Are you seeing plants bloom in your yard?

Even though as I type this we are dealing with one of the colder days this winter. There is no argument this has been a rather warm and mild winter overall. Yes I know we had 4.9 inches of snow officially at the airport in the month of January which is above average. That was only one event. The most repetitive event we have had this winter is the fact that it has been warm and above average for a big part of the season. Overall this winter ranks currently at a tie for 8th warmest on record in the county. (See the photo below)

Now one fact I would like to point out is that the other winters listed on this picture above are all from 1957 or prior. Something to think about since there is a lot of talk of global warming and I am sure the blooming of some trees and plants across the southeast with the mild winter we are having will fuel the fire for those theories once again. With all of that said. Have you noticed any of your plants blooming around your yard? If so you are not alone. As you can see from the cover photo of this article and the same picture below there are many trees across the southeast starting to bloom. Some species as much as 2 - 3 weeks early.

All of the areas shaded in red are seeing early signs of blooming around the southeast. The biggest concern with that is we still have over 5 weeks of the winter season left. There is still time for a late season snowstorm to come in and cause a setback to the early blooming. Now I know this is not the first time we have saw this occur and it will most certainly not be the last. It is something to keep an eye on as you may have to take some steps to protect vegetation around your yard and home if and when we get another round of winter weather or some extremely cold nights like we just and and are set to have yet again this evening. 

It will certainly be interesting to see how Mother Nature continues to handle the early blooming and the struggle of warm and cold air battling it out over the next 5 or so weeks as winter starts to make its exit. Although other than the snowfall a few weeks ago and the occasional cold nights we have had a few times. The real question is has winter actually shown up yet or is it just teasing us? 

As always thank you for following Rowan County Weather!