Let Them Play in the Snow!

It's snowing in Washington, D.C. again today, which means (of course) that many local schools will be closed early, with parents having to rejuggle their day, even though the mysterious white powder as of press time is dissolving on contact with the ground. You may recall that recent Chicago transplant Barack Obama talked a little trash last week about D.C.'s wimpy reaction to a little seasonal weather, which is less interesting than the shellacking he took on the Washington Post letters page over the weekend. Look at some of the revealing sentiments expressed therein, starting with an eighth grader:

The president of the United States questioned my school's decision to close Wednesday because of the snow [Metro, Jan. 29]. Do you think I am ever going to have a snow day again?

BENJAMIN RICHER
McLean

*

Mr. President, your making fun of the Washington area's closing of schools because of ice on Jan. 28 reveals a presidential arrogance I had thought left on a helicopter on Jan. 20. […] Please take a walk down D.C. sidewalks some icy morning and see what it's like. More important, do not adopt your predecessor's tendency to be so confident in the "rightness" of your thoughts and opinions that you ignore the very valid experiences of others.

GEORGE WRATNEY
Locust Grove, Va.

*

I know President Obama is for change, but he needs to know when it goes too far. In mocking area schools for canceling classes (I go to Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington), Mr. Obama overlooked the joy and delight that snow days bring to children all over the area. Keep in mind, Mr. President, that some students will be old enough to vote in four years. Please don't make fun of our lack of hardiness; it is days like this that create wonderful memories.

FIONA REDMOND
Gaithersburg

Comments

[madmikefisk]

Personally, having grown up in northwest lower Michigan, I don't really know what a snow day is, short of a massive ice storm or other wintry apocalypse. That being said, I'm not going to make fun of Chicago schools when they call snow days...

...although the juxtaposition of Obama's wintry trash talk combined with the Politico article about him cranking up the thermostat in the White House was absolutely priceless. Not that there's anything wrong with either, the two together in a short span of time was just highly amusing.

[TrickyVic]

There's a big difference between snow and ice. Snow's not that big of a deal. Ice is outright dangerous. You have some traction on snow, be it your boots, or car tires.

[peachy]

I live in Hyde Park - Obama's old stomping grounds - so all I can say is : grow a pair, DC. (By the way, in reporting the jibes the local news in Chicago noted that the CPS hasn't called a snow day in about a decade. And we've had some pretty vile weather since, though not up to Michigan standards.)

[Legate Damar]

I grew up in central California where it never snows and even I can't believe how quickly the schools around here call a snow day. Below freezing? Snow day. Any precipitation at all on a sub-40 degree day? Snow day. Obama is correct to mock.

[joe]

Suck it up, sissies! It's snow!

madmikefisk,

I've found that people from hot climates, say Florida, like to set the AC at a much cooler temperature than people in New England. I wonder if it's the same thing - living in a cold place like Chicago makes Obama like a warmer indoor temperature than someone from Texas.

[The Angry Optimist]

I say this as a resident of the Ohizzle, which has some pretty nasty winters (this year being another data point in favor of that assertion), BUT when I grew up in D.C., I remember that ice there was a big problem during the winter. We lived in a cul-de-sac in D.C. and one winter we could, really and truly, ice skate across the circle.

[joe]

They don't know how to plough the streets in DC.

The just drive straight through the intersections, leaving compressed triangles of snow jutting out.

[Eric S.]

Hope he never says anything about ketchup on hot dogs.

[P Brooks]

a presidential arrogance I had thought left on a helicopter on Jan. 20.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahha!!!!11!

sucker

[Nick]

Large cities are almost always quicker to call snow days than suburbs and rural areas because traffic is already compromised by stupid drivers on a daily basis who become even dumber when a flake falls. If any significant accumulation is present, there's no where to plow the snow except where people are trying to park or walk. Doesn't mean it's right, but that's why.

[kilroy]

Keep in mind that a foot of snow somewhere that regularly gets snow is much different than the same accumulation somewhere it is rare. I'm from central NC and maybe twice a year we'd have a snow day. The county and populace didn't have the equipment and experience to deal with it properly. It was just safer to call it off than to risk injuring people. We had days built into the school schedule to offset the closures so the school year was N-days regardless of the closures for snow.

[Jay]

Obama is one arrogant prick. That will eventually be his undoing.

[SugarFree]

Winter would be illegal in SugarFree-topia.

