Punxsutawney Phil is right

We knew it was coming, but the question (as always) was if it would be as severe as predicted, less severe, or much more severe than predicted. The television station meteorologists hyped it up. Hey, this is big news and we don’t want to have a big winter storm like last year without predicting it. The National Weather Service and other weather agencies fed us facts and updated forecasts. It would be cold, wet, icy, winter weather for the start of February 3, 2022.

It started raining sometime before 2:00 a.m. with lightening soon flashing around; the radar turned from yellow and orange to pink and then purple after the storm passed over. Sometime during the night there was wind because at 6:00 a.m. I noticed that the green organics bin placed at the street for pickup had the top flipped over which necessitated a trip to the curb in slippers and robe, lovely sight. Up and down the street I saw many cans with the lids flipped over, the wind must have been strong to do that!

When daylight came, I could see that I had over an inch and a half of rain in my somewhat inaccurate rain gauge. It had rained off and on all night and continued to do so through the morning, a good, slow soaking rain that we needed. Thank you, Lord!

The temperature dropped through the morning, too. By 1 o’clock it was 28 degrees F. and the wind chill was 15 degrees F. and a thin layer of ice was forming on many surfaces. It was too cold even for the dogs to go outside. They went out and quickly took care of business and came back to the door.

School had been cancelled in anticipation of a wintry day and many businesses were also closed. Some tried to open for a while and closed early. The roads were not too bad, but hidden ice isn’t something anyone wants to encounter.

Just before dark, the sun appeared as the clouds disappeared. It will be clear and very cold tonight. Tonight, I’m thankful for a warm home for me and my pets and concerned for humans and animals who need shelter. The City has opened warming stations and the non-profits have worked tirelessly to get homeless people into shelters, although many won’t go into one. Those people get a hot meal and snacks for the night.

However, tomorrow it will warm up to just above freezing and there will be sunshine – which makes everything feel better, at least to me. The rest of the week will be a little warmer, but still cold nights. No ice though. One day of just a little ice is plenty for me.

Crazy groundhog got it right.