Fall and Winter

It is getting cold too soon. The leaves are turning and some are falling already. There has been frost. There has also been enough rain to keep the farmers from harvesting. There was snow in Wisconsin where my relatives live and in South Dakota, Nebraska. That is just too close. IT is too soon also. I read yesterday the spiders are showing up indoors more now and that means a early winter. Also if you have lots of crickets it means lots of snow too. This could be a winter we will hate more than usual.

Winter's Grip

Yesterday we had temperatures in the high 40's. Many people opened windows and let fresh air in. Much snow was melting and I watched it fall off the neighbor's roof. There is lots of standing water everywhere. Today we got some light rain and it changed to the biggest snowflakes. I think it has stopped almost by now. That is good. We have plenty on the ground as it is and huge piles. Everyone is very anxious to have Spring.

Weather Reports

The weather reports aren't very encouraging. They have been saying we would be getting rain this morning and it would freeze on the roads making for even more dangerous driving than we have had already this winter. Then there could be about an inch of snow on top of that ice. Today it should reach 34 degrees. It is 28 degrees now. But tomorrow it drops to 22 and Sunday is to bounce back up to 40. That would be great. The roads have been so bad, I have stayed in a great many days this winter. Spring is really going to be welcomed by everyone this year more than ever.

March 1

Here it is, finally March but it isn't any warmer.  We have had at least 2, maybe 3 Polar Vortex systems go thru here and we are freezing.  It is 1 degree right now and snowing.  It snowed an inch yesterday and they say we will see some tomorrow too.  I pushed an inch of snow off the deck this morning so now it can add another 3" today.  I keep a shovel in the house because in past years, it has gotten so deep I could hardly get the door open to go out and get the newspaper.  So far I have shoveled some many days.  They sound like it won't start getting any warmer till Mid March.  I sure hope March goes out like a lamb and is much warmer and we get done with this cold freezing, snowy, blizzard, winter.

Weather Report

Another bad weather report.  They are saying we will have another blizzard tomorrow.  People will have trouble getting to work.  If they get to work, they will have trouble getting home.  Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Much snow melted but it left a lot of ice behind.  It is 30 degrees already which is quite warm for the winter we have been having.  It will melt a lot of snow again today but we are due to get icy conditions and 3-7 inches of new snow again.  We will all enjoy Spring whenever it gets here.  It will be appreciated more than ever this year.

Snow

We are having a spell of pretty good weather.  It is actually in the 30's.  After many days of way below zero wind chills and cold temperatures, we can enjoy some sunshine.  Although the sun doesn't make it any warmer, at least it melts some of the snow pack.  The roads got a real blast of snow yesterday and the snow stuck wherever the sun melted what was left on the road.  It made for dangerous travel for many.

Christmas Brunch

I have been invited to a nearby town for a Christmas Brunch Saturday morning.  I am very excited about going as will be seeing a good friend and also a daughter there.  I sure hope it doesn't snow.  The back blacktops are not the best.  Actually the highway is just getting fairly decent.  I am looking forward to going as I know it will be a lot of fun.

Fall is Here

It is definitely feeling like Fall now.  We had some unusually warm weather for a while.  You didn't know whether to put the furnace on in the morning or not as the nights got cold.  Then by late afternoon you had to turn on the air conditioner to cool off the house so you could get a good night's sleep.  Yesterday we had our first frost.  I decided it was time to start bringing in some of the bird feeders and rain gauge to be stored over the winter in the garage.  The neighbor mowed the lawn the other day and think it will probably be for the last time this year.  It has been unusual to get so much snow so early in South Dakota and that is just too close to Iowa.  The Almanac is saying a very harsh cold winter with lots of snow. I hope they are wrong.

The Neighbor's Dog

My neighbor has the cutest little Pappion.  Anytime I call him, he comes running to have his ears scratched.  He is so cute.  If the neighbor just says my name, he gets all excited and wants to come over.  He knows I will scratch his ears and pet him.  He is such a little dog but he just loves snow.  He will take a running jump right into a snow bank.  He will jump in the last piles that are left in the Spring.  He's so funny.

Fog

We got a bunch of freezing rain and sleet on Sunday.  Everything is a skating rink outside.  I don't think I will even go after the mail as the driveway is very slick and it is probably just junk mail anyway.  The mailboxes are quite deep so would hold a lot anyway.  We have extremely thick fox too.  Started last night and they say it is going to last till tomorrow.  Then we may get some snow.  Snow on top of the ice won't be good either.  I see the neighbor has been scraping ice off his sidewalks for an hour now.  Also scraped his driveway.  It's no fun.

