Calm and Frosty

The very early hours of Saturday morning produced our coldest autumn temperature of the year as the thermometer fell to -2.1°C or 28.2°F. Late on Friday night, the temperature had fallen to below zero as the reading on my weather station shows.

The temperature continued to fall but through the night milder conditions arrived and by morning the temperature was back above zero but not by much.

Temperature, Rainfall and Wind Speed Records 22-28 November 2020

I've added the purple wind speed record to the chart above as the high wind speed for Friday was a remarkable 1.0mph. It's the only time in my 11 years of record keeping that a day in November has had such a low wind speed. November is rather better known for its stormy and windy weather. Other months of the year have recorded such low wind speed but it is an unusual occurrence. 

We'd taken Ruby for a walk in Rothwell Park on Friday afternoon and it was a lovely late autumn afternoon.

After a dull morning, the skies cleared and the sun came out. Without any wind, it felt very pleasant. It was that clear sky that produced such a low overnight temperature. I'm guessing that the dahlias at the plot will now definitely be ready for lifting. On the other hand, our parsnips should now be ready to lift after a cold frosty night should, according to gardening folklore, have sweetened them.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

A Cold Snap

Early on Friday morning was our lowest autumn temperature this year as the thermometer fell to 0.1°C (32.2°F) just short of giving us our first air frost.

Temperature & Rainfall Records 15-21 November 2020

However, like our hot spells in summer, it was over very quickly only lasting for around a day before we returned to rather mild November temperatures. We've had some rain most days in the form of showers keeping the ground damp even though no great amount of rain has fallen.

Even when the sky has cleared there's still been some threat of rain around. 

Our magnolia tree has now lost most of its leaves. There are just a few stragglers left to fall. The path at the side of the house is now covered in leaves.

I'll have to gather up the leaves and add them to the compost heap. Left on the path they make it very slippery. Added to the compost heap they will make good material for mulching around shrubs in the garden. Whilst the magnolia has lost all its leaves we have one rose bush in the front garden refusing to accept the onset of winter.

There are still more buds left to follow on. Will they make it before some real winter weather arrives?

  

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

A Mild Start to November

The first half of the month has turned out to be reasonably mild considering it's November. Unlike the last couple of months, we've had a reasonable number of days with temperatures above average for the time of year.

Temperature Records for November 2020

The chart above shows that for the last week the daytime temperatures have been above the red line indicating the 10 year average high temperatures for November. Of course, milder temperatures don't tell the whole story. We've also had lots of damp, wet weather. It hasn't involved any great amount of rain but just enough to stop even the top of the ground from drying out. 

Thursday afternoon was one of our better spells of weather and we made the most of it with a walk around Nostel Priory grounds with Ruby.

Some trees are now in full winter mode having lost all their leaves, whilst others still have enough leaves left to show off the last of their autumn colours.

Like us, Ruby likes to relax when she's not out walking.

We now seem to be back to dull and dreary weather for the next few days. I've seen talk of a cold spell towards the end of the month. I hope it brings some bright and sunny weather with it.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

It’s Gone – Mid Post

This morning (Tuesday) I snapped the view from the bedroom window. The mist and fog that had descended late last week were still here. We'd had a few drops of rain on Monday night but the mist and fog stubbornly remained.

Then as if by magic by an hour later the mist had disappeared and the sky was visible for the first time in days.

It's also fairly mild at the moment for early November. The only problem is that everything is sopping wet. If it stays fine we might spend the afternoon at the allotment doing a bit more tidying up.

We visited the plot on Sunday afternoon to do a little bit of harvesting. It was a bit bleak so we didn't stop any longer than necessary to harvest a few vegetables.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Murky Days - When Are They Bletted

After a lovely day on Wednesday, the weather turned murky with mist and fog in the morning only slowly clearing, leaving the afternoon dull and cloudy.

On Saturday there was very little difference between our daytime high temperature of 7.1°C (44.8°F) and night time low of 5.2°C or 41.4°F. 

Temperature & Rainfall Records 02-08 November 2020

I always think of our quinces as being the last fruit of the season. This year they were picked at the beginning of October.

They are a little bit different from all our other fruit in that they cannot be eaten raw.  The fruits only soften on cooking and are delicious added to apples or eaten on their own. However, we do have another fruit, growing on a tree in the garden, which is still to be picked.

These are medlars and the fruits are still very firm. The fruits have to blet before they can be eaten. I'm not sure whether the fruits are best left on the tree for this to happen or whether they should be removed and stored inside until they soften. I've read that once softened the fruit tastes a little bit citrusy but to be honest, we've never got that far. I find it very difficult to tell difference between bletting and rotting. Maybe I'll give them another week or so on the tree before deciding what to do.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

More Winter Days Like This Please

Wednesday turned out to be a very nice autumn day. After the dull and dreary weather of October, Wednesday showed us how nice autumn can be. It wasn’t a particularly warm day with the temperature reaching 11.4°C (52.5°F) about average for early November. We had a pretty chilly start to the day although we avoided having a frost. There was plenty of sunshine on offer and very little breeze making it feel quite pleasant outside in the afternoon sunshine.

In the morning we’d taken Ruby for a walk in Rothwell Park. There were plenty of other people making the most of a lovely sunny morning. Ruby still isn’t too confident about meeting other dogs out for a walk.

Sometimes if Ruby’s feeling particularly brave some nose touching might take place but more often than not there’s a little bit of a standoff. She’s gradually getting better though so hopefully if we can keep taking her for walks and meeting other dogs she’ll become more confident.

Despite not being too happy about meeting other dogs, Ruby really seems to enjoy going out for a walk. It keeps us active too even if the weather’s not all that good.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

A Wet, Windy But Mild Start to November

It’s been a rather strange start to November. The first day of the month was wet and windy but very mild. 

Temperature and Rainfall Records 27 October – 02 November 2020

As you can see from the temperature trace above the mildest part of the day was around midnight on Sunday, not really the sort of time when I expect the highest temperature. However, as there was a gale force wind blowing at the same time as well as intermittent showers the temperature was a little bit irrelevant. For the records, the temperature reached 17.4°C (63.3°F) just short of the highest November temperature I’ve recorded which was 17.9°C (64.2°F) on the 10 November 2015 at 13:55.

We did manage to visit the allotment on Sunday afternoon between the showers. It was a case of harvesting a few fresh vegetables as quickly as possible before any more rain arrived.

Looking in one direction the weather looked fine but unfortunately, this was the weather we had just had, and looking in the opposite direction the weather approaching didn’t look all that promising.

I picked a cauliflower and a cabbage whilst Sue picked over the last of the peas and French beans. I picked the remaining tomatoes from the plot greenhouse and Sue picked a few cut flowers. By this time it was just beginning to rain again.

As darkness fell the wind picked up to gale force and we had some more rain but the temperature continued to rise.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett