can we skip the rest of winter? please?

[Blessed]

107 ok the picture is really small... here's the link: GoComics (http://www.gocomics.com/fredbasset/2011/01/27/)

Can you guess who has outside chores tonight? :rolleyes:

I'm so ready for spring to come, instead we're under a "blizzard watch" for the next 36 hours! Ah well... I suppose my northern friends and those of you who live west over in the mountains here will tell me to quit whining because it could be worse - we really only have about 2 months that we have to deal with snow and ice and icky stuff like that. It usually starts about half way through December and ends about mid-February.

So... how is winter in your part of the world?

[vangogh]

I like the comic.

Winter has been fine by me this year. It snowed today (very little accumulation) and it is very cold, but Friday we were in the mid 60s and you didn't need a jacket all weekend. Spring in January. A common occurrence here in Boulder. We'll get most of our snow in March. Our softball league is starting Feb 28th this year.

Last year it snowed a lot, but most of the time our winters tend toward the mild side overall. A storm here, one over the there, and the rest of the time blue skies and sunshine. We're protected by the mountains that look over us.

[cbscreative]

And then there are those among us who love winter and think that people who complain about snow should move to places that don't have it. Why live where snow and cold winter weather is normal and then complain when it happens?

You're right, Jenn, I'd tell you to quit whining. Not only that, I hope we get 6 more weeks before the temps go above 20 degrees. That and a fresh blanket of powdery snow every few days is perfect winter weather. It's the 30-40 degree crap with no snow that's useless! What can you do in that kind of weather? Nothing!! Anything above 25 is miserable for skiing and starts turning everything to slop (10-15 degrees is perfect).

I love seeing the look on people's faces when I tell them I love bitter cold and snowstorms. I don't enjoy those first 5 minutes warming up the car, nor am I fond of brushing it off the car or shoveling, but I live here in Michigan because we're supposed to have great winters. Every time I hear someone complain about it I pray for more snow and colder temps. In a way I should thank the complainers. It reminds me to ask the Lord to dump it on us and not stop until after they shut up.

I will agree with you that by the time spring is supposed to roll around, I am very much ready for it too. But while it's still supposed to be winter, I want real winter, not some lame excuse for it.

[Blessed]

Actually... I do enjoy the snow, it's just the single digit temperatures and the ice that I don't like - and we get much more of that than snow here in the KC area. Our "blizzard" is supposed to be preceded by 2-3" of ice. Then, we get the snow on top of that. We've had a freezing drizzle all day - and I've already fallen once. I hope we get the snow on top of the ice - that will make it much better!

Also... after all of that we're supposed to be in the upper 30's to 40's this weekend so we'll have muddy slush again, which is what we have right now. The 12 inches or so of snow we got earlier this month melted like crazy last week in our 30's-40's weather, then it drizzled all day today, blech.

If it snowed a bit and stayed in the low 20's i'd be happy - I think my problem with this part of the country is that we pretty much just get a lame excuse for winter instead of a real winter. I came down here from the Cleveland Ohio area - they know how to have winter up there!

[ruth]

I live in Florida. Late this afternoon I opened three windows to let fresh air in and it was quite comfortable. However, next week the cold will return.

[cbscreative]

Yeah, that sounds yucky all right. That's exactly the thing I really hate—when you just get a nice blanket of snow and then the temps shoot up. I've often heard radio people talk about 40 degree temps after 6+ inches of fresh snow and they present it like it's a good thing. I always think, "You fool, you should be fired for calling that good news." The only thing that's good for is windshield washer fluid producers and contractors that like to clean up flood damage.

Ice storms can be a real nuisance and cause serious hazards and damage, I'm glad we don't get a lot of those here. Even when we do, anything much over 1/8" is extremely rare.

[JJ84]

I'm ready for spring myself! I can't wait until winter is finally over and the bitter cold and the snow are gone. It's been long enough, I can't take it anymore. Please, please I want more sun :)

[Dan Furman]

I like winter, and don't mind the snowstorms/etc. That said, this winter has been especially trying - we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground, and it's been there accumulating since late December. I think it's ventured north of 30 degrees maybe once or twice. For a minute.

