Weirdness in Dixie

Things are getting weird in 'Bama...

Decenber 25th, 2010, was the first white Christmas I have ever seen, and remember guys, this is an old redneck talking. Apparently the northern branch of the jet Stream took dead aim at us, and brought not one, but two icy shots of Arctic air down where the magnolias grow.

Now, a mere three weeks later, it has happened again... with even more dire consequences:
That's a snapshot of the road in front of my house taken Tuesday, a full day after the snowfall dumped a full foot of snow on us, enough to make it the heaviest snowfall on record since 1850-something. We struggled to break the freezing mark for a couple hours that day, and haven't been up to freezing since. Nor do we plan to be, as the low tonight is showing to be 11°F and tomorrow we aren't supposed to get past the mid 20s. We have no snow equipment to speak of, so the entire northern part of the state is practically shut down.

In the middle of this deep freeze today, I was looking out the window at the white expanse, and what do I see? BIRDS! Not just the typical winter birds like wrens, but my wife and I counted 13 robins, several redbirds, a couple of bluejays, at least one mockingbird, and a woodpecker. It's the middle of January in the midst of the worst snowfall in 150 years combined with temperatures no one here is equipped to handle. Can someone PLEASE explain to me why this is happening?

I am seriously at a loss to explain this. I'm hoping that someone here can shed some light (and a little heat would be nice ) on exactly what is happening. Is it only here? Have bird migrations shifted in other places? Is there a scientific reason for the Jet Stream plunge that might also affect the wildlife?

TheRedneck

I know - I am in NWGA been snowed in for days and it is not normal.
All I can remember ever seeing that resembled THIS was a very old picture from the 60s that my folks had that mom said it was a weird year and that even June was cold that year some days.

It sounds crazy but the news kept saying 'mild warm winter' but I had a dream that my dead mama - the one that told me to buy gold when it was less than 300 an ounce- she told me "Make sure you get firewood." I told my husband - this was in early August- to go get us some firewood and he thought I was off my rocker so I went and picked up wood until he believed I was dead serious about it and got the chainsaw out. I told him then that I thought something was going to happen this winter and it was going to be a hard one. The news casters though- just a day or two AGO stood up and said it was "STILL going to be -on average- a much milder and warmer winter than we are used to.

I don't know what they've been smokin. I am COLD.

reply to post by TheRedneck


You know...

Here in Atlanta, Ga. we get snow most years. We even have some pretty epic ice storms every so many years. But just a couple of hours ago, as I was walking through my house, I glanced out of a window and was amazed at the fact that the light, from a streetlight, was making my entire yard shine like millions of shards of glass. The couple of inches of snow, on the ground for 3 or 4 solid days now, has turned totally to a sheet of ice.

The last time I saw an effect such as this was when I visited Lake Tahoe during a particularly vicious winter in the mid or late 1980's. Something very out of character for the deep south, to say the least!

Though I would venture to say that the folks who own Kroger and Wal Mart are thrilled to giggles over this... You know how we southern folk get when the sky dumps white stuff on us... We tend to be a bit compulsive with our buying. It's like Y2K, at least once or twice, every single year...

If you've never threatened to punch a stranger over the last loaf of bread in a grocery store... you haven't wintered in the mid south!

~Heff

reply to post by TheRedneck


I wasn't aware that it even snowed in that part of the U.S. I'm up in the northeast where snow is something we've come to expect every year.

It's still weird though.

reply to post by TheRedneck

Srange days indeed my redneck friend! It snowed six inches here in NW Washington state last night then melted away by noon today... Crazy weather all over! I read somewhere that only Florida was the only state in the lower 48 not to have snow!

Stay warm!

It's all scientifically explained - the only reason they haven't explained it is because it would cause a worldwide panic to do so.

Mass die offs - insane weather - volcano's all over the world erupting - earthquakes everywhere - yes, something is going on and the reason they won't say is because its too big.

My guess would be a polar shift. Starts out slow like a mudslide, avalanche, snow sliding off the roof - then BAM all hell breaks loose at once.

The thing that is amazing me (and prompted this thread) is the fact that springtime birds, the ones that are never seen during even mild winters here, are in abundance this year. I also just remembered that my son said he saw a bird (didn't mention which kind) fly straight into a power line and fall to the ground bleeding from its mouth when he was walking back from the mailbox. I guess that could be just by happenstance, of course, but it is unusual in my experience for a) a bird to fly into a power line, and b) for that to kill it instantly.

