Have you gotten snow yet this season?

[angus]

We had a flurry last weekend.  Nothing on the ground yet.  Voted no.

[angus]

Looks like winter now!  The first snowfall of the season must have started around midnight.  By the time we awoke the ground was covered with about two inches of snow.  But it's an ugly scene, and not good for driving.  The snow changed to freezing rain this morning, so there are tiny stones of ice falling on top of that snow.  My son is itching to go out and play in it so I'll let him.  I bet he'll be back in after about ten minutes of being pelted by sleet.  It's not the sort of pleasant, playful snow that we will get later in the season.

I had anticipated this so I stocked up on liquor and red meat yesterday.  No need to drive today.

[angus]

Sunny and 60°F here today, boys and girls. 

I took a nice bicycle ride in shorts and a t-shirt.  It won't last, apparently, but we're enjoying it today.

[angus]

We had a proper, but small, snowfall last night.  I noticed it coming down starting about 8pm.  It must have snowed only a brief period.  When I awoke the ground was covered with snow, but since my son's school was not canceled or delayed, I knew it would be a small one.  I estimate just over 4 cm, or just under 5 cm, evenly distributed.  The even distribution indicates that there was little or no breeze during the evening while it snowed.  I used my hand, not a ruler, and the snow came about midway up the proximal phalange on the index finger of my right hand.  

After the bus picked up the boy I shoveled the drive and sidewalk.  Normally I wouldn't bother with such a small amount but it will be cold all weekend and the snow may not melt quickly.  It is currently 21°F and the temperature is not expected to rise above the freezing point of water till after Monday. Better to push it away now than wait till people walk or drive over it.

[angus]

snowed again this morning.  Another ~4 cm to go on top of the 4 cm we got yesterday.  Easy pushing.  After cleaning the drive we took the sleds to the hill and played for about an hour.  Cold, though.  

[angus]

Just a little dusting today.  They were predicting one to three inches of a mix of snow and ice.  Fortunately that did not come to pass, as we are having dinner guests this evening.

It was pretty weird, though.  I bicycled to the gym around 12:30 pm and it was cold but clear at the time.  The streets were dry and the air, although moist, showed no signs of snow or rain.  Then, at about 1:30 I noticed that snow falling so I headed home quickly to avoid having to ride on slick streets.  The snowfall only lasted about 30 minutes and it's really just a covering, like a layer of dust.

[angus]

Hard snow falling now, so thick the visibility is probably less than 100 m.  Weird, too, because it wasn't snowing at all an hour ago.  I don't think much will accumulate, but it'd be hard to drive just now.

[angus]

It would be a bad call anyway, the only real problem now is visibility.  Best to keep everyone on campus and off the streets till it blows over.  (IH83 south of harrisburg is closed for a six-mile stretch in both directions because of a big accident.  Wouldn't want to see that here.)

I keep checking the website at my son's school in MT, about 9 miles north of here.  They frequently cancel.  No messages so far. 

[angus]

Unusually warm here as well.  Records were set on February 7 and February 17.  This graphic is from the Millersville University department of meteorology:

[angus]

What was that about consecutive record highs earlier this week? It's now 32 and the light rain/drizzle is starting to change over to snow.

Amazing transformation here as well.  It is now about 22 degrees F colder than it was four hours ago.  We had gone to the public library to watch a storyteller (amateur archeologist) tell us about how people in this region lived ten thousand years ago.  It was very interesting, and my son got to try on a homemade buckskin coat, a rabbit pelt jacket, and a wood ear fire back pack.  Then the speaker announced a tornado watch.  Many rushed out of John Morgan room B to to the front windows to check it out.  While we never witnessed a tornado, we did cut short our library visit and head to the supermarket because we wanted to get home before the promised "golf ball sized hail" hit us.  The hail never materialized.  Nor did the tornado.  But it was beautiful and sunny and 69 when we went to the library.   By the time we got home it was dark and grey and cold and rainy and windy.  It rained hard and fast for about ten minutes and then it was over, but it is now much colder.  At the moment it is 47 degrees.  The cold front that hit you finally hit us, I suppose.  The high tomorrow is predicted to be 45, probably normal for this time of year.  I was enjoying the global climate change.  While it lasted.

[angus]

strange effect just now.  Thick snow falling (flash shower, but probably little accumulation), but the sun is shining.  There's a hard sun that hurts the eyes, with shadows, but it's snowing at the same time!

[angus]

snow day! 

My wife and I and my son all got the day off.  Good thing too.  We can't get out.  They ploughed the street today, but our driveway is buried under about a foot of snow and ice.  Clearing the driveway will take some effort.  I don't want to think about that just now.  Probably about 12 inches of snow fell overnight, and now there's a light sleet falling on top of that.  If the sleet lets up we'll go out and play. 

I don't imagine we'll try to drive anywhere today, so I may wait till tomorrow to deal with the drive.