Glad to hear you were receiving some rain, @waggawerewolf27. How is the weather there now, a few weeks later? Oh! I just saw your more recent post right above.   

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

But I strongly suspect that after so much flooding, inevitably a drought will follow next year. Let me know if I am wrong.  

Curious if that will be the case. Do let us know when that time comes next year!

Posted by: @stargazer

This morning, less than 60 hours later, we woke up to a winter wonderland.

Beautiful! But quite something after being 80F earlier in the week.

Posted by: @fantasia

I did bring in lots of potted plants and my husband helped me throw some sheets over the rest. I like my flowers. They're pretty and I want them to stay that way for a few more weeks.  

For sure! We have done that a few times this Autumn season already - tarps over flower pots and some smaller beds. Thankfully, the perennials thrive in this cooler weather, so, at least for now, we don't have to give them attention when frost arrives.

We have had a glorious Autumn here - very long and drawn out, which we all love. The coloured leaves seem to be lasting 'forever' - a wonderful thing! Some of our trees are only just beginning to turn now, while others are at their peak. We have 15 maples (crimson and sugar) around our property, and it's great they cooperate with each other and don't all turn at the same time. The reds, oranges, yellows are brilliant this year. So, so beautiful!

We have had light frost the past couple of mornings, at the end of a very rainy week. Now, heading into the weekend, the temperatures are soaring to 18C / 64F daytime, with very comfortable single digits at night. With weather like this, a campfire is definitely in order! Monday or Tuesday might even hit 21C / nearly 70F. This is getting a tad too warm for me, but at least the nights will be cool, with the next chance of frost being next Thursday morning.

Weather like this is fabulous for star-gazing too! No humidity; no bugs; refreshing air.

@ johobbit: Curious if that will be the case. Do let us know when that time comes next year!

We aren't even up to what is laughingly called Halloween Down Under, whilst the third La Niña this year is still keeping the place soggy. At Christmas, or thereabouts it is the Wet Season in Darwin, due to the Monsoon cycle, which flooded about ⅓ Pakistan recently, at the expense of Southern China, on the opposite side of the Himalayas & the Hindu Kush, & which is in drought, I've heard. The flooding continues, especially around the Murray River, Western NSW & in Northern Victoria. The government is talking about raising the height of Warragamba Dam for flood mitigation downstream. But the Warragamba River is just a tributary of the main Nepean-Hawkesbury River, & I don't know why they don't put flood mitigation weirs on other tributaries downriver from here, such as the Grose & Colo rivers which aggravate the problem, ensuring that the flooding happens regularly, like clockwork, at their confluence. Continent-sized bands of clouds drift across us, but at least the weather seems to be leaving Lismore, on the far North Coast, alone, when that City has already been flooded for the third time, last Autumn. 

On a more global scale, USA also seems to be having a horrible drought, related to our horrible Pacific La Niña events, according to the NOAA. I thought it was only Peru, Ecuador & Chile, on the other side of the Southern Pacific, which we are told is usually drought-stricken, when we have La Niña events. It is all about the Southern Oscillation Index, where Fiji, or thereabouts, is at the fulcrum. The cold Humboldt current which follows the South American coastline, comes up from Antarctica to warm up, near the Equator, is also implicated. Whilst whales use the warm currents off the coast of Queensland & New South Wales for their annual migrations. When this latest La Niña event recedes, hopefully at the next change of seasons, the weather may start to normalise.  

But, as Albert Einstein first said, "For every action there is an equal & opposite reaction". That Pacific opposite reaction will be an El Niño, when the warm & cold currents reverse, & when Peru gets downpours, whilst we, on the Eastern Board of Australia, can expect drought. It is only a matter of time, & when it comes, it will be likely what we Aussies call a doozie. Unfortunately. And then we will be back to the late 2019 & early 2020 situation when the Spring rains failed for about 3 years in a row, & even Warragamba Dam, the largest in the State, was down to about 35% full, when water rationing in NSW & Southern Queensland was at its most strict, in places like Toowoomba, & when extreme bushfires were therefore much harder to extinguish.

