Climate changes and weather.

Earlier this week: some trees just now changing colors

Climate and weather are not the same; one is a science based on long-term observation and trends, while the other is your daily forecast.  Still, an interesting thing occurred this Fall that I thought I'd like to jot down.

Normally by Thanksgiving, the leaves in Portland are completely gone from deciduous trees, except sweet gums and oaks.  I've known this to be the case the entire 17 years I've been in Portland, because it always amused me to see Thanksgiving graphics on Thanksgiving NFL games, with Fall colored leaves, even as outside the leaves were all gone.

This Fall has been remarkably different.

Also this week: some trees still green

There are many elms, maples and other species with green leaves still on.  Some trees changed colors and shed on time, but others are just now getting into the act.

It's just shocking that so many trees are still green, and we're about to enter the first week of December!

But then again, at the moment that I'm writing this up, the temperature in downtown Portland is 60 degrees.  Instead of being weeks away from Winter, it feels more like we're in late September!

If I go outside right now, all of the pear trees are still green.

This is crazy.  Any given year, month or day does not signal climate change, but if this becomes a frequent trend, it most certainly can't be categorized as an anomaly.