From The Chief Editor's Desk...

Can we just be done with winter now? I mean … right now?

[Hoisting the white flag]. We surrender!

About a week after the New Year, we got hit with round #1 of the arctic fronts. That one dumped about 10” (25.4 cm) of snow on us here where I live in the Kansas City area. Meemaw, by contrast, barely got any.

Living in the U.S. Midwest, it seems impossible for it to snow unless it lays down a nice, thick layer of ice first. That way, when the snow plow comes down the streets, they scrape away all of the snow (which you can get a little traction in), leaving the layer of ice (which you cannot get any traction on). This winter storm was no exception. We got about ¼” (0.64 cm) of ice underneath the 10” of snow. And, as if that wasn’t enough, we were hit with temperatures well below freezing. No. That isn’t quite correct. We were hit with sub-zero temperatures. Like -5° F. That’s degrees Fahrenheit, folks, not Celsius. For those that find the temperature conversions challenging, that converts to -21° C.

About six days later, we got hit with another 3”+ (7.6 cm) of additional snow. This additional snow didn’t come with any additional ice. Of course not. The damage had already been done by round #1.

And then it stuck around. And continued to stick around. Like forever (it seemed). It hardly had a chance to get above freezing (32° F) to have any snow melt before the next arctic blast plunged southward.

That arctic blast reached all of the lower 48 states, coating Texstar’s abode (Spring, TX, just outside of Houston) in an ultra-rare coating of snow. They received about 6” (~15.3 cm) of the frozen liquid sunshine. Down around Mobile, AL (where bones113 lives), they received their share of snow with a 6” coating. Just outside of Lafayette, LA (where astronaut lives), they appear to have received another 8”-10” of the white fluffy fun stuff. In fact, you can see pictures in this forum thread from myself, Texstar, and astronaut.

Of course, the kids loved it! It delayed their return to school from their Christmas break by a week. But now, they have four “snow days” to make up between now and the end of the school year.

I don’t *hate* winter. In fact, I usually look forward to it. But what I do hate are the arctic cold blasts. If I wanted to live where the temperatures got stupid cold, I’d move there. I don’t need it to come to me uninvited. I don’t mind if it gets cold, but there is a limit. Temperatures in the 20s and 30s (Fahrenheit, folks) are okay. Even snow is okay. But I start to protest when the temperatures get below the middle 20s. And, I’d prefer to have a “break” between winter storms, to allow the “old snow” to melt off before getting more.

We’re FINALLY getting some warmer temperatures as I’m writing this, with some pretty significant snow melt. Yay! I know we’re not “out of the woods” for more snow this early into Winter, but I honestly wouldn’t mind at least a few weeks break from the wintry precipitation.

This month’s cover image, celebrating Valentine’s Day, comes from Pixabay artist Araxhs Official.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!