Vtsnowedin's first snow of the year.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 10 Nov 2013, 13:25

I woke up this morning to a Christmas card landscape trimmed in an inch of fresh snow. The first measurable inch of the year.
As my memory serves this is about average for my location as it is "Youth Hunting" weekend and we always hope for and often get "Tracking snow" at this elevation,1700-2000 ft. This will probably melt and the six inches that comes and stays is two to three weeks off.
This is just local weather of course and doesn't reflect the long term trends. Some data on heating degree days kept by local government indicate that total heating fuel requirements for the decade ending in 2010 were 15 percent less then for the decade ending in 1970. I may be able to successfully grow grapes yet.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 10 Nov 2013, 22:23

Don't hold your breath: Our grapes have been rather foiled by the newly-curly Jet Stream which brings us some quite cold snaps in among the global warming these days.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 10 Nov 2013, 23:13

We picked our grapes (in a greenhouse) and made wine last week. First slight frost this morning. I think it was a record warm October so vintage 2013 Chateau Tithe Farm should be almost drinkable.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 11 Nov 2013, 11:05

I expect to get my wine out of boxes for quite some time. Hic!! I'd settle for some Concord grapes for the table and perhaps a bit of jelly.
Does anyone have a source for your heating degree days going back to 1900? I think if you total them for each decade and plot them it reveals your local trend.