Our weather

The weather in the past 12 months has been somewhat uncooperative for farmers, gardeners and those who prefer lush, manicured lawns.

If you recall last spring, an unusually warm spell was followed by a hard freeze that damaged crops.

Over the summer, record heat, combined with a horrible dry spell, conjured a nasty drought that affected anyone who grew anything. The farther south you went, the dryer the dirt became.

December was a wet month that brought us out of the drought. The rain, continuing into January, will do some good, particularly for pastureland that was scorched last summer.

Now that we're caught up on precipitation, it sure would be nice if the weather would return to the normal range this spring and summer.

If you believe the Farmer's Almanac, we'll have a slightly cooler-than-average summer this year but below-average rainfall.