Spring weather

[Walt]

We got 4 or 5 inches of wet snow yesterday from a mid-April storm. The warm ground temperature from the past few days caused a rapid snowmelt and despite an overnight low of 26° last night, by mid- day today most of the snow was gone. Our hummingbirds usually begin showing up around the third week of April. I heard the first one whizzing by the house on Friday, promptly put out a feeder and saw the first one today before sunrise. They are tough little guys. It's supposed to freeze again tonight but not get as cold as this morning.

I took this picture from my upstairs balcony around lunchtime today. The mountains in the foreground are the Ortiz Mountains, about 20 miles away and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the left background are above Santa Fe about 70 miles away.

I would be perfectly happy if it didn't snow here again until around Thanksgiving.

[gamekeeper]

Beautiful view Walt, I wish we had Hummingbirds over here but the Swallows have returned this week.

[Walt]

Thanks, GK!

Yeah, we live about 25 miles from town and love it out here.

[GunnyMack]

I miss the Sangre de Cristos!
When I lived in Trinidad, CO it usually snowed on Halloween, was below zero for Thanksgiving, nice for Christmas and a blizzard for Easter. The best part of the high desert is the low humidity so the snow just evaporates.
Thanks for the reminder to get the hummingbird feeders washed and filled!

[Walt]

Will, I took the picture above around lunchtime and now at 5:00PM our time there's only a small patch of snow on the mountain in the foreground. Yep, it seems to just evaporate.

[jeepnik]

We're fortunate to have several varieties of hummingbirds all year long. My neighbor and I both have purple sage and due to the mild weather and marine layer moisture they bloom year round. The hummingbirds go crazy for the blossoms.

As to weather, today was spectacular. We've been having a lot of loud cover all day for the past week or so. Today was bright and clear, a mild breeze of the ocean and very comfortable temperatures. Drove by the local lake earlier and it was wall to wall folks out enjoying the day. The mix of smells from the BBQ's was intoxicating.

[Bill in Oregon]

Walt, I hit a squall of wet snow mixed with gypsum dust Saturday afternoon crossing on Highway 70 back over San Augustine Pass on my way home from our Patriot's Day muzzleloader shoot in La Luz. None of it stuck but you know a trace of moisture is all that the cactus, mesquite, creosote, agaves, yuccas and ocotillos need to blossom. And yes, the ocotillos are blooming precisely as our first hummers showed up. I am always quite astonished at God's perfect timing, but you'd think I would have gotten used to it after seven decades plus.
Hope a few drops from the melt up your way find their way into poor Elephant Butte reservoir.

[.45colt]

That's a Great picture Walt. Nothing like the views out West. I'll be happy if We don't get any snow here for the next year. Thanksgiving weekend N/E Ohio got 4-6' of snow , the roads were closed and at 71 I could find no fun in it at all. hundreds of barns,pole buildings and sheds collapsed under the weight. Hummingbirds started coming back last week despite a hard frost a couple days. Have a Great Week.