Winter Officially Arrives Saturday

Winter is almost here. It arrives at 5:00am (Eastern time) on December 22nd and will stay around until March 20th at 1:48 am. Here are some snow facts:

• Snow is a killer. It kills because of overexertion, traffic accidents, avalanches and more.

• Among large cities Syracuse NY gets the most (about 116 inches) but if you go to Marquette, Michigan you can experience 138 inches and Sault Ste. Marie, Mi. gets 117 inches. There are other places that get more such as Valdez, Alaska with 326.8 inches, Blue Canyon, Ca. with 240 and Mt. Washington, NH at 259.6 inches but let’s not go there. (More on Mt. Washington later).

• Practically every part of the US has seen snow, even Southern Florida and Arizona. There was even snow (1 inch) at the Phoenix AZ. airport on January 20, 1933. A few days ago, I shared a note from a citizen of Louisiana lamenting the lack of snow. But, on average areas of that state gets: Baton Rouge 0.2 inches, Lake Charles 0.3, New Orleans 0.2 and Shreveport a whopping 1.5 inches. So anything is possible almost anywhere.

• Snow is an excellent insulator.

Speaking of Mt. Washington, a friend (Chris) climbed New England’s highest mountain (6,000+ ‘) last weekend. The day started at -10 degrees (C) with 75 mph winds gusting to over 100 for a wind chill of -45 degrees. Thankfully it improved to -25 wind chill. It was reported to be a “great day to be outside” Chris is pictured below.

As we approach Christmas, no matter where you live – think snow. Anything is possible..

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