I just got power back after 6 days of huddling around a gas fireplace with a pissed-off wife and two cats who kept trying to set themselves on fire. There are some places in Western Kentucky that may not get power back until March. And it's snowing like a motherfucker here right now.

Fuck winter and all those that defend it.

[Nick]

I've decided I don't want to live in SugarFree-topia. This agnostic wants his snow on Christmas, damnit!

[SugarFree]

And the purges begin.

[MNG]

Can't Obama find some kind of middle ground between snow and ice?

[SugarFree]

Hope and Change and Sleet

[President Obama channeling Nan]

We won. I don't really need middle ground.

[John Thacker]

I've found that people from hot climates, say Florida, like to set the AC at a much cooler temperature than people in New England.

Joe, there's both a human and an economic explanation. The economic explanation is that people in New England generally have gas heat with a high fixed cost but a lower marginal cost of heating to a higher temperature, whereas people in the South tend to have more effective A/Cs. As a result, since the marginal cost of going to a higher temperature is cheaper in the North, people set it to a higher temperature in the winter, and vice versa.

[Kolohe]

Large cities are almost always quicker to call snow days than suburbs and rural areas because traffic is already compromised by stupid drivers on a daily basis who become even dumber when a flake falls.

Growing up in the DC area as well, it was the opposite; Arlington was always one of the last ones to delay or close, but the kids in Faquier or Fredrick would always be off.

And to state the sort of obvious, more closures in DC and NC vice New England and Chicago are really of function of the quantity of snow removal equipment. When your going to use it 30 or more days a year it pays to have a lot of trucks, salt and sand. When it's generally less than 10 days it pays to close everything - especially in DC where a good chunk of people work for the same employer and it's fairly easy to do by fiat (and without hitting the bottom line)

[Staten Island Chuck]

You fucking "libertarians" sit around on your asses talking a good game but who really strikes a blow for liberty? Me, that's who motherfuckers! Fight the Power! Smash the State! Bite the Mayor!

[Kolohe]

Sugarfree-
Had to turn the AC on for a bit this past weekend. 😛

[John Thacker]

And besides, it's completely logical to call a snow day if the snow on the ground is going to melt in a day or two. It's not just that ice is harder to travel on than packed snow, it's that it would be pointless for Chicago to call a snow day. To really avoid all the travails of snow, they would have to call a snow month, which would obviously be pointless. Also it would push them into the summer, and schools are less likely to have A/C in the north. (Which is why some cancel school on account of heat in the summer.)

[John Thacker]

Kolohe's point is quite true. There's little point in a city in NC spending a bunch of money on trucks and salt and sand and everything else for snow that's going to stick around for a day or two at most. OK, once every five years or so there's a big snowstorm, but it's still not logical to spend more in snow preparation than the cost of canceling for one day.

[Nick]

"[Mayor Bloomberg] was told there was no risk of rabies. The 2-year-old animal was born and raised in captivity and has had no interaction with other animals."

No interaction with other animals in two years? No wonder he bit that fascist fuckwad. Good on ya, Chuck!

[stuartl]

...especially in DC where a good chunk of people work for the same employer and it's fairly easy to do by fiat (and without hitting the bottom line)

Kolohe...are you suggesting something about the usefulness of our hardworking federal employees?

[Taktix?]

Please take a walk down D.C. sidewalks some icy morning and see what it's like.

OMG!

Walking on ice!

Clearly we need to throw money at this problem before it becomes a nationwide crisis! Fight the elements there so we don't have to fight them here...

[Reinmoose]

Right on, Obama!
DCites are weaklings when it comes to snow and ice. I grew up near the Catskills and we didn't have snow days if it didn't snow more than 8" and all within the 2 hour period before school was supposed to start. Even then, sometimes we had "delays" because they knew we had the infrastructure to handle it.

Infrastructure is the key, really. I mean, nobody REALLY thinks that DCites should drive on a freshly 8" snowed and iced road - it's just fun to see them squirm even AFTER the plow has taken care of things, or after just a quarter inch of snow.

I lived in Balto-Wash Metro Maryland for some time, and I would tell the typical tales of how people there were clueless in the snow and that I drove a rear wheel drive manual transmission car in NY and never had a problem driving through snow. I always got the "yeah, but some places around here it gets really bad and there are some real hills..."

