It’s not funny. One day the snow was mostly melted, the sky was clear and blue, I could walk to work in my shirtsleeves, and then…this weekend we’re hit with screaming winds, deeply chilly temperatures, and more snow.
Sure, you thought it was hilarious to sacrifice a goat to the Northern Gods, but did you give a thought to all the little baby spiders who felt the first touch of the sun’s warmth and hopefully launched themselves skyward on silken threads, and then abruptly got hit with a gale that froze them solid and carried them off to Ohio? These cruel pranks have consequences.
As the great Minnesotan philosopher Prince Rogers Nelson once wrote, “sometimes it snows in April.”
No reports yet of a hailstorm of frozen spiders.
Under snow is often no colder than 0C so the proteins in the spiders’ body fluids may prevent them from actually freezing. Probably dehydration is a higher risk. They no doubt are immobile but may thaw out OK. Somebody must have done some cold tolerance of spiders tests.
@1 sadly, he didn’t tell us anything about the spiders.
Yes, I think Mother Nature performed that experiment.
Now you have to worry about elevensies…
I’ve monitored the experiment, using a laser thermometer to measure the temperature of spiders outdoors. The spiders I study do have anti-freeze proteins, and do just fine at 0°C — the big problem for them, I think, is the lack of prey to stumble into their webs at those temperatures. I’ve measured live, but sluggish, spiders as low as -5°C.
And yeah, they’re hiding under the snow beneath logs and rocks, where the temperature hovers right around 0°C.
Oops-my fault. I was asking for second breakfast, but the message got confused.
Nah, mate, I’m holding out for (what passes for) Spring in the PNW.
Those poor spiders. Ohio!
Honestly, the weather reminds me of Germany.
“If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes, it’ll change”. Usually, for something one likes even less.
Why did I get this voice in my head of a hobbit saying second breakfast ? Nvm I’m hungry!
The same aphorism is used to describe weather in Maryland and Mid-Atlantic region generally. Speaking of which, it was unseasonably but very nice here a couple of days ago and now it’s cold, gray, and very wet.
Don’t look at me. We got a dose of winter (half-an-inch of it!) starting Friday afternoon and continuing into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
Come to northern Sweden and I will show you goddamn third winter.
It looks like a little bit of snow. One can even see bits of grass!
Winnipeg is reporting anywhere from 25 to 35 cm and they sound relieved. Some place in Manitoba got 88cm.
We’ve had a sunny long weekend here – we get Friday and Monday as Bank Holidays, because of easter – so everyone will have been mixing like crazy. I expect to see a COVID uptick in a few days.
Sorry ‘here’ being the UK.
Walter Solomon @13
We say that in Iowa, too. I think it’s universal, unless you’re somewhere like San Diago. : )
larpar
San Diego’s not a bad idea.
We had three of those in the last few weeks, and we’re supposed to get another one in the next few days. But that’s eastern Tennessee ‘spring’ for you.