Michelle, It is 3:35 p.m. and I am watching The Weather Channel and it sounds like Arkansas is really getting it already and conditions are supposed to worsen, so I guess the Fort Smith forecasters may "ignore" ya'll even more if you're not having the ice too. Yes, we can hope we're wrong, but "in my bones" I feel like it is going to be a bad one. I can tell by the number of birds coming to feed, and we have huge numbers today. I just refilled the feeders and put out deer corn an hour ago, and the birds are having a big old pre-storm feeding frenzy right now. Randy and I both use the Weather Underground a lot and I love their forecasts. If you've never used it, you can access it via www.wunderground.com. Randy, I agree about the internet accuracy, but I have to say that our local TV forecast (Channel 12, KXII, the local CBS affiliate) has improved a lot since Steve LaNore became their chief meterologist. Still, I take it with a grain of salt and merge together their forecast, various online sources, the NWS and my own "intuition" to arrive at my own idea about what I think "will" or "might" happen. I bet the Eskies had fun. If it snows, and they get to go out and play in it, I hope you'll take a photo of them to share with us. Ada, Uh-oh. That's not good news. Y'all be careful. I think the perennials will be OK as long as their roots weren't bone dry. If they were bone-dry, you might have some root death. After all my bragging about what a fine job our local electric co-op does keeping the power up, I saw we're now forecast to get about 1/2 inch of ice here. Well, if that happens, the trees won't even have to bring down the poles and power lines, because the ice on the power lines will bring everything down all by itself. Oh, I dread the power being out. Our house is all-electric, so if we lose power, we're gonna be cold. Moni, I'm glad you're hubby is going to be able to make it home safely before the icing gets worse and the roads are even more dangerous. We went out and did all our errands early. Now we're just waiting for the fire pagers to go off, because as soon as the temps hit 32, the accidents start popping up on the Interstate like dandelions pop up in our pastures in spring. I don't really understand the sudden ice storm trend the last 5 or 6 years. Our first few years here, we had some gorgeous snowstorms and that was so much fun for someone like me who grew up in snow-deprived Fort Worth. These last few years, though, it is all ice and no snow. I'd rather have snow. Well, if I had a choice, I'd rather have 6" of rain and nothing frozen, but that's not gonna happen! Dawn

This was recently posted on The Beautiful Monarch FB site by Tavia Cathcart Brown : Monarchs in Mexico Update - I just received this email from one of the proprietors who runs JM Butterfly B and B in El Macheros, at the base of Cerro Pelon - The worst of the storm hit us on Tuesday in the middle of the night, encasing the tops of all nearby mountains in ice for several days. High winds ripped out trees all along our roadways and all the way up the path to the colony as well as within the colony. We're grateful to the volunteers from Macheros who went up with chainsaws early yesterday morning and cleared the path so we could reach where the roost was. By the time we neared the meadow, El Llano de Tres Gobernadores, the ground was covered with snow and ice. Higher up where the butterflies roosted the ground was white and covered with large ice crystals. So many trees had been toppled that it was sometimes hard for me to recognize where we were, even though I come here every week. Spots that used to be shady were flooded with sunlight. It was disorienting. I worry that this windstorm will do more damage to the forest's microclimate in one fell swoop than years of ant logging has. We were heartened to see there were still six trees with clusters in them. And a lot of the colony had already departed before the storm hit. But the forest floor was covered with monarchs, many still clinging to branches that had been blown off of trees. Some quivered back to life when we pulled them out of the snow and warmed them up. Many did not. Temperatures continue to warm today, and the snow continues to melt, uncovering more monarchs. CEPANAF forest rangers estimate that half the colony was killed in the storm. My more optimistic partner Joel Moreno puts that number at 30%. Workers from the WWF were also at the colony today to survey the damage. This is the first "official" presence we've seen since the storm hit. After 4 days, the power is still out in Macheros and its surrounding communities. These photos are from March 11. https://www.facebook.com/jmbutterflybnb/posts/834995333313690 Best, Ellen Sharp Macheros, State of Mexico

These crazy swings from the 40's to the single digits have me worried about winter sowing jugs. I have a few that have sprouted, not hardies, either, and I have serious doubts they can sustain three days of single digits so I'm hauling them back and forth from the garage. The snow will be a welcome insulator! I am also grateful I have nothing poking its head above ground of the very few things already planted. I did plant many many many tulips last year for the first time, so I've been watching to see when they will appear. No sign yet. I know I shouldn't expect them for a looooooong time up here. It would take ridiculously warm weather to make them pop out this soon.

Isn't that the truth? It'll be boxed, so somewhat insulated from the cold. It should be dormant by now, too. If it isn't, this should do the trick, lol! Put it in the garage when it arrives, unbox it, see if it needs water and hold it till warmer temps next week. It may be too muddy for a while once this melts to plant it. You'll get a chance to plant it properly, just not this week. You stay warm as well! Barb