[SugarFree]

Kolohe,

Are the islands underwater yet? When global warming comes, try to make it to the mainland on a pineapple raft.

But seriously, there has to be some downside to Hawaii. The ubiquitous presence of Spam? Lava? Poi? Those ultra-ghey license plates?

[kinnath]

Please take a walk down D.C. sidewalks some icy morning and see what it's like.

Let's see now, I got my New Balance hiking shoes for snow and my yaktrax for ice.

The good news is the snow and ice slows down the SWAT team.

[SugarFree]

Not that ours are much better...

(To be fair, it was laughed out of existence a few years ago...)

[joe]

When I lived in Maryland, the day before a dusting of snow was predicted, people would buy up all the bottled water in the grocery stores.

Beats me.

[Geotpf]

SugarFree | February 3, 2009, 10:50am | #

Winter would be illegal in SugarFree-topia.

I just got power back after 6 days of huddling around a gas fireplace with a pissed-off wife and two cats who kept trying to set themselves on fire. There are some places in Western Kentucky that may not get power back until March. And it's snowing like a motherfucker here right now.

Fuck winter and all those that defend it.

Forecast for San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys -The Inland Empire

Updated: 2:46 am PST on February 3, 2009
No Active Advisories (US Severe Weather)

Today
Sunny. Highs 77 to 83. Light winds.

🙂

[Reinmoose]

But seriously, there has to be some downside to Hawaii

Time zone, cost of living... I think that's it.

Seriously though, I think a particular downside to Hawaii is that there simply isn't enough good Italian food, but it's more than made up for by the excellent Asian cuisine.

[P Brooks]

Stimulus... snowy streets....

*rubs crytal ball*

I'm seeing something...... it looks... it's big, like a big dump truck- and it has a weird bumper on the front.......

and, in the back, what's this?

....money!

It's a dump truck full of money, and it's headed our way!

We can dump the money on the road, for traction.

[Reinmoose]

When I lived in Maryland, the day before a dusting of snow was predicted, people would buy up all the bottled water in the grocery stores.

And snow shovels, and milk, and bread, and eggs...

It's like they thought they were going to get trapped in their house for WEEKS!!!

[Nick]

Hawaii sucks if your wife hates to fly and you love to travel.

That's all I got.

[Episiarch]

Schools are closed when one flake falls because the school administrators are scared shitless that if anything happens regarding a school bus and a kid getting hurt, they will get their asses sued off.

Places that have a lot of snow have people out and about anyway, because people are used to it, and the likelihood of a lawsuit, or one succeeding, is very low.

You'd get laughed out of court if you sued over a snow accident in Buffalo. But in Charlotte? Maybe not.

[joe]

Snow shovels, bread, and eggs makes sense, if you think you're going to be snowbound by one of those nasty, um, Maryland storms.

But bottled water?

[robc]

Ive lived most of my life in 3 locations: Louisville, Atlanta and Madison, WI.

Three amazingly different responses to snow and ice.

Three amazingly different abilities to drive on same.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rlcoffey

^^^What last weeks ice storm in Louisville did to me. I just got full power back at 6 last night.

[Kenntuckian]

Meanwhile 55 people have frozen to death or died of CO poisoning in the Kenntucky ice storm and nearly half a million are without power. FEMA is nowhere to be found and the President hasn't so much as bothered to get on his plane and come see the place. Obama to poor white people "Drop Dead".

[SugarFree]

I don't know about Maryland, but bottled water is a good idea in Kentucky. When a water main breaks, out substandard utilities infrastructure usually requires a boil-your-water advisory. Hard to do if you don't have an electricity. Lexington has never been under one since I've been here, but they issue them for surrounding counties all the time.

[Lamar]

Just move the friggin' capital already. Key West, D.C.

[robc]

But bottled water?

Drink tap?

Yeah, I dont get it either. Maybe they think the pipes will freeze, in which case they have much bigger problems.

[SugarFree]

OK, I'll give you my line...

Steve Beshear does not care about white people.

[Reinmoose]

But joe, what about the ice storms I heard about Maryland always getting. What if their pipes freeze and they can't get water to their homes? What if... it even stays below freezing for more than 48 consecutive hours!?

[robc]

Kentuckian,

Hey, at one place the national guard showed up to clear roads. Without chainsaws.

[Mike Meyers]

Barack Obama doesn't care about white people.

