NOVEMBER 2009 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake

Jim Hovda Rice, MN. 56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

As November passes, reflection on this unusual summer and fall is in order. Summer for the most part was like early fall. September, at least for a week or so was like summer should have been. October ushered in lots of rain and below normal temperatures. We wondered what November would bring. Well, as it turned out, very little rain and well above normal temperatures.

SCSU Professor Bob Weisman on his weather web site reports that this past November will be the third or fourth warmest November on record. The good professor notes that this will be one of the tenth warmest falls on record and nine days posted record warm lows or average temps that tied or were set this month.

As my good friend Dr. Ray Merritt noted with a laugh at coffee late in November, “we’re still golfing but most of the players are wearing blaze orange.” Jim Gilbert, noted naturalist on his weekly Sunday program Nature Notes reported that many of his listeners and nature reporters still are seeing chipmunks out and about. If our trends of alternating cold and warm months continue, December could be cold with lots’ of snow. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. One good thing, the heating bill is much lower than usual.

WEATHER LAST NOVEMBER: A little more snow (.6") and more rain that totaled 1.58" on thirteen days of precip. The most rain fell on the 7^th when we received .64". We ended the month with 29.67" precip for the year. Temps were, as I pointed out earlier, a lot cooler. About seven degrees cooler averages for the low and high. The coldest day, the 22^nd, only saw the temperature climb to a +1.0 degree above zero (F) and LITTLE ROCK FROZE OVER. (For good) The warm day was a 71.7 degree day that saw a thunder storm go thru.

WEATHER: Three words sum it up. Dry and warm. Eleven days with snow/rain. Most of which were only traces. The most rain fell on the 14^th when .19" accumulated in the rain gage. Only traces of snow on the 26^th and 29^th. We ended the month with a total of only .56" of precip and 28.45" for the year. On the temp side of things, our low temps only made it to the teens four days. High 40's and low 50's were common highs. A low temp of 17.9 degrees on the 17^th and 66.2degrees on the 2^nd were our low and high readings. Not much to talk about as far as weather was concerned.

WEATHER RECORDS: The most precipitation for the month occurred in 1922 when we received 4.16". The most snow in a Nov was 25.0" in 1983 and a one day dumping of 10.9" in 1975. A recorded temp of -23 degrees below zero (F) in 1905 and the warmest temp, a reading of no less than 75 degrees in 1999 were the low and high records locally. Our out-state records were colder and warmer. The record cold was a -45 degrees below zero (F) at Pokegama Dam in 1896 while the warm temp occurred in Winona when the mercury made it to 84 degrees. OTHER RECORDS - - The longest dry spell in MN history began on the 9^th, 1943 and lasted 79 days ending on the 26^th of January 1944; The latest in the season for tornadoes was a touch down in Maple Plain on the 16^th 1931; and the lowest barometric pressure, 28.43 inHg (962.7 mb) was recorded in Albert Lea/Austin on the 11^th (Veterans Day) 1998.

PHENOLOGY: A mundane month for this part of the article. Birds first. A couple of gulls on the lake on the 3^rd, on the 14^th two owls “hooting” to their hearts content and a host of the usual early winter birds at the feeder and heated bird bath. No sightings of the Pileated yet.

Some other things: Chet Seviola Jr. reported active chipmunks still gathering seeds on the 14^th, Dr. Merritt was golfing on the 18^th, a lone angler in a boat on Little Rock Lake trolling on the 28^th and I noted with interest most of the Mountain Ash berries were picked from the trees on the 30^th. I guess the berry eaters finally found the trees. The Johnnie Jump ups are still blooming with their bright colors of yellow, purple, black and white. They just keep hanging on. For sure, this comes under “Some things” On the 30^th there were several folks at the Benton Beach Park playing Frisbee golf. A hat’s off to those folks who have refused to acknowledge winter is on the way.

On the 23^rd, I took a close look at the buffer strip that separates our lawn from the lake. Tho there were no flowers I was spellbound at the beauty that the many different shades of browns there were. The colors ranged from reddish brown to a very dark brown with some black noting seed pods. It reminded me that all the brilliant colors we see during the summer do not host all the beauty that mother nature presents to us. One just has to take the time to make careful observations of what is presented to us to see if we will only take the time to do so.

DECEMBER ISSUES: Making sure that the snow removal equipment is in good order, you’ve stocked up on bird feed and suet and the anglers need to ready their equipment for spearing and angling. On that note, when will Little Rock Lake freeze over? All the guys at the coffee clutch have entered their guess in secret. I’ll donate a dollar to the closest guess. We can, of course, eliminate November. We should not forget to make sure we have survival gear in the car and a cell phone for emergency communications. See ya’ in Dec for a wrap up of 2009 weather.