Let’s Talk About the Weather
What do you talk about when you don’t know what to talk about? Well, the weather of course. So, let’s talk about the weather. For something we have no control over, it consumes a lot of our attention. Evidently, we can’t get enough information on the weather. An entire cable network is devoted to it. Can you believe The Weather Channel has been around 35 years? Local news stations seemingly devote half of the newscast to it with a staff of 4- 5 meteorologists armed with ever-changing technology designed to give us the most accurate and up-to-date information on what to expect when we head out into the world each day. The need to know what the weather is going to be goes beyond curiosity or simply what to wear today.
This year’s hurricane season showed it could be a matter of life or death or at least life-altering. For the customers that Advanced Turf Solutions services, the weather often dictates what is done day to day. It influences growing conditions, pest pressure, application efficacy, and just about everything else associated with taking care of turf and landscapes. In a word, it’s important!
As the growing season winds down hopefully the weather cooperates so you can get in all those last fertilizations on the lawns, deep-root fertilization on the trees and shrubs, leaf removals, and whatever else you have going on. Then, rather than focusing on the daily or 5-day forecasts, you can obsess over what the extended winter forecast is going to be. Yes, the snow season is approaching; and for some, it’s probably already flying. As focused as folks are on weather during the growing season it jumps up to even higher heights for the next few months. The Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA) estimates the snow and ice business is around an $18 billion industry in the U.S. Many of you rely on this season as an important income stream essential to a successful year of business. Others may be relied upon to manage snow and ice so everyone at your place of business or institution can function. Whatever your role or focus is when it comes to winter weather, an accurate season forecast would come in handy.
To be of assistance I began to look into a few winter forecasts so when posed the question, “Doug, how much snow are we getting this winter?” I would have an intelligent answer. After hours of research and comparison, I came to the conclusion …I’m not sure. I did learn a few things however. There are really smart people trying really hard to develop a forecast that is extraordinarily complex with seemingly countless variables. These people really like acronyms, perhaps more than the military. A 65% probability on a long range forecast is good. There is a mild La Niña (cooler than normal waters in the equatorial waters of the central and eastern Pacific) in effect for 2017-2018. 2016-2017 was also a La Niña year. However, there seem to be some subtle differences because most are predicting more precipitation in general in the entire ATS geography. Given last year’s minimal snowfall totals, that seems like a safe bet. The Great Lakes area, in particular, has some consensus on significant lake effect snow this year. The rest of us in ATS land is in what one service, firsthandweather.com, called the “Battle Zone,” the area where warm and cold weather are butting heads. This area can expect plenty of precipitation, but whether it is snow or rain, is a guess. If you really pressed me for my bold winter forecast, here it is:
2 Alberta Clippers per week dropping 2 inches of snow each, beginning the week of December 4th. Taking a break the week ending December 23rd with enough snow for all to have a White Christmas. Snow resumes January 3rd with only 1 event per week through February 17th. Snow melts by February 26th. Then let’s get ready for spring! And if I’m wrong, then at least I’m in good company.
Let’s move on to something I do know. You may not be able to control the weather, but you can control your preparation and reaction to it. When it comes to supporting you through your battles with snow and ice, Advanced Turf is here for you. Even if we can’t predict the weather, we do have a complete line of materials and the means to get them to you. So when the snow flies, whether you need a few bags or many truckloads, we are prepared to serve: Bulk Salt, Treated Bulk Salt, Bagged Rock Salt, Blended Ice Melters featuring our own 5-Below and 20-Below with a few others depending on your locale, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and liquids for stockpile treatment and direct-to-surface application. Plus: snow shovels, the Snowcaster (shovel on wheels), and the best thing to happen to snow removal since the sun- the Snowrator.
Contact your ATS representative for a demo!
In closing, I was going to provide a Thanksgiving Day forecast for each of our Advanced Turf branches, but it would probably change by the time this blog posted. So instead, I was thinking about how salt turns to brine when working to melt snow, and at Thanksgiving, we like to brine the turkey we eat. So here is a recipe for turkey brine, if you are fixing a fresh turkey rather than frozen.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Doug Dawson
Sales Representative