[FEMA]

Kentuckian,

Learn to spell, one "n" in Kentucky.You are lucky Sean Penn is there to scrape the ice off your windshield

[SugarFree]

if you don't have an electricity

I had an electricity once, but I got swindled out of it by a flim-flam man.

[robc]

Steve Beshear does not care about white people.

It seems that national disasters primarily happen under democratic governors. When Fletcher was governor, I was never in a declared disaster zone - it has happened twice since Beshear took office.

🙂 [In case joe thinks that was a serious post]

[rbenchley]

Hope he never says anything about ketchup on hot dogs.
What kind of savage puts ketchup on a hot dog? Sacrilege!

[Kentuckian]

Maybe that is why Obama hasn't come down here. The damn disaster declaration was mispelled.

[SugarFree]

Look, I'm not sure how he's going to go as a President, but anybody who makes fun of Jessica Simpson's weight gain is OK by me. In fact, I'd like to see a weekly Fireside Chat about celebrity gossip hosted by Obama and Biden.

The gunt in question.

[frumpiefox]

robc--Another Madisonian, huh?

I ran down an icy sidewalk today to catch my bus. And I'm originally from further north yet, so Madison's reaction to snow seems pretty weak to me.

You get used to just about anything.

[John from Michigan]

All Southerners, and by Southerners I mean anyone who cancels school for less than a foot of snow, should understand that all of us Northerners think you're a bunch of wimps for your inability to handle a little snow and ice.

We really do find it quite funny.

[Dagny T.]

In fact, I'd like to see a weekly Fireside Chat about celebrity gossip hosted by Obama and Biden.

Seconded. They could take lessons from Perez Hilton on how to be unjustifiably egomaniacal in a clean, safe environment. More bitchy dish about Amy Winehouse, less saving the economy, plz!

[SugarFree]

Dagny,

My Winehouse LOL for your dining pleasure.

[Reinmoose]

I hope Winehouse makes another album... or lives for that matter.

[Dagny T.]

My Winehouse LOL for your dining pleasure.

Cool! If only we could encourage Obama's chain-smoking, inner Gossip Girl to snark about such treasures. Put that Harvard education to good, trashy use!

"XOXO, America."

[Other Matt]

Drink tap?

Yeah, I dont get it either. Maybe they think the pipes will freeze, in which case they have much bigger problems

You obviously haven't had the pleasure of WSSC. The recent 66" main break was not due to cold, at least not immediately on its face, but it highlighted the problem. Their infrastructure sucks, and any time it does get cold they have a multitude of smaller breaks causing local issues. If you do have a break, boil advisories are instituted, but also flat out water shut off.

People from MD on south just do that, go to the store when a storm is forecast. Never mind you have six months in the basement storage, you still go to the store. It's mandatory, nobody understands it but everyone does it.

My Winehouse LOL for your dining pleasure.

Thanks, I need to drop a few pounds and was kinda looking forward to eating. That took care of that urge rather quickly.

[SugarFree]

OMG! Maybe Obama is Gossip Girl! He's always texting on his Blackberry. Won't Little J be shocked.

[SugarFree]

Other Matt, I live to make gorges rise.

[Other Matt]

We really do find it quite funny.

The problem is in the mid atlantic states is that you don't get a foot of snow. You get two or three inches, it melts a bit, then freezes hard. They aren't set up with enough salt nor enough equipment to treat the roads as they are in, say, upstate NY, so it is actually more hazardous with 2" than a foot other places. I've lived in North Central MN, so I'm familiar with cold and snow, but I felt better driving there then around here.

[Thom]

The problem in the mid-Atlantic region is that people pretend like snow is a rare occurrence when in reality they get a fair dose of it every winter. Schools close, people stay home because of "the weather", and general productivity grinds to a halt not only when there is snow, but even where there might be snow. People view every snowfall equally: a quarter inch of snow is just as bad as two feet, and in both cases, people cancel all their plans, horde groceries, and "dig out" their parking spaces, which they then "reserve" with lawn chairs. Somehow, those spaces are still reserved a week later when the weather had turned, the sun is out, and that quarter inch of snow has melted...

[Minnesotan]

What's a snow day?

[robc]

robc--Another Madisonian, huh?

Nah, I spent 2 winters there though.

I was a southern boy in Yankee land.

They sure do talk funny up there.

As I always described it, they had enough plow trucks to catch each snow flake before it hit the ground.

