NCAA Tournament

If you enjoy watching March Madness like I do, then this is your time of year. Jim Nance is always good (plus we get to hear him pump up the Masters). Dick Enberg is also a good commentator. CBS traditionally does a good job covering the games. If Gus Johnson is the commentator, however, be sure to get acquainted with the mute button on your remote. He makes Mike Tirico sound calm!

Dog Video!

Want some cheap entertainment to brighten your dreary day? Try watching my dogs running around when I ask the all important question,
Do you wanna go for a ride?

Weather Report & Forecast

Today's High: 77
Forecast snow possible for Friday night-Saturday morning: 2"

Thus is Spring in Maryland.

That North Dakota Blood

So, last night the mercury dipped down to near zero in Frederick, MD. It was close to 15 in Germantown. There was some thick fog last night, and up north, some amazing hoarfrost. Don't usually get that down here, so it was cool to see a familiar sight.

Anyway, so I tease my co-workers here about their reactions to the cold. Like the other day, we were up to 55 degrees, and someone remarked about how we were going to go below freezing again. So I made a sarcastic comment about that being the end of the world. It was all in good fun, of course. They called me "Miss North Dakota".

Oops, it wasn't a "blizzard"!

The blizzard criteria weren't quite realized back "home". Now THAT is what I remember. However, I am impressed by the amount of snow on the ground.

The Blizzard Back Home

I'm shaking my head at the recent blast of snow that has fallen over the RRV in the past couple weeks. In particular, this latest blizzard is the kind of epic storm I had expected to experience but didn't.

There was a storm that dumped about a foot of snow in October 2001, but I was out of town for that one and the snow all melted. It wasn't a blizzard anyway. Another storm did bring about 14 inches in February, I think it was 2003 but don't quote me on that. That was probably the closest thing to the epic

Then there was the morning I woke up in Winter 2005 where we had 2-3 foot drifts in the driveway but hadn't really had much snow. It was almost 100% the stuff from the yard (and other nearby yards).

Word is that the BSA is back in action. The BSA is the "Benevolent Snowblowers Association", and consists of neighbors who take turns clearing the sidewalks. While they're at it, they'll take a trip up and down your driveway.

Germantown Life

So, what is life like in Germantown? Well, there's a lot of traffic in certain spots. The worst is 270 with all the commuters... towards DC in the AM, and towards Frederick in the PM. The 270 exits in Gaithersburg and Germantown get a bit backed up during rush hour, too.

Since I moved here, the most prevalent crime story has been people getting hit by Metro buses in DC. I see a lot more car accidents here... about 3 in a week. The speed limit gets lax enforcement in general. It's 55 mph on 270 down here, but the flow of traffic is closer to 70 mph.

There are several huge recreational complexes around town. The towns of Germantown and Gaithersburg sort of just run into each other, so it's hard to know where the borders are. One way to tell is Gaithersburg has green on white street signs with a "G" on them.

The biggest laugh is how quickly schools get delayed or canceled. North Dakotans can hang their hats on trudging through 6 to 12 inches of snow. Around here, schools close if there's a couple inches. Part of the deal is that the snow is the wet sticky stuff that leads to icy roads instead of the light fluffy stuff that blows everywhere.

Germantown itself isn't much larger than Grand Forks. There are little shopping complexes on the main corners. For example, Milestone Center is pretty similar to 32nd St. There's a Kohl's, Target, Wal-Mart, Giant (grocery), Best Buy, Pet Smart and other shoppes and businesses.

Slushy Snow Today

It had looked like a freezing rain and sleet event, but it turned into snow today. When I left for work this morning, there was light freezing rain. A band of heavy precipitation dynamically cooled the atmosphere swiftly during the morning, allowing for all snow to fall. It was close to an inch-per-hour snow rate. Visibility was less than a mile at times.

When I went for lunch, there were already 1 to 2 inches accumulated. Streets were in pretty good shape for the most part. A few slick spots made for some interesting maneuvers. By the time the snow had ceased, we had anywhere from 4 to 6 inches on the ground. Deep enough for the dog to romp around some and deep enough to break out the big boots.

Parking lots became mushy piles of slush this evening. We also had some additional light rain (close to freezing rain... temperatures were hovering around 32) that helped create those puddles. It has stopped precipitating, although there may be a few sprinkles or flurries hanging around tonight.

So, we have snow cover once again! It will probably stay around for a while, but it has a much higher water content than the last snow, so if we really do hit the 40s this week, more puddles of water are in store.

Goodbye snow!

All that snow and sleet is still hanging around this morning, but after today and tomorrow, I suspect that it will disappear except for the very high piles in parking lots. People around here aren't used to seeing snow stick around for this long. This snow had a high water content, so I'm betting it's gonna be a wet soppy mess around town as the stuff melts this week.