What could cause these birds to suddenly show up in the middle of an historic winter storm? Has the migration pattern changed? Why?

Oh, and Heff... rednecks don't threaten. We give fair warning.

TheRedneck

CNN have a link today on its page that 49 of the 50 states have had snow since i believe 1/1/2011, Florida be the only state that hasnt seen any, i live in Seattle Wa. it started snowing last night around 8pm and snowed heavy for 6 hours causing 3 1/2 inches of snow, but bye 12:00pm it was all gone and 50 degrees.

im started to get nervous guys

Last year had a really hard freeze that lasted a long time too, and I lost several plants that normally I would never lose here. I probably have plants dying as I type this.

We had someone here build a 12 foot snowman and people are building forts and igloos. OK, I' 43 and I have NEVER seen that in Georgia. EVER.

The last time it snowed here at Christmas was in the 1880s after Krakatoa. Could that Iceland volcano ash be affecting our winter? Did the gulf stream move? Both?

At least the power stayed on- but ok, that in itself is really weird. In my memory, in severe snows we'd lose power - that was because it would snow but it wouldn't be that cold so it would freeze, the pine limbs would break, and down would go the power. This has been real snow. REAL BIG FLUFFY snow. The fact that it wasn't sleet and ice was weird in itself, you know?

I've not seen any birds. I believe The Great Backyard Bird Count just finished up and that would be some data if anyone wanted to look at it. I did not participate for the first time in years.

The weather is really sucking! First it has been 2 years of horrid, horrid summer drought, and now this. At least it will kill the fleas.

reply to post by TheRedneck


Very interesting. The birds your are seeing are alive, and moving around?
They are not froze to death, just out of place?

Something that is nagging at me...

In Panama they are having unprecedented flooding but it is not reported in the media.
And I am talking unprecedented.

latino.foxnews.com...

Here in central Oregon, in the heart of winter just 2 days ago, I saw a FLOCK of ducks flying NORTH. Wished i wasn't driving so I could have taken a picture - it was so strange.

At first I was like, "Cool, just doing their thing!" The it dawned on me, "Wait, it's the beginning of January and it's freezing outside with snow storms in the forecast, why are ducks flying north now?

reply to post by TheRedneck


The road in front of your house looks a lot like the road in front of my house. I'm in Ky.

I've noticed for the past few years that a few robins have been hanging around through the winter. I remember when I was little, I always considered seeing a robin as the first sign of spring. Now some of them just don't leave! I've noticed this for the past two years, at least, and maybe longer.

Our winters, here in Kentucky, had gotten to the point that they really hadn't amounted to much, but this one has been the snowiest one I can remember in a LONG time! Granted, we only have a few inches on the ground, but it's been there for a while and I can't imagine that it's going to be melting anytime soon. The snow is still falling and I think it's supposed to keep it up for the next few days.

I'll keep an eye on the birds. May even take pics to better help me identify them.

reply to post by TheRedneck


Just a side note... All this talk of using birds to assess the seriousness of the situation and it dawns upon me that I am so ghetto I've been doing the same thing... only with the number of stray cats and wild possums that visit my deck on any given day!

Let's get Hillbilly4rent into this thread as I know he uses bears in this same fashion!

~Heff

I'm sorry - the GBBC is in Feb- the one that just happened was the Christmas bird count

The data is here: cbc.audubon.org...

reply to post by Hefficide


Hey! Atlanta here too. It's cold and we still have every bit of the snow that fell Sunday night. But at least it's FINALLY (just this afternoon) off the roads. We got 5 inches in 50 minutes...I kid you not. I know because my son was out to pick up his girlfriend and left when it just started flurrying and barely got home. I was watching it. Was almost like being back home in NY. No school all week...is anything open? I haven't left the house Thing is, itwas supposed to warm up tonight and Thursday but instead it's getting so much colder.Did you know Atlanta has 11 snowplow/sand and salt spreader trucks now?

I've been seeing a few strange birds...fat grey ones...all puffy. They've actually been huddling under the back deck on the chairs. Odd behaviour I've not seen before. Other than that the usual birds seem to be missing.

