4 posts tagged “snow”
I'm spending three weeks of my Christmas break in South Dakota visiting my dad and stepmother. It's nice to be here, but it's cold, and it can get pretty boring. I'm up in the Black Hills - about 25 minutes from Rapid City - with no cell phone reception and no cable. At least I have intrawebs. During the day I sit around the cabin while my dad watches a tv that's always too loud. In the late afternoon, we go about 5 miles down the road to a bar called the Happy Tavern, where I drink cheap beer for a few hours. All is well.
My dad got some hay to attract deer to his backyard (he lives on a mountain in Black Hills National Forest), and there's a rather plump doe out there right now chomping away. By this point, my dad's three dogs have seen enough deer that they just gaze listlessly in the general direction of the beer.
The forest service is burning some piles of wood they cut down this year to thin out the trees in case of forest fire. The smoke has tinted the sky orange, and it looks like snow is dimming the hills across the road. It's looked like sunset for most of the day. It's beautiful here.
It snowed last night, and I thought this morning was the opportune time to take Shakespeare outside for his first snow experience. He didn't like it very much.
Yay! It snowed! Here's what I woke up to this morning:
Shakespeare got interested. I think he's seen snow once - two Christmases ago, it snowed in New Orleans for a good half hour (the first time in 50 years), but it didn't stick. Shakespeare spent a few minutes in the window next to Orange Kitty and Sparkly Snowman, watching the snow.
Have a look at the email I just got:
Winter Storm Watch for Champaign, IL
/O.NEW.KILX.WS.A.0002.061130T1800Z-061202T0000Z/ WOODFORD-TAZEWELL-MCLEAN-MASON-LOGAN-DE WITT-PIATT-CHAMPAIGN- VERMILION-CASS-MENARD-SCOTT-MORGAN-SANGAMON-CHRISTIAN-MACON- MOULTRIE-DOUGLAS-COLES-EDGAR-SHELBY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BLOOMINGTON...NORMAL...HAVANA... LINCOLN...CHAMPAIGN...URBANA...DANVILLE...JACKSONVILLE... SPRINGFIELD...TAYLORVILLE...DECATUR...CHARLESTON...MATTOON... SHELBYVILLE 919 AM CST WED NOV 29 2006
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. RAIN WILL CHANGE TO FREEZING RAIN ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON. ICE ACCUMULATIONS GREAT THAN ONE QUARTER INCH ARE POSSIBLE BY LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY ON ELEVATED SURFACES...AS ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO FILTER SOUTHEAST. THIS PRECIPITATION WILL MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW IN THE EVENING...AND CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW OVERNIGHT. HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT...INTO MIDDAY FRIDAY...WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES POSSIBLE.A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
Yesterday I told Michael that I have a feeling today will be the last nice warm day for a long, long time. Now I'm sure.
The email, by the way, came from Notify, a Weather Channel service I pay $60 a year for because I'm terrified of tornadoes, and Champaign gets way too many of them for my taste.
