Stormfly

If you want to see them coming out of the ground night time is the time!

Checked the trees, oaks and maples seem to have the most.  The trees sound alive!  They are ascending the trunks like armies.  It's definitely going to be getting louder!  Also can't believe the number of stag (beetles), slugs and earthworms out on this dry night.  Firefly numbers going up too.  The woods is alive!

1 hour ago, H2O said:

If you stand under a tree with lots of shells around it you WILL get hit by falling cicadas

It's not the only thing you get hit by!

I distinctly remember in 2004 near Columbia I was in the woods and during a sunny day it felt like a very light drizzle under the tree canopy.  Later I learned that "shower" was cicada pee!

Dogs want to go outside all the time now, not surprised!

Also, the birdbath needs to be washed out several times a day now.  Full of wings and other bits.  Blue Jays and Crows constantly quarreling over six legged catch.

We've had some wind gusts and every time I check it looks smoky, there is so much pollen in the air it's nuts.  We definitely need some rain.

Definitely more coming out near dusk.  Found a few wiggling out of their holes making it to the fence.  Here's a fellow coming out of his shell.

Looks like a little gremlin!

They have arrived here!

Hearing chorus in the distance.  Birds going crazy, ants too!

Found one on an oak tree, it was making a crackling noise as its spongy head emerged.  Several white ones and a few wingless ones.  Definitely have the dogs' attention now.

As I'm typing this on my macbook near the patio door I can hear the whirring noise that sounds like a small power tool in the distance.  We have several bird feeders untouched and no wonder!  It's like filling the dog bowls with kibble and leaving a few filets lying on the floor!  LOL

Hardly anything around the pines and spruce trees.  Probably don't like conifers.  Not that I blame 'em!  The fence line closest to maple and pin oak trees is strewn with exoskeletons.  Also seeing them by the dozen on oak leaf clusters.  Every little puff of wind a bunch of 'em fly away.  Still pretty clumsy fliers at this age.  No wonder they succumb to birds.  But they survive in numbers...

1 hour ago, Always in Zugzwang said:

Meh.  Everyone knows how this plays out in the end.  You and @psuhoffman will end up with the best cicada-death-bands when everyone else gets cicada-slotted at some point! 

At our home 1987 and 2004 were not bad at all! My neighbor who was there in 1970 said it wasn't bad either.  I'd say we're probably due for the same.

I recall them very well in 2004 in Clarksville and the Timonium Lutherville area.  Daily car washings, severe young tree damage, sidewalks covered with them and unpassable unless you're donning logger boots.  And the noise! No thanks!  Careful what you wish for!

6 hours ago, CAPE said:

Guidance continues to suggest the High will shift westward this weekend, allowing for backdoor cold front/possible showers/t-showers with some energy rotating down from SE Canada.

Still looks pretty dry overall.

Mount Holly has backed off on the heat here for late week though. Highest temps now mid 80s.

Still about 20 degrees warmer than ideal.

11 hours ago, mappy said:

I go out every day and look, nothing. Hoping this weeks warmer weather will help up here, its been way too chilly for weeks. 

Yes the chilly temps definitely delay 'em but the heat is coming. I'm sure the 20 or so farm cats around here are gonna have a field day with 'em!

3 hours ago, mappy said:

still nothing. 

Look around the base of oaks and maples.  This weekend I've found lots of bores, kind of spooky looking!

I see they have the small trees covered along Putty Hill Ave in front of the high school.

Has anyone seen fireflies yet?

With these chilly days and even chillier nights it's going to postpone them.  Then a 85 degree day and the next night they will go boom!  2019 was a crazy season and the peak was earlier.  First week of June it was incredible how many we had under the forest canopy.  Almost avatar like (the movie).  By the second week of July they were nearly gone.

Fantastic round (of weather) inbound, wonder how long it will last AND how much it will cost!

What a strange weather day!

I like it weather wise but was miffed at the interruption in work outside!

10 hours ago, chris21 said:

We get more triple digit heat than we ever did before. Check out the new averages.

Not here.  Last hottest day for us was 07-22-2019 and that didn't quite reach the century mark. Nice electrical show that night was worth the broil I guess.  Best weather would be mid 70s and low in low 60s.  Mostly sunny.  Year 'round!

This time of the year in NE MD we get the cold air damming blues, it will be foggy/cloudy and in the 50s and DC will be in the lower 80s and sunny.