Mind you, there is also the Indian Ocean Diode to consider, off the coast of Western Australia. If it is in negative territory, then we get rain, whilst the North of Africa gets drought. If the IOD is in positive territory, then we get drought. I can't say I know everything by a long chalk, and, apart from being told about the warm current Gulf Stream which surrounds UK, when I was at school, sixty years ago, I don't know what sort of oscillation system exists in the Atlantic Ocean, either North or South. However, all the oceans of the world, especially the Southern Ocean, do intersect somehow, one way or the other. Well, you did say you were curious... The other main weather predictor around here is our very own, Government run, Bureau of Meteorology, based in Melbourne, Victoria, funnily enough, & currently throwing a tantrum in the News, when it objects to being called by its acronym, BOM.  

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

The other main weather predictor around here is our very own, Government run, Bureau of Meteorology, based in Melbourne, Victoria, funnily enough, & currently throwing a tantrum in the News, when it objects to being called by its acronym, BOM.  

I've always privately called it the BOM (pronounced how it looks)   As for all those weather patterns and all the factors involved in them (and the equal and opposite reactions), I can only think of the old saying about how a butterfly fluttering its wings on one side of the world can cause a tornado on the other. Which may be a slight exaggeration, but one wonders...  

Meanwhile, over here in Britain, the weather has been variable — in just one week in Wales (for a very nice holiday), I've had sunshine, rain, high winds and, just the other night, an unexpected unseasonal thunderstorm — but that's typical, really. I always assure people that, having grown up near Melbourne, I'm used to "four seasons in one day" weather!!

I'm glad to hear that UK's weather is behaving itself, though winter can't be very far away. Down here, the floods seem to be receding around Moama and Echuca, on the Murray River, where one day last week, I heard a poor domestically reared camel was rescued from the floods, when camels can't swim. In today's paper, we have been told to expect an Antarctic blast in November, about 15C below average temperatures for this time of year. I expect that would be 15C maximum. 

Here in Christchurch, New Zealand, we just had four seasons in one week, including two with maximums of 12 and 13, and at least 3 of warm Northwest winds. Today we reached 24, I think. Too hot to do gardening, so I did 3 loads of laundry which dried fast.

I wonder if I can manage to mow my lawns tomorrow before the next rain arrives.

Our glorious autumn continues, with a record high of 76F/24C expected tomorrow (the average is 50F/10C) - and snow is not all that unusual by November 1. We'll take this nice weather! The other shoe may drop, as they say, any moment.

This week has given us hot and windy weather, even gusty wild weather. It coincided with the 4 days for selling fireworks before the official Fireworks Night (5 November - see Google).

Last night there was large bushfire near the beach just north of here. Possibly caused by fireworks. There's an odd smell of smoke this morning. The wind is from the direction of the fire .

Yesterday we reached 29, and today its expected to be 24. 

Update: mid afternoon 21 and sunny. Police confirmed that fireworks caused it; rwo young people have been talked to and one referred to Police Youth Aid. *rolls eyes 

Hopefully they get that fire out soon, if it is still burning.

It's almost as warm here as it is there, Auntie, and we're deep into fall. I was out and about for lunch earlier today and the local radio stations were playing the 80s pop tune "The Heat is On," as gusty south winds bring record-breaking heat. It's 76F/24C here now and we may gain a bit more before it clouds up. There is a fire danger here as well with the very dry air and the drought ongoing.

Not only did we set a record for the date, but it turned out to be the third-warmest day of any November on records going back over 150 years.

Posted by: @stargazer

Our glorious autumn continues, with a record high of 76F/24C expected tomorrow (the average is 50F/10C) - and snow is not all that unusual by November 1. We'll take this nice weather! The other shoe may drop, as they say, any moment.

