Rejoicing with the Truth

Winter weather is so tricky! There were forecasts for at least two potential winter-precipitation events in January, and they fizzled with a capital F. And this morning at 5 AM, there was a good inch of snow on the grass and cars, where no accumulation had been predicted until the day.  It's such a fine balance of factors for us - moist air, cool air, front coming at the right time of day, &c. - that makes accurate prediction so incredibly hard. (This unpredictability, or volatility, is what gives us our hailstorms and tornados and other fine things as well.)

Temperatures are hovering right around freezing. The snow is fluffy and wet, unlike the Christmas Eve blizzard which was dry.  This means that Dad and I had a rare commute through snow and slush, without ice.  Truly a novelty, I assure you.  We saw only a couple of stalled cars on the whole 25 miles of freeway.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, we're nowhere near done with the snow. It's still coming down steadily.  Updated forecasts are for 3-4 inches total even in the metro area. Of course there is more to the north and west.

Snow is so pretty! Being wet, it's clinging to all the leaves and branches. The Christmas snow was not only dry, so it didn't cling so well, but the blizzard conditions meant wind that kept it from just resting on things.  It's piled up now, though, even on the bare branches of the peach trees next door, and all the live oak leaves. One fellow at work said the junipers lining his driveway were covered in it, all feathery and pretty.

TCU has canceled classes, but so far UTA hasn't.  If they don't, Dad and I will just leave work early so I can get home, then to school from there.  Byron has an interview here for an internship early this afternoon. I hope either that the roads aren't bad at all, or that they're so bad he has reason not to come! A lot can happen in a 25-mile drive.

jordannamorgan just posted about the cold snap her part of Florida will be having, and that reminded me that my mother mentioned that our forecast said we'd be getting cold again later this next week.


( Okay, I'm cold now. )

Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Windy, with a south wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north between 20 and 25 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Thursday: Partly sunny and windy, with a high near 32.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 15.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 31.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 16.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 37.

FREQUENT COLD FRONTS KEPT TEMPERATURES BELOW NORMAL THROUGHOUT MUCHOF DECEMBER. AT DFW AIRPORT...THERE WERE 19 DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE40S. THE NORMAL HIGH FOR DECEMBER IS 59.1 DEGREES. THE MONTHLY MEANTEMPERATURE WAS A FULL 4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...PLACING AS THE 11THCOLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD.

ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS...WINTRY PRECIPITATION ACCOMPANIED THE COLDWEATHER. SNOW FELL ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS ON DECEMBER 2 ANDACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL TEXAS ON DECEMBER 4. MORE EVENTS FOLLOWEDFROM CHRISTMAS EVE TO NEW YEARS EVE.ON DECEMBER 24...RARE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IMPACTED AREAS MAINLYNORTHWEST OF THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH METROPLEX. SOME LOCATIONSRECEIVED AS MUCH AS 9 INCHES OF SNOW...FROM JACKSBORO...TO BOWIE...TO NORTHWESTERN COOKE COUNTY. WINDS GUSTED OVER 50 MPH...WITH DRIFTSAS HIGH AS 3 TO 5 FEET. PORTIONS OF HIGHWAY 287 BETWEEN DECATUR ANDWICHITA FALLS WERE IMPASSABLE FROM CHRISTMAS EVE INTO THE MORNING OFCHRISTMAS DAY. FOR DALLAS/FORT WORTH...THE OFFICIAL SNOWFALL FOR THEEVENT WAS 3 INCHES...SMALL IN COMPARISON TO TOTALS JUST 50 MILES TOTHE NORTHWEST. BUT THIS WAS THE FIRST MEASURABLE SNOW ON RECORD FORCHRISTMAS EVE...AND MANY AREAS HAD CONSIDERABLE SNOW REMAINING ONTHE GROUND THROUGHOUT CHRISTMAS DAY.ADDITIONAL SNOW EVENTS FOLLOWED ON DECEMBER 29 AND 31. PORTIONS OFMONTAGUE COUNTY MAINTAINED SNOWCOVER FROM CHRISTMAS EVE THROUGH NEWYEARS EVE.FOR DALLAS/FORT WORTH...THE 3.2 INCHES FOR THE MONTH WAS THE 2NDHIGHEST TOTAL ON RECORD FOR DECEMBER...BESTED ONLY BY THE 5.5 INCHESRECORDED ON DECEMBER 9, 1898.

DESPITE THE ABUNDANT SNOWFALL...THE PRECIPITATION TOTAL FOR THEMONTH WAS BELOW NORMAL. IT WAS THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE MONTH WITHBELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION...BUT DFW AIRPORT ENDED THE YEAR ABOVENORMAL.

The snow is totally sticking. Top of the grass, cars, lawn furniture for now.

:)

I'd say we've accumulated at least 1" on the lawns. The streets are still not snowy, of course, since they're still warm; the thermometer is barely below freezing.  The wind is incredible. Snow is blowing like nobody's business, and it's sheeting off the roofs in the gusts. So gusty!  The wind chill is 19 degrees.

My crazy brothers suited up in all their wool stuff (and a couple of rabbit skins for good measure) and tossed a football around at the park. They said the snow really hurt their faces when it blew straight on, and their cheeks were pretty red.

It's a good thing I went antiquing earlier in the day; there are a lot of accidents out there, including one a five-minute walk from where I sit right now.

... I still can't get over this. Not only is it the heaviest snowfall I remember since I was a little girl, it's on Christmas Eve.  And it certainly won't go away during the night.  So I think* we'll actually have the first white Christmas in 83 years. At least until the sun comes up and melts it all. :p