8 minutes ago, PrinceFrederickWx said:

Keep it chilly- we have June through September to do our usual non-stop torch, so I'll take what I can get.

Exactly!

We don't really get blistering triple digit heat any more.  90s with mid to upper 70s dews are worse!
Yesterday felt great!

Love the coolth!

Neighbor has his woodstove going.  It beats sweating and 70 dews, surely we'll be up against those walls soon enough!

4 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

You finally identified a few posts back this specific owl species that's been stalking my backyard, @Stormfly....and then I finally caught one on camera last night just a few minutes after midnight! Video quality is meh (it's a Blink camera), but you can see it fly in at lower left, probably going after a frog or mouse on the patio. I was excited to capture this, as I've only ever seen them as swooping silhouettes in past years!

 

If you have enough lights to draw bugs it will draw toads.  We get plenty of fist sized toads around here.  Those can be annoying themselves (their "song" is a continuous cricket like sound).  The owls love 'em!

1 hour ago, psuhoffman said:

@mappy hope you’re paying attention. That tornadic cell is heading towards you. Tornado from that just missed my uncle in Shenandoah Junction WV earlier. He said he saw it. 

 

 

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Petered out well before the county line.  They usually do or veer south. Nice relaxing shower now, a few rumbles of thunder.  Biggest performers of the night are the Gray Tree Frogs.  They are out in full force.  The hooters (Barred Owls) will be happy!

Keeping an eye on this one!

3 hours ago, jewell2188 said:

Yeah HWW have rarely verified in our area with the exception of what two years ago!? 

There have been a few.  It's very localized.  We've been in many severe thunderstorm warnings but neither wind or hail verify at our location.  But someone does.

March 02, 2018 was a rare event and it was quite widespread not only in coverage but duration. 

Aside from tropical, last time we had really widespread gusts 70+ would have been 12/28/1988!

45 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Seems like the wind has really died down.

Downgraded to advisory until 0200 Sat for us.

Not even sure why it wasn't canceled altogether.  Here we didn't even have advisory criteria winds.  Spent today sharpening chains, can't work in "high wind warning".  Cut some ash cookies with the 661, she's wicked sharp now!

It's funny this area busts even on weather we really DON'T want.  Oh well, sunny with 75F dewpoints here we come. :|

Wow everyone is getting the action to our south and west.

There's a weird noise though almost like the wind should be 50 sustained.  Perhaps it's just above the trees.  Seen that happen in thunderstorms before.

We've had better winds without even an advisory (Christmas Eve) here.

Sure they're been some gusts here and there and the 43mph peak (not even 3 second standard) is pretty weak.  Not that I'm complaining! LOL

But it looks like the warning is staying for us because some stronger winds are inbound.

Too bad it's not 18 degrees and snowing with thunder.  I don't care what kind of weather nut you are, that's just about as good as it gets.  And nobody loses their house in the process.

1 hour ago, arlwx said:

Here's hoping that everyone has lots of cereal, nuts and other things not needing a refrigerator.

AND a manual can opener for opening tinned meat ((which doesn't need to be cooked)).

((No news on people making a dash for the stores that might lose power...)

Can't do w/o power here!  Diesel tanks topped off (575 gallons on the gauge) and both gennies ready to spring into action if needed.  Not sure because in our neck of the woods even with 3 phase power all it takes is a dumb limb to hang up and trip out a recloser.  And trimming schedules have fallen way behind, lots of green far closer than 10' to primaries.

We did get a nice shower that put down nearly half an inch.  Gutter on west side overflowing, full of spruce needles I'm sure.  If it were up to me I'd have all these (trees) leveled out but wife says hell no.  There was some lightning picked up but to our south and east, didn't hear thunder but then again it would have had to been on the loud side with the "sizzling of bacon" sound of torrents of water hitting rocks!

This time let's hope the wind forecast busts a bit low which they usually do.  Could be like the wind we have a few weeks ago.  Most of deciduous here aren't close to full out but either way once that wind gusts past the old double nickel more than a few times otherwise healthy limbs become widow makers and that's not good.  Definitely don't want the kids playing near the trees.

I have to say I enjoy wind.  Most of the events seem to fall short or bust.  I have been doing some (tree) prep work and it looks like the timing of this if it verifies couldn't be worse!  And like the guy that has the snowblower in the shop, that's when the big snow goes bigger so look out!  These pines have strong stumps/roots but they like to break high up making things more dangerous and tedious to clean up.  At least they're nowhere near people or power lines.