It is an unusual winter

While our impulse may be to say a) "Worst winter ever." or b) "This is an old-fashioned winter," there appears to be something unusual about this winter and last.
The Arctic polar vortex, a large and irregularly-shaped low pressure system, has shifted out of its typical location, pushing cold air first to Europe earlier in the season and now to us. The result is a blast of cold air. The other effect, however, is that parts of the Arctic are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures. The late freeze of the ice cap is, as you might expect, impacting the lifestyles of animals and people who live in the high Arctic. You can read more in this New York Times article, Topsy-Turvy Weather - U.S. Is Frigid, and Arctic Warmer Than Usual .
We can't call this a result of global warming based on a couple of weird winters. We'll just say that the impact is noticeable.
For example, the North's most famous resident didn't even bother to go back home after his December extravaganza, finding the climate on Brattle Street much to his liking.

It is an unusual winter

While our impulse may be to say a) "Worst winter ever." or b) "This is an old-fashioned winter," there appears to be something unusual about this winter and last.
The Arctic polar vortex, a large and irregularly-shaped low pressure system, has shifted out of its typical location, pushing cold air first to Europe earlier in the season and now to us. The result is a blast of cold air. The other effect, however, is that parts of the Arctic are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures. The late freeze of the ice cap is, as you might expect, impacting the lifestyles of animals and people who live in the high Arctic. You can read more in this New York Times article, Topsy-Turvy Weather - U.S. Is Frigid, and Arctic Warmer Than Usual .
We can't call this a result of global warming based on a couple of weird winters. We'll just say that the impact is noticeable.
For example, the North's most famous resident didn't even bother to go back home after his December extravaganza, finding the climate on Brattle Street much to his liking.

Obligatory cold weather post

We're all torqued because of the temperature of an 18^th century woman's armpit.
The temperature scale that we use in the U.S. has, as one of its reference points, the body temperature of one Wilma Fahrenheit, wife of physicist Daniel Fahrenheit. The number at the other end of the scale, 0^°, is the freezing temperature of brine. Given the importance that we attach to this temperature scale, Fahrenheit used a goofy calculus to set the numbers that are so familiar to us.
The result is that, when the temperature falls to and below 0^°F, we think much more about the cold. Adding the wind, as we will this evening, the outdoors can become dangerous. Mercifully, I haven't had to spend long times outside in the cold, except by choice, for many decades. The homeless and wanderers, they really do need to find shelter tonight.
Last night we walked to and from a dinner at the church in our neighborhood. The air was calm, letting the cold settle at the low points of the road. It was like walking into a pool, the shock of the change in just 30 or so feet of elevation.
This evening, though, with the wind, the air gets all mixed up. There won't be much difference in the temperature readings from high places or low, but the wind will get us to the air temperature much faster.
The United States is the only country that uses the Fahrenheit scale and that needs to deal with such low numbers. To understand the Centigrade scale, folks often turn to this ditty:

Thirty's hot.
Twenty's pleasing.
Ten is cool.s
and Zero's freezing.

To which I humbly add:

Minus Ten is cold.
Minus Twenty has a bite.
Minus Thirty's ridiculous.
And Minus Forty's the same as Fahrenheit.

Obligatory cold weather post

We're all torqued because of the temperature of an 18^th century woman's armpit.
The temperature scale that we use in the U.S. has, as one of its reference points, the body temperature of one Wilma Fahrenheit, wife of physicist Daniel Fahrenheit. The number at the other end of the scale, 0^°, is the freezing temperature of brine. Given the importance that we attach to this temperature scale, Fahrenheit used a goofy calculus to set the numbers that are so familiar to us.
The result is that, when the temperature falls to and below 0^°F, we think much more about the cold. Adding the wind, as we will this evening, the outdoors can become dangerous. Mercifully, I haven't had to spend long times outside in the cold, except by choice, for many decades. The homeless and wanderers, they really do need to find shelter tonight.
Last night we walked to and from a dinner at the church in our neighborhood. The air was calm, letting the cold settle at the low points of the road. It was like walking into a pool, the shock of the change in just 30 or so feet of elevation.
This evening, though, with the wind, the air gets all mixed up. There won't be much difference in the temperature readings from high places or low, but the wind will get us to the air temperature much faster.
The United States is the only country that uses the Fahrenheit scale and that needs to deal with such low numbers. To understand the Centigrade scale, folks often turn to this ditty:

Thirty's hot.
Twenty's pleasing.
Ten is cool.s
and Zero's freezing.

