“Near blizzard conditions” is what KGRR is calling it. I call it a good, old-fashioned Michigan snowstorm, the kind I remember from my boyhood down in Niles. Seems like such storms started to peter out once my family moved to Grand Rapids back in 1968, though I remember we still got a few good, solid blasts. It has been a long time, though, since I’ve seen a December like this one. Last year”s winter set a record for snow accumulation; this year”s looks well on its way to becoming another record-breaker, if it isn”t one already.
Here is the view from my apartment onto my deck.
The two mushroom-like objects on the bottom left are pots of chicken soup, thoroughly frozen. On days like today, I like to chisel out a nice chunk and enjoy it at my leisure. Explosives could accelerate the process, but out of consideration for my neighbors, I refrain and use an air hammer instead. It”s a more time-consuming approach, but it”s worth it. There’s nothing like a good, hearty slab of chicken soup on a blustery winter day, that’s what I say.
Where was I, anyway? Oh, yes–near-blizzard conditions. I have to agree with the NWS on that one. Here”s a view of the parking lot.
Nothing about that picture says “tank top and shorts.” The current station reading at 11:30 a.m. shows 11 degrees Fahrenheit, winds of 24 miles an hour gusting to 33, and a wind chill of -9. If you”ve ever felt an urge to go streaking down Main Street, today would not be the day. No, this is the kind of day when you can hunker down inside with a cup of hot tea and feel totally guiltless about doing absolutely nothing.
It seems particularly fitting that we’re getting a major winter storm on the day of the winter solstice. Today isn’t just the snowiest day of the year so far, it”s also the shortest. From here on, we begin the slow but encouraging trek toward spring. Winter has just begun and–though, looking out the window, the thought seems unbelievable–the worst still lies ahead. Three months of ice, slush, flying snow spray, slippery roads, and bitter cold. But we’ve finally descended to the utmost depth of the long nights, and now we’re heading back for the sunny surface. March, the transitional month, isn”t that terribly far away. And amazingly, we may get a crack at a storm chase as near as next week in southern Illinois and Indiana.
This last chase season got off to an early start on January 7, and then a month later on February 5 with the Super Tuesday Outbreak. So who knows what next weekend will hold. I”m not holding my breath, but I am crossing my fingers.
