Jay,

Happy Winter Wonderland Moment! Happy Postcard Perfect Picture Moment! I'm having a mud and puddle type of day myself, and truly find it hard to see the beauty in mud (not that I want snow or ice either, even though it is much more picturesque).

I've been watching next week's forecast very, very closely and reading what the experts are saying about the models. I'm a little concerned about the cold temps some are forecasting beginning last next week. Some of the weather bloggers on Wunderground foresee temps dipping down as low as the 30s all the way down along parts of the Texas Gulf Coast. Of course, it is too early to know how that cold front will shape up or what path it will travel, but some knowledgeable meteorologist types are fretting over a cold spell like the one that affected much of the CONUS in early January.

I know that having real winter weather in winter means that spring might actually be more 'normal' and not late as it has been in recent years. So, at least there's that. I hate to complain about the rain since our county is more often drought-challenged than flood-challenged, but enough is enough. I wish I could send the next month of rain here to you and Jan instead.

At least all of us are here in OK, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri and we are not in places like Maryland, which may get 24" of snow from this current cold wave that hit us as rain and is moving towards the northeast. I don't know if the folks expecting 24" of snow are excited about it or dreading it, but I'd be dreading if I lived there. I bet one day we'll look back at this as the winter that just wouldn't end, but at least you and Jan and other gardeners, farmers and ranchers are getting some badly needed moisture instead of your usual near-constant drought.

Maybe I'll take up catfish farming instead of veggies farming. I've certainly got the full (and overflowing) ponds for it right now. LOL

Dawn

Dawn,
I will have to go ask Dan what his current thought is on the next two weeks. He has been the most accurate I've seen this winter. I haven't seen anything showing any extreme temps like we had in early Jan here for the next two weeks. Of course that is subject to change at any time. Denver has been warmer than us most days and we have been warmer than those E and SE of us. Really in an El Nino year we usually have more moderate temps. By that I mean once it starts we don't see the extreme highs or lows. And for the next 2 weeks that is what most are predicting. I will have to go check the site you mentioned. I have never went to it before. Most areas around here had good subsoil moisture from all we got last fall. And these snows are giving us some top soil moisture. My garden needed it a little worse because it had turned it over and tilled it. I'm thankful for all we get as long as it isn't a blizzard. Jay

Winter Wonder.... when it's going to end weather!!!

I like to look at the Mesonet data for moisture level across the state and frequently look to see if the panhandle has ground moisture. Today I looked and thought it looked so funny. I'll bet those people on the Blain and Major County line think they are being punished. They are at 0.l while most of us are saturated at 1.0.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Moisture

Dawn guess I was having a old time moment. Didn't think of weather underground when I saw Wunderground. I do check there for temp and moisture reports. Their predictions are always identical to the NWS predictions so always have assumed they just use theirs. That is what all of us here have noticed. Had never looked at the blogs and other forecasts on that site.

Carol we are in the .6 area. At least we are better off than some. Odd that some to the east of us are worse off. Don't see that too often. I hope they get some over the next several weeks. Jay

Indeed a beautiful snow with much moisture. We had about six inches but is melting already and the sun is trying to come out. We are happy to have the moisture and will deal with the mud. I do hope if we have more moisture next week it will be rain.

Jan

Jay and Jan, Do you guys actually get mud? I would think the ground would just suck it right up, and thank you for the drink. LOL