Here & There Column 2-10-09

An Old Fashioned Winter?

It's 38 days till spring and most old timers are saying that this 2008-09 winter is approaching the "old -fashioned winter" category.
Now I don't go back as far as some of the old timers I spoke to but its easy to say that this winter so far has given us some pretty hefty weather.
My snow blower has gotten more use this winter then the past several winters combined.
And we just know that those with snowmobiles and all the skiers are just loving every minute of what mother nature has given us.
The Old Farmer's Almanac in their Northeast annual weather summary said that "winter will be colder than normal, on average," and that "precipitation will be near or slightly above normal.
And if your thinking we have had enough of the snow the Almanac predicts, "the biggest snowstorm will occur in early March with other snowy periods in late January and mid-February."
Meteorologists are sometimes like our politicians and if you try to catch their spin on our local weather they point out that sometimes it does look like an old-fashioned winter.
Temperatures of late contribute to the facts that our ice and snow won't disappear for months.
It's been tough on those who have to work out in the weather and many have told us that their diesel trucks and equipment don't get along all that well with the cold temperatures which causes their fuel to gel.
Whether we can officially classify what we have outside an an old-fashioned winter we do hear that local highway department budgets are getting a heavy workout.
Buckle down folks.......spring is just around the corner.