@Courtenay: Now that I've done a lot of driving here, I understand miles as instinctively as I understand kilometres

Yes, but in America everyone drives on the right side of the road, whereas here & also in UK & NZ, people drive on the left. What is the conversion rate between miles & kilometres, though? I can never visualise it. We used to go 35 miles & hour maximum on city roads once upon a time, but for years now, it is more like 50 or sixty km per hour. Or  80 or 100 km per hour on an expressway, depending on road conditions.

I've been awestruck that all of you have been saying how cold it has been, in North America, considering that you have had snow even as far south as Texas. We saw that bad accident on TV. I'm glad to see you are all okay, though. On last night's television, even Niagara Falls was frozen over. 

Weather here has been unexciting to tell the truth.   It has been mostly overcast here with rain on & off, but it has been a nice, bearably mild temperature.  We've had some clear,  hot days but they soon go away. Lake Burragorang is looking beautiful, in sharp contrast to what it was in late 2019 &  hovering about the 40% mark. It is a La Nina year, so while that has been a most pleasant contrast to last year's summer heat, it feels like Autumn has already arrived. Despite the rain the local roadworks are coming along very nicely & some day soon, they might even finish.  

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Yes, but in America everyone drives on the right side of the road, whereas here & also in UK & NZ, people drive on the left.

Hence my "best not thought about right now" comment at the end of the previous post...  

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

What is the conversion rate between miles & kilometres, though? I can never visualise it.

1 mile = 1.6 km, pretty much. Or 1 km = just over 2/3 of a mile. So 2 miles = just over 3 km.

I can visualise it pretty well by thinking of the distances I know best, in and around my home town in Australia. Our house (where my parents still live) is 1.5 km from Inverloch town centre, according to the nearest road sign. I know that distance very well, as I've walked into Inverloch from home so many times. That's about a mile and it takes about 20 minutes to walk it. So I just remember that when thinking of how long a mile is.

British cars have km/h as well as mph on the speedometer, which also helps! The standard speed limit in built-up areas is 30 mph, which is just under 50 km/h (standard speed limit in built-up areas in Australia, or at least in Victoria). The top legal speed on UK motorways is 70 mph, which is 112 km/h. Slightly faster than our top speed limit in Australia (110 km/h, but 100 is more common)!  

Now, back on the topic of weather, we had another lovely sunny day here today, though it sounds quite windy out there now (at 9.45 pm). I have one more work day (Wednesday) before four days off, so hopefully it'll stay sunny — or at least pleasant — and I can go for a few nice walks...

You should move to Canada, @courtenay ... we hold to metric system! (Trivia: it was over 45 years ago that Canada switched from the imperial system to metric - 1975.) Still, learning Fahrenheit will be a growing and learning experience, as well as driving on the right hand side of the road.  

The temperature here has risen a bit above freezing for the first time in months, hence all our mounds of snow are finally beginning to melt. This will take quite awhile, though, as we received a fair bit this winter. I have tried to find a total amount in our area, still without success, but there must be two feet of base, at least, since New Year's. And the piles plowed to the side in town parking lots are at least three times a 6' man's height. Those may not be gone until early July.  

But back to melting: with the sun shining today and tomorrow, some of the white stuff will definitely be gone. However, March can bring some very decent snowstorms, even into April and early May, although in April, and particularly May, any snow is most often very wet and does not stay around. This is why we are strongly encouraged not to plant anything outdoors until our long May weekend (4th weekend of that month); freezing nighttime temperatures can occur well into May.

Back to the present, though: the nights will be below freezing for weeks yet, which are very pleasant temps in which to take long, brisk walks.  

The heat is on here, with much of this week above freezing (by day, at least. At night the re-freeze makes it slippery).  There is still plenty of snow but it's going fast. It was clear overnight and I enjoyed a view of the nearly full moon shining in my window early this morning.

@Courtenay, US cars also have km on their speedometers, though less prominently marked than miles. That may make things easier.

(I recall a half-hearted metric push back in the 70s. Distance signs included km along with miles, but I've read that's not the best way to introduce a new system. I specifically remember a sign on Interstate 35 that said, "Minneapolis 100 miles/161 km).

Posted by: @jo

You should move to Canada, @courtenay ... we hold to metric system!

I know!!! (And you pronounce Z as "zed", and spell "colour" and "humour" etc. the same way we do.) I would LOVE to visit Canada one day, and probably will some time when I'm over that side of the Atlantic, if at all possible.

Posted by: @stargazer

@Courtenay, US cars also have km on their speedometers, though less prominently marked than miles. That may make things easier.

Ah, right — the same as cars in the UK, then. I've no trouble measuring in miles thanks to 9 years of living in Britain, and feet and inches I can visualise too. It's only weighing things in pounds and ounces, measuring liquids in pints and quarts and gallons, and measuring temperatures in Fahrenheit that I've never quite been able to get my head around. And the driving-on-the-other-side thing. But if I have to, I'll learn.  

@ Courtenay: 1 mile = 1.6 km, pretty much. Or 1 km = just over 2/3 of a mile. So 2 miles = just over 3 km.

I can visualise it pretty well by thinking of the distances I know best, in and around my home town in Australia. Our house (where my parents still live) is 1.5 km from Inverloch town centre, according to the nearest road sign. I know that distance very well, as I've walked into Inverloch from home so many times. That's about a mile and it takes about 20 minutes to walk it. So I just remember that when thinking of how long a mile is.

