January Weather Report

White-tipped dove

The dry season seems to have arrived at last, and parrots have been sighted in the neighborhood, a good sign. Other dry-season birds are out and about too, including cattle egrets, eastern meadowlarks, and white-tipped doves.

The month began with a couple of stormy days, followed by a week of dry, windy weather, and then came another big storm, dumping almost five inches of rain and winds that reached 33 mph. Since then we've had 16 days of sunny, breezy weather. Rain spat at us from time to time, but not enough to show up in the rain gauge. Most of the year I switch from a short-sleeve to a long-sleeve shirt around 3 or 4 p.m., but recently it's stayed warm enough that I don't have to make the switch until 6 or 7.

Total rainfall came to 6.8 inches. The high temperature was 80 degrees, on January 21; the low, 55 degrees, on January 6.

Happy gardening!