Monday, January 6, 2014

Early January, 2014 Weather Around Cousins Country


It has been a crazy Holiday Season for Weather. Acton, Massachusetts got one foot of snow three days ago—beautiful to see as the animals track and hunt their way through our back yard. Our college age son woke up at the crack of dawn (NOT a normal happening) to make it first to the local ski mountain.
 
My brother Tom in New Jersey writes: South Jersey has survived the first snow of 2014. Rain turned to snow last night around 9 pm and it snowed through the night; it is bright and sunny now, 11 am on Friday. I would call it 4 inches, but I'm certain the locals will describe the snowfall as 6 to 10 inches. All quiet in my town -- very few cars moving. Schools and businesses are taking a long weekend. I may have enough snow to get out my new (three-year old and never been used) cross country skis. That will be a thrill.
Tom Kinsella--Not a Winter picture, but check out that Hat!

My sister Sue in San Francisco writes: It is COLD here (just north of San Francisco) – although most of you will laugh. Right now it’s 38°, according to weather.com. It’s supposed to go up to 67 later in the day. I have the heater on, which is usually only required a few weeks out of the year. I don’t believe it when it says it has heated the house up to 70 – I’m still shivering and wearing a thermal shirt and a jacket over that.

Our concern, though, is that we haven’t gotten much rain for a long time, over a year, and people are increasingly worried. It often doesn’t rain here from May to November, but by now we should have gotten at least a couple good, week-long rainstorms. Blue skies with morning fog instead – which, except for the drought problem, is otherwise wonderful.

Sue Kinsella


And of course, our irrepressible cousin Chuck Lochner chimed in with:  In Syracuse, last night it was 5 below and snowing like hell.  Dave thought he was in heaven.

I was with Ted in Massachusetts for a couple of days.  We worked up a sweat hiking in a State Park on News Year’s Day.  Spun out on the Thruway on the way home in the snow and cold.  Messed up the front bumper, grill, left headlight, etc.  Anything for a thrill ...

Yippee!!”

 
Tom Kinsella writes again: I just got back from about an hour of cross country skiing at the local middle school, which has spacious open grounds. For the previous two winters there has not been enough snow to try them out. Today, in about 4 inches (8 in the big drifts!) I got my chance, skiing by the new moon. Lovely, cold night down here. Ice and snow on the roads.  The skis work, though my body will probably have other comments tomorrow morning.
Much love from South Jersey

Julie Lochner Riber in Colorado writes: All was clear here in Denver until 5:30 this morning when Wes woke up to let the dogs out and informed me that if I was going to go walking with my neighbor, Deanna, we’d better get going.  Well, that wasn’t about to happen...  Since then we’ve had about a foot of snow.  I’ve shoveled once and Wes reluctantly went out mid-football game (Kansas City vs. Indianapolis) to snow blow.  Since then only a skiff.  I looked out one other time this afternoon to see one neighbor cross country skiing with his dog and another neighbor with two huskies pulling a plastic toboggan full of kids, with Dad lagging behind on his cross country skies. 

Glad you got to finally break in your skis, Tom.  Susan, I’m sorry you’re suffering with temperatures dipping to 38 degrees (sigh!).  Chuck, are you sure you weren’t just doing donuts on the Thruway?  What Lochner could ever resist that?    

GO BRONCOS!!!

 My brother Jim writes from Greece, New York: I and the girls are loving it too!  Yesterday I brought the girls out cross country skiing in the front yard but, since they did so well, we packed the skis up and went to a local park (where they play soccer in the summer).  The girls went down some hills, through the woods, and climbed a hill near the end so they were exhausted.  They loved it.  On returning home they HAD to go skating so we did that on the ice rink. 

We LOVED the big storm...  Bring on another is what you'll hear from us!!

