Robert’s Crystal Range Project – Year 2, 2020

[Hoy]

Robert,

What you say and what your calculations show is very interesting. I had suspected that at least the higher grounds would get at least some dew during nighttime, even in summer. I am used to dew in the early morning except in the warmest days in summer when the nights also stay warm (which rarely happens!). I understand that drought isn't the same here and there!

[hamparstum]

Robert and Trond, I find this dew question fascinating. Here during our summer, our daytime temperatures hardly ever reach 30ºC. Night-time lows are cool dropping to 7ºC regularly. So our night-time temperatures are closer to the conditions you mention for your place in Norway. Yet similar to Robert's comments we never get dew in the mornings. This starts changing however in late March or early April. Then yes I start finding dew on my roses. Also by mid April I can find foggy dawns clearing by mid morning ( about 10 am or later). That adds to more ambient humidity. The ground however is bone dry by then. I'm awaiting a sprinkle, only if it were possible. This is when I find my conditions so similar to Robert's. I live in a similar latitude band as Robert however at a much higher elevation, yet my climatic conditions are so different. As a gardener I am permanently besieged in discovering how micro-climatic details affects each species I grow. Since any species is a compendium of present phenotype plus accumulated adaptation from its past biological history built in its genotype, delving into the mysteries of what grows well here becomes a detective's challenge.
I guess that is what explains my drive in picking up a genus ( i.e Penstemon or Edraianthus) and seeing how each species adapts to my conditions. Some will need extra gardening care , others none. For the time being, my trees from different parts of the world are good indicators. Many of them have originated from California, but also many from Eurasia. I have very few that are naturally native on my property: Maytenus boaria spontaneous, and possibly Lomatia hirsuta. The native Austrocedrus could have grown before it was cleared by settlers. The rest of the forest trees do grow only beyond 10 km west of my place.
I do want to thank you both about your comparative observations! This particular thread is a permanent challenge as each of us learn how to place our garden in an environmental comparison. I also want to thank Cohan for the same reason. I myself some day will look at the Arctostaphyllos group too. Next to trees, shrubs are also very good indicators. There again   there are a few shrubs like Ceanothus growing in gardens near by.

Arturo

[cohan]

I suppose it is possible to calculate the amount of water kept in the air, but worse to calculate the amount usable for plants! But I have observed especially at my summerhouse where the climate is much drier than at home that the plants can get quite moist during the nights even without rain. Also rocks get very moist, even wet sometimes. This happens after warm days when the night is significantly colder. The greater temperature difference between day and night the wetter plants and rocks. I am sure some plants survive of this dew when it doesn't rain for weeks. Although many plants are helped by the dew some are better to take up the moisture.

I am sure this species Senecio viscosus, rely on dew. It often grows where other plants don't and even small seedlings survive where other dies when it is dry.

The rocks in that habitat would also be important in channeling the dew-- this is a technique used by some in gardening  in dry places where there is dew-- using rocks to channel moisture to roots, of course they also reduce evaporation.
I doubt in my locale there are any entirely dew dependent plants, but i do think it is likely a significant part of moisture for some plants, during drier spells-- the ground is often very wet here through much of summer in morning, not just a light dusting of dew, but quite wet, probably enough to get plants through 'drier' days. We reach our dew point more often than not, year round, of course it is frost in winter.

Robert- re: Arctos... I remember Alplains has listed a species or two, and they had at one point seed from a 'hybrid swarm' which were rated around z4 (I'm thinking patula and nevadensis, but would have to look it up in the list to be sure; Colorado provenance as I recall) ... I'm more z3 than 4, but I find those ratings are often conservative, and you never know until you try whether a plant has a bit more in its genetic capacity than what its current conditions suggest. I'm not doing any sowing currently, anyway, since I still have no idea whether I will be staying here longer term.

[Hoy]

Robert and Trond, I find this dew question fascinating. Here during our summer, our daytime temperatures hardly ever reach 30ºC. Night-time lows are cool dropping to 7ºC regularly. So our night-time temperatures are closer to the conditions you mention for your place in Norway. Yet similar to Robert's comments we never get dew in the mornings. This starts changing however in late March or early April. Then yes I start finding dew on my roses. Also by mid April I can find foggy dawns clearing by mid morning ( about 10 am or later). That adds to more ambient humidity...................

Arturo

Arturo,

It is interesting to read your description of your climate. I remember from my visit to Bariloche that is was very green in and around the town but very dry not far away from it. I can't remember if I registered morning dew! But we had very little rain on the tour.

BTW I have a small plant of Maytenus magellanica in my garden. It seems to like it here but last winter the deer found it and liked it also!

[Robert]

Our clear skies lasted about a week and now the dense smoke has returned to our portion of Northern California. At least the smoke is reducing the daytime high temperatures. Without the smoke it would be extremely hot.

The next 10 days are extremely busy for me. I will post some photographs and detailed information as I can.

BTW – I am starting to calculate the Bowen Ratio and the actual water vapor content of the air, i.e. grams of water vapor/m³, for several sites in the Crystal Range. The preliminary results are very interesting. As I hypothesized during the peak summer months and early autumn the air is frequently extremely dry. In the dry meadows in the Lyons Creek Basin, if temperatures were to reach the dew point at ground level and dew was to occur there would be very little condensation. Of course, this does not apply to the moist meadows in the Lyons Creek Basin. On my last outing, a few days ago, now even the moist meadows are become very dry.

