Ok Enough Already!

Oh geez, my last blog was about the first snow. Yippee!

Ok, I admit, that was A WHILE BACK.

Being "new" to North Idaho, I was feeling pretty good about the mild winter we'd had so far (that is until the end of January).

I'm dancing around in the office telling everyone I see Pussy Willows already and what a mild winter and how much everyone was a baby complaining when they thought it was "cold".....

THEN February hit!

Snow, snow and more snow. Wind and snow, and then more snow.

Again (being new) I have to ask everyone, is this as bad as it gets? Well, I'm learning!

Everyone says the winters are unpredictable. I guess I had forgotten the weather in Alaska! Yes, winter is always unpredictable. Especially the further north you go it seems.

I'm told "Sometimes the winter season brings on a plethora of snowstorms and frigid temperatures. Sometimes they can be incredibly mild, with only a few sprinklings of snowfall mixed in."

I bought a farmers almanac (whoever the "Farmer" is) to get the scoop.
There's a "Farmers Almanac" and an "Old Farmers Almanac." Is the former his son I wonder?

Although we don't know what winter is like until it’s actually here (and even then it can always change things up on us), The Old Farmers Almanac does a pretty good job of making predictions about what we can expect out of the winter season every year. The forecasts for the 2018-2019 winter:

Annual Weather Summary (Farmers Almanac)
November 2018 to October 2019
"Winter will be warmer and much rainier than normal, with below-normal snowfall (HUH?). The coldest periods will occur in early and late December, early January, and mid- and late February (GOT THAT RIGHT), with the snowiest periods in early January and mid-February. April and May will be warmer and drier than normal (YEAH!) Summer will be warmer and drier than normal, with the hottest temperatures in mid- to late July and early and mid-August. September and October will be warmer and slightly drier than normal. (YEAH)."

Ok, now the excellent news is, its not dark until almost 6:30 compared to 3:30 in December. That's happening fast.

Ok, so longer days, HAS to mean warmer temperatures and less snow (right?).

That's what I thought last week. It got to the mid-'40s. Yippee, winter is officially done!. Then it snowed for two more days.

The other good news is, it melts fast because it is warmer in the daytime now.

The yard is starting to reveal little hidden nuggets from our two Great Danes. We are pretty diligent about picking up after them, but sometimes they freeze into "tirdcicles" before you can pick them up (they melt into the icecap). They were tirdcicles, and now they are mushcicles.

Oh yeah! Summer is around the corner!