That's what's so unusual. While big 12"+ storms and cold are nothing new, we usually get a small respite of a few 35 degree days in between storms, so it can melt a little. That hasn't happened this year.

[cbscreative]

I know a lot of places have been getting hit this year, but our area has been missed EVERY TIME so far. They get snow all around us, but the Grand Rapids area has had somewhere around 12" total for the season so far. I keep hearing storm warnings, then everyone else gets it and we get anywhere from nothing to maybe an inch or two. We're supposed to get hit around 5 pm EST today and go through the night with blizzard conditions. I'll let you know tomorrow what happens.

[Harold Mansfield]

56 and sunny here. I know my east cost and Michigan friends are getting walloped and I feel for them, but that is the main reason why I moved. I'm done with snow after the holidays. It stops being cute and refreshing on Dec 26th.

[KristineS]

It's been weird this year because I live in Northern Michigan, which is supposed to be known for it's snow, and our winter has been fairly easy. We've had snow, and a few storms, but haven't been dumped on majorly like other places have been. I don't mind winter, but I can see how some people who've been hit multiple times this year might be tired of it.

[billbenson]

About 75 out. Low 70's is about the normal high here this time of year. One day its 75 though and the next can be low 60's. I just got back from taking my lunch working in the garden. I haven't seen snow since the late 80's and I like it that way :)

[Blessed]

We've got around 12" so far - and the storm isn't supposed to pass for another 6-12 hours. We'll see how much we end up with! Fortunately the ice passed us by. My best friend lives about 4 hours south of here and they were getting ice bad, the snow is supposed to follow.

All the schools are closed, all the churches have cancelled services, my bank is closed, my husband came home from work early, my brother-in-law's cabinet shop was closed today. The wind is starting to pick up and drifts are getting bad. On days like this I'm glad that I work from home!

[vangogh]

Why live where snow and cold winter weather is normal and then complain when it happens?

So your assumption is people only choose where to live based on the weather? Most people seem to live near wherever they were born and stay there because of family ties. You might also choose to live where the work is. Sometimes weather doesn't get a chance to enter into the decision.

[billbenson]

I chose based on weather, but many don't have that opportunity. A lot end up where they go to college as well. I bet the economy moves people to where the job is. Companies don't relocate employees or even consider them if they aren't nearby.

[vangogh]

Weather partially entered into my decision too, but I think you and I are the exceptions. I think most people tend to live where family lives or where work takes them. Others might go away for college and not come back. And some people do choose where to live based on the weather. I just don't think it's everyone or even most people.

[Blessed]

If it were up to me I'd move - heading north west from here, settling in Colorado, Nevada or Montana, probably. The winters would probably be worse, but they would be real winters - not the now it's winter, now it's not we get around here.

My husband says he wants to move, but he has strong family ties here, his mom passed away several years ago and his dad's health isn't great so he wants to be close to them. Also his favorite sister and her family are here - I have a feeling we'll be staying here for a long while yet.

[vangogh]

Speaking from one part of Colorado the winters can be shall we say variable. To give you an idea Friday we were in the mid 60s and it felt like spring had arrived. Tonight it's about 10 below 0. We didn't get much snow, but we are getting the freezing temperatures most of the country is experiencing. Boulder is right up against the mountains which protect us from the weather to a degree. Sometimes though a storm will come into town and not move out for a few days.

Most of our moisture comes in the spring. We'll get a couple of feet dumped on us in a day, though usually it will warm up quickly and be gone pretty soon. March and April are often very snowy and rainy months and it will even snow through much of May some years.

Of course we always have snow in the mountains. It's something of an experience to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt in August and then drive up above 10,000 feet to be encountered by several feet of snow.

[cbscreative]

So your assumption is people only choose where to live based on the weather? Most people seem to live near wherever they were born and stay there because of family ties. You might also choose to live where the work is. Sometimes weather doesn't get a chance to enter into the decision.

