What is with our seasons lately? Winter ended in late April with a slushy snowfall, and summer began in early May with temperatures in the high 20s. I can recall years where we’ve skipped autumn but I don’t remember ever omitting spring. It seems that our seasonal weather patterns are much more erratic in the last decade than what I remember when I was growing up.

I remember gentler transitions. The snow would eventually disappear and then the buds would bloom and everything thing would be green until the temperatures cooled. This last December we held daytime highs for three weeks until an Arctic vortex made outside chores have a threat of frostbite. What was that? I remember when I didn’t remember what the weather was like. It went along as one expected. There may have been the unusual storm or season but now we are so far outside of normal that I can remember the weather almost every year going back for years because it’s been notably weird.

As much as I enjoy summer, it makes me uneasy. The warmer temperatures seem to fuel unpredictable and potentially dangerous weather. I watch the skies for signs of storms. I wonder if May was so warm with +30 temperatures, what will July bring? It seems everything I knew about our climate as I was growing up is no longer valid. That worries me.

I think that worries a lot of people. We are deeply connected to our natural environment whether we acknowledge that or not. The wildfires, droughts, and floods threaten our infrastructure and our food and water supplies. So, when I look back over years of abnormal weather patterns, I wonder what the future will bring and how we will face it.

Keri lives and tries to keep track of the weather in Boyle Street.