WTF?

(And I do Not Mean "Winning the Future!")

Got the driveway and parking area cleared after three plus hours of snow throwing and shoveling. I was soaked when I finished but that was due to perspiration and not having snow whisked back at me as I worked. The breeze actually cooperated and fell to near zero mph at ground level. Way up above was a different story as the wind hurried clouds out of the southwest at very high speeds.

Temperatures on the deck got to 37 degrees while I worked and water dripped from every branch that had received a coating of ice during the night. The sun came out (briefly) to melt the ice off the Tundra. All was looking good!

Then at 2 PM everything went dark. Heavy clouds appeared over the mountain and they bore wet snow and ice pellets that rattled off the windows as the wind whipped them along parallel to the ground. It looked ominous!

This forced me to look at the radar. Sure enough, the storm is hardly over. It's just lingering to the west and streaming up from Missouri and the Ohio River valley. The Weather.com forecast says it won't amount to more than half an inch but the temperatures are falling. Down three degrees in the last half hour.

I don't know if it's just me or what, but the sound of sleet/freezing rain pelting against the window panes produces a chill down my spine similar to that others feel from fingernails on the chalk board. (That never bothered me, much to the displeasure of my students!) And it doesn't matter what the temperature is outside or in.

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Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow this morning. (To which I say, "DUH!" It was snowing in Punxsutawney this morning. I'd feel better about that "early spring" forecast if Phil were correct more than 39% of the time. (That's his actual record, BTW. Just 39%. Might be pretty good if he were a major league hitter, but as a prognosticator? Thirty-nine percent stinks!)

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We're still awaiting a delivery of propane. The tank was down to 30% when I checked last Thursday and our service provider said the slip had been printed and we should get a delivery this week. It's gonna be a costly one!

Oh well, guess I'll be building another fire this afternoon/evening.