Thanks for that. I can't even remember all those imperial measures we had to learn back in the day. There is one thing that didn't change for a long, long time. My firstborn daughter, a premmie, was 2lb 10 ounces which is 1.91 kg. That is just under a 2Kg packet of sugar. I freaked out then. But she is in her forties now. 

Would you be able to return to Oz eventually? 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Would you be able to return to Oz eventually? 

Yes, of course — I haven't given up my citizenship and I never will! I am actually considering coming back to Australia for at least a few months in the middle of this year, if I can get work there to tide me over before my US job starts (the date of that is still unclear; I've formally accepted and my new employers have started the visa application process for me, but they've been advised it may take longer than usual, perhaps up to a year). Conditions in Australia sound a lot better than here at the moment and of course, I miss my family. But it's all rather up in the air at the moment. Right now I'm just keeping very close to God in prayer and listening for guidance. I know I'll be shown the right way — I've seen that many times before in my life.

I haven't given up on the UK either — this is my second home and I will make sure to keep my residency permit valid! I hope to move back here in the long run. But the US job is giving me opportunities for further training and experience that I haven't been able to get where I am, and it's all been working out beautifully step by step so far, so I'm trusting that will continue.

(To explain a bit further, I'm a Christian Science nurse, which means supporting the personal care and spiritual needs of people who are relying on prayer for healing. I'm happy to chat via PM if anyone wants to know more about it, just so we don't take the discussion here even further off topic.)

Back to the weather... it's still beautifully sunny in western Kent and I have a few days off, which is lovely. I'm planning another walk to the next village (Eynsford, about a mile from our nearest village, Farningham) after lunch. I think I mentioned before, there's a tea room by the river that is now open for takeaways four days a week, so I like to go along and help keep a local business going.

An interesting discussion, to be sure, ladies, but, yes, let's keep it to weather here. I don't know if either of you have visited the Town Square in Ditto Town, but that cozy spot is a wonderful place for anything and everything (within forum's principles, of course ). It is not as active as it used to be in the earlier days, but is still a heart-warming and fun place to be.

Weather:  -11C / 12F here last night (not incl a slight wind chill). Extremely clear, fresh, invigorating! But sunshine all today as the temp barely creeps above freezing will continuing to melt our landscape of deep snow. I am looking forward to getting out this evening for my walk as the temperature drops below freezing again and the sky is clear for stargazing!  

Now that sounds delightful. -11C doesn't sound too bad, really, though the lowest we'd ever get is -4C. At the moment we are overcast. It is that drizzly sort of off & on rain that can't make its mind up whether to do the deed or run away somewhere else. You could walk around the rain drops, or just brush them away. At least the pot plants would enjoy it, though I still thought it necessary to top up their water supply a little. The basil plant responded almost immediately.

We had a hot day yesterday, but it was of the humid, rather draining sort. 

I'll echo Jo's endorsement of the Town Square for discussion. We'd be glad to discuss and attempt to answer general questions there about your impending US move, @Courtenay.

It was the warmest day of 2021 so far here, with a temperature of 41F/5C, and a strong southwest wind helped knock down our snowpack - though it's going to be a while before we can see the ground (especially with 1-3 inches (25-75mm) more expected this weekend).

wagga, I'm not looking forward to those hot humid days of summer.

And today that ^ relative warmth has hit us. We should also be reaching about 5C / 41F today and tomorrow, with nights still dropping below freezing, so any melt will become ice. In fact, as the temperature quickly rose in the past few hours, freezing rain was a result, and now, only rain. But wet snow could be mixed in today, with straight rain tomorrow, after which the temperature will drop for a couple of days, then rise above freezing during the daytime hours again mid next-week. Talk about a yo-yo. 'Tis the season!  

We will see what March brings. It may come in as a partial lion with flurries. But with what I recall from last year it both came in as the king of the beasts ... and went out like one too.  

EDIT: Maple syrup season should be in full swing here in Ontario soon: cold nights, with milder days make perfect that rich, golden liquid, which is hugely loved in Canada. However not me, though I do enjoy those pure maple sugar maple leaf-shaped treats.

Posted by: @stargazer

wagga, I'm not looking forward to those hot humid days of summer.

DITTO, huge ditto!  

March is here, yaaaay! They say March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb, but I find the opposite is true around here. Today is no exception. Approximately 60F with clear blue skies and no wind.

  fantasia! As for here, today, March 1, it is snowing off and on; winds picking up to 80 kms/50 mph, and temps dropping down to -20C/-4F overnight, with risk of snow squalls all night long. I am curious what March 31 will hold, as the long-range forecast for our area for the end of the month/beginning of April is ... snow. The four+ weeks in between those dates, however, there will be a variety of weather both below and above freezing.

Jo, we had those winds over the weekend. (One local TV channel has a graphic that illustrates the wind with trash containers: lids blown open, bins blown over, or blown down the street. )

We had two quick snow squalls over the weekend, giving us around 4 inches/100mm total, but with temps in the 40sF/8C range all week, and the high sun angle now, it's not going to last long.

Yes, those winds from last week were quite something!

This week for a couple of days we are having a 'fake spring' ... a bit of a tease. The temperature is to be in the mid-teens Celsius today and even a bit higher tomorrow, with rain. That would be low 60sF. But on Friday we're starting to plunge and by next week, we could have snow falling again. 'Tis March in the north!

We still have snow lying around, but more than half of it is gone. Although the higher banks are still very present. The fields are quite pretty with the interlaced pattern of rich brown soil and lovely white snow.