Spring weather's crazy at 4,000 feet

Let’s see ... let me check my calendar. Yes, it is spring. You just can’t judge it by the weather.

One of the area weathermen has taken to calling what we’ve experienced lately “whiplash weather.” One day we’re in the 90s and the next we’re wondering where the heck is that jacket you thought was in the car.

I dealt with weather in the Intermountain West nearly all of my life and every place I lived in that region used the old saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.”

Weather changes pretty rapidly in the mountains and can really catch you off guard, but I think, for extremes in change, eastern New Mexico takes the prize.

This week we’ve had a lot of wind, mostly just steady but we’ve made it to sandstorm level a few times. After the wind calmed, I also sat outside on a patio with friends later that same day and felt like I wouldn’t mind sitting there forever.

We’ve had temperatures in the 90s recently, and as I write this column the weather forecast threatens a low of 32 degrees before this newspaper will hit the streets.

A friend and officemate new to this part of the country stopped off at my office one morning in late March to inquire if it was safe put his tomatoes out.

“Good Lord, no,” I exclaimed. “Unless you want to do them twice.”

The weather had been so warm I don’t think he believed me at first — I know he didn’t want to believe me but my answers were pretty convincing.

I reminded him we were at an elevation over 4,000 feet and he needed to wait until at least April 15. If he wanted to be dead certain, I told him to wait until Mother’s Day. If he ignored my advice I’ll never know unless I catch him at the store buying more tomato plants on Mother’s Day.

Even the best gardeners get burned in the spring from time to time around here. You get that warm sunshine and with just a light breeze for a couple straight days and no one can resist digging in the dirt. I think it’s wired into us genetically.

I’m not planning on planting a garden, but I did purchase a few flowers from the Kiwanis Club at their sale recently. I might even put a tomato vine in one of the big patio pots, but that’s about it.

If I plant too much it’s a surefire way to cause a summer drought and steady winds into late August.

I’ve got to wrap things up now so I can move all my newly planted flowers into the garage before the frost comes.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]