We had more snow overnight on Friday, looked to be close to another four to five inches again. I wonder if March's snowfall will keep pace with February?
According to the historical weather data, February 2019 is going down in the record books as the second snowiest winter in our part of Wisconsin since 1890 with 30.2" of snow in twenty-eight days.
Approximately 130 miles north of us in Rhinelander, however, they must think we're wimps, because February brought them a whopping 61.5" of the white stuff.
This has been the kind of winter I remember from my childhood. As we drive around here now, in places the roads abruptly turn into near-tunnels with snowbanks pushed up by the snowplows on either side. Last night's snow was very light and fluffy again, just waiting for strong winds to cause more drifting and worse yet, whiteout conditions. It's been much colder than normal for this time of year, too. We're going below zero again this week with windchills forecast to be -20 to -30F.
Oh, well, it can't last forever. (Can it?)
In between snowstorms, on sunny days, we have glorious blue skies and the sun feels so good on my face. (As long as I'm out of the wind. Yes, that's right, for some reason, we choose to live in a place where the air hurts your face sometimes.)
If you've never lived in a northern climate, this next bit is going to sound ridiculous, but I assure you, this is not an exaggeration... One way I gauge how cold of a day we are facing is when I take my first deep breath outside and my nose hairs freeze instantly. Then I know it's cold out. As in really cold. It doesn't happen every winter, but this year has been a real nose hair freezer. Yessirree.
And another strange phenomena for us Northern Nuts: For the last sixty years, when I go outside in the fall and winter, I wear a very unfashionable scarf over my head that I tie under my chin (our son David always says I look like a old-timey peasant lady.) True, it's not a great look, but I have never found a hat that could beat the warmth of my scarves.
Last week I went out skiing when it was down below zero again. Even though it was cold, because I was breaking trail, I managed to work up a sweat and soon my hair was wet. I took off my scarf for the last ten minutes of the trip, and voila! My hair was frozen instantly. There is no gel, mousse or hairspray that can match the holding power of ice. As long as you stay outside, you'll have a windproof, muss-proof coiffure.
Yes, there are strange fluctuations in the weather here, we can go from -30 to +30 in a few hours (a sixty degree temperature gain!) and it's still below freezing. But when it's that warm, I don't bother throwing on a scarf or a coat to go get the mail. Heck, 30 degrees is balmy.
Why do we stick around? Mostly because our wet mittens freeze to our doorknobs and we can't leave until spring. Might as well wait it out, even if you could find the car in the snowbank, it won't start anyway.
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| Good Ol' Castle Aaargh, disappearing from sight. |
According to the historical weather data, February 2019 is going down in the record books as the second snowiest winter in our part of Wisconsin since 1890 with 30.2" of snow in twenty-eight days.
Approximately 130 miles north of us in Rhinelander, however, they must think we're wimps, because February brought them a whopping 61.5" of the white stuff.
This has been the kind of winter I remember from my childhood. As we drive around here now, in places the roads abruptly turn into near-tunnels with snowbanks pushed up by the snowplows on either side. Last night's snow was very light and fluffy again, just waiting for strong winds to cause more drifting and worse yet, whiteout conditions. It's been much colder than normal for this time of year, too. We're going below zero again this week with windchills forecast to be -20 to -30F.
Oh, well, it can't last forever. (Can it?)
And another strange phenomena for us Northern Nuts: For the last sixty years, when I go outside in the fall and winter, I wear a very unfashionable scarf over my head that I tie under my chin (our son David always says I look like a old-timey peasant lady.) True, it's not a great look, but I have never found a hat that could beat the warmth of my scarves.
Last week I went out skiing when it was down below zero again. Even though it was cold, because I was breaking trail, I managed to work up a sweat and soon my hair was wet. I took off my scarf for the last ten minutes of the trip, and voila! My hair was frozen instantly. There is no gel, mousse or hairspray that can match the holding power of ice. As long as you stay outside, you'll have a windproof, muss-proof coiffure.
Yes, there are strange fluctuations in the weather here, we can go from -30 to +30 in a few hours (a sixty degree temperature gain!) and it's still below freezing. But when it's that warm, I don't bother throwing on a scarf or a coat to go get the mail. Heck, 30 degrees is balmy.
Why do we stick around? Mostly because our wet mittens freeze to our doorknobs and we can't leave until spring. Might as well wait it out, even if you could find the car in the snowbank, it won't start anyway.
2 comments:
I chuckled at "a real nose hair freezer"... Truth be told, I never experienced such cold temperatures. 3 weeks of a snow event in Seattle this February pushed my endurance to the limit. I'm used to gardening throughout winter (if it's not raining), while you all have to deal with cars buried in the snow embankment.
The last part about why you stick around made me laugh out loud! It's starting to feel like winter will never end. So. Much. Snow! Nothing like really cold temperatures to freeze dry your hair.
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