I didn't mean to imply people choose based on weather, some do obviously, but I agree that wouldn't be true for most. But it is pointless to complain about the kind of weather you should be expecting. And if it's that big of a problem that a person feels compelled to complain, they should move.

I wasn't referring to occasional comments made when weather causes some inconvenience, I was referring to the kind of bellyaching you hear every time we get "normal" weather. At least here in my area, we seem to have a lot of cry babies who've got nothing better to do than complain just because they don't like snow. I refuse to listen to the radio because many of them have been given a platform for spewing their contagious garbage.

I do have fun with it though. Since this anti snow attitude is so prevalent around here, I love turning it around. When I'm going through a checkout lane and the cashier makes a negative comment about the weather, the look on their face when I answer back is always interesting (often hilarious). They'll say something about it being cold when it's 25 degrees and I shoot back saying something like, "Yeah, that is pretty miserable. I can't wait until it dips down at least another 10 degrees with a few inches of fresh snow."

Since I promised an update, we did get hit. It started at least 2 hours late so nothing happened here until after 7 pm last night. I live in town and it's hard to tell how much snow we actually got because of the drifting, but it appears to be close to a foot. Out at the Gerald R Ford Int'l Airport outside of town, they were reporting 13-15 inches.

Grand Rapids finally got hit, so I'm loving it. We're supposed to get 3-5 inches today, but it let up this morning and is calm right now except for a few gusts of wind. Temps are supposed to stay in the teens for 3 days, so I only have that long to enjoy it. On Sat it's supposed to get close to 30—way too warm for skiing so I hope it dips down again before melting.

Since this is the first time we actually participated in the winter storms this year, I am far from tired of it like some of the surrounding areas are.

[Blessed]

We ended up with 12-15 inches. We had so much wind it's hard to tell for sure what we got. I have a drift in my backyard that's taller than me - and I'm 5'6". The dogs are loving it. Today we're in single digits so I'm not taking the kids out, but it's supposed to be upper teens/mid twenties by Friday so we'll get out and sled down the drifts in the backyard then!

[vangogh]

I wasn't referring to occasional comments made when weather causes some inconvenience

I think that's all people really complain about though. Certainly there are people who do nothing by whine about the snow. Those some people will later whine about how hot it is in summer. But I think most people are complaining about the inconvenience or when it's 14 consecutive days of snow and cold. And this year every one deserves a pass. Nowhere in the country are we really having a normal winter.

It was colder in Dallas today than either Green Bay or Pittsburgh. That's certainly not usual and it's understandable if people in Dallas are complaining about the weather.

[billbenson]

Not quite on topic, but I get a kick out of it every year when they blame deaths on a heat wave in Chicago or other midwestern cities. I remember a couple of years ago there were a number of deaths attributed to the heat in (I think) Chicago. It was about 90 and an elderly gentleman decided to resurface the blacktop driveway in front of his house. And they stick that in the statistics of people who die because of a two day heat wave...

[jamesray50]

I think this was the first storm that hit the midwest that didn't come our way here in Kentucky. The groundhog did not see his shadow yesterday, so the winter will be over early. (For those who believe).

[Patrysha]

I'm more liable to complain about the drivers than the weather itself (hello people...slow down!!)...but this year we've been walloped with snow that reminds me of childhood. It's been years since we've had this much. This is the first time I have ever heard of a towing ban being issued. That happened a couple of weeks back...the RCMP issued a tow ban, so if you landed in the ditch, you wouldn't be getting your vehicle out until the weather fully cleared...luckily my trip to the ditch happened in town and two days before the ban got issued and one day before the CAA membership expired. I only got stuck twice...hubby had to dig out four times...all in the back alley.

[billbenson]

Out of curiousity: As a kid growing up in Chicago, by dad had snow tires he put on the cars in winter and chains he put on in extreme conditions. Mind you I haven't lived in snow since I was 17. What do you do to winterize your cars and do you still use chains for this kind of weather or has technology improved?

