the north = cold/snow

[Salted Grump]

Has to be Vancouver. It's the only place in the country where snow is a shock to them.

Go to Ontario. 2 years ago we had 4.3 Metres of snow, and the drifts could easily reach 6-8 metres high.

And snow days? Only if the Roads were hit by an overnight of freezing rain. Turns gravel, or unpaved roads into skating rinks.

[AccountingDrone]

Being from Buffalo originally, I'm with you on that. Ok, I didn't move all that far away and we still get lake effect snow (a lot), but it's amazing how many people that have grown up in the area forget that winter happens and how to deal with it. The first snowfall we get and everyone rushes to the grocery stores like it's the end of the world. And of course, they forget how to drive in the snow.....

That is what happened to us .... mrDrone and I moved up from Virginia Beach and they announce a blizzard warning. We do the usual [couple gallons water, new batteries for the assorted things, some candles and chili makings for on the wood stovetop, and some stuff to munch on that doesnt take refrigeration] and we are psyched as it is a long weekend coming ....

We get half an inch of snow. Half the state is shut down over a light dusting. Im outside in shorts and a teeshirt because it is 25 degrees and still, sweeping the snow off the stoop as people creep past on the road out front at about 5 miles an hour.

Go to Ontario. 2 years ago we had 4.3 Metres of snow, and the drifts could easily reach 6-8 metres high.

And snow days? Only if the Roads were hit by an overnight of freezing rain. Turns gravel, or unpaved roads into skating rinks.

I can remember running up to my grandparents summer house in Picton [nearish Kingston] and taking a shortcut driving across Prinyer's Cove on ice in a heavy as shit mid 60s caddy. We were headed up for a weekend of ice fishing and to see the kids hockey playoffs some friends kids were in.

back in the 60s we were having a mini ice age or something, there was serious snow when I was young, and not so much snow in the past 20 years or so. I understand that we are in for a snowy cold winter and I am seriously happydancing at the idea. Winter is my favorite season of the year

[Antisocial_Worker]

Now see, the exact opposite is true in the South. I worked in a hotel and over the course of five years there I would always have people from somewhere or other up north come to North Carolina in the winter and be shocked -- shocked! -- that it was cold out. And God help us all if it was snowing. The consensus seemed to be that the moment you cross the Pennsylvania border, everything southward is a radiant vision of sun-kissed palm trees swaying in a tropical breeze.

Fact of the matter -- and this was a fact I always relished telling them, especially those who were retiring here to get away from vicious winters -- is the coldest temperature ever recorded in my part of the state was 35 degrees below zero. Coldest temperature ever recorded in the city itself was minus 17. Yes, that's still not bad compared to other places, but honestly once you get into the single digits, it kind of stops mattering. Cold is cold at that point, and too many of those people had been duped by the chamber of commerce and realtor claptrap about how the weather here is always gentle and kind.

[wraiths_crono]

snow? whats that.... oh.. thats a 2 hour drive for me, yeah it hit 50 in the mornings and a high of 86... people here look like its -40! (Arizona BYW Phoneix area)

[Pagan]

Up here in Calgary, its not unusual to have snow in july and then be BBQing on christmas in shorts on the deck though

Well, I do have pictures of it snowing in Nevada in June. Of course, I was in Lake Tahoe....

Yeah...that reminds me... A lady guest last night also assumed the airport here closed down, no not just delayed but completely closed, during any snow.

3 years ago, the Sunport did close down because of the snow. But in our defense, that storm did break 50-year-old records and there were blizzard conditions.

I do remember once getting let out early from school in Las Cruces because of snow. They did keep us until 1pm so there wasn't a snow day to make up. That one was bad (for here) seeing as White Sands Missile Range was shut down, too. Closed San Augustine Pass, too. My dad had to come down through Guadalupe Pass.

OMG!!! Snow in the north!?! Ugh, makes me think of the people around here that panic over 1/2 an inch that melts by noon.

Ha! We get two flakes floating through the air and all of the "flakes" driving freak out!

Now see, the exact opposite is true in the South. I worked in a hotel and over the course of five years there I would always have people from somewhere or other up north come to North Carolina in the winter and be shocked -- shocked! -- that it was cold out. And God help us all if it was snowing. The consensus seemed to be that the moment you cross the Pennsylvania border, everything southward is a radiant vision of sun-kissed palm trees swaying in a tropical breeze.

We get the same thing. Got a lot of damntourists here right now for the Balloon Fiesta and some of them seem surprised that it's fairly chilly in the morning. Yes, I know were a desert, but guess what? So is Antartica!

