The scurs are gaining confidence in the Weather Eye once again. They may not always get it right, but at least they have the right idea. Will January continue true to form or will we be getting out the lawn furniture soon? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the mid-teens, yes above zero. Thursday, sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 30’and lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the low teens. Monday, mostly cloudy becoming mostly sunny with a slight chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the upper single digits. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the low single digits above zero. On the 19th we will have gained back a full half hour of daylight since the winter solstice on December 21st. The normal high for January 19th is 22 and the normal low is 3. The scurs are thinking we’ve had enough snow. The sooner it stops, the sooner the June sunshine can remove it.
Another roller coaster ride for weather, although the warmer-than-expected Sunday in spite of the snow was welcome. It is after all mid-January and the coldest part of our winter here in South Central Minnesota. It definitely could be and has been worse. It seems when temps fall into the teens below zero it’s major league cold. We’ve become accustomed to warmer winters apparently. As a teenager in Southeast Minnesota, the winters of the 1970s were brutally cold. There was talk of global cooling. It frequently seemed too when we first arrived in this area that the winters were colder. Back in the mid-’90s I can recall lambing through a stretch of nights when it reached -30. Put in that perspective it makes the recent spate of below-zero overnight temperatures seem almost tolerable. I still hope the ewes can wait to lamb until it warms up later in the week, although that’s not my call to make.
It’s always gratifying to see the results of some of our past planning yield fruit. The trees planted as part of the EQIP program have started to make an impact. Not only are they producing berries and providing cover, they’re serving their purpose as a snow fence. After Sunday’s snow and Monday’s wind, I was positive I’d need to clean the yard out before Mrs. Cheviot came home. The northwest wind had howled much of the day. While it hadn’t snowed a lot, it snowed enough that in past winters the driveway would’ve been impassable for a small car. Not the case this time. It wasn’t completely clear, but there was no reason to start a tractor or skidsteer either. While it can be a pain the snow does lend some beauty to the otherwise dull winter landscape. The male cardinal just pops against the pristine backdrop when he arrives.
The pheasants have been scarce in the yard at the ranch. It’s true the snow cover is relatively light so they can still scratch to get down to their feed easily. However, there just aren’t many pheasants around either. Last week I saw a couple roosters not far from St. Olaf Lake along the road. Finally, on Monday a.m. a rooster flew through the yard about treetop level. The nesting success or lack thereof is likely a huge part of the equation. While the DNR has been quick to blame lack of habitat, the abundance of opportunistic furbearing egg eaters, namely things like raccoons, opossums, skunks, and coyotes, is on the increase. With low fur prices there is no incentive to trap them and their population reflects that. So does the pheasant population.
The deer continue to show signs of yarding up around the area. They made an appearance for the Christmas gathering Sunday, seven whitetails grazing their way across the Dubya’s hayfield, much to the delight of our guests. The night before that Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer recently picked us up for a car club Christmas party in Lansing. It was amazing how many groups of deer we saw and fortunately did not run into one on our way down there. We must’ve seen 30 of the cervids between our house and the restaurant browsing in area fields. The noted Swedish astronomer made careful note of that and was on the lookout for them on the way back. We certainly didn’t need any fresh venison for the gathering the next day.
With winter continuing on schedule and staying cold, we continue viewing our fair share of televised sports. It was sad to see the Gopher men’s basketball team in shambles after such a promising start. I feared their weekend performance against Purdue might set the tone for the rest of the season. The Gopher women’s basketball team has been fun to watch and they’ve been competitive in most games. They dropped a game in OT over the weekend after playing their hearts out. Carlie has been a on tear lately so that always keeps our interest regardless of how they do. The Gopher men’s hockey team has been a real disappointment. They lost two games against unranked Michigan at home over the weekend. Defense stunk and the offense was even worse. The Big Ten hockey conference just doesn’t have the rivalries that were part of the WCHA. Maybe someday but not yet. Aside from playing Bucky, it tends to makes the games ho-hum and encourages lackluster performance from the rodents.
After watching all that unfold over the weekend, it wasn’t surprising to see New Orleans come back against the Vikings on Sunday and appear to have the game in hand. That last second play changed all that and the Vikings pulled off a stunning come-from-behind win. Then the Gopher men’s basketball team suddenly decided to come back to life with an unexpected win on the road Monday night. Maybe sometimes Minnesota isn’t such a barren sports wasteland after all.
See you next week…real good then.