Er, "the other shoe" did drop, but in the wrong hemisphere. November 1st was Melbourne Cup Day, when all Australia stops to see which horse won at the Flemington racecourse in Melbourne. This year the horse was called Gold Trip. But those out on a road trip, well before midnight, were beset by a sharp drop in temperature and actual snow, as near to here as Lithgow, Bathurst & even Orange. Down south at Perisher Valley, where in winter they do have skiing, they got as much as 38mm of snow, a bit of a shock for late Spring. And the temperature this morning was only 8C, well below what it ought to be, at this time of year. It is freezingly cold in West Sydney, and it would be nice if it warmed up a little. 

It started snowing today in the Eugene area in Oregon (yes, snow in November). Though I think some other states get snow earlier than this.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

It started snowing today in the Eugene area in Oregon (yes, snow in November).

I wonder if this isn't part of the same storm we're getting north of you.  The world has gone monochrome--white and grey--and while the snowfall stopped for a brief while, it's now going as hard as before.  A mere eight inches--so far--in early November.  Most unusual.

Hey, at least it breaks the drought!

November in Minnesota: 24 hours ago it was 68F/20C and very humid - almost summer-like. Now it is 28F/-2C with a wind chill of 18F/-8C.

Here in the central part of the state we escaped the blizzard that hit North Dakota and northern Minnesota yesterday, dropping some 18 inches/458mm of snow in some spots.

Over the next 10 days, November will live up to its reputation as the year's cloudiest month and temperatures will not reach freezing.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Down here, the floods seem to be receding around Moama and Echuca, on the Murray River, where one day last week, I heard a poor domestically reared camel was rescued from the floods, when camels can't swim.

Good to hear the floods are receding, wagga! And awww, that poor camel. Glad it was rescued.

Posted by: @coracle

Last night there was large bushfire near the beach just north of here.

Yikes, I hope that did not develop into much.

Posted by: @aileth

The world has gone monochrome--white and grey--and while the snowfall stopped for a brief while, it's now going as hard as before.  A mere eight inches--so far--in early November.  Most unusual.

Sounds beautiful! Has it melted at all, aileth, or do you still have some (or more) on the ground?

Here, we woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. Since there is still a fair bit of moisture in the air, this snow is heavier, and covering the smallest twig to the largest tree. Really beautiful! Like a Christmas postcard!   There are a very few trees who still have their coloured leaves: the contrast between the gorgeous white landscape and the brilliant yellow leaves is very striking.

Our Autumn was prolonged this year, with stunning colour of the changing leaves for weeks, it seemed. Now, winter has come (not a bad thing at all!), people are changing their summer tires to snow tires, persistent leaves on the ground are being raked up, perennials trimmed for the last of the season.

November is one of our cloudiest months, but I believe it is January that has the record there.

This coming week we look forward to daytime temperatures around freezing, with flurries off and on; nighttime temps will be a few (or more) degrees below freezing. Very pleasant, crisp, and fresh, indeed.  

Posted by: @jo

Sounds beautiful! Has it melted at all, aileth, or do you still have some (or more) on the ground?

Still hanging about, though it has melted somewhat; not surprising, since it's been above zero for the last few days.  We did get about a foot altogether; very early for it to stick around, but then we went almost summer-to-winter in one fell swoop, so the weather this year is trying to fool us.  It is rather strange seeing so many green leaves on the trees still; we were concerned that the extra weight might damage the branches.  So far, not too bad.  It's also fun to crunch through deep-looking snowdrifts, only to find it is mostly a thick layer of leaves mingled with the snow.

It's been generally overcast here since November 7, though the sun made a brief appearance today. We had snow 7 days in a row, but it was very light and the total was a rather embarrassing 5 inches/125mm.

Not so Buffalo, New York, which is measuring snow by the foot. Nearby Orchard Park (where the NFL's Bills are scheduled to play a game Sunday) reported 66 inches (1.67m) of snow earlier today and it hadn't stopped yet. Whew!

Our snow isn't going anywhere just yet, as it will approach 0F/-17C overnight this weekend.