It is March 26th, and it is 5F here, going down to -6F tonight..

[longship]

This is Michigan. We're wrapped in those cozy Great Lakes which keep us from plunging into the deep cold that Minnesota, the Dakotas, and other states to our west experience. Yup! We get some snow off the those big lakes. But they also moderate the temperatures. We laugh about the -20F temperatures in Minnesota when we are basking in positive Fahrenheit. But this year is fucking crazy. I have never in my 65 years had a winter like this one. And never do I remember negative temperatures at night in spring.

It snowed another inch Monday morning here. And the huge piles of snow on my property are not yet melting. I bought four deliveries of heating oil for my furnace, one more than ever before. I may have to do it again before summer. Each costs me some $650. Tough winter.

Hope all you DUers are staying warm.

Best regards.

[Frustratedlady]

1. I hear ya. We may start the warm-up next week.

We had snow on Monday and are now bouncing between the teens and the 30-40s, but the rains and winds start in and I'm not putting out much faith for an early spring. The last few years, we've had cold springs and hot, dry/drought weather. Even as they talk about floods, they are using the "d" word.

Where are you for snow depths? My sil said 88" the last time I talked to her, but I'm sure you've had more snow since then.

Keep your nose warm.

[longship]

2. Nose is warm. Manhattans tonight. Good stuff. ;-)

Not going to go into town until the ice melts on the roads. This is the worst winter in many years. It started early and it seems like it will never end. Here in western rural Michigan we've avoided a lot of the snow that fell on Detroit. But it's little comfort for any of us. The Detroiters (my home town) are in a very tough place. I am worried that the opening day for the Tigers will be played in snow on the infield.

[freshwest]

3. Very rough in the pocket book. Stay safe. n/t

[hfojvt]

4. Record low for Grayling on this date

is -12, set in 1923

Record low for Grayling on April 15th is 6, set in 1943.

Record low for March 31st is -10, set, again, in 1923

In 1923, it was -16 on April 1st.

Record low for a more southern city, like Lansing, on this date is 2, set in 2001. The record low on March 29th for Lansing is -1, set in 1887.

I am surprised you don't remember that year

Record high was 78, set in 1963.

[Revanchist]

5. We had snow tonight in SE Virginia

I don't think it stuck but it's the principle of the matter.

[steve2470]

6. stay warm longship !

-41 °F at Summit, Greenland

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:00000.1.04416

Aren't you glad you're not working there ?

[Warpy]

7. This is the winter that wasn't here in the southwest

and we're all dreading summer, expecting the type of horror they had in Australia in December and January. Few people in my neck of the sagebrush have refrigerated AC, so we'll be in the same boat should the temperatures go up to Phoenix levels.

Phoenix will simply become unlivable should it happen.

Tonight I'm watching light to moderate showers slide across the radar screen. Too bad none of it is hitting the ground.

[passiveporcupine]

8. I may never complain about the cold again.

Yeah...just kidding.

Seriously though, how do you guys do it? I could never live in cold country. And $2K or more in heating fuel for one season...are you kidding me?

[NutmegYankee]

9. No one is kidding you.

The typical 1500 sqft Connecticut house uses 700 gallons of heating oil per year, currently at $3.69 a gallon. Now imagine the use this winter!

[yeoman6987]

11. Some who don't have heating fuel

are paying 1400 dollars a month for electricity and that is keeping the thermostat at a conservative temperature. It has been brutal. I don't know how the poor are managing.

[pinboy3niner]

10. We west coasters escaped your storms

But I sympathize with what you're going through. I lived back there for some years and shoveled more snow then reasonable--even for Virginia.

Wishing that you get a respite soon, with Spring finally coming.

You don't even wanna know about our weather, so I'll so I'll spare you a report on that.

[egold2604]

12. I heat my house with a wood stove

Last year, I ran out of wood mid March and used electric base board heat to heat the house. I spiked my electric bill. This year, I bought more than enough wood to last the winter and still ran out of wood the end of February, but bought another load which I am using now. My electric bill for March was about a third of the bill for the previous year.

It is 19 degrees in Central PA and will go down to 12 tonight. If it weren't for the record warm weather in the Southern Hemisphere, I would suggest a mini ice age due to the decreased Sun Spot activity (Maunder Minimum anyone).

Anyway, I am driving into Philly next week to get a small wood stove from a friend which I will use to heat my greenhouse. Who knows how long it will be cold.

More weather related stuff - two years ago, it was 90 degrees the end of March and all my stone fruit trees bloomed. The weather turned and it froze in April killing all the blossoms on the trees. No stone fruit that year. I was able to buy peaches and apples from an orchard further south for $20 a bushel (normally $12 at local nurseries). I am afraid the same thing will happen this year.