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Signs of Spring 2018


KamuSnow

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2 hours ago, JTA66 said:

^ I was wondering if any summer predictions were out yet. Yeah, hope he's wrong...lol! Chuck's going with a hot summer until he isn't. I'm still not sure what his winter outlook was--I got whiplash reading his posts. 

Most of his predictions which I remember were "Winter predictions" which were sometimes good to very good. I really don't recall many/any Summer predictions (heat/temp) besides tropical storms (total). Or maybe I wasn't looking? Hopefully he sucks regarding summer patterns because 2-3 degrees above normal during the peak summer months would be horrible...Ben Franklin bridge jumping horrible.

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4 hours ago, The Iceman said:

It seems like it has been years since the last cool and wet summer. I want to say 2007 or 2008? 

Last year wasn't bad at all through July, maybe not cool, but not overly hot. +2 or +3 like mentioned above doesn't even sound all that hot given most of the last few summers. I guess I'd gladly take it in lieu of +5 or +6, but at or a little below normal would be sweet.

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Received an email from my lawn guy at the end of Feb basically saying since winter was over, he'd be out in the next week or so to apply the first treatment. Nearly two months later, he was finally out yesterday for the first treatment. Hoping for some decent showers today to wash it all in -- looking at the first mow of the season this weekend.

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On 4/15/2018 at 11:45 AM, Sophisticated Skeptic said:

 

32.8

close but no cigar. 

 

80's yesterday...

It still wouldn't have been a "nasty ice storm" even if the temp dropped below 32 mainly due to the last this you posted above.  The surface temps would still be extremely warm with temps only dropping barely below freezing

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  • 3 weeks later...

For the last 3 years there's been a single lightning bug that shows up about 3 weeks early, usually the first week of May. This year he showed up about last Wednesday, so a little later, and this time he has a pal, lol. Obviously not the same one, but it seems to run in the family. Probably scouting the area :lol:.

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8 hours ago, KamuSnow said:

For the last 3 years there's been a single lightning bug that shows up about 3 weeks early, usually the first week of May. This year he showed up about last Wednesday, so a little later, and this time he has a pal, lol. Obviously not the same one, but it seems to run in the family. Probably scouting the area :lol:.

Out of curiosity, I ended up looking up these guys and apparently there are several genera of them here (including one that is the official PA state insect).  I assumed that the variations of the wings (including striping and length) were natural variations of a single species but nope.  So it's possible your "early" ones are a certain species.  The adults last a couple months but the larvae last 1 - 2 years to reach maturity.  They apparently like warm and humid air and moist/wet places, so this week will probably be a boon for the larvae given the weather pattern is conducive for bringing out their food (slugs, snails)!

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1 hour ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

Out of curiosity, I ended up looking up these guys and apparently there are several genera of them here (including one that is the official PA state insect).  I assumed that the variations of the wings (including striping and length) were natural variations of a single species but nope.  So it's possible your "early" ones are a certain species.  The adults last a couple months but the larvae last 1 - 2 years to reach maturity.  They apparently like warm and humid air and moist/wet places, so this week will probably be a boon for the larvae given the weather pattern is conducive for bringing out their food (slugs, snails)!

Yeah, I've done some research too; the first year we were here (6 years ago) there were more lightning bugs than I've ever seen, and they were mainly up higher off the ground, up around the top 1/3 of the trees. Looked like hundreds of Christmas tree lights, amazing. So the next year we were all ready and there was no big show :weep:. Then the year after a nice turnout again, but at lower altitudes, which was also an awesome look. So we thought okay, maybe it's an every other year kind of deal. But in actuality not so much. Now we just take it as it comes, kind of like hoping for a snowy winter but you never know. We actually planted a row of bushes along one side in the back to block the light from our neighbor's light post that is on all night, lol. It will take a few more years for the bushes to get high enough, but we try :-). Light pollution is not good for the population since it gets in the way of mating (which is what the flashing is about). Good stuff! :lol:

 

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39 minutes ago, KamuSnow said:

Yeah, I've done some research too; the first year we were here (6 years ago) there were more lightning bugs than I've ever seen, and they were mainly up higher off the ground, up around the top 1/3 of the trees. Looked like hundreds of Christmas tree lights, amazing. So the next year we were all ready and there was no big show :weep:. Then the year after a nice turnout again, but at lower altitudes, which was also an awesome look. So we thought okay, maybe it's an every other year kind of deal. But in actuality not so much. Now we just take it as it comes, kind of like hoping for a snowy winter but you never know. We actually planted a row of bushes along one side in the back to block the light from our neighbor's light post that is on all night, lol. It will take a few more years for the bushes to get high enough, but we try :-). Light pollution is not good for the population since it gets in the way of mating (which is what the flashing is about). Good stuff! :lol:

 

They apparently like to be near water.  My sister in Wyndmoor has a backyard that slopes down to a creek (where the creek path is woodsy and dark) and her entire silver maple planted near the creek will be completely lit up during some summers.  Will have to see if this year will be a banner one. If it verifies, CPC has an outlook for above normal precipitation and temps for MJJ (which might mean buggy happiness...lol) -

 

cpc-precip-outlook-mjj-2018.gif

cpc-temp-outlook-mjj-2018.gif

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On 5/15/2018 at 8:46 AM, Hurricane Agnes said:

They apparently like to be near water.  My sister in Wyndmoor has a backyard that slopes down to a creek (where the creek path is woodsy and dark) and her entire silver maple planted near the creek will be completely lit up during some summers.  Will have to see if this year will be a banner one. If it verifies, CPC has an outlook for above normal precipitation and temps for MJJ (which might mean buggy happiness...lol) -

 

cpc-precip-outlook-mjj-2018.gif

cpc-temp-outlook-mjj-2018.gif

They also like dead leaves and rotting wood for the larval stage....and I probably shouldn't publicize this, but one dry May a few years ago we watered the edge of the woods, lol.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/17/2018 at 8:18 AM, Hurricane Agnes said:

And why not?  Nature's miniature spotlights in the summer! :lol:

There have been a couple of lightning bugs around the last 3 nights - not the early birds, these are triple flashers. So it's starting, but about a week or so later than last year. There's a loose relationship between starting dates and degree days I believe.

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9 hours ago, KamuSnow said:

Big uptick in lightning bugs tonight - from 2 last night to 11 tonight! That's how many at once, we don't slant stick the count, haha.... Also the honeysuckle is blooming now, so some nice smells going on. And of course the mosquitos showed up this week :wacko:.

When I visited one of my sisters last week, her neighbor had some wild Japanese honeysuckle and I saw the bloom buds on those so I figured the heat and rain would pop them out!  I have a cultivar of a native (semi-evergreen) honeysuckle ("Blanche Sandman") that is about done it's spring bloom now (it bloomed almost the entire month of May).  It doesn't have the fragrance or aggressive growth of the Japanese one but by golly the hummers will zoom past the feeder and head straight for it in spring!

 

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