[Andara Bledin]

Hahaha, yes! I remember elementary school shutting down for a day because, horror of horrors, temperatures reached freezing the night before. There were patches of ice in the water puddles from the previous day's rain!

That wasn't even a snow day. That was a...cold...day?

Wait, what? *blink*blink*

We've had mornings below freezing here in sou Cali, and I've never heard of the schools shutting down. Heck, I darn near tried to kill myself slipping on a patch of ice in front of my neighbor's house because their sprinkler went off at 5 in the morning, and it had frozen in the 2 hours before I left the house.

Now, heat on the other hand....

Now see, the exact opposite is true in the South. I worked in a hotel and over the course of five years there I would always have people from somewhere or other up north come to North Carolina in the winter and be shocked -- shocked! -- that it was cold out. And God help us all if it was snowing.

The southeast part of the country has hot, humid summers, and in the winter, they get graced with the occasional ice storm.

I'll stick to my coastal desert, thanks.

^-.-^

[Antisocial_Worker]

The southeast part of the country has hot, humid summers, and in the winter, they get graced with the occasional ice storm.

I'll stick to my coastal desert, thanks.

^-.-^

And I'll stick with my Appalachian temperate rainforest. Every day of fair weather around here is a day in which to battle the plant life.

That's something else the realtors never tell the retirees.

[AccountingDrone]

And I'll stick with my Appalachian temperate rainforest. Every day of fair weather around here is a day in which to battle the plant life.

That's something else the realtors never tell the retirees.

And I will agree that it is very lovely around there, I worked a shutdown at McGuire back in Jan of um .... 89. Spent a lovely 2 months living at the KOA in Barium Springs.

[lordlundar]

And snow days? Only if the Roads were hit by an overnight of freezing rain. Turns gravel, or unpaved roads into skating rinks.

You get snow days?

[hotelslave]

Heck in Northern VA schools are delayed and or cancelled for an inch of snow. Loved it as a kid until June came around. Now working retail hate it lol

[Midorikawa]

I grew up in northwest Texas. We got ice storms, and no more than 2-3 inches of snow, that was always gone by 10AM. One winter when I was in high school, we got 4 inches of snow, and the entire city shut down. Snow day for us...except...the snow was almost gone by the time I got back up after getting up at 6 to see school cancelled. I had enough snow in the front yard for 2 snow balls, and that was about it. Had the rest of the day to do nothing.

...Now, I live just south of Salt Lake City, and I tell you, growing up in West Texas desert and moving here has been...interesting. I grew a caveman beard to compensate, and still froze my marbles off. This winter should be interesting, too. I'm not a "wuss", as I can handle cold, but sheesh. I've never seen < 0F before now.

[AccountingDrone]

I'm not a "wuss", as I can handle cold, but sheesh. I've never seen < 0F before now.

Do be careful. A charming bit of information about extreme cold. Under about -20 or so bones don't fracture, they shatter. mrDrone sat on the qdeck of his barracks in Great Lakes naval Training Center and watched a guy slip on the ice, a crew of corpsmen come out to pick him up, and one of them wipe out as well. Major reconstructive surgery ensues. The recruit was released, they couldn't repair his ankle enough to qualify for boot camp. The corpsman had his arm in a frame for several months and ended up with all sorts of screws and plates. That was the day that the thermometer broke, it doesn't go below -30. Apparently it was -40 before the wind chill

/me snuggles the cat and a hot cocoa at the thought

[Salted Grump]

You get snow days?

Technically, it's less 'Snow day' and more 'Stay off the road if you want to live day'

[Shalom]

I went to school in Buffalo, so I'm kind of blasé about snow. In the four years I was in Western NY, I can remember them closing the school only once, and that wasn't even for snow, but because the 290 was a solid sheet of ice and there wasn't any way to get onto the campus without skates.

(Although Buffalo has an unfair reputation for winter weather. Rochester gets more snow than Buffalo every year, and Syracuse routinely beats both of them. It isn't even that cold there, about the same as NYC where I grew up, because it's right on the lake and that moderates the temperature. Yet when I told people I was moving there, everyone was saying "Man, you're gonna freeze." Come on guys, it's not Alaska, or even Montana. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's that Buffalo has an NFL team, so people all over the country can put on their TVs and see 80,000 maniacs sitting in the stands with snow up to their tuchuses. Thing is, the stadium isn't even in Buffalo, it's in Orchard Park, south of the city, and it does snow more down there.)

[blas]

I blame everyone in this thread for even mentioning the s-word.

Why, you ask?

There is a slight chance of that dreaded s-word this weekend. As if a temperature plunge from 70s/80s in September down to 40s the past week and a half weren't enough of a reality check.