Colder climates

[ellestra]

When I was leaving home yesterday it still felt warm. It was a nice autumn day with few clouds. When I was leaving work I walked into November. Just like all the forecasts said - it god cold and drizzled that tiny, warmth-sucking rain that's the worst kind of weather. I'd rather it snows. And eventually it did. Later at night it got cold enough for the rain to turn into snow. It didn't last - ground is too warm and it melted as soon as it touched anything. Still, it snowed here in November.

Today was cold, sunny and very dry and the temperature has already dropped below freezing. And it feels even colder. It's supposed to get warmer until weekend ends and then it's supposed to get cold again. I was told it snow in November only happens every 15 years or so but this was a cold year in general and it looks like we are for a cold and early winter this year.

This will be my 5th (4.5) winter here. The first two where pretty snowy and my first December here was the coldest on record with early snow which supposedly also comes every several years. The third one skipped winter all together and went straight from autumn to spring. Last one was very warm until it got cold just as we all expected spring to start. Since then we had a lot of days with cold wind blowing from the north bringing colder then usual temperatures and it seems like it's still going strong. It might be my coldest and snowiest winter here. I can't wait. The panic this creates here never stops being amusing.

Well, until it turns out I have to go to that training in Boston and experience the real winter there. Winter temperatures there are similar to Warsaw but with more windchill and more snow. So I'd rather not do cold winter in Boston.

Comments

[tj-teejay.livejournal.com]

I have a friend in Atlanta, and she was really confused when I kept talking about getting my tires changed. The concept of winter and summer tires was entirely alien to her. We had our first frost in Germany a few days ago. Winter has certain arrived, but no snow yet. Then again, where I live it seldom snows because it's Rhine territory.

[ellestra.livejournal.com]

When I told some of my local friends about winter tires they looked at me as if I was talking about some alien concept. They never thought something like that exist. I can understand - it never gets cold enough, long enough here to justify that - but when the cold spell happens - it's like 80% people panic and are afraid and the other 20% believes that no ice and snow can touch them. And then there are the crazies - the very first snow I saw here, a week after I arrived, about 20 cm - I went for a walk and heard a very loud noise and then the pick-up truck came around the corner and it had chains on the back wheel so loose they were hitting the the car. The noise was deafening but he kept driving.

No snow in Poland either. My parents just say it's endless days of awful November weather - clouds, rain and 5 to 9 degrees. One nice thing about US is that it is much sunnier then Northern Eurpoe. Especially now that the ISON comet is getting brighter and I want some clear skies in next few weeks.

[tj-teejay.livejournal.com]

Even over here, it gets messy when it snows. Since it rarely actually snows enough in this area for the snow to not melt right away, people are just not used to it when it *does* pile up to be more than, say, 5cm. Some folks don't bother with getting winter tires because they think they won't need them, so there's lots of malequipped car skidding. And even those with winter tires often don't know how to drive in snow. I grew up in a rural area where it snowed a lot, so at least I've got some more experience.

Same weather here. Between 0 and 10 degrees and just lots of rain. The other morning the fog was so thick that I thought for a fleeting moment after getting up it had snowed because everything was white outside. So, yeah, winter has definitely come. Let's see if it gets to be another harsh one.

I personally don't mind the snow so much, unless it really impacts your way of being able to drive from one place to the other.