[Pro Libertate]

Minnesotan,

October 31, 1991? Damned well shut down Minneapolis for a day. I know, because this Floridian was living there at the time.

[Dagny T.]

OMG! Maybe Obama is Gossip Girl!

But due to how awful he looks in those little plaid miniskirts, he's forced to hide out in DC, and go full Queen B on the whole country.

[Unsubstantive Kurt]

Can a D.C. resident, either former or current, explain what the winters are like?

For some reason, I thought snow in D.C. was a regular occurance.

[Moboy]

"But seriously, there has to be some downside to Hawaii. The ubiquitous presence of Spam? Lava? Poi? Those ultra-ghey license plates?"

I seem to recall it has the highest suicide rate of any state in the US

[SugarFree]

Dagny,

Vanessa is the next to go. Mark my words. Some sort of appropriate Brooklynite death: a cherry blossom allergy incident at the Botanical Gardens or crushed to death by lesbians with strollers in Park Slope.

[Eric in the North]

I grew up and live in Alaska so I can mock everyone on winter.

Seriously, I went to school in the Anchorage School District K thru 12. In that 13 years the schools were closed because of weather 1 day. And that was because we had a new superintendent from the "lower 48" who didn't know any better.

They delayed starts a couple of times, including the day that a 120 mile per hour wind tore the roof off of my high school.

In recent years they have called more weather days. We just had several due to wind and ice. The wind was direct from Hawaii and over 100 miles per hour, affectionately known here as "The Pineapple Express."

Go a little north of here in Fairbanks and you have kids happily walking to school at 40 below. I guess it is a matter of what you are used to and equipped for.

Now, if you will excuse me I have to go check on our volcano.

[From the Lost Springsteen Reco]

North Dakota winter is a vagabond whore,
(Blowin' and driftin', blowin' and driftin')
And the women ain't no different mister, that's for shore,
(Blowin' and driftin', blowin' and driftin')

North Dakota winter is a vagabond whore,
(Blowin' and driftin', blowin' and driftin')
And the women ain't no better baby, that's for shore,
(Blowin' and driftin', blowin' and driftin')

[Reinmoose]

I remember visiting a friend recently in a Maryland apartment complex. They managed to get someone to plow the parking lot, but left lots of little (6-8" high) piles of snow behind each car - obviously, this is normal b/c you can't plow all the way to peoples tires. So do you think the people living there dug the snow out from behind their cars before they drove away? No - for days they did not, and they turned into large, hard humps of ice. It happened to be near a military base, which meant there were lots of rear wheel drive cars that simply could not get out of their parking spaces, even though they had big tough engines.

[SugarFree]

Moboy,

Alaska holds that honor.

Suicides per 100,000 residents

1. District of Columbia: 5.3
2. New York: 6
3. Massachusetts: 6.4
4. New Jersey: 6.8
5. Rhode Island: 7.5
6. Illinois: 8
7. Connecticut: 8.2
8. Maryland: 8.9
9. Hawaii: 8.9
10. Nebraska: 9.5
11. California: 9.6
12. New Hampshire: 9.8
13. Minnesota: 10.1
14. Texas: 10.6
15. Michigan: 10.8
16. Virginia: 10.9
17. Delaware: 11.0
18. Pennsylvania: 11.1
19. Georgia: 11.1
20. North Dakota: 11.2
21. Indiana: 11.3
22. Ohio: 11.3
23. South Carolina: 11.3
24. Iowa: 11.5
25. Alabama: 11.8
26. Wisconsin: 11.9
27. North Carolina: 11.9
28. Louisiana (pre-Katrina): 12.1
29. Mississippi: 12.2
30. Missouri: 12.4
31. Maine: 12.4
32. Arkansas: 13
33. Florida: 13
34. Kentucky: 13.2
35. Tennessee: 13.2
36. Washington: 13.2
37. Kansas: 13.5
38. Vermont: 14.2
39. Oklahoma: 14.4
40. South Dakota: 14.9
41. Oregon: 14.9
42. West Virginia: 15.4
43. Arizona: 15.6
44. Colorado: 17.1
45. Utah: 17.1
46. Idaho: 17.5
47. Wyoming: 17.6
48. Montana: 18.7
49. New Mexico: 18.8
50. Nevada: 19
51. Alaska: 23.1

[joe]

For some reason, I thought snow in D.C. was a regular occurance.

