Obligitory Weather Post

Wyoming is said to be a semi arid area. Not quite sand, scorpions, and cacti, but dry overall. Until this week. It's been raining on and off for several days now. Unlike western Pennsylvania, where it rains usually for an hour or more at a time, Wyoming's rain is more like a sprinkle for five minutes, then just overcast, shower for 10 minutes, then sunshine. drizzle for another 5 minutes, a meteorological head-fake suggesting sunshine, then another brief shower.

I'd imagine this is making things easier on the ranchers who don't have to use as much irrigation water for their hay fields, but we all hope it stops after they start mowing it and let it spread it out to dry. If it rains too heavily on that, it rots.

In other news, my director had to cut an extended weekend trip to Yellowstone short because the park closed due to snow. In June.

Viva Wy-snow-ming.

Melting

So, I've been talking to some old timers around here, and I got the long term perspective on the weather. Here's the pattern: Wyoming winters operate on a 15-20 year cycle that go from "Worst Winter in 15 years" to "bad, not as bad as last year" to "ah, nice and mild" to "Um... shouldn't it be snowing, or something?" From what people have told me, this is the worst winter for driving in a LONG time, and for the thrity-somethings, this is the worst winter since they were in high school. I timed this move perfectly, so it seems. But hope remains...

...For at last, we have had tempatures above 32 degrees. Those piles of snow that have been sitting around since december are starting to get softer, smaller, more fluid. I did some laundry yesterday and while it was spinning around in the dryer, I went outside to take a walk, some pictures, and breath of fresh air... without said air freezing the insides of my lungs. two days prior, there was an inch of ice covering just about all the local streets and roads, with only a one foot diameter patch of pavement showing. Yesterday, however, I saw this all over the place:



Meltage. I walked back to the laundromat with my jacket off. On the ride home, I was able to drive with my windows rolled down for the first time since November, both becuase of the tempature AND because my windows were no longer frozen. We've still got a month or so to go before winter is truly at it's end. But for the first time, I can see the warm light glowing at the end of this frosty tunnel.

Also, check my update to my previous post, with the picutre I wanted to post with it. I promise to stop posting about the weather so often (I think this is four, just this year!), but my post count may drop, as a result. Sorry, but this really is all that goes on up here.

God has a Snow Blower

How much snow do we get up here? Hard to practically measure depth in inches or feet. I have a large bare patch on my lawn with visible dirt, that measures about 5ft in diameter. On the edge of my rental property, There is a fence with snow piled up to about the same height.



They're kinda like the sand dunes of the tundra, really. But what I want to know is in spite of the bare spot on my lawn, the constant snow blowing overtop of the roads, why in the hell does the snow pile up in my driveway every friggin day'??

UPDATE 2/11/08: Now I have a picture of it. This was taken when things began to melt, so the patch is now 15 feet in diameter instead of 5 feet. The snow dune up against the fence looks about right, though.

Wy-snow-ming

Compare and Contrast!

two weeks ago:


and today:


Out here in cowboy country, the snow falls sideways!

Things I've Learned So Far

My trainer's cell phone went off during orientation. I asked the person next to me why there he had a ring tone that sounds like a squeaky door hinge. He told me that it was an elk call. I didn't know they made those kinds of sounds.

Interstate 80 often closes down during a snow storm. This is not "I-80 closed, take this detour." This is "I-80 is closed. Turn around at the next exit, and go back to town. If town is not your home, hope there's a motel with a vacancy. Drive carefully, and good luck."

Related to the above, did you know a strong wind on an icy road can tip over a Semi-Truck? Part of this is due to the hard winters in a rural area, some if it is due to the fact that Wyoming doesn't believe in salting roads. they just plow and sand.

My town doesn't have mail delivery. We just have P.O. Boxes.

I always thought that telling your son to cut off a branch with which his father is to spank him was just a cute story from the late 1800s. I have a few co-workers who have done just that.

New euphemism for a disciplinary spanking: "Willow Branch Adventure." I found that quite amusing.

OK, that's all for today. As I type this, it's snowing. In October. I know it's not exactly unheard of back in PA, but it's typical here. And so, the adjustment continues.