[myloginname]

Have you guys had a snowfall yet in your area? I live in the Toronto area, and today has been the first actual snowfall of the entire year (5 days until new years, Dec.27)!

Its supposed to snow 3cm overnight, and tomorrow is supposed to be -15C with windchill (celsius i know, I know!)

By this time of the year there are usually snowmen and snow forts everywhere, but I don't know if we're going to have any of that at all this winter. Right now the snow is very wet, but its supposed to drop from 0C to -7C overnight and this wet snow is supposed to freeze making ice on roads.

We were driving from a hockey tournament and a one hour drive turned into a two hour drive. People saw snow and it was like they forgot how to drive. There would be no cars in front of them on the highway and they would be driving 60km/h (35mph i think?)

Have you guys had any snow yet? This is our first snowfall and "researchers" were saying that this winter was supposed to be a cold one. Ha.

[LiveBrianD]

I live in the San Francisco area, and it doesn't snow. However, I have a container of water that I keep near my bird feeders for the birds, and the past few days the surface of the water was frozen in the morning (it wasn't today though). We haven't had much snow around here.

[Szczecinianin]

In Szczecin we've had a little snow before Christmas and that for two days only. Today it's drizzling in Szczecin. For the time being winter is pretty mild in Poland this year. In the mountains they're not happy either, there IS some snow there though. We're not freezing, temperature is above 0 °C. Meteorologists say frost and snow may come in January and perhaps February. And in our climate it can snow as late as March or April. Good weather in June is what matters as this is when Poland co-hosts soccer Euro 2012.

[coastie65]

We,ve had a few flakes mixed in with the rain in November but very brief. May be some on the way next Tuesday though as they are talking about a possible snow storm then. Usually though, when they start taliking about it this far out, it usually doesn't happen.

[LiveBrianD]

I have been noticing something lately - the squirrels keep breaking into one of my bird feeders. I told that "oversized bird" to go away this morning (I opened the window and said that), and he was back 2 minutes later. If I don't refill the feeder with sunflower seed in it, they start hanging over it trying to get food out of it, and they sometimes try licking my nyjer seed feeders (which have a bunch of small holes in them for the birds). Man those guys are annoying...

Right now, the forecast has highs of 13-14C, and lows of 7-8C. I left on Christmas Day and returned the day after, and it was about 9C in the house... I'm sure my pet rat didn't like that.

[mjd420nova]

No rain or snow for northern cal. Just getting some rain on the north coast. Seattle is getting their usual steady rainfall but ours has been 45 days late. The only snow at lake tahoe is man made. LA has had more rain than us. Maybe we'll get to keep what comes down without having to ship most to southern cal. Pretty dry around the four corners too. Same temperature ranges but lack of any water vapor. We have this high cell aloft and it refuses to budge from the california coast, it just slides up and down. Leaves us on the edge of most systems that come from the gulf of alaska. When the daylight pattern begins to have an effect, they'll be begging for some clear skies. Our usual rainfall is in January, February and March but last year the rains continued into June. Metrology is not an easy occupation and fortunes can change in a flash. Some cold here but not enough to freeze any water buckets, some frost but not in consequtive days.

This post has been edited by mjd420nova: 28 December 2011 - 12:20 PM

[myloginname]

Wow high 14!!! If we had that, people everywhere would be saying that something is wrong and all this global warming talk would start.

It's freezign today, -15C with windchill! This is what you have to deal with living up here. But the snow is always worth it, I love snow.

The weather forecasts are rarely ever correct past 2 days, yet I'm starting to hear a lot of predictions for New Years already. Supposed to be nice, not too cold but not warm either, right at the freezing point. We'll see how it goes, I have a feeling it might rain or snow.

[LiveBrianD]

myloginname, on 28 December 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

Wow high 14!!! If we had that, people everywhere would be saying that something is wrong and all this global warming talk would start.