It probably snows 8-10 days a year in DC, with accumulation on about half of those. It's rare to get six inches, though.

[Dagny T.]

Sug,

Or, she's actually one of the masked secret society girls...

A more Brooklyn-y death would be better, though. Vibed to death by Williamsburg hipsters?

[SugarFree]

Vibed to death by Williamsburg hipsters?

I'm pretty sure they kill exclusively by over-layering their targets with ironic T-shirts.

[Minnesotan]

"October 31, 1991? Damned well shut down Minneapolis for a day. I know, because this Floridian was living there at the time."

The rain came late in the evening, then became a blizard followed by sub-zero temps. The next morning, Honeywell (where I was working at the time) was open, so I went to work. That evening, my wife and I walked down to the Super Valu. It was open and people were shopping as if it were just another day.

[VM]

Fiona's letter is absolutely absurd. nuff said.

[FrBunny]

...all of us Northerners think you're a bunch of wimps for your inability to handle a little snow and ice. We really do find it quite funny.

And all of us Southerners will really give a damn as you laugh your way through your six weeks of nice weather per year.

I'll be busy lounging by the pool in April. And September.

[Minnesotan]

"Go a little north of here in Fairbanks and you have kids happily walking to school at 40 below. I guess it is a matter of what you are used to and equipped for."

As the Norwegians say, the is no bad weather, just bad clothing.

[robc]

Speaking of snow...Im off to clean my driveway. We got about an inch this morning and I think it is starting to melt, but Im going to clean it anyway.

[SugarFree]

Is it done there, rob? It's till coming down heavy here. Suck-ola.

[D.C. Madam]

It's rare to get six inches, though.

You ain't kidding, honey.

[Pro Libertate]

Minnesotan,

Well, I drove to work the morning after, and I was one of two employees to show up to work. The schools were closed, and the roads were practically empty. Except for a couple of 3-4 inch snowfalls in Tallahassee and some earlier flurries in MN, that was my first snow.

What I will give Minneapolis is that it was up and running the next day. Columbus, where I lived a number of years later, shut down completely for a few days from much less snow.

Now that I think about it, I think the next big blizzard--which was around Thanksgiving--actually had a worse total effect on Minneapolis because of the accumulation.

To all of my fellow residents of the South, don't let these tough guy Nanooks fool you. When Minnesotans I knew heard I was from Florida, I was asked, over and over and over again, why on earth I would ever think about living in Minnesota. I can only remember a few people--crazy ice fishermen types--who didn't think I was nuts to leave Florida.

[robc]

SugarFree,

Yeah done coming down here. Very powdery and easy to scoop off. Easiest driveway clean I have ever done.

[robc]

crazy ice fishermen

crazy was redundant.

[Guess Who\'s Losing His Butt-C]

LOS ANGELES - "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis was arrested in Los Angeles after he showed up five hours late for a court hearing in his tax evasion case.

When the adult-video entrepreneur finally appeared in court Monday afternoon, he told the judge he was suffering from the flu. Francis' attorney Melissa Weinberger says U.S. marshals then handcuffed Francis and took him away.

Francis is accused of claiming more than $20 million in bogus business expenses on his corporate tax returns, including $3.8 million for a home in Mexico and $10.4 million in phony consulting services. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of federal tax evasion.

The hearing was to consider a request from his tax attorneys to recuse themselves.

[Pro Libertate]

robc,

No kidding. Sitting in a heated house on top of a few inches of ice. That you've sawed a hole into. One of my biggest shocks was watching people put road signs on lakes and driving across them.

I was surprised at how well I handled the cold. It was unpleasant--sometimes very much so--but it didn't bother me anywhere near as much as I thought it would. Maybe having most of my ancestors from various parts of Northern Europe gave me somewhat of a genetic edge? I dunno. That said, Florida is a much more pleasant place to live, as far as I'm concerned.

[joe]

$20 million? Holy crap.

[FrBunny]

When I recently mentioned using an "ice scraper" to my friend who has never left South Carolina, he reacted to the words as if I'd said "jackalope castrator". I've never been so jealous.

If I'm not on skis, I don't wanna see snow.

[robc]

FrBunny,

Please. There isnt any self respecting South Carolinian who doesnt own 2 or 3 jackalope castrators. At least one with a pearl handle.

[Pro Libertate]

I used my legacy ice scraper to remove some frost from my car windshield the other day. I've only done that 3-4 times since moving back to Florida ten years ago.

