Cold Comfort

Don't get me wrong, I love snow. It's one of those things I can never really get enough of. As soon as I see sparkly snowflakes swirling on the breeze, I'm the first one out the door to take a nice long walk in it. After I've had enough time out in the snow, I celebrate snow days by plugging in strings of lights, dusting off my Nutcracker CD, building a toasty fire, and cooking up some fatty treat or other. This year, however, it seems I've had my share of snow (and accompanying bitter cold) and it is leaving me with an unsettled feeling. It doesn't help to hear that the East Coast is concurrently experiencing unusually tropical temperatures.

According to NOAA, chaotic weather currently prevails:

NOAA REPORTED 2006 AS THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD, WITH THE 2006 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 2.2 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ABOVE THE 20TH CENTURY MEAN. WET CONDITIONS ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE UNITED STATES AND ALONG THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST DOMINATED CONDITIONS THIS LAST WEEK. SEVERE WEATHER AND FLOODING RAINS WERE COMMON ALONG THE GULF COAST IN LOUISIANA, WHERE 5 + INCHES OF RAIN WERE RECORDED ALONG WITH NUMEROUS TORNADOES.

THE PLAINS AND MIDWEST. . .

WITH SMALL AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION RECORDED THIS WEEK, THE DROUGHT DESIGNATION REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE REGION. . . .

I've had a sinking feeling that spring will be late to arrive here this year, and sure enough it seems we, in the PNW, are due for even more intense snow in mid to late February, and additional stormy weather in mid-March. It will be a bad year for starting early seedlings.