Journal: Weather

This won't have much to do with IT, at least directly, but hey its my soapbox. I like watching the seasons change. This morning on my jog I took notice of how much snow still remains on the ground in my town. It snowed on St. Patrick's day, and its now the following Thursday. Outside of a few sheltered pockets that sit leeward and out of direct sunlight, there is barely any snow left on the ground. The last two years I could still find pockets of snow into April but that probably won't be the case this year. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region so I guess this is to be expected. Still this has been one of the driest winters in a long time. The official snowfall will probably weigh in at about 11" for the season. In past years average snowfall would usually fall between 30" and 36". There may have been that much snow in 2000, but I'd be surprised. In fact here in my cube I have photos from March of 2000, the last time we went snowshoeing. There was about a foot of powder in the woods then, maybe a little more on the hilltop where the pictures were taken. Getting around to technology, I wonder is this the result of global warming or are we living through a natural temperature fluctuation? Its not just above average winter temperatures, but a lack of any precipitation that is causing problems here. I miss the winters of my youth (basically the 80's) where I could count on a nice snowpack over everything from late December to mid March. I haven't seen kids sledding at the local hill for a few years, it's just not been possible. Too bad for them. There is a certain quality the landscape takes on when the town is blanketed in white. Everything seems quiet and still. Or thats my recollection anyway. I never really saw the grey winter sky as a negative thing. I guess the stillness was a function of the cold, which drove people indoors. Nowadays when it gets in the 50's in January, kids burst outside to play ball and their folks venture out for yardwork and such. Granted its healthier for everyone involved, but I miss the feeling of having the neighborhood to myself. At the root of this, might be the effect of falling snow itself. It has a calming influence, at least when one is on foot. I wasn't driving at 10 years old.

So the change of season takes me back a bit. I'm holding out for more snow actually. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 30, and after that I'd be surprised to see many more cold days. We'll see though. I don't think I've seen April snow since 1992.