The Big Green House

Monday, January 05, 2004

 

Freeze frame

My goodness but it’s been awfully darned cold around Science Manor these days. (I was gonna lead with “Man, it’s been fucking COLD lately”, but I figured I’d take the high road for a change.) I don’t think we got above freezing all weekend, with an average daily temperature around 25 or so, I’d guess. Last night it got down to 15 degrees. Going out to walk the dog was like entering a huge walk-in freezer. That, in and of itself, wasn’t too bad. It was the wind that made it feel a lot like what I’d imagine being knifed is like. (Those of you living in, say, Minnesota or North Dakota should feel free to laugh at this.)

This kind of thing is just part of the normal weather pattern for this time of year. We usually spend most of the winter in the mid 40’s, with a week or so where it dips down into the Really Cold range – almost always in January. Over the last three or four years, though, we’ve had some exceedingly mild winters with almost no snow at all, and certainly very few days where temps went below freezing. Consequently, we’ve gotten soft.

To be honest, Seattle is not a city that handles snow well, even under the best of circumstances. It really does send most everybody into a panic, which tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A lot of that is due to the fact that drivers here don’t seem to think that snow on the road means that they need to alter their driving habits in any way. Consequently, when the first flakes hit the streets, cars start heading for the ditches. That’s why I don’t like driving in the snow; I have perfect confidence in my own skill behind the wheel, but absolutely none at all in that of anyone else.

Which is going to make tomorrow’s commute interesting, to say the least. Beginning about 3-4 AM tomorrow, we’re supposed to get anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow. They’re saying that it will continue until about 4-5 PM, when it will warm up sufficiently to switch over to rain. Rain on top of snow equals slush, for those of you living in milder climes. Basically, by this time Wednesday, Seattle is going to be one big dirt-flavored slurpee. Expect to see local flooding, which means cars stalling out as they try to drive through flooded intersections and pedestrians with really cold, wet feet. Mudslides along Magnolia Bluff would not be unprecedented. And hey, maybe those condos on Capitol Hill that have been teetering over I-5 since the last big snow will finally topple over.

Or, maybe the whole thing will miss us entirely. It wouldn’t be the first time the weather service has forecast dire snowstorms for Puget Sound, only to be completely mistaken. I think they rely on myomancy as much as they do the Doppler radar so beloved by local TV.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind a little flurry or two. Science Girl and I enjoy bundling up & taking Lucy out in the snow so she can pretend she’s a wolf stalking dinner. As ridiculous as it sounds, though, 4 to 6 inches is enough to grind things in this town to a messy halt, so I’d be happy with one or two inches.

bmarkey 1/05/2004 07:28:00 PM