It’s only because it’s a Leap Year that it isn’t the end of winter meteorologically speaking. As everybody seems to be saying it has been a very mild winter. In our part of the world it’s been due to that exceptionally mild December, followed by a bit above average January and an around average February. The result is one of the mildest winters on record.
The little chart above shows the temperatures for Ossett for the winter months. The bright green line indicates the average temperature for this winter for each month whilst the blue line indicates the average temperature for that month over the last six winters.
I’ve done a similar chart for this winter’s rainfall. I’m aware that other parts of the country have had far more rainfall than we’ve had locally. Even so on visits to the plot the ground has seemed very wet and claggy. The dark blue line indicates the expected rainfall for each of the winter months.
We’ve had some cold but lovely sunny days over the last week but it has remained cold through the day. The sunshine has certainly brought out the apricot blossom in the greenhouse. We’re now waiting for our nectarine and peach trees to come into flower.
My main problem now is not to start sowing seeds too early. Perhaps I should stop reading blogs and looking on Facebook as lots of gardeners are already starting to sow seeds or even have young seedlings by now. The predictions I’ve seen are that the cooler weather will continue into March with a few milder days thrown in to add a bit of confusion. The forecast is not tempting me to start sowing seeds. I found in the past later sowings often catch up earlier sowings that have been checked by cold weather so it might be a few weeks yet before I’m tempted to tear open some seed packets.
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