I’ve written about Texas weather before, how it’s unpredictable, sometimes the opposite of what we’d like it to be (warm and sunny in December, chilly in April), and how a lull in conversation often brings it up.
Well, call this a lull if you will. Promise it’s not! I’ve got all sorts of other things to discuss, like our bathtub is leaking, a college buddy is getting married in March (in Florida, where the weather is anything if not predictable), and the job is still great.
The weather’s just on my mind again lately. Here’s why:
• Seasonal affected disorder is real. Me and the fam felt kinda gloomy with the yicky cloudiness late last week.
• It was a NICE weekend, or at least at the beginning. It was NEAR 80 DEGREES on Friday, almost that warm again on Saturday. When I got up for a morning jog before church on Sunday, it was 70 degrees ... I wore shorts and a T-shirt on that springlike January dawn! Then, by the time we got to church, the mercury had dropped below 50. It was COLD, I tell you! Does it seem like I’m SHOUTING more often?
• Monday morning took us to a basement below freezing, as did this (Tuesday) morning. Bitterly breezey, too! And yet I put on every piece of clothing I own and jogged my normal extended route. Am I stupid or what?
Another of my favorite weather examples was during the year or so I lived in Lubbock, in West Texas. This is a place where it sometimes rains mud, the falling precipitation becoming mixed with the red dust ever-present in the air.
Anyhow, the Petite Filet (at the time just Miss Filet) had her sister in town. We went to see an afternoon movie on an abnormally warm February day full of sunshine – didn’t even need a jacket that morning. We emerged from the theater to find SNOW on the ground, continuing to fall in large, moist flakes. All told, there were several inches on the streets by the time I got home. An extreme example, but one that I’m reminded of often in this state of meteorological confusion.
There are advantages, in that a Texan’s wardrobe is in constant circulation. You may launder your warmest sweater right along with your favorite swimsuit or pair of shorts at any given time during the year. Well, scratch that – when summer descends upon the Lone Star State, it tends to linger for many months. In the summer there are two forecasts: hot and sunny, or hot and stormy.
I could use a little bit of that right about now. What's doing (not necessarily weather) in your neighborhood?
Snow and lots of it!!
You would think the apocalypse is coming in Vancouver, everyone loses their ever loving minds when the white stuff hits.
We have had a whacked winter thus far in Maine too. It snows like 4 feet in December, then was 50 deg for a week over Christmas, then is snowed again last night, and it is expected to be wicked sub zero twards the end of the week! Nuts huh?
Dew
IT IS FREAKING COLD HERE!!!
in London and nearby it's ...
wet, cold and windy (just for a change)
I have come to determine there are three unique types of weather in Houston, Texas:
1. Hot and humid.
2. Cold and humid.
3. Cold and dry.
Our seasons alterante between these in matters of weeks as opposed to following normal seasonal climatic change.
Tbone- I'd like to place an order for balmy weather the third week in March when I will be visiting your lovely state.
Thanks!
Yeah....that's a perfect description of TX weather....purdy funky stuff!!! I have to remind myself of how miserably hot I was so many times throughout July/August! In case I failed to mention it alread....Happy New Year!!
Foggy and windy and freezing right now in Berkeley, where it's never supposed to get below 50. Luckily I still have a windshield frost scraper in my car from when I lived in Salt Lake. Some of the people out here didn't even know such a thing existed.
Well, it seems like everyone just wants to talk about weather, T;) Me too! I went from snow in Montreal to a snow-free Vancouver and I was loving it! Even the rain was warm compared to my experiences in Montreal and then what happened!?! One of the snowiest and coldest winters in Vancouver! What the hell?! Why this would happen to me, I don't understand. Especially since I still have to live through the minus 30 degree celsius weather I know is coming this winter in Montreal. Woe is me...
It's chilly. The low tonight is 23. Friday we've got a possibility of snow.