More later…

[cohan]

The smoke is a real drag, unfortunately it seems this pattern is likely to go on (in the big picture) for a long time to come we had some smokey days here, nothing like it must be nearer the fires, of course, but enough that a co-worker was complaining it was affecting her breathing..

[Hoy]

Some days ago we had red sunsets and could smell smoke - from California. A few days later we had a gray sky and high air pollution. This time it was caused by wildfires in Ukraina and dust storms in Russia!


Robert,

No doubt, dry weather in California is much drier than dry weather here!

We have had much rain lately, to the benefit of fungi!

[cohan]

Some days ago we had red sunsets and could smell smoke - from California. A few days later we had a gray sky and high air pollution. This time it was caused by wildfires in Ukraina and dust storms in Russia!
Robert,

No doubt, dry weather in California is much drier than dry weather here!

We have had much rain lately, to the benefit of fungi!

I don't think we get noticeable air systems from Russia,but maybe I just didn't notice! Most of our systems come from west, sometimes south, of course some notherlies in winter, esp. We were dry for a few weeks, after a rainy summer, so our fungi peaked earlier, the dry spell has been good harvest weather for farmers, now a couple of rainy days, hope it dries up again for firewood! Still above seasonal temps, more often than not, and no snow in Sept!
Hope you get some rain down there, Robert, but not so much at once as to cause floods!

[Hoy]

Cohan,

We frequently get air systems from east. I remember especially 26. April 1986 (Chernobyl disaster) and the following days. We got a lot of nuclear fallout due to easterly winds those days.

It can be very cold and dry in winter and warm and dry in summer!

[Robert]

Currently my schedule is quite hectic through Monday. In the future, I have a considerable amount of interesting information and many photographs to post. Friday, I will be attending a USFS field trip. Retirement would be nice but is not possible at this time.

There has been a major shift in our weather pattern. Cool autumn-like weather has finally arrived. Prior to this point our temperatures have been averaging 10 F (5.56 C) above average. Unfortunately, any meaningful precipitation is unlikely at this time. It is so extremely dry and hot weather is forecasted to return in a few days! In the future, I will have more to write on this topic and how this is impacting our native plant communities. All the climate scientists whom I have talked with recently are extremely alarmed by the persistent dry pattern and the above average temperatures we have been experiencing over the last 5 years. A few days ago when I visited the mountains there was very little flow in the South Fork of the American River. The South Fork of the Rubicon River was completely dry in many places (I have photographs!). Our hydrological cycle is in crisis and there are indications that these changes are not transient.

As I can, I hope to keep readers current.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
the low precipitation is concerning!
We had a similar situation last year (and the preceding years!) and the east side of the country went up in flames! This year the La Nina effect should bring us more rain as it dries out your side of the Pacific
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

The devastating wildfires that have ravaged Australia and the Western U.S.A., including California, are just one indication of how the impacts of climate change are changing climatic and ecological patterns on our planet. These climatic changes will impact our gardens, the plants that we grow, and how we grow them. I will be elaborating on this topic in the future.

I have also been closely following the development of the current La Niña in the equatorial Pacific. The relationships between the ENSO, MJO, and Indian Ocean Dipole are extremely interesting and have a strong influence on the planetary weather.

[Hoy]

I am glad to say, no smoke here, but we have seen both smoke from California and dust from Russia this fall!

This is just morning fog lifting by sunrise.

[Hoy]

Two photographs from the island of Jomfruland.

A cow and some mushrooms  in the pasture. Very peaceful.

And the mixed forest of the south west part of the island. All the leaves have been blown away.

[Robert]

Trond,

Thank you for sharing the photographs. I enjoyed the photograph with the group of buildings. It was a very pleasant scene that brought a smile to my face! 

We had a few cool autumn-like days and now we are back to a very dry and hot weather pattern. I see no end to this stagnant pattern. A moderate to strong La Niña has/is developed and will likely persist through the winter. In addition, an active MJO has stalled-out, and has even retrograded slightly, creating strong upper level convergence in the eastern Pacific in the vicinity of California.

I have been programing my computer to calculate absolute humidity (a revealing piece of information pertaining to plants, both wild and in our gardens) from data entered from my various data recorders. The Clausius – Clapeyron equation is used, in part, to make these calculations. The exponential relationship between temperature and water vapor, as express by the Clausius – Clapeyron equation, is something that everyone on this planet may want to follow. If a strong temperature/water vapor feedback loop becomes established in the atmosphere the climatic consequences will be dramatic. There are some brilliant and well-trained minds working on this issue. Hopefully, the early warnings will be acted upon in a constructive way.



This photograph was taken on 30 September. There was still plenty of smoke lingering from all of the wildfires in our area. I have a whole series of photographs to share from this outing. Hopefully I can get started with this after the USFS fieldtrip on Friday. I may have additional photographs from this event, but regardless, I cannot get started until Saturday at the earliest. In the end, this will all work out just fine!