kdskidoo

yeah epic is the word. we had 14" snow on the 17th followed by 3 consecutive below zero nights. -18 on the 19th, -14 on the 20th and the coldest temp I have ever experienced of -32 on the 21st. and yes those are F temps. I remember it well because we had just purchased replacement windows and the guy called the morning of the 21st to see if it was ok to come and replace them.

LOL, well no worries that'll ever happen. I live in CPA so that will never verify.

I think last year surprisingly they did ok with the weather, although I heard they had some labor issues. 2022 was pretty much a disaster for most orchards around central PA. usually the most vulnerable buds/ blossoms are cherries, peaches and plums. that year even the apple crop was hit hard, if my memory is correct.

if the fruit tree buds/ blossoms freeze this year it'll be 3 out of the last 5 years orchards in my area will have suffered severe losses due to freezing temps. I am probably more aware of these facts than most because, although I don't have an orchard, i do grow other produce for sale at our local roadside stand and do buy fruit from a local orchard to resell. last year our 300 tomato and 500 pepper plants were hit with that late freeze in May and I even covered them with row cover. most everybody loves these early warm temps not realizing how detrimental they can be until they go to buy local fruits and veggies and realize either they can't get them or the price is 5 times what it should be because of severely limited supply.

this is going to be a disaster for the local fruit crop

we saw that same consistency back in Feb. and we all know how that ended. but now that we are heading into spring and most everybody, even some of us snow weenies are ready for this winter to end there's absolutely no doubt in my mind the pattern will flip to a wintry one and probably will have staying power right through April and into May. i ok either way. what I don't want is windy rainy days in the 40's, which I'm sure will be on tap for April and May.

we're good here hope you and the family are also well. we could have went up a few more times but I'm not into running circles on top the mountain. we're trying to plan a trip for the first week in March to either Maine or Ontario. Maine isn't looking good at this time and although Ontario just got some good snow I'm not sure what to think for that area by then either. just have to wait and see I guess. I do miss TC. there's a group on facebook that kinda took the place and its a good place to go for trail info but facebook isn't my favorite site to visit.

we were up once back in Jan. and it was better than I anticipated. a little thin in the low areas but pretty nice on top. worth the trip.

razor thin edge for us on the southern edge of the reds and purples. need a last minute shift south of 50-75 miles for me to feel "comfortable" with warning level totals.

I believe one of JB's old sayings was thunder in March and expect snow within a week. I wonder if that applies to Feb as well.

in order for something to be over it needs to start. this winter never started.

in March nonetheless

we should have all expected this. winter delayed not denied. just as we head towards spring and want to think about baseball, planting gardens and other spring activities we enter a winter type pattern. I fear the fruit crop in many parts of the state may be lost or severely damaged for the 3rd year out of the last 4.

unfortunately, we've had our spring for the past 2 months.

the 3 words I hate most as we head into March in a virtually snowless winter are "front end thump". maybe some of you will disagree just to pad stats but at this point to me its go big or give me spring.