The last week has been very mild for February and the forecast is for the mild weather to continue for the rest of the month.
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| Maximum & Minimum Temperatures for February 2019 |
For the last week the red blocks which show the daytime high temperatures have been well above average (the red line). The blue blocks indicating night time lows have also been well above average (the blue line) and more like what we might expect for daytime temperatures. It remains to be seem if the high temperatures forecast for the next few days will exceed my highest daytime high temperature of 16.6°C (61.9°F) set on 23 February 2012.
Our seed potatoes have been stored in the dark, in our garage, since we bought them. It's cold enough in the garage to stop them sprouting and unless it's exceptionally cold it's frost free. However, with the mild temperatures of the last week or so, I thought I'd better check them out to see if any were starting to sprout. It was a good job I did.
Some varieties had certainly started to form sprouts but luckily I'd caught them before they became long, white and straggly. I decided that I'd better move them into the greenhouse and into the light in order for them to chit. It's a little bit earlier than I'd normally move them into the greenhouse, so I'll have to make sure to give them extra protection if some very cold and frosty nights are forecast.
The excellent February weather also means that we've made good progress at the allotment. I can't remember being this well prepared for the new season in February.
The plot is probably at its barest at the moment with all our winter cutting back of shrubs and trees completed, and this year's growing yet to begin. Hopefully, things will only improve from now on but I can't help wondering if there will be a sting in the tail and we'll get a cold and frosty spell of weather in March or April. I'm hoping that won't be the case.
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I agree with your sting in the tail theory, and also wish it weren't so.
ReplyDeleteJust been looking at 2012: There was only a couple of just sub zero nights after a warm end to February!
ReplyDelete2012 was an odd month for us as not only does it have our mildest day it also has our coldest night for February at -5.9°C. That daytime high of 16.6° was a bit of a one off warm day for us.
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