It's freezign today, -15C with windchill! This is what you have to deal with living up here. But the snow is always worth it, I love snow.

The weather forecasts are rarely ever correct past 2 days, yet I'm starting to hear a lot of predictions for New Years already. Supposed to be nice, not too cold but not warm either, right at the freezing point. We'll see how it goes, I have a feeling it might rain or snow.

Snow is nice to play in, sure, but I can see having to shovel it on a daily basis getting annoying very quickly. It hasn't felt all that cold lately - comfortable for winter.

[myloginname]

LiveBrianD, on 28 December 2011 - 06:07 PM, said:

myloginname, on 28 December 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

Wow high 14!!! If we had that, people everywhere would be saying that something is wrong and all this global warming talk would start.

It's freezign today, -15C with windchill! This is what you have to deal with living up here. But the snow is always worth it, I love snow.

The weather forecasts are rarely ever correct past 2 days, yet I'm starting to hear a lot of predictions for New Years already. Supposed to be nice, not too cold but not warm either, right at the freezing point. We'll see how it goes, I have a feeling it might rain or snow.

Snow is nice to play in, sure, but I can see having to shovel it on a daily basis getting annoying very quickly. It hasn't felt all that cold lately - comfortable for winter.

We haven't had to shovel snow yet this year...it's amazing. The past two years at school we've had a snow day by now, but up to now its only snowed once. Still, I'd have to say I like the cold weather. Don't know why, I just do.

[mjd420nova]

I live in California because I hate the snow. I grew up in Minnesota and left as soon as I could. I learned enough on how to exist and survive in those envirions. I just prefer to feel warm without having to dress up like the Michelin Man to stand on a corner and wait for the bus. Shovel snow, by hand when it reaches one foot or you'll have a coronary, even if it is still snowing. When it gets so deep you can't see the car, it's too late to move it. Just little tidbits you pick up here and there that you carry with you forever. I learned to skate almost as soon as I learned to walk. Would skate on the frozen river to get to school in the winter. SNOW DAYS, what's that all about. Two feet of snow didn't stop you from walking 8 blocks. These poor hispanic and asian immigrants go nuts in the snow. Some of the middle east visitors can't fathom this cold melting sand.

This post has been edited by mjd420nova: 29 December 2011 - 12:20 PM

[LiveBrianD]

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

I live in California because I hate the snow. I grew up in Minnesota and left as soon as I could. I learned enough on how to exist and survive in those envirions. I just prefer to feel warm without having to dress up like the Michelin Man to stand on a corner and wait for the bus. Shovel snow, by hand when it reaches one foot or you'll have a coronary, even if it is still snowing. When it gets so deep you can't see the car, it's too late to move it. Just little tidbits you pick up here and there that you carry with you forever.

It gets warmer than I like in the summer, and the house reaches 27C (81F) in the summer quite a bit unless you use the ac. In the winter, it's not that bad, even though my parents keep the heater at 17-19C (63-67F).

[mjd420nova]

LiveBrianD, on 29 December 2011 - 12:18 PM, said:

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

I live in California because I hate the snow. I grew up in Minnesota and left as soon as I could. I learned enough on how to exist and survive in those envirions. I just prefer to feel warm without having to dress up like the Michelin Man to stand on a corner and wait for the bus. Shovel snow, by hand when it reaches one foot or you'll have a coronary, even if it is still snowing. When it gets so deep you can't see the car, it's too late to move it. Just little tidbits you pick up here and there that you carry with you forever.

It gets warmer than I like in the summer, and the house reaches 27C (81F) in the summer quite a bit unless you use the ac. In the winter, it's not that bad, even though my parents keep the heater at 17-19C (63-67F).