To which I humbly add:

Minus Ten is cold.
Minus Twenty has a bite.
Minus Thirty's ridiculous.
And Minus Forty's the same as Fahrenheit.

North of the blizzard

We're all abuzz with news of the Boxing Day Blizzard. Snow's forecast to arrive in the early afternoon and get serious shortly after dark.

The demarcation line for the Winter Storm and Blizzard warnings runs through the city of Worcester. A blizzard in this context is not related to overall snowfall amount, but the strong winds and heavy snow leading white-out conditions for three or more hours. Because the storm is off-shore, the strongest winds may not extend so far inland.

It's still a serious storm, though, with the potential of two feet of snow and we're ready. On Thursday afternoon, I got the snowblower ready. It started easily, but didn't roll so well on the flat tire. It had been sitting on that flat tire for several months, so the sidewall was cracked. Fortunately, our local repair shop had an inner tube that fit the tire.
We have a couple of sheltered places where I think that I can get measurements of snowfall rates and overall amounts.The NWS guidelines for reporting on the storm are easy to understand. I expect to file my first SkyWarn report in the late afternoon.

Worcester, the trend-setter

It looks like southern New England night get its first major snowstorm this weekend.

Sunday through Monday...the potential exists for a significant
winter storm though significant discrepancies continue between
the operational models and ensemble members. The 12z model runs
have generally trended westward again with surface low pressure
track except for the European model (ecmwf). Two camps exist...the 12z GFS remains
deepest within the western envelope of the gefs and GFS ensemble
means...with good clustering noted between Nantucket Island and the
40n 70w benchmark position Sunday night...as phasing occurs sooner.

via Area forecast discussion National Weather Service Taunton Massachusetts 1035 PM EST Wednesday Dec 15 2010

In other parts of the country, municipalities are discovering what Worcester has known for quite a while - let the citizens clean their own sidewalks and fine 'em if they don't. The Wall Street Journal, New Shovel-Ready Project, reports that not only are cities around the country forcing property owners to clear the sidewalks.
In addition, a recent Massachusetts SJC ruling allows property owners to be sued for failing to clear snow and ice that didn't fall directly from the sky.
So, get your gear ready, folks. Winter's coming.

see more There I Fixed It

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Finally, some snow

The snow dusted us late last night, so light that you couldn't even measure it sideways.

Nevertheless, with all of the cold weather that we've had, below freezing all week, I think we've earned a bit of pretty.

More on winter

We've had a few days of below-freezing weather with a couple more in the queue. There'll be a warm-up on Sunday and Monday, bringing freezing glop that turns to hydraulic cement early next week.

via Wunder Blog : Weather Underground

We've rearranged a few rooms in our house. I now have a different BlogCave^™ off of our family room. The wood stove provides enough warmth; I've not had to turn on the heat, yet.

When the snow is covering the back window, we'll have better insulation. Until then, the sharp northwest winds alert us to each little gap that we missed in our last weatherization project.
Nature plays hard and wants to win.

changing everything carefully

I happened to scroll down the page of my preferred weather site, wunderground.com, and saw this bit of hopeful news.in the Sports Weather section

We're still a few weeks away from the official start of spring, the day that the Red Sox equipment van leaves for Florida. Single-game tickets went on sale yesterday. (The first Yankee series is already sold out.)
And even though the lawns in this part of the country are hard-packed with snow and ice, we can start to think ahead to the verdant months ahead. In a short while, you'll be able to buy the type grass seed that's used at Fenway Park.(MLB, Scotts celebrate lure of real grass | MLB.com: News)

via bookofjoe: 'Field of Dreams' in your back yard