Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Pruning roses




It was that time of year again: pruning the eastside rosebushes. I hate pruning roses! But the bushes have mildew and nothing I've done has taken care of it. Eventually the bushes must go. I'll let more native plants like lantana grow along the east side of the house. One plant's already pushing its way out.
The western tree up front is now growing leaves. The more eastern kin, however, as usual is still baren.
PArts of my Bermuda grass is also coming back. If it stays this warm through March I'm going to have a green yard again...IF I water it. I doubt that will happen. I found a misting leak in a water pipe earlier today while watering the seedlings.




I do fear a severe drought this year, let along wild fires.



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Figure 1. Recent Temperature Conditions (up to 2/18/09) Source: Western Regional Climate Center, High Plains Regional Climate Center
Temperatures since the beginning of the 2009 water year on October 1 have averaged between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit across northeastern Arizona and the northern half of New Mexico (Figure 1a). In the highest elevations, temperatures have been between 25 and 35 degrees F. Southern and much of eastern New Mexico has been between 45 and 55 degrees, while average temperatures across southern and southwestern Arizona have ranged from 50 to 65 degrees. These temperatures generally have been 1 to 3 degrees above average for the water year across both states (Figure 1b). New Mexico has had some areas with temperatures 1 to more than 5 degrees above average near Silver City in the southwest and in the northeast corner of the state. Arizona has a small area with temperatures as much as 3 degrees F colder than average in the west-central counties.
The past 30 days have brought colder-than-average temperatures to western Arizona and warmer-than-average temperatures to eastern New Mexico (Figures 1c–d). Western Arizona has been as much as 4 degrees colder than average, while eastern New Mexico has been 2 to 4 degrees warmer than average. Eastern Arizona and western New Mexico have been about 2 degrees warmer than average. The east-west temperature gradient during the past 30 days is due to the location of a persistent high pressure system over New Mexico that has steered the winter storms around New Mexico and eastern Arizona.
Notes: The water year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 of the following year. Water year is more commonly used in association with precipitation; water year temperature can be used to measure the temperatures associated with the hydrological activity during the water year.Average refers to the arithmetic mean of annual data from 1971–2000. Departure from average temperature is calculated by subtracting current data from the average. The result can be positive or negative. The continuous color maps (Figures 1a, 1b, 1c) are derived by taking measurements at individual meteorological stations and mathematically interpolating (estimating) values between known data points. The dots in Figure 1d show data values for individual stations. Interpolation procedures can cause aberrant values in data-sparse regions. These are experimental products from the High Plains Regional Climate Center.
More Information:For the most recent versions these and maps of other climate variables, visit:http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/maps/current/ (High Plains Regional Climate Center).
For information on temperature and precipitation trends, visit: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/trndtext.shtml (NOAA Climate Prediction Center).
For a list of Arizona weather stations, visit: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmaz.html (Western Regional Climate Center).
For a list of New Mexico weather stations, visit: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmnm.html (Western Regional Climate Center).
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