Deth

This winter, there has really been very little snow. Just a couple of minimal accumulations of less than an inch. For that matter, there really hasn’t been much cold air to work with besides that one arctic shot for Christmas. The storms have been cutting north to the great lakes or even Midwest so far this winter, and that keeps us in the warm sector.

To make things worse for the winter weather department, the jet stream pattern has been keeping the cold air to the north. It’s not even made it down into lower Canada, so it’s not available for the storm systems to even pull it down.

Finally today, in late January, we’re getting our first appreciable snow fall accumulation. I noticed that the ground was starting to whiten up when I finished my WOD. It started around late morning and quickly became periods of heavy snow. The temperature has been at or barely below freezing, but it’s been enough for the snow to pile up. It has been falling heavily enough to accumulate even with the borderline conditions.

We ended up getting between one and two inches of wet snow accumulation. It’s not great for this time of the year, but it’s something to look at and enjoy. It’s more than we’ve had and more than I had expected today.

When I took the picture the temperature had risen to just above freezing as forecast and sleet was mixing in with bursts of heavy snow. It should continue to warm into the low 40s and switch to rain, so this snow won’t stick around long. At least I got the chance to shovel the sidewalk. I’m shocked I don’t hear the snow blowers running.