Weather Blogs

Wintertime minimum temperatures in the U.S. have risen so much in recent decades that the USDA had to update their Plant Hardiness Zone Map for gardeners for the first time since 1990. Ann Arbor used to be in Zone 5, but is now solidly in the warmer Zone 6. This got me to wondering, what sort of plants in Zone 6, until now unknown in Ann Arbor, might migrate northwards in coming decades into the city? The truly awful possibility: The Ohio Buckeye Tree.

January was a mild and dry month for the contiguous U.S. but one of the coldest on record for Alaska. Excessive rainfall induced flooding conditions in parts of Australia and Brazil. A massive cold wave began to affect Europe towards the end of the month. A powerful Category 4 tropical cyclone swirled in the waters between Madagascar and Mozambique in Africa. The coldest summer maximum temperature ever recorded in Australia was measured on January 11th.