Snow and Sleet

It snowed and sleeted several inches up here. I don't know if I've ever seen such deep sleet. It holds you up above the ground whereas you'd sink in snow. Some spots, I'd guess 6" deep easily. I was able to walk with the dog on top of the stuff and only occasionally break through about a half inch worth of shoe.

It took a while to dig out the car this morning. A thin layer of ice on the windows and on the front windshield about 1-3" of snow/sleet piled on. I'm happy we avoided the major ice storm, and it was interesting to see how road crews work around here.

I took some photos, so maybe later I'll post some here.

More interesting times

Work is getting more involved now that I've been here a full 2 weeks. It snowed again about an inch. It was the light powdery snow like in North Dakota. Temperatures dipped into the single digits here (low of 5), so it's not like I'm getting a free pass on winter here. Today's temperature got up to 25. Not bad!

I went to watch the Caps play the Bruins last night. It was my first time into the city on the Metro red line. I enjoyed the experience. One of these days, it'll be real nice and I'll go down to the Capitol, White House, and the Mall. I'm looking forward to the cherry blossoms... I'll definitely go during that time frame... sometime in March is what I hear.

Most of the birds I see around here are Canadian geese. They hang out in flocks on the lakes around town. There is some sort of hawk that flies around nearby. Crows like to hang out on the tree in the parking lot at the apartment complex. There's also a squirrel and a homeless black cat. Honestly, though, I haven't really tried to go bird watching yet.

Awesome!

It's a new month and we got some wet snow. Last night, it was wintry mix. A thin layer of ice was on the car, but with temperatures near freezing, it was pretty easy to get it off. This weekend will be my first Saturday-Sunday at my new job. I'll be getting my first paycheck next week.... yay!

I loved listening to the Sioux Hockey game on webcast last weekend. Beat the Gophers! Hope I can listen again soon!

Short Cold Snap

Well, that cold I talked about the other day didn't last long. Saturday, our temperatures were back up to nearly 50 degrees! I love it! The inch of snow we got here on Sunday night the 21st is long gone.

Too Busy to Think!

I finally got my DSL hooked up in Maryland. I'm thinking about changing the name of this blog to something more representative of my new location, but I will hold off for now. Not much snow to talk about in these parts. The way the weather pattern is shaping up, it'll be colder here than in ND later this week.

A few opinions on Grand Forks

After living here for 5.5+ years, I'm leaving for the warmer confines of Maryland. Here are some opinions I have about the city...

1) History passed you by... I think Grand Forks COULD have been a "grand destination city". When founded along the meeting of two rivers, the shipping industry could have led to manufacturers setting up shop here. Also, when the railroad came through town and with the big switching yard here, you would think that perhaps numerous businesses would come set up shop. Grand Forks did grow nicely back in those days, but it never came close to Minneapolis. Grand Forks didn't get any favors from the glacial period either... geography put the city in a wide flat valley with no lakes or hills, limited trees.

2) The weather... You can dress it up however you like. Sure, towns thrive in Sweden, Norway, and Winnipeg is thriving to our north in COLDER weather. Maybe blame it on the river flooding every year or the long winters or the mosquitos. I don't know how to get around it, but face the music... why would a major corporation want to move to Grand Forks when they could operate out of say, Des Moines? Unless, of course, they are a wind turbine manufacturer... but good luck to LM Glasfiber finding 500 skilled people who want to live here.

3) Neighborly and helpful? Yes. Friendly? Not exactly. Don't get me wrong, my neigbors have been nice. Folks on my block take their snowblowers and clear the entire sidewalk and occasionally other people's driveways. If your car breaks down even in the middle of nowhere, a passing farmer will go get you some water for your radiator. But when it came to developing a social network here, it was hard for me. As an outsider, I got involved in many different things and met a lot of nice people along the way. But, I only made friends with a few people. Where are the married couples in their 30s?

The Sunflake has melted

The time has come for me to depart Grand Forks, North Dakota. I don't know what I'll do with this blog... rename it based on where I'm headed or create an entirely new blog. I am considering the continuation of the snowfall diary through this winter even though I won't be living here.

While I was gone

Boy, not only did it snow, but the temperatures are outrageously warm. Slush is everywhere. Interesting how the quality of street clearing dropped off as soon as I hit the city limits last night, and today is a slushy nightmare in many places.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Still on vacation... will have a big update after returning to the Forks.

Time to talk snow again?

Last time I talked about our lack of snow, we started December with 5 consecutive days of measurable snow. We haven't had measurable snow since, so maybe I should talk about it again! For what it's worth, there is a slight chance of snow by Thursday. I don't see it being measurable though. In many areas around town, the grass is showing again. A non-white Christmas is becoming more likely as the snow-free sunny days continue.

Coming up... a big trip!

The holiday season is drawing near. This year, I'm going to visit family in AL and NC. It will be an extended vacation including Christmas Day and New Years Day. My last forecasting shift this year is December 22. Happy holidays, everyone!!