Big Christmas Tree

Our good friends in Arizona got a 10 ft Christmas tree.  He said their ceiling is 12 ft high so it almost reaches the ceiling.  We used to live in California.  It seems where people don't have snow, they decorate even more than those that do have snow.  It always was heavily decorated and we had so much fun putting up lots of lights around our house roof.  Always had a great tree too.  Enjoyed Christmas very much in a warm climate.

Cold Weather

The days are changing fast. We have had lots of high winds that really took all the leaves off the trees very quickly. The nights are down to freezing and today the furnace had to run to keep it at least 69 in the house. The sun is out but it isn't warm. The flowers have pretty much frozen off and we know it won't be long and the snow will be falling. I didn't used to mind it because it seemed you could always dress plenty warm but in summer you never dress cool enough. But I guess as I age, I hate to see winter come. My husband always hated winter and this year he won't have to put up with it. I know it is much better in Heaven.

Spring!

It is the first day of Spring at last. This has been a super long miserable winter. Way too much snow and ice and way too much below zero wind chills and weather. So little sunshine. Sure glad to see the snow disappearing at last. Thought that day was never going to come. I hope next winter is a very mild one for a change. I heard today that last year was the coldest winter in Iowa ever!

Sunshine and Snow

I could not believe my eyes when I went to the bank just now. Yesterday there was so much snow yet. We had lots of sunshine yesterday and this morning. It really did a job on melting the snow. We still have some big banks but you can actually see green grass now in places. I know it is about time for the tulips to come up but there is at least a foot of snow over them yet so it will be awhile. Have to watch because if they pop up, the rabbits eat them quickly. I have little flags I put out there that scare them away but you can't stick them in frozen ground.

Icy Roads

Last night we started out of town for supper at our favorite restaurant. We got three miles out of town and the snow was blowing across the highway. Not only that it was sticking to the highway. It was getting very slippery and you couldn't tell where the center line was. We decided quickly that the wisest thing to do was to head back home. So that is what we did. We went to the local Mexican restaurant and had enchiladas. They were good and we were satisfied and we saved ourselves a hazardous drive.

Cold Wave and Wintry Mix

My husband says the weatherman never misses the bad stuff. He is right. They said we would get a wintry mix of some rain which would freeze instantly on everything. The roads are slick. Then we got about 1/2 inch of snow which was lucky as they had said 1-3" first and then changed it to 1". I ran some errands and was careful because the roads are very icy. Thought it would be a good idea to get extra milk and bread just in case. It was above zero when we got up this morning and here it is 3:15 CST and the outdoor thermometer shows zero already and going to get colder before the night is over.

Snow Blower

It is that time again. My husband got out the snow blower. He had been wanting to get it started and it snowed overnight so this was his chance. He blew out the snow out of the drive, even though the landlord always does it for us. I think he just enjoyed being outside as it was really rather mild weather. Soon the snow stopped and the sun came out and melted it all off all the driveways. But now it is snowing and blowing too. Looks like it might just be a heavy flurry though.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It is raining again. I guess we can just be thankful it isn't snow. I heard once that 10 or 12 inches of snow is equal to one inch of rain. So from the sounds of the drops on the roof, we are being spared many inches of snow. I think there is a little freezing mix north of us and that is dangerous. Icy roads are worse than snowy ones, I think.

Weather or Not

We have three weather men and women with degrees on our local station and they are quite proud of the job they do. However, they really missed it this weekend. They said we would get anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of snow and I don't think we even got an inch. Not that we are complaining, mind you. We are very happy it missed us. We got just enough on the ground to cover it for a few hours and then it all melted away. That is one happy thing about snow in April and Spring.

Here Comes the Rain

We were really hoping it would not rain but would be snow right away today. That may sound funny to you, however, rain freezes on everything. If you get enough accumulation, the lines start coming down and you find yourself quickly without heat or lights. It can be a life threatening situation.

They have us under a winter storm warning and we are really fed up with them this winter. It has been up and down now for a couple years, both winter and summer. You get a few nice days and then it turns on you and you get bad weather days. We hope the rain will quickly change to snow so we do not get a layer of ice under everything. Getting snow on top of ice is more dangerous than just the snow itself. Many people suddenly find themselves in ditches and accidents. It is not good so hope this rain changes over to snow quickly.