December is setting up to be quite warm in much of the United States and the Ohio Valley, a pattern which we have been seeing a lot of as the climate warms. Strong December tornadoes in the mid-South for the second time in three years is also eyebrow raising. That said, winter is not cancelled.
It appears temperatures will stay warm up until Christmas but thereafter significant changes appear likely. The polar vortex, which has been pumping cold air into Europe and Siberia over the past month, is forecast to shift toward North America with periods of much colder air over the eastern United States in January and February. It remains likely that we will see some strong nor’easter snowstorms along the East Coast this winter.
One nor’easter is working its way into New England now but it is merely a teaser for what is expected after Christmas. The Ohio Valley will also see periods of much colder air in the late December-early March period but the degree to which that translates to snowfall is uncertain.
Unfortunately, it appears the dry and drought conditions may continue in the midwest and southwest for some time.
This report is specifically for the Arbor Doctor’s location 3.4 miles west of Cheviot, OH, in the western suburbs of Cincinnati in southwest Ohio. This location is also an official cooperative observation site for the National Weather Service listed as Cheviot 3W.
What is the Condition Monitoring Report? See these links for more information:
Water once per week, one inch per week, under the entire branch spread, in the absence of rain, May through November. Either rainfall or your watering should equal the one inch per week. Do not water if the soil is already moist. Put out a sprinkler and a straight sided soup can or rain gauge and measure one inch per week. Measure the rainfall which falls in your yard. Your trees don’t care what fell at the airport!
If burlap was left on new trees, it will repel water and the tree or shrub may die. Be sure burlap and twine are removed from the top of all root balls. If your landscaper disagrees, refer him or her to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) industry standard for installation of landscape plants.
To the extent possible recycle fallen leaves back into the soil around the trees and maintain mulch around the trees to a radius of at least 3-5 feet. Keep mulch off trunks. Use a coarse textured mulch. Avoid triple shredded mulch. Aged arborist wood chips ( https://getchipdrop.com/ ), mulched and composted leaves, pine bark, and pine straw are all good. Very finely ground mulches such as triple ground hardwood mulch are not beneficial and may inhibit moisture and oxygen exchange.
You may have noticed that Arbor Doctor, meteorologists and climatologists define seasons differently from “regular” or astronomical spring, summer, fall, and winter. So, why do meteorological and astronomical seasons begin and end at different times? Climatologically, the period July 14-21, the mid-point of meteorological summer, is the hottest week of the year and the period January 14-21, the mid-point of meteorological winter, is the coldest week of the year over much of the continental US including the Ohio valley.