NE Georgia here. You know, you're right. And I was totally blind till I read this..

Wednesday morning, I was sitting at the computer in my office and opened the blind by my desk to watch the sun rise. Right outside the window is an unused wrought iron bird cage that I actually use for plants in the srping. Right past that is the overhang where we used to hang bird feeders. Sometimes, the birdfood would scatter to the top of the cage, and the birds and squirrels became wise to this. They would usually tackle the top of the cage before approaching the birdfeeder, I am guessing because it was just easier.

As I was gazing out the window watching the sun come up, a pretty, fattened robin came to the railing and went to the birdcage. It climbed up to the top seemingly scouring it for seed. Then, it hopped to the railing where the feeder used to hang (I quit putting it out about 3 years ago now). It seemed perplexed that there was no food, chirped a few times, then flew off.

The robin here is a herald of spring. We, like you, have been snowed in since Sunday, I still have some 2 inches or so of snow, more in shaded areas, with no hopes of even slight warming till Friday. Our second serious snowfall in 3 weeks, as well, after just having the first White Christmas since the late 1800's.

I don't even know why it didn't sink in, but that robin was so totally out of place! The fact it was so obviously looking for food made me even consider replacing the birdfeeder and keeping it full. Now this is making me think something is odd, too!

Now, I grew up in Georgia, been here almost all of my life. I am familiar with the weather behaving this way. I think people that are younger perhaps remember more the cyclical 10 year drought, perhaps. I remember lots and lots of snow storms, and ice stroms, in particular.

Some of the more memorable ones:

1973 - Ice Storm- Ice fell in Atlanta and north Georgia, followed by an unusual 96 hour below freezing period. Restoring power took more than a week.

1973 - More snow for Georgia as a storm dumps up to 18 inches in the northeast

Snow Jam 1982- January 11 - 4 inches of snow in about 30 mins brings interstates to a total halt - took me 4 1/2 hours to go 1/4 mile. This large, unpredicted snowfall paralyzed Atlanta and surrounding areas. The storm track took the heaviest amount of snow over Atlanta and hit in the afternoon, stranding thousands of commuters Lasted two days

1984 - 8 inches of snow overnight in April, postpones tax day for one week - snow on the ground for 5 days

2000, January 22-23 virtually all of north Georgia turned into a winter wonderland
ngeorgia.com...

Blizzard - 1993 - March - 50 mile an hour winds, below zero wind chills, 8 inches to 1 foot of snow - 12 foot snow drifts - city paralyzed for a week

I think the drought cycles are much more devastating, and perhaps have more far reaching effects like long term water usage bans and restrictions, much more long term media play, too.

1976 – 78
1980 – 82
1985 – 89
1998 until 2003, with a brief respite in 2000-2001
2007 began in 2006, ending 2009
www.walterreeves.com...

It is my understanding in Georgia that we have 4 year, 7 year, 10 year and 25 year drought cycles, but the last one, ending in 2009 was one of the worst I remember.

Come to think, it might have been female robins...I'm taking a pictures tomorrow if they come back. Robins generally don't show up here until late February.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


I think the fat grey ones are migratory catbirds. They usually come to Georgia. But, here is the odd part:

They pass in abundance through Georgia and the Carolinas early in September, feeding then on the berries of the sweet gum, those of the poke and sumach, the seeds of grasses.

We had some migrate through when I had the feeder out, and I would put berries and fruit on the birdcage for them. One family stayed and never left, but I do not see them until the spring.

Is this the bird you are seeing?

ATL here too.

And I'm wondering, how do people live like this!?

We were finally able to make it out of our subdivision late this afternoon. I've never seen anything like this in the South. We could ice skate in our cul-de-sac for pete's sake!

Something is seriously, seriously jacked up with this planet.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity I've been seeing a few strange birds...fat grey ones...all puffy. They've actually been huddling under the back deck on the chairs.

Sounds like mourning doves, typically ground feeders who flock together when not in pairs

reply to post by EssenSieMich


I completely agree with you on this. There is something big looming in the air you can feel the akward energy in the air for the last couple of years. Animals are acting strange and often panicing and all of these weird animal deaths too. Something weird! I wonder if anyone is doing something along the lines of research with elephants i hear they are more tuned in with weather than any creature on earth. I wonder if they are acting strange too??