The last two weeks have been very warm during the days, even though lows here at house have been mostly in the 20s. The flora and fauna seem to be responding to the afternoon temperatures, and it has seemed like spring when I've walked along the Rillito. Small, brown ground squirrels have been out of their burrows and active. Saw two large hawks carrying small limbs to work on their nest high in a gum tree. There was a large collared lizard out and about here at the house this week, Yesterday I saw a brilliant, bright vermilion flycatcher down at the nearby park - a stock photo of one of these is below.
A mourning dove has been nesting on top of the garage door opener for a week or so and she's sitting on two eggs. I gave up several years ago fighting them to keep them from building a nest up there and just set up a box for them. Photo below is of a small bougainvillea just down the street. These colorful plants have usually frozen back to the ground by this time of the winter (at least in this cold part of town). The wall faces south, so it's a warm spot.
As for the weather there are finally some changes after almost six weeks with the 500 mb ridge anchored right along the west coast. Several short wave have been breaking through underneath the ridge and setting up a southern wave-train beneath the persistent anticyclone centered over Alaska. Above is GFS ensemble average at 500 mb valid at 12 UTC tomorrow morning (January 30th). Below is the same graphic but valid at 12 UTC on February 5th. The anticyclone continues intense and anchored over Alaska, with a Rex Block pattern sort of set up by then. Note the ridge-line over the east Pacific has backed off some to the west. So, if we can get some moisture with one of the waves in the southern stream we just might see some weather return to the Southwest.
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