First Snow

We have become real weather geeks. We have an indoor/outdoor thermometer that records the diurnal temperature highs and lows. One of us checks it first thing in the morning to see how cold it is outside. A weather radio sits on the kitchen widow sill, and John listens to the forecast as he prepares our morning oatmeal. John verifies the forecast by checking out the satellite images on the Internet. And the local radio station broadcasts the weather analysis and forecast by Howard Sheckter, a local real estate agent and weatherman who provides a forecast that is not dumbed down. All this information so we can plan our outdoor activities with no surprises.

October 10^th brought us our first snow. We didn’t need any of our nifty weather tools to verify this fact – we just had to look out the window. The temperature outside was just above freezing, so the snow did not stick on the ground and melted quickly. But it came down steadily throughout the day. We stayed warm and cozy inside. Every once in a while one of us would look outside, and verify that, yes, it is snowing.

It has since snowed again (on October 17), this time leaving an inch or so on the ground. We weren’t around, since our predictive tools told us it would be a nasty weather day. We traveled to Reno for a day of shopping. That night when we returned, and after the weather passed, it dropped down to 24 degrees, our lowest low so far.

Winter is on its way, and you can be sure we will know it when it gets here!