Someone Wished For A White Christmas... Be Careful What You Wish For!

What a difference twelve hours makes! (Click pictures to enlarge)

"The cold was our pride, the snow was our beauty. It fell and fell, lacing day and night together in a milky haze, making everything quieter as it fell, so that winter seemed to partake of religion in a way no other season did, hushed, solemn." ~ Patricia Hampl

Nyssa wanted a white Christmas, something we never had in Mississippi and something we did have in Oklahoma, but she was too young to remember. So, being the meteorologist student.. she studied the charts and the storm in the west that was slowly moving across the country. She waited while they predicted lots of snow and then backed off and announced that the low would swing out further into the Atlantic and that we would only get a couple of inches; only to backtrack and predict a few inches more... perhaps 4 to 6 inches. Still, she thought there would be more... and as the weather service declared a Winter Weather Advisory and then a Winter Storm Warning, she kept saying that we might get a whole lot more snow than they thought. It began on Christmas night... by bedtime we had what would have been a major snow storm in Mississippi... three inches. Overnight, it ramped on up and began snowing harder with wind as well.

In a winter wonderland... where did the street disappear to?

Next morning there were periods of white out and the snow continued to accumulate. By noon, nine inches was on the ground and the snow continued. The weather service kept inching the predicted amount on up until we were in the 10" - 12" range and with an attached "hedge"... "some areas may experience heavy bursts of snow and therefore higher snow totals." It snowed all day, tapered off towards evening but still flakes flew well into the night. In total we had a bit over 12 inches and places in Norfolk had up to 14 inches. Yes, it was not the 24 inches in New England, but for coastal Virginia....well, it was and still is something.

One of the near white out bursts of snow. There is a golf course just beyond those trees.

Nyssa had to leave on Monday, the 27th and all the Southwest Airline flights on the 26th were cancelled as well as the first three on the 27th. Her flight was still on the books, so we had to get to the airport. There is no scraping or sanding in the neighborhoods, so the streets were simply packed down snow and ice. The expressways were cleared, at least one lane each way but the on and off ramps were horrible. Normally, the drive takes 25 minutes. On Monday, it took over an hour and a half to get there. I stayed in the terminal after she went on down through security to her gate, just to make sure the incoming plane from Chicago actually landed. It did, she boarded and made it off the ground and all the way to Chicago... almost before I got back to the house.

Even the birds had to deal with the snow.

The cold and snow seems to be hard on Daisy's heart. She has coughed more and had a fainting episode after being outside. Walking through snow that is almost chin high is hard... poor old girl. Even the little birds had to brave the wind and pelting snow... I bet this young bluebird wishes now he had flown south for the winter.

The snow is now slowly melting, though it seems that our yard is not situated to where sun shines on the driveway and back porch enough to melt and dry the area. This melting and re-freezing has brought large swaths of black ice on the roads and today was the first day the mailman could get to our box. Still, by Friday we are supposed to finally get close to the 50's... balmy weather to be sure.

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