Rolling Dog Farm Blog

When we first said we were moving the sanctuary to New Hampshire, one of the many reasons we cited for the change was wanting a milder climate than we had in Montana.  That raised some eyebrows back here in the north end of New Hampshire, where they don't consider this a "milder climate" by any means.  And in truth, it is snow country here, as we said in our blog post announcing the move, and it can get below zero, no question about it.  But everything's relative, and where we were in Montana was by far colder, and windier, than where we are now in New Hampshire.  We would get much colder, earlier, and it would last longer.  In October 2009, for example, we had a week of sub-zero weather where it was 20 below at night and barely above zero during the day.

And then we saw the Ovando weather forecast for this week.  (Click on image for larger version.)  Yikes.  Boy, do we remember this sort of thing already in the fall: 

Tonight: A chance of snow before 11pm, then snow likely and areas of blowing snow after 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around -4. Wind chill values as low as -21. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Monday: Snow and areas of blowing snow. High near 8. Wind chill values as low as -22. East wind between 10 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Monday Night: Snow likely and areas of blowing snow before 11pm, then snow and areas of blowing snow after 11pm. Low around -13. Wind chill values as low as -34. East wind between 13 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tuesday: Snow and areas of blowing snow before 11am, then a chance of snow after 11am. High near 2. East northeast wind between 6 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tuesday Night: A slight chance of snow before 11pm, then a chance for flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -23. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -7.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around -21.

Thanksgiving Day: Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 4.

Alayne and I used to pride ourselves in being able to work outdoors for hours in those kinds of conditions, but as the years wore on, we began to think a little less of that would be a good thing!

Before making the final decision on where to relocate, we looked at climate records for the past 50 years, as well as climate change model projections for the rest of this century.  A key piece of current data was one of the simplest, and yet most stark, ways to illustrate the difference between our climate in Ovando and the one we now live in.  The growing season last year — time between killing frosts — was 116 days in Lancaster.  In Ovando, it was 76 days. 

So when people here in northern New Hampshire ask us with genuine concern if we're "really ready for a North Country winter," we just smile and say, "Yep, I think we can handle it."

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Of course, having just posted this, I have pretty much guaranteed the immiment arrival of the "Winter Storm of the Century" for upper New England.  Sorry about that, folks.