Today at half past two when the photo above was taken in our garden, the thermometer read +8C. It felt to all intents and purposes like early spring. Vegetation, however, is still firmly in winter shutdown mode. Other than the air temperature, there are no other intimations of spring's imminent arrival. I get the feeling that this year we won't get a real, harsh dose of winter weather, like the one that visited Warsaw in January 2006, when night time temperatures plummeted to -26C. I also recall 1997 - my first year in Poland. In early February there was an unseasonably warm spell which led to the Las Kabacki forest being packed with walkers and cyclists. Mosquitoes swarmed and bit, nature came to life early. But winter returned. Indeed, there was still snow on the ground that year as late as mid-April. [And later came the floods.] I'd bet, however, that 2008 will not be like 1997.
And to think everyone was suggesting this might be a very hard winter! Hardly been a winter at all. I'm a bit miffed actually. I need at least one week, preferably two, where we have piles of snow on the ground, low temperatures (about -5 would be fine) and sunshine. In Warsaw, the best we've had is perhaps two days with a pitiful amount of snow on the ground. My daughter's class have been dying to make a snowman and it looks like they're not going to get the chance this year, probably never if this weather is here to stay.
ReplyDeleteBah humbug!