LBD: Thee are areas that are hot and some are very hot. Many microclimates exist and some choices need to be considered. Ten miles from here, it is the same temp but will hold a warmer area, later in the day. As much as ten degrees at ten PM. Other areas are at the foot of coastal range passes or canyons and will see different effects during different atmospheric conditions. The Santa Anna winds are an example. I've lived and worked throughout the SF bay area for over 40 years and feel I've found a nice spot where it seldom freezes(it might snow) and won't reach over 90 for more than two days in a row. We do get spare the air days in both winter and summer from wood burning stoves and car exhaust respectively. I can't think on anyplace more idea. Earthquakes are as predictable as hurricanes and tornados.

[LiveBrianD]

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 29 December 2011 - 12:18 PM, said:

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

I live in California because I hate the snow. I grew up in Minnesota and left as soon as I could. I learned enough on how to exist and survive in those envirions. I just prefer to feel warm without having to dress up like the Michelin Man to stand on a corner and wait for the bus. Shovel snow, by hand when it reaches one foot or you'll have a coronary, even if it is still snowing. When it gets so deep you can't see the car, it's too late to move it. Just little tidbits you pick up here and there that you carry with you forever.

It gets warmer than I like in the summer, and the house reaches 27C (81F) in the summer quite a bit unless you use the ac. In the winter, it's not that bad, even though my parents keep the heater at 17-19C (63-67F).

LBD: Thee are areas that are hot and some are very hot. Many microclimates exist and some choices need to be considered. Ten miles from here, it is the same temp but will hold a warmer area, later in the day. As much as ten degrees at ten PM. Other areas are at the foot of coastal range passes or canyons and will see different effects during different atmospheric conditions. The Santa Anna winds are an example. I've lived and worked throughout the SF bay area for over 40 years and feel I've found a nice spot where it seldom freezes(it might snow) and won't reach over 90 for more than two days in a row. We do get spare the air days in both winter and summer from wood burning stoves and car exhaust respectively. I can't think on anyplace more idea. Earthquakes are as predictable as hurricanes and tornados.

True. There are a few cities nearby that are a few degrees hotter in the summer than here. We've had a spare the air day or two recently, and it did look a bit smoggy today.

[coastie65]

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 29 December 2011 - 12:18 PM, said:

mjd420nova, on 29 December 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

I live in California because I hate the snow. I grew up in Minnesota and left as soon as I could. I learned enough on how to exist and survive in those envirions. I just prefer to feel warm without having to dress up like the Michelin Man to stand on a corner and wait for the bus. Shovel snow, by hand when it reaches one foot or you'll have a coronary, even if it is still snowing. When it gets so deep you can't see the car, it's too late to move it. Just little tidbits you pick up here and there that you carry with you forever.

It gets warmer than I like in the summer, and the house reaches 27C (81F) in the summer quite a bit unless you use the ac. In the winter, it's not that bad, even though my parents keep the heater at 17-19C (63-67F).

LBD: Thee are areas that are hot and some are very hot. Many microclimates exist and some choices need to be considered. Ten miles from here, it is the same temp but will hold a warmer area, later in the day. As much as ten degrees at ten PM. Other areas are at the foot of coastal range passes or canyons and will see different effects during different atmospheric conditions. The Santa Anna winds are an example. I've lived and worked throughout the SF bay area for over 40 years and feel I've found a nice spot where it seldom freezes(it might snow) and won't reach over 90 for more than two days in a row. We do get spare the air days in both winter and summer from wood burning stoves and car exhaust respectively. I can't think on anyplace more idea. Earthquakes are as predictable as hurricanes and tornados.