[KristineS]

Have to agree with you about the drivers Patrysha. We have snow every year up here and we still get people who drive very carelessly. A few weeks ago, I saw a guy driving in a snowstorm, at night, with his lights off. It was absolutely insane.

I'm also not a huge fan of the people with the big trucks or SUVs that drive like they're invincible. Regardless of what kind of car you have, when it's slippery and visibility is bad, you have to drive carefully.

[Blessed]

Oh the drivers... that is one of the good parts about working from home. I don't have any traffic to deal with!

My dad always said that the problem with some people who drive 4x4's is that they forget that everyone has 4-wheel stop. My husband and I both drive 4x4's, but I still try to avoid driving when the roads are bad. Hubby's truck does really well - he carries a tow rope and often stops to help people. I just do what I can to stay on the road and away from everyone else!

[cbscreative]

I remember snow tires, bill, but I don't think very many people use them any more. I know they still sell them, I've seen them in tire stores, so there is still some demand. Ever since all season radials came out, it mostly killed off the snow tires. I imagine you can still get chains too but I've never looked for them. Between the all season radials and most cars being front wheel drive, getting around in snow isn't much of a problem unless it's as much snow as we just got. Then you wait for the plow to go through unless you have an truck or SUV.

I hear you on the drivers though. I'm a fast driver, but I do know when not to drive fast. I got passed last night by an SUV on a downhill section of freeway that's curved. They made it, but I really anticipated seeing them go into an uncontrolled spin so I gave them plenty of lead in case that happened. Since I exited at the bottom of the hill, I don't know what happened after that, but I figured their luck would run out eventually.

I've never heard of a towing ban before. We've never had one around here. It makes me wonder what the rationale is. I suppose if I lived in your area and it caused some kind of problem, then maybe I wouldn't have to wonder why they have it.

One thing I wish they would ban is 18 wheelers when road conditions make them an unnecessary hazard. I find it very annoying that truckers don't have enough common sense and decency to know or care when they are putting everyone else's life at risk. They kick up a blinding swath of snow so you can't see and passing them is very risky. I pass them anyway because I figure it's better to take that short term risk than stay behind them where the danger never subsides.

When a semi jackknives, they inevitably always take someone (usually several people) with them. Then they end up shutting down the road. What they ought to do is get those fools off the road before it happens. It's unfortunate that some truckers are too stupid to know when they shouldn't be driving (please note I said some truckers because I suspect many would agree with what I am saying). It shouldn't have to be a law, but due to the lack of intelligence we end up needing such a law. Maybe I should write my rep, eh?

One of these days I should take a position and let all of you know how I really feel about it. :)

BTW, we didn't get any more snow after it stopped yesterday morning. It cleared up to a clear blue yesterday afternoon and it's still clear and sunny, and a balmy 21 degrees (picture perfect).

[Patrysha]

I remember snow tires, bill, but I don't think very many people use them any more.

We do have winter tires on the van. No chains though. I think those are mostly a big truck thing now.



I've never heard of a towing ban before. We've never had one around here. It makes me wonder what the rationale is. I suppose if I lived in your area and it caused some kind of problem, then maybe I wouldn't have to wonder why they have it.

I never had before either, but the reasoning was basically as a safety precaution.

Sending out a tow truck out to pull a vehicle out of a ditch usually means at least one lane of highway that is blocked off to pull them out...because visibility was low with blowing snow and the roads were slippery with ice and black ice (we had two big dumps of snow over two weekends with some nice freezing rain in between and afterward for good measure) the tow trucks could be creating unnecessary hazards out there...so they just banned tows for a few days and people were advised to make sure they had their emergency gear and cell phone if they were traveling on the highways.

[Blessed]

The only time I know of chains being required are over some of the passes in Colorado/Nevada/California - we've made the drive from here to there a couple of times during the winter.

[Steve B]

I think a lot of areas have made it illegal to use chains (and studded snow tires). I guess it rips up the road surface too much.

For the last 20 years, I've only used all season tires, but I heard my brother referring to his snow tires the other day, so I guess they exist.