2003 was a whacky year for Virginia Beach. It was the rainiest year (on record.) There was no need to even turn on the a.c. until the end of July. Then there was that silly Hurricane. I attribute a lot of my "blue" days to the weather.
70s in the nights...nice, sunny and warm in the days. That won't last long, by the end of January here we are back to the usual Jamaican hot and humid.
I'm envious of Dr. D's Jamaican weather...
And Tbone -- you nailed the TX weather, to a "T". Ha!
You're no more nutty than me -- re: running in below freezing weather. Usually the only time I cut myself slack on a run day is if it's icy. I run in cold (not below 10 though), snow, rain... (no lightning)... So on 2nd thought -- maybe we're both nuts...
It's FREAKIN' cold here, by the way...
Was 60's Thurs/Fri -- this morning was 0. Yes, ZERO with 22 below ZERO wind chill factor... Nice...
Kind of hurt your lungs to breathe? Talk about shrinkage -- felt my lungs shrinking!
I'm hoping for a wknd warm up!
Until then, I'll settle for a nice glass of red wine by the fire tonight...
:)
I'm just east of you, in Georgia.
Sunday I was wearing shorts and we had our windows open, because it was in the 70's, and tonight the low will be 11, and it didn't climb above 40 all day.
Gotta love the south!
Boston is cold and damp. Supposed to get into the teens by later this week. Wanna trade?
April in Texas 1973 - shorts weather. Sweaty, humid, hot. Moved to Denver in a Ryder truck. Newlywed Husband was driving and I fell asleep. Woke up at nighttime on Monument Hill outside of Denver. Snowing, blowing blizzard. Jumped out of the truck in my halter top and cut-offs and walked into the truck stop for a coffee. The truckers were laughing at me. Oh boy.
the cold front brought me a massive sinus attack and some bogus flu-like illness where i have aches, pains, and no fever.. go figure..
i haven't felt this bad since i sat through that ben and j'lo movie.. ghastly.. gah-ast-leee..
damn right seasonal affective disorder is real. after college, it took me a couple of years to figure out why i was always blue during the dark winter. luckily, this year hasn't been so bad - we've had a lot of sunshine!
i'm from the texas panhandle. i remember running in a track meet in may once - it was warm and rainy in the morning. by afternoon, they cancelled the meet because of the two inches of snow that suddenly dumped out of the sky!
Well, it's pretty bad here in NYC. After record highs last weekend (in the 50s), we're down to a low of 19 today (7 with the wind chill) which is just totally UNACCEPTABLE!! Brrrr...
Madison, WI. 4 inches of snow on Sunday. Minus 7 degree low temp on Monday night. And we're just getting started with the winter weather....
(And to think someone just called me out for writing about the weather, saying it kept visitors away. I'm your 19th comment!)
Ever heard that joke about the Texan in Hell? I'll try to make it short- basically, the devil keeps turning up the heat, but this dosen't get the Texan down- he's used to it! The hotter it gets, the more he laughs and drinks a Lone Star. Finally, the devil turns on the cold- complete with blizards, gale-force winds and layers of ice! To this, the Texan is happier than ever- it could only mean the Cowboys won the playoffs!
I can't wait for summer! It is by far my most favorite time of year. I HATE the cold. I can handle HOT more than I can cold. And being in So. Cal. I don't think our winter started until a few weeks ago. And for those of you that live in the colder areas, I'm sure you would consider our Winter your Summer.
In Scottsdale, Arizona, it's been hanging in the 60's and low 70's for a little while, a little grey now and then, and it's chilly. Low 30's in the evenings, all our plants are freezing.
And in other news, we're tying the knot legally on Friday the 9th. So there, that's not weather related!
My part of Vancouver Island had dry powder snow for a week. Beautiful! Two days ago it turned into wet sloshy snowfall. Now it's almost gone. Rain, rain, rain. I loved the powder stuff. January seems to be when we get a little bit of snow. We now return to regular rainy programming.