Don't know about the bay area, but in LA, you have three major contributers to the smog there ( not counting the occasional wildfire ) 1) as mjd mentioned, Atmospheric Conditions ( a stagnant air mass ), 2) the topogarphy of the area ( LA is in a Basin more or less )
, and 3) there are just far too many vehilcles on the road and no amount of high priced, power draining emission controls or specially blended gasolines ( that raise the cost ) are going to compensate for that. We run in cycles around here. We had a long snow drought ( we had snow, but not any accumulation snow to speak of ) from Jan. '00 til Dec. '09 and the winter of '09 - '10 was one of the snowiest on record. Last year was pretty much back in the drought again and this year is looking pretty much the same. We are in a La Nina and the storms are passing to west of the Applachians rather than staying to the south and then coming up the coast which gives us the big snows. You have La Nina as well as El Nino in the pacific thatplays a part in the climate as well as the mid Atlantic oscillation ( another one of those currents ). Those things play a big part in the storm tracks as well as the overall climate and thus the cycles. Some 10.000 tears or so ago, we had a major warming due to a build up of Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, and the glaciers retreated North and left behind the many lakes in Minnesota as well as the Great lakes among other things. It is called Nature and Nature will do what she will.

[myloginname]

Ahh starting to feel a bit more like Canada. Snowed two days in a row, we've finally had to take the shovel out. Not much though, but it was pretty cold.

The van side doors were frozen; we couldn't open them, so we had to climb in from the trunk. That always seems to happen because the van is really old.

I can stand the cold more than I can stand the heat. We went to Las Vegas last summer and I was dying. My parents were getting so annoyed because I wouldn't go outside for more than 5 minutes. After that I would have to run into somewhere with air conditioning and sit there for a while. it was just so hot, and I've heard that its like that almost once a week. I couldn't imagine living there.

Not to mention how much water I drank and how many times I went to the washroom.

[LiveBrianD]

myloginname, on 29 December 2011 - 08:11 PM, said:

Ahh starting to feel a bit more like Canada. Snowed two days in a row, we've finally had to take the shovel out. Not much though, but it was pretty cold.

The van side doors were frozen; we couldn't open them, so we had to climb in from the trunk. That always seems to happen because the van is really old.

I can stand the cold more than I can stand the heat. We went to Las Vegas last summer and I was dying. My parents were getting so annoyed because I wouldn't go outside for more than 5 minutes. After that I would have to run into somewhere with air conditioning and sit there for a while. it was just so hot, and I've heard that its like that almost once a week. I couldn't imagine living there.

Not to mention how much water I drank and how many times I went to the washroom.

How hot was it in Las Vegas? 45C? I also prefer cold to hot - at least when it's cold you can layer, with hot unless you're inside with a fan and ac you can't do anything about it.

[coastie65]

Vegas heat isn't so bad as long as you don't get the humidity with it. I have been out there during the "Monsoon" season and you had the humidity, which made things a bit unpleasant to be sure. We are looking at a high in the mid 60's for New Year's Day, then we get a present from Canada. Brrrrr.

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 30 December 2011 - 07:12 AM, said:

Vegas heat isn't so bad as long as you don't get the humidity with it. I have been out there during the "Monsoon" season and you had the humidity, which made things a bit unpleasant to be sure. We are looking at a high in the mid 60's for New Year's Day, then we get a present from Canada. Brrrrr.

We don't have a lot of humidity here, but I went to Mexico once and had to deal with quite a bit. 40C or so too. Man that was hell...

[coastie65]

90's with high humidity is pretty normal here in the summer.

[mjd420nova]

Hot and muggy doesn't suit me, have to be close to an ocean or large body of water. 88 degrees and 88 percent humidity will sap your strength twice a fast as 90 degrees and low humidity. I just can't move when my clothes stick to my skin. I've been as cold as 55 degrees below zero and a twenty mile an hour wind (windchill minus 115) Humidity was zero. The highest was 116 degrees F. Needles California is as hot as you'll find. Yes, the ice did a lot to make Minnesota the land of 10,000 (actually over 14,000) lakes. Minneapolis has 6 lakes inside the city and is surrounded by more than 40 in its suburbs. The states centenial celebration is called The Aquatenial. St. Paul has a winter carnival with ice castles and carving. This is also the northern end of tornado alley. I'd rather put on another layer than try to take off a layer when you're down to the skivies.