Last January (2013), we wrote about a bout of extremely cold weather. For the first three weeks of that month, our average temperatures were some of the coldest ever recorded in Utah. This January (2014) is just the opposite. Every day has been warmer than average. In fact, for the Cedar City Airport, twenty-five miles from The Homestead, the normal average temperature for the first three weeks of January is 28.7F, while the current average (2014) temperature for the first three weeks of January is 33.7F. We have been, on average, five degrees warmer every day this month than normal. That's a lot.
In some ways, this warm spell has been pretty good. The hiking has been phenomenal for one thing. But, importantly for me, the firewood consumption has been low, which means that I've been able to get caught up. I think I've got wood ready to burn until well into February, and have even been looking ahead to 2015. Amazing.
The bad news, though, is the lack of moisture. Along with the warm weather, we've had a bit of winter drought. The last time it snowed at The Homestead was December 21, 2013. By my count, we've now gone 36 days without precipitation. The mountains have no snow pack to speak of, and anything below about 9000 feet is essentially bare. If we don't get about nine feet of snow between now and the end of March, there may be no garden for us in the summer of 2014.
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