Never in my life have I witnessed as big a January thaw as over the past two weeks. Two weeks ago today we experienced one of the fiercest blizzards I can remember, but within a few days the temperature was above freezing, even up to 10°C on two different days. the snow started disappearing, and 98% of it has now gone. Here are three photos to mark the transformation.
This was the day after Christmas, no sign of green anywhere except the spruce trees, no deck, no 'ostrich'.
A week later the vast majority of snow is gone, most of it melted at the bottom of the snowpack and drained into the groundwater.
On Friday there were only small patches of snow left, the deck was bare, the 'ostrich' was back to being a heron.
And here's our snow measuring stick, the garden heron. You can start with the top picture when it was totally out of view, buried in the big drift that formed east of the deck, and then follow the sequence of its emergence.
We're back down to below freezing temperatures as of yesterday, and there are snow flurries forecast for tomorrow.
Enjoy the winter of 22-23...it's a new day each day!
ReplyDeleteNow that's a dramatic change. Crazy weather!!
ReplyDeleteWasn't that a shock?! I like the comparison photos. I loathe these melts. I have done yard duty at -20, and I'd prefer that.
ReplyDeleteVery good comparison photographs.
ReplyDeleteOnce again we've had rain today, the garden is very soggy!
All the best Jan
Thawing is a great thing. Take a break before the next snow. I like your progressive shots as the snow melted.
ReplyDeleteThe seasons are so different to when I remember them as a child, long hot summers, winter was predictable. I hope your heron can keep his head out of the snow for a good while.
ReplyDeleteWow you melted!
ReplyDeleteA Jan thaw made lots of mud around here!!
ReplyDeleteHope we get some more snow before it gets real cold again.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. I don't like such radical changes but there's not much I can do about it.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary to think of the climate change that is going on this year in particular. I don't mind the lack of snow on the ground but know that it is abnormal.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, here in England, we had snow before Christmas which is most unusual - even in the days before anyone thought about climate change. Your heron must be wondering what on earth is going on.
ReplyDeleteThe weather is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIncredible! What is happening is scary!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a difference a week can make.
ReplyDeleteIt was the earliest January thaw I can remember and here we are coming up to the time of month for our normal January thaw,. When I look ahead I see our normal January thaw is going to happen as well. If the 14 day weather forecast holds together we will have 9 of 14 daytime temps above and well above freezing:)))).
ReplyDeleteWinter just isn't winter any more, I really miss cold and snow. While we still get occasional snow it doesn't last long and my skis are still in the garage loft and will probably stay there for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteWoah, that is some serious transformation! We've lost pretty much all our snow here in South Dakota as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have learned to expect some sort of January thaw, this came early (starting in December), was very thaw-ish 😀, and has lasted a long time.
ReplyDeleteIf we would stop poisoning Mother Nature, she might stop giving such knee jerk reactions to us.
ReplyDeletea great recap of Ontario's changeable weather.
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