Haven't we all been recently wondering what's up with our normally sunny Sequim weather in September? Well, when I opened the front page of Daily Peninsula News today, I and the rest of us curious Sequim residents found the answer, right on the front page. Those cooler, rainier days this September on the Olympic Peninsula are all due to strengthening the 'La Niña' climate phenomenon.
La Niña, which started to develop at the end of last month, brought an unusual cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean and with it quite a number of rainy and cloudy days to the Pacific Northwest, the Peninsula and Sequim. Last year, we had an El Niño year, which is just the opposite of La Niña, which brought above average warmer weather to the area. I and the other gardeners and berry pickers of Sequim naturally loved it. I picked raspberries and blueberries all into the middle of October.
Yes, we still have berry season but the berries, like the blackberries, are getting moldy on the bushes. My raspberries at our house are still OK but at Graysmarsh, I noticed molding of their raspberries depleting them really fast. Because of all the rain, I did not go pick blueberries. Blueberries are different to raspberries + blackberries and don't soak up all that water but who knows how they survive the rain. Just checked with Graysmarsh website. The farm is only open for picking Saturday + Sundays.
Another negative effect of the missing sun in Sequim this fall is that my tomato plants are full of tomatoes but they are all green and don't seem to ripen at all. To tell you the truth I don't care much for green tomatoes. I still have not totally given up on the sun coming out and ripening my tomatoes and raspberries. Who knows with the special weather in Sequim. Hope Sequim with its special location in the rain shadows of Olympic Mountains, is more protected from storms and bad weathers than the rest of the Pacific Northwest and the Olympic Peninsula.
We got to face the truth though. The prognosis for this winter on the Peninsula and in Sequim is colder temperatures, more rain and snow - yes, snow on the Peninsula and of course, more snow for the happy skiers on Hurricane Ridge As we all know a lot of gray weather can make us feel down. Maybe you want to raise your daily dose of vitamin D to fight off the blues. And luckily we have SARC for meeting our friends on a daily basis, get some good exercise in, swim some laps and warm up our bodies in the jacuzzi and sauna. One reason to love Sequim as retirement town.
Bottom line of this post: Be prepared for a tougher Sequim winter season 2010/2011. La Niña is expected to last through early 2011. Hey and if climatologists are not right with their predictions, the better for us.
p.s.
Don't forget most of our Sequim Lavender Farms have online stores for their essential lavender oils. I noticed a great 25% off on lavender oils at 'Jardin du Soleil' when buying online. So I bought a nice 4oz bottle of organic Lavender oil. This Internet Special is valid till September 30th! By the way, this is no advertising but a great bargain for lavender lovers.
Bottom line of this post: Be prepared for a tougher Sequim winter season 2010/2011. La Niña is expected to last through early 2011. Hey and if climatologists are not right with their predictions, the better for us.
p.s.
Don't forget most of our Sequim Lavender Farms have online stores for their essential lavender oils. I noticed a great 25% off on lavender oils at 'Jardin du Soleil' when buying online. So I bought a nice 4oz bottle of organic Lavender oil. This Internet Special is valid till September 30th! By the way, this is no advertising but a great bargain for lavender lovers.
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