Snow, rain, hail, wind, sun, warmth - where is winter?

Where is winter? Winter is right here. OK, what I mean is where is the winter weather? Winter has been here since December 21, 2011. We are practically a month into winter. And it seems like we have had more spring weather than winter weather. You might point to a few times when the snows came - Dec. 27 (which we missed since we were in the Cincinnati area) and January 12 (which caused major commuting headaches and numerous car accidents). But those are not really anything major. In fact, they didn't last that long. We have had record or near record warm temperatures this summer. Just yesterday it reached 68 degrees! Imagine, January 16th and it is 68 degrees. The record in 1990 was 71! That is mighty close to the record.

So where is the winter weather? It hasn't arrived yet. And maybe it won't arrive. Only the Lord knows. It is for sure that the weathermen don't have a clue what is happening. The one that did make his winter weather predictions missed it by a long shot. Will we still get major snows? Will the cold settle in and last for several weeks?

At this point in the winter, I would have to predict (and this is just me rambling so if I am wrong, so be it) that we are not going to have the type of weather that is going to become a major factor for us. We might have cold snaps of a day or two, but there will be no long-term, 2 week below freezing cold. We are pushing towards the end of January, when we usually get that type of cold, and so when it gets cold, it will last only a couple days before it moderates again, even getting warmer than usual.

We might get a major snow in January but I think that we will get one big snow in February, one that cripples the area for a day or two and then begins to melt off. We might have a sloppy wet snow of 7 inches in March, when we least want it but that is just the way it is. So overall, I predict that we will stay mild like it is now.

What does this mean? (Good Lutheran question.) It means lots of sickness. There will be lots of the flu (especially respiratory flu) and lots of sick days. We haven't had enough bitter cold temps to kill off these bugs and we will pay the price. So while there will be almost no "snow days" from school or work, there will be many "sick days" from both. Get ready for it. Stock up now on cold medicines and tissues. You are going to need them.

Last night as it stormed (lightning, hail, heavy rain, thunder, wind, more lightning, more rain, more hail), I lay in bed thinking - why is it that we don't like winter weather? I don't have an answer to that. But I do know that I would love to have had an old fashioned snow storm last night rather than the hail storm. I wondered how many cars were dinged up and how many roofs got beat up. I thought about windows that might have been cracked by the hail. Then I thought, "But this is January. We should have that in March and April." What will those months bring if we have that weather now? Sigh. I guess we will wait and see.