December 5, 2017
Pacific Northwest
A very strong ridge of high pressure has settled into the Pacific Northwest, bringing sunny dry weather and light northerly winds. Temperatures are about normal, 30s at night, low 40s in the daytime.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.
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Such calm clement weather brought a small flock of swans out onto the bay yesterday. There’s nothing for them to feed on there; they’re just hanging out in the sun, perhaps for a change of scene. Feeding has been good this fall, our wetlands and ponds filled with ample November rainfall. In the dozen paddling lazily across the bay I saw two pairs of adults with juveniles: one pair with a singleton, the other with two gray youngsters. It’s been a pretty good year for Trumpeter swans.
I’m bicycling with a scarf but haven’t needed to cover my ears yet. Big change in conditions from last week’s stormy windy weather though. The 30+ mph wind and gusts made bicycling hazardous.
Weather maps show extreme looping of the jet stream bringing these dry conditions to the Western US. This pattern creates strong offshore flow, dry easterly winds.
Down in California this pattern is fueling massive uncontrollable wildfires in the southern part of the state. Santa Ana winds blasting exceptionally dry inland air across abundant super-dry vegetation, having received virtually no fall precipitation this year, after a very wet winter last year. Firefighters are getting no rest in California in 2017.
It’s hard to comprehend how devastating the conditions are to the south. The same weather pattern creating infernos there is bringing calm gentle days up here in the Northwest.
Stay safe everyone.
Our late Daily Bucket is now open for your reports. What are you seeing in nature where you live?
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