Summer 2016 smashed all the written records in Nova Scotia according to the media. Not only was it the driest on record, it was also one of the warmest.
“From June 1 until Sept. 18, the region received only 90 millimetres of rain, far less than the normal 315 mm… Other dry periods don’t even come close to comparing to this year… In 1960, 212 mm in the region was considered a drought. The previous record for a dry summer season was set in 1915, when 178 mm of rain fell in Southwest Nova.”
The grass in the front garden burnt to a crisp in the hot sun and the pond in the woods dried up completely! The kids walked out to the little island and made ‘beaver dams’. The bugs as a result were not bad. And it wasn’t an especially bad year for ticks — until the end of September when Evie found 12 on her within a 10-day period!
But the gorgeous sunshine and warm, dry weeks did make for a glorious Nova Scotia summer vacation. We had a fabulous time, marred only slightly by the complete fire ban — we didn’t roast a single marshmallow. Wild fires plagued Nova Scotia in August. The 400-ha Seven Mile Lake was the worst and burned swathes of forest close to the Kejimkujik National Park boundary and closed the highway.
Seven Mile Lake fire (media photo)
But the precipiation has to come down at some stage. According to the Farmer’s Almanac we are in for a colder winter than usual, and presumably a wetter/snowier one. Stay tuned to find out if we get another mammoth snowfall this winter.
witches whiskers 