It's pretty bloomin' warm, as even the roses will attest

November 2001 was the warmest in recorded history.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Wonderful unless you enjoy the more frigid weather, winter foliage, ice skating and the usual dusting of snow the season brings. Meteorologists say November 2001 was the warmest November on record, meaning all cold-weather fun has been temporarily suspended by Mother Nature.
According to Sandy Morningstar of the National Weather Service, the average temperature for this November was in the 47.6 degree range. The warmest November before this year was in 1975, with an average temperature of 46.2 degrees.
Jet streams: Morningstar said two jet streams, one southern and the other northern, have kept the Youngstown area warm and wet and kept all the colder weather up across the Canadian border. She said long-range indications suggest December will bring normal temperatures, but the start of the month will likely still be unseasonably warm.
Jack Moss, supervisor at Fellows Riverside Gardens, said caretakers are still mowing grass at the gardens, something that usually slows down early in the month. He said the most noticeable result of the warmer weather are the blooming flowers.
"The roses are the biggest thing that people will notice," he said. "We are still putting out new buds and the entire plant itself is still growing. It is definitely an added benefit to have them around for a little while longer."
According to Moss, roses usually bloom only through October. He said the longer season should have no effect on roses in the garden next season because they are planted deep and are well protected through the winter.
Other plants that thrive on the cold weather of early winter, such as snowdrops, may appear a little later than usual this year, said Moss, but it is still too early to know for sure. The plants usually appear in January and February, he said.
Ice rink waiting: Rich Cerimele, supervisor at Mill Creek Metro Parks Ice Rink, said the ice skating rink, depending on the weather, generally opens the first week of December, but that is not likely to happen this season.
Cerimele said the temperature has to drop to about 30 degrees during the day and drop to at least the high 20s at night for a series of days to get enough ice made to open the doors. Once the ice is made, the rink can handle temperatures as high as 45 degrees.
Cerimele could not give an estimate as to when residents would be able to hit the ice. He said it would be at least eight to 10 days if the temperature dropped considerably this weekend -- something Morningstar said is not likely to happen. She concedes, however, that cold weather could come on suddenly and strongly and pointed to the moderate temperatures experienced before the blizzard in 1978.
According to Morningstar, November was in line with the rest of the 1990s -- the warmest decade in the last 100 years. Four of the warmest years in history came in the 1990s.
jgoodwin@vindy.com