Well, this global warming-ancillary heat dome weather pattern we have had this summer has kicked our butts for sure with some alarming hot and humid temperatures. When I first moved up to Highland some thirty years ago, I needed to use a blanket at night because of the cool temperatures. Now I am thinking I may need an air conditioner. It is very alarming that this past June 2023 has been the hottest month on record since the year 1880 when meteorological records officially started to be kept by The Meteorological Office’s Hadley Centre in Great Britain. It certainly has affected my gardening routine and the hot dry weather followed by torrential downpours has definitely put a cramp in my usual watering routine, and what I am able to grow and the gardening techniques to use and for sure I’m going to re-install my rain barrel. Trying to figure out what to do is helped by our local weather station sponsored by the University of Albany and the NYS Division of Homeland Security right in the village of Eldred. Since August of 2016 it has been up behind the Highland Senior Center on Route 55 in the same location as the Highway Department facility. Our weather station is part of a network of 126 weather stations throughout New York State called NYS Mesonet. The term “Meso” refers to any weather phenomena that ranges in size from less than a mile to hundreds of miles long and lasts a few minutes or up to hours. Each of the stations use solar panels and are equipped with advanced sensors that collect data every 3 to 30 seconds then automatically calculates five-minute averages on temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, snow and rain depth, soil temperature and the ground’s moisture levels which is important information when growing my vegetables and berries. It also has the ability to give accurate weather conditions for all parts of New York State. The data is then processed into files and sent to emergency managers throughout the State, utility companies, ground and air transportation hubs, farms and other weather-related businesses and the general public for use in forecasting and decision making. This Early Warning Severe Detection System saves billions of dollars by facilitating rapid response to catastrophic weather events. I personally use the information from the Station for bad weather conditions and every Mesonet station has a live camera (ours faces east) so it’s very helpful to access the camera and see how heavy any snowfall may be. 

The other thing I have noticed this summer is there seems to be a lot of garden pests around- gypsy moths, slugs, Japanese beetles had a field day in my flowers and berries. I got a lot of good advice from several of the gardening sites on Facebook to deal with them and along with my plant identifying app and my new super duper weeding tool I have been able to maintain some semblance of order. I planted watermelons for the first time this year, and I am really hoping they make it as they take one hundred days to mature and I may have planted them too late. That’s what I love about gardening- it’s always something new to worry about!