#MEwx Cold and snow again with long range weather forecasting by examining trees.

Good morning Augusta.

I’ve put up an Ambient WS 5000 weather station where you can view real time weather readings from my location online by clicking here.

This morning we have snow! Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches with highs in the lower 30s. Winds are East around 10 mph gusting to 25 mph.

Tonight we’ll have more snow. Total accumulations of 4 to 7 additional inches. Lows in the mid 20s. Winds will be East around 10 mph in the evening, becoming light and variable.

We’ve received roughly 1 inch of  snow thus far here over the past 24  hours and it’s gong to snow all day.  

The  wind is Northeast between  3.1 MPH and 4.5 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 29.70, the Absolute pressure is 29.50 and falling with a weather graphic indicating snow and overcast.

Augusta’s humidity is 87%, the  outdoor temperature is 18.5°F, the dew point is 15.3°F and the wind chill is 18.5°F.

Visibility is  10.0 Miles / 16.1 Kilometers and decreasing with snow and overcast.

The UV index is 0 placing the average person at low risk and the solar radiation reading is 107.0W/m2. Sunrise is 6:20 AM, sunset is 5:25 PM, moonrise is 10:40 AM and Moonset is 2:17 AM. The moon is Waxing Crescent and is 48% illuminated. We’ll have 11 hours 7 minutes of daylight today. The next Full Moon is on March 9 with our next new moon being on March 21, 2023 .

 

“The ash before the oak, choke, choke, choke, the oak before the ash, splash, splash, splash.”

This proverb is more of a long-range predictor than the others in this list. The “ash before the oak” refers to budding; the “splash” refers to wet weather. If ash trees bud before oak trees, expect a drier summer; if the reverse, expect a wetter summer.

 

The timing of when trees bud is related to the moisture content of the soil. A dry fall and winter means little moisture in the topsoil, but there could still be moisture deeper within. A wet fall and winter means a moist topsoil, which leads to a quick budding for ash trees because of their shallow root system. If previous seasons have been dry, an oak’s deep root system will tap into the deeper parts of the soil, and bud before the ash.

 

How does this relate to a long-term weather prediction? It’s based on the simple theory of mother nature trying to maintain balance and average precipitation. Dry seasons are generally followed by wet seasons, and vice versa.