the left lies the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden.
Albemarle Road, South side, looking west from Buckingham Road

Details

The border of Prospect Park South is delineated by these brick posts surmounted with concrete planters. The street labels have been replaced at least once, having been weathered to near-illegibility from a century of exposure. The monogram is “PPS”: Prospect Park South.
Gatepost, Beverly and Westminster Roads

Some of Brooklyn’s famous parrots were flocked high up in the top of this snowy American Elm tree on Albemarle Road. There are three parrots in this cropped image. If I were to produce an invasive species calendar, this would be a good image for it.
Brooklyn Parrots in Snowy American Elm

Oak Leaves
Oak Leaves

Holly, Flatbush Malls, Albemarle Road
Holly

Branches, Flatbush Malls, Albemarle Road
Branches, Flatbush Malls, Albemarle Road

Lantern, 131 Buckingham Road, “The Japanese House”
Lantern, 131 Buckingham Road

Houses

1203 Albemarle Road
1203 Albemarle Road

1305 Albemarle Road
1305 Albemarle Road

1406 Albemarle Road / 135 Rugby Road, Prospect Park South, Flatbush, Brooklyn
135 Rugby Road / 1406 Albemarle Road
1406 Albemarle Road / 135 Rugby Road

1505 Albemarle Road
1505 Albemarle Road

1510 Albemarle Road
1510 Albemarle Road

143 Buckingham Road
143 Buckingham Road

131 Buckingham Road
131 Buckingham Road

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Flickr photo set

Winter Weather Advisory

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The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory to replace the earlier Winter Storm Watch. The predicted amount of snow has been reduced, but freezing rain is now predicted for much of the area, including Brooklyn.

THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS
MORNING TO 8 AM EST SUNDAY.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER THIS MORNING…BEFORE SPREADING
FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE TO
FALL INTO TONIGHT…THEN MIX WITH RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN. THIS
WINTRY MIX ENDS SUNDAY MORNING.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL RANGE FROM 2 TO 5
INCHES WITH LOWER AMOUNTS WITHIN A FEW MILES OF THE ATLANTIC
WHERE THERE IS THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR A PERIOD OF RAIN OR
FREEZING RAIN. SOME ICING IS EXPECTED AS WELL LATE TONIGHT INTO
EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.

Winter Storm Watch this Weekend

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Update 2009.01.10: Changed to a Winter Weather Advisory

Snow!

Likely to put a damper on this weekend’s Mulchfest activities, a Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Saturday morning through Sunday morning for the NYC Metropolitan area. Snow will be greater the more north you are, but we’ll still have enough to shovel here in Brooklyn:

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST
AREA BEGINNING EARLY SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE SPREADING FROM WEST
TO EAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE TO FALL
THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES…ESPECIALLY
ACROSS THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT.

DEPENDING ON THE TRACK OF THE LOW…SOME SLEET MAY MIX WITH THE
SNOW…ESPECIALLY ACROSS NEW YORK CITY AND SURROUNDING COASTAL
LOCATIONS. THIS WILL HELP LIMIT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL RANGE FROM 6 TO 8
INCHES ACROSS THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND INTERIOR CONNECTICUT…
AND FROM 5 TO 7 INCHES ACROSS NEW YORK CITY…WESTCHESTER COUNTY
AND COASTAL PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.

Update: I chatted with “Prospect Park” on Facebook and confirmed that they’re still on for tomorrow:

FG: Mulchfest still on despite winter storm watch?
PP: so far, yes! if the weather turns extreme and they do have to scale back the event, we will post on our homepage, www.prospectpark.org. Seems unlikely though.
FG: Thanks! I plan to dress for the weather and hope to be there. At Park Circle location

Related Content

Snow

Happy Holidays

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The MTA thwarted our plans to attend a concert of a women’s choir this evening. So Blog Widow and I turned back and walked around our neighborhood, taking in the snow-beings and holiday lights.

Enjoy this slideshow of my Flickr set of photos from the evening. For best viewing, click the play button, then click the icon with four arrows in the lower-right to view it full-screen on a black background.

Related Content

Flickr set

Winter Storm Watch

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A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Brooklyn and the south shore of Long Island for tomorrow, with the possibility of 6 or more inches of snow:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON [New York] HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION FRIDAY MORNING…AND COULD BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH SLEET AND RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON…ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 OR MORE INCHES.