White Thanksgiving

Well, if we don't have a white Christmas this year, at least we'll be able to say we had a "white Thanksgiving!" Yes, there is still measurable snow on the ground, though not as much as there was a few days ago. Most of last week we got some sort of snow every day, the heaviest being Monday evening and Tuesday night, but a good amount falling Thursday night and during the day Friday too. While snowfall before Thanksgiving is hardly unprecedented in northeast Ohio, this much is rather unusal. Sure, I've seen snow before Halloween many times, but it's usually of the slushy variety and it doesn't stick around long. This snow was sustained and not just the heavy, wet snow that we usually get this early in the season (or this LATE in the Fall season!). When it was all said and done, we probably had 7 inches of snow on the ground. Most of it melted on Monday when we got rain much of the day, but then we got a few more inches of snow during the day and into Tuesday evening to restore our "white Thanksgiving."

View of the snow in the back yard and on the mail and paper boxes on Nov. 19, 2008. We got a few more inches Thursday and Friday before most of it melted this past Monday.

Most of the snow last week was the result of lake effect. That's where winds blowing from the north or northwest pick up moisture evaportaing from Lake Erie (which is warmer than the land) and when it crosses onto land drops that moisture in the form of snow. We tend to not get that much in the way of lake effect unless, of course, the winds are right. Normally, the winds that cause lake effect snow come out of the northwest. Because of the shape of the land, areas north of here (Ohio's Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties in particular) generally get the most snow. That's why they are referred to as the "snow belt." When the winds shift more to the north-northwest, here in Portage County we can get a lot more (we're known as the "secondary snow belt"). That happened several times during this latest snowfall. The typical "snow belt" certainly got the most snow, but it was a lot more spread out due to the shifting winds.

Of course lake effect snow is hardly unique to northeast Ohio, but it certainly makes our weather interesting. I, for one, don't really mind snow all that much. Only by late March am I ready for Spring and don't want to see anymore snow. Right now, this isn't too bad. I'm a native of northeast Ohio, so I'm quite used to snow and I know how to handle and drive in it. Getting home last Monday (November 17th) was the slickest since it was the first heavy, sustained snowfall and the roads weren't cleared much at all. I slipped and slid a few times on the way home from campus, but made it OK even after literally sliding past Powder Mill Road! It is a bit unnerving when you turn your steering wheel to go right and the car keeps going straight...

Views of the front yard on Wednesday morning, Nov. 19, 2008.

Thanksgiving should be pretty tame and standard this year. The nice thing about living in the same town that all of my grandparents do is that the extended family comes here for Thanksgiving and we don't have to go anywhere. On the Ridinger side pretty much everyone lives in or near Kent anyway and on the Derby side everyone but us is too far away to come, so this year it will just be the five of us (Mom, Katie, Me, Grandma, and Grandpa) at Derby's. I don't mind because it's less stress to travel, and at least this year, I have more time to get the last few projects I have to finish before the end of the semester. Hard to believe there is just one more week of classes and then finals. I CANNOT WAIT for this semester to be over.