Folks frolic in High Desert’s warm winter weather

Record-breaking warm weather in Central Oregon is allowing people to get out and do spring and summer activities they typically set aside during the winter months.

Redmond on Monday warmed to a Jan. 29 record of 70 degrees, snapping a mark for the date set back in 1971, on records that date back to 1941, the National Weather Service reported. Bend reached 69, also breaking a 47-year record.

So on Monday, some people were running the Deschutes River Trail in shorts and tank tops.

That’s a bonus for businesses that usually shut down as soon as the snow gets too heavy — like a year ago — for example, golf courses.

At Lost Tracks Golf Club in Bend, plenty of people were out and about, practicing their swing before the season gets into swing.

The club’s golf professional, Pat Cashman, said it’s been nice to remain open this winter.

“Everybody loves it, they’re able to play in January. Most people go down south to play golf. You get to do it in Central Oregon, and go ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon,” Cashman said.

According to Cashman, between 20 and 40 golfers have been out on the course each day. Last year, Lost Tracks was closed for four months, with a course buried under feet of snow.

Other activities that have experienced an extended season are mountain biking and cycling. Project Bike has only been open since the fall, and owner John Frey said he didn’t expect such a dry season.

“We had used last winter as our null for our forecasting, and it is certainly much better than we had predicted. We’ve just been a lot busier than we had planned,” Frey said.

Frey said outdoor enthusiasts are able to do all the Central Oregon activities in one day. People can ski in the morning and then take a mountain bike out in the afternoon. But Frey is careful not to forget that winter isn’t over yet and there could be cold temperatures and snow to come.

But golf isn’t the only thing this warm weather is having an impact on.

Could this warm weather affect something besides just your vitamin D intake and tan lines? For example, your garden — that last year around this time was covered in several feet of snow? The answer is: Yes.

Although, according to the owner of Tumalo Garden Market, Michael Ludeman, it won’t affect it in a good or bad way — just in a different way.

“But what is happening is the root structure is getting some heat from some soil, and so what we’ll see is a lot of root growth,” Ludeman said. “Whether that be in some of those balled and burlapped trees or trees in your yard, they’re taking advantage of this warm weather.”

Last year, the snow provided insulation for plants during very cold winter temperatures. This year, it’s the warm soil providing that insulation.

So planting season will still start about the same time as usual, early May. But you shouldn’t get overeager when it comes to planting, because there still could be a big snow or freeze.

Winter’s not over yet — even if it feels like it.