You may have heard that Minnesota had some snow this week. Thanks to Hilary Price for a seasonally appropriate joke for Sunday, just as we were starting to dig out.
The difference between Minnesota and where I'm from in central New York is that when it snows here in December, the snow never melts until winter is almost over. There's no thaw in Minnesota. On the other hand, we generally get much less snow than New York -- about half as much, and in recent years, less than that.
Minnesota snow can only fall early in winter and then again in March. During January and February, it's usually too cold for snow to form in any quantity. For several years (say, 2005 - 2008) we had almost no snow at all, and without its usual blanket, the ground froze deep... very deep. Last year and this have been much better for snow cover, which I and my plants appreciate.
By the way, I celebrated today's high of 21 degrees Fahrenheit by walking to lunch without my coat or mittens. It felt pretty nice out there. I have definitely lived here too long.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Winter in Minnesota
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3 comments:
No coat or mittens? Brave woman. I wrrap up, and it really bothers me that my daughter brings the grandkids to us with no mittens much of the time. Of course, when they do have their mittens, they refuse to wear them. No, I'm not cold, they say. I guess they're building up their cold-weather tolerance at young ages.
It was only about a half-block, and I was wearing a wool dress jacket, so it's not as heroic as it sounds. I did put my hands inside my sleeves for part of the time.
Ha ha! I've lived both in Minnesota (25+ years) and in Syracuse, NY (3 winters), and I find your post to be extremely accurate. The first time in my life I walked to work in thigh-deep snow, it was a January in Syracuse. (I guess the comparative warmth helped!)
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