And, from Minnesota, Diana Taylor McCarty writes: Well this morning when I got up it was 22 below with wind chill making it -44.  Now it's a balmy -13 at 3 in the afternoon but hitting the deep freeze again tonight and tomorrow with expected lows if you count wind chill of -65.  I think that this is where I say it's a dry cold so you don't feel it so bad - LOL.  Oh well-- school is closed again tomorrow -- the issue is largely the diesel busses after two weeks of just sitting there for Christmas break – school departments cannot get them started or keep them going and the danger is too high if the bus would get stuck somewhere.



 Diana also sent me a picture from a Christmas thirty years ago--1983. She writes that they (Arnon and Maria, Carol Ann and Diana and her family) had traveled from Minnesota to New York for Christmas on Amtrak to visit with Arnon’s son Jim and his family.

In the picture from left to right are:
Bill and Diana McCarty and their kids, Jon, Mike, Kris, then Carol Ann, then Jim and Jean Taylor and their girls--Erin and Coreen, and lastly Arnon ( holding Lance the poodle) and Maria Taylor.

From minus 65 degrees to 67 degrees above and we never did hear from the Florida cousins—that is a LOT of weather going on. Enjoy the sledding, skiing, skating, hot chocolate and hand warmers stuffed in mittens. Stay warm, cousins!



6 comments:

Diana said...

Well in MN it's so cold that all the ski hills have closed - Glad that some of you got to use your ski's though.

Keep warm cousins - keep warm!

Diana said...

Julie - where in Colorado are you. I have a lot of friends out there and I typically come out in mid August for a dog show.

Julie said...

We live in a small town called Louviers just south of Denver. Please let us know when you're in town!! I'd love to see you again! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the snow. I am just wondering how our Rochester families are doing, having saw a shot of Buffalo on the news tonight. Typical that one could barely see across the sidewalk for the blizzard conditions. Apparently more is heading this way in a couple days...

CB said...

unbelievable! Today[ Saturday} the snow is almost gone and it is raining! Mud all over! What is going on with the weather?
Darn ggod to haer from all tho, where is the Center Lisle contingent?

Nancy Wright said...

Well, this is one of the Florida cousins that didn't write much because it couldn't even compare with what everyone else was experiencing--not that Florida didn't get colder than usual. We have had several day spurts where it dipped to 29 degrees for several nights with 40s to 50s daytime, then we would have almost a week of 70-85 degree daytime weather in between. I have covered all my garden plants and other plants that I have huddled all together so it's easier to wrap them altogether. But to tell you the truth, without a TV I did not keep up with all of the storm happenings on an ongoing basis except to hear occasionally that a bad storm was headed in a certain direction. The cold here is a damp cold and goes to the bone quicker than elsewhere, but with some of the stories I've read here, I would not be able to live in all of the polar votexes that you all have had to endure--I just haven't lived in that much cold in quite a while. A picture was posted on Facebook the other day that on that day in 1977, the Central Florida area got snow accumulation all the way down to South Florida, and people were scrapping snow and ice off their windshields -- which I remember those incidences quite well. We did have a few morning icy windshields this past week, but no snow or ice buildup. Our weather here is not cold-cold and certainly not like the extremes you all are having, but it's not comfortable for us either. But I have recognized that we here should not complain because it's nothing compared to what you all have.
Much love to everyone, I know some of you (Chuck, Dave, Pat & others) are enjoying the outdoor play in the snow--am happy you can find the enjoyment in it, I have some good memories of some of those times also, but I also remember the OTHER parts of the cold messy winter.
Stay safe, stay warm, and comfortably endure -- a beautiful spring with flowers and summer is just around the corner.....
My Stephen in Raleigh texted a video the other night of snow flakes falling (finally, snow) and his oldest girl out in her PJs letting the flakes fall on her tongue--but alas, not enough to halt school and work so they could all go out and play in it the next day.
Nance

Pat said...

Nance,

GREAT to hear from you! Your image of Stephen's daughter catching a snowflake on her tongue was magical.

Still cold here but it is crisp, clear and clean outdoors. I just watch how I walk because I would NOT like to slip and break an arm. And yes, bought a small pot of tulips at the store to remind myself that spring MUST be around some corner or other!

Love,