Windy Wet Weather

Wow! The weather here this autumn has been wild. In September, we had 5 inches of rain in one fell swoop. That was followed by 28 days of zero rain – not a drop. (I thought I had emptied all the rain barrels in early October, but discovered a full barrel Saturday when I built the compost bins.) It rained pretty steadily on Sunday and broke our dry streak.

Yesterday, we had a weather system move in that brought sustained winds of 30 to 40 MPH with even higher gusts! Apparently, we set a new record yesterday for low barometric pressure in Minnesota – 28.22 inches. Weathercasters and web sites reported pressure that low is equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane!

I’ve never been in a hurricane, so I couldn’t confirm that comparison, but I’ve been through plenty of blizzards, and the way the wind howled last night and rattled the windows I was sure I’d wake up to a foot or more of snow. Thankfully, it was too warm here for snow last night, but there are flurries this morning. The strong wind is supposed to continue through today.

By the weekend, it’s supposed to be “back to normal” autumn weather – 50s and partly sunny – perfect for planting tulips!