I sit in my recliner waiting for the nor’easter of March 2017. When I left work at 1530 (3:30 pm) the sky was blue. At 1630, the sky is cloudy, wind is growing and the temperature is slowly dropping.

The meteorologists are still unsure how much snow we will get. The estimate is between 3 to 12 or more inches depending on where the rain-snow line falls. Two inches would be more than has fallen here so far this winter.  The snow will come with 40 to 50 mph winds tomorrow which could lead to blizzard-like conditions. Regardless, I will wait for the winter blast to settle and then… Then take my labs for a playful snowy walk. We enjoy when it snows, lots of snow.

Listening to the news channel is depressing. They are talking as if this nor’easter will be the snow event of the century. Roads are pretreated. The governor has stated that ‘they will go all out’ to keep the roads open. Airlines have already canceled 2000 flights. Stores are being raided for staples. Yet, the worst might be 12 inches plus north of Baltimore. I wonder what the verbiage would be if the forecast was 26 inches which occurred January 2016 while my wife and I were in Las Vegas.

Will there be enough snow to use the snowblower? I will learn in the morning. In the meantime, relaxing and listening to the frenzied reports on the local channels.

Would you welcome a good snowfall or would you dread it? Comment below to tell me your preference.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Snow arrived at my house tonight. The forecasted one inch turned out to be a dusting.  This is not snow I thought as I let my dogs out to run this morning. I could only shake my head as visions of what the wife and I saw in Iceland and other days in Maryland.

We spent the winter of 1974 living in a Quonset hut just off the Keflavik custom’s gate. Every time we went on the NATO base, we had to clear customs to get home.  I had introduced her to snow when I took her to meet my parents the winter before. This winter was my wife’s first winter with inches of snow. The amount of snow we had in Iceland was an eye opener and left us some fun memories.

Snow in Iceland

We bought an old VW Beetle to get us around until our car arrived on island. Once we had our car, the old Bug was parked in the driveway. One storm dropped a large amount of snow and the wind caused drifting. The snow literally buried this Beetle, leaving just the smallest portion of the top visible. We did not dig it out, we waited for spring when we sold it.

Our car was a newer model Beetle, a compact car with issues getting through the snow. One day we needed to go to the store. The road had been plowed but the wind had back-filled it with snow. We could see the road because it had less snow. We were doing well until we encountered an SUV. It being the bigger vehicle, I pulled over. Bad move. The car bottomed out and we could go nowhere. Fortunately, the SUV stopped. Several Icelanders walked over and pushed us back on the road. With just a wave, they left.

Snow in Maryland

There have been fun memories here also. One year my wife’s niece, about 9 at the time, told us she wanted to see snow. She lived in Texas and had not seen any yet. We invited her to stay for a few days. A few days turned in a few weeks when, after she arrived, we had a record snowfall. We were snowbound for a week. This gave her and my daughter ample opportunities to make snow forts, tunnels (it was that deep), and have snowball fights. I would have been upset with all the snow except I had paid days off!

Do you have any fond or not so fond memories of snow filled days? Share them with a comment. I look forward to hearing them.

Save

Will you have snow for Christmas? Perhaps it will be warm like it was here this morning. Or it may be freezing rain like we had yesterday. Yesterday, we woke to freezing rain and single digit temperatures. Today it got up to low sixties before the rain and wind started. My Mother called the weather we are seeing here “pneumonia weather.” That is what she called warm days interspersed with cold, rainy or snowy days.

Snow is not in the forecast. It wasn’t in the forecast for Corpus Christi, Texas in December, 1973 either. My wife had not remembered seeing snow in her twenty years. Having grown up near Peoria, Illinois, I did not remember a year without snow. Engaged to be married in January, I took my wife to meet my family.

We drove. It was the week before Christmas. It was in the mid 40’s when we left Corpus Christi.  We enjoyed good weather through Dallas and most of the way to Muskogee, Oklahoma. We were on Route 44 southwest of St. Louis when we saw the first snow. My wife was mesmerize by the “white stuff”.

We did not encounter any problems until we were on the outskirts of St. Louis. The sun had set. Snow limited visibility but not enough to force us to stop. It was after rush hour when we entered the city proper. Here, my wife’s appreciation for snow underwent a drastic change. The road surface became rough and we were limited to speeds in the range of 25-30 miles per hour. The reason was the snowplows had created a washboard surface on the road. If we tried to go faster, we bounced and the car slid. The trip through St. Louis was nerve-wracking. We were relieved when we crossed out of Missouri into Illinois.

Ruts in the road are good

I would like to report that my wife’s appreciate for snow improved with crossing the state line.  The snowplows in Illinois had kept their plows above the surface. They left a few inches of snow in which their truck tires formed ruts. I was familiar with driving under these conditions, snow ruts with the snow banked on both sides of the road. The rest of the trip home was at good speed while my fiancé complained I was going too fast. I don’t think I was but it was so long ago I can’t say I wasn’t. Regardless, I got us home safely.

My wife’s appreciation for snow took another turn the morning after we arrive home. She learned that you can make snowmen and have snowball fights. We spent several days there during which the roads cleared. The trip home was made on clear, dry pavement.

There were two positive results from the trip. My parents and siblings met my fiancé and she met snow. Both were fortunate occurrences. My fiancé became my wife in early January and the Navy sent us to Iceland where we saw many feet of snow.

I enjoy hearing from you. Do you have any stories about weather? Comment and let me know.

Save