[d]

$20 million? Holy crap.

That's gotta be worth SecDef for Obama, right?

[Nick]

Florida is way too hot. Tallahasse was unbearable from May to September, 100 degrees every day in a bowl surrounded by hills. No breeze. So we stayed inside all the time and played video games in the air conditioning. Upstate NY is much more confortable. Each season is 3 months long. When you're tired of one, the next one comes and you appreciate them all because of it. Perfect.

Go Noles!
Go Bills!

[Tulpa]

Mr. Obama overlooked the joy and delight that snow days bring to children all over the area.

...which will be more than balanced by their suffering through extra days spent sitting in school in June. Snow days are like interest-only ARMs for kids.

[FrBunny]

robc,

True. And no doubt every one of them has that damn palmetto emblem on it.

SC folk sure do love their logo.

Florida is way too hot.

I would rather sweat standing still 365 days a year than ever have to put on a parka to get the mail. IMHO, etc.

[Tulpa]

Nick, that's strange -- I used to live upstate and I don't remember Spring or Fall lasting more than a couple of weeks.

[Pro Libertate]

What's odd about Florida is that the inland cities--which get more winter and fall (other than in South Florida, of course)--have brutal summers. In Gainesville, I regularly endured temperatures around 100?. In Tampa, on the other hand, the highest recorded temperature is around 95?. Also, we get the nice Gulf breezes.

It is pretty friggin' hot, though, I'll grant that. But I like being able to wear shorts and be outside most of the year. And I like seeing the sun, which you can't do regularly from many locations in this country.

[Tulpa]

"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis was arrested in Los Angeles after he showed up five hours late for a court hearing in his tax evasion case.

I know who Obama's next appointee for Secy of H&HS is going to be...

So we stayed inside all the time and played video games in the air conditioning.

I spent most of my time in Tallahassee outside: drinking, taking drugs, listening to bands,going to the sink holes, and hooking up with hot chicks.If only I'd known there were video games inside with the air conditioning!

Damn Nick, you were in paradise and didn't even know it.

[Chuck]

Tallahasse was unbearable from May to September,....

Tallahassee is unbearable all year long. Oh wait, you're talking about the temperature. Never mind.

[robc]

Louisville has about 5000 seasons per year in 15 minute increments.

[PanicattheDischord]

Peachy

I too live in Hyde Park, but I'm from D.C. Hyde Park sees nothing like D.C. does in the winter. Its too cold and dry in Hyde Park for anything but dry snow. D.C. usually hovers close to 30 degrees, so it often gets freezing rain which you never see in Chicago, imagine a solid half inch sheet of black ice everywhere. You can't plow it, you can't see it on the road, and you can't drive on it. Thats a D.C. winter.

[joe]

Autumn in Lowell:

I didn't finish raking because the leaves froze to the lawn. But it's ok, because the torrential rains thawed them out. Then that froze. Then the winds brought down a lot of wood. But it's ok, because the snow covered that up months ago.

Hey, look everyone! It's snowing! It's snowing! Isn't it magical?

People in Lowell LOVE it when you do what. Love it.

[Nick]

#, I met my girlfriend (now wife) the first day I moved there, so we just "got to know each other" rather than going out doing all those things. When the girls studied, it was watching sports and playing video games for me and friends. I love Tally, but not for the weather at all.

Tulpa, I live near Albany/Saratoga and I think my statement is pretty accurate most years give or take a couple weeks. Mileage may vary.

[robc/joe]

I have a well. No electricity, no pump, no water. I usually fill up containers with water rather than buy bottled, but that may be some of what you're seeing.

Or they could be dipwads.

[Jay]

The 2:18 post was me, addressed to robc/joe. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[Reinmoose]

Each season is 3 months long. When you're tired of one, the next one comes and you appreciate them all because of it. Perfect.

-----------------

Nick, that's strange -- I used to live upstate and I don't remember Spring or Fall lasting more than a couple of weeks.

I also used to live upstate, and fall was a solid 2-3 months long, but spring was practically non-existent. I would give it this distribution:
Winter = 5.5 months (mid November to end-of April)
Spring = 1 month (May)
Summer = 3.5 months (June, July, August, 1st 1/2 of Sept.)
Fall = 2 months (mid Sept to mid Nov)

[Tulpa]

Nick, I guess upstate is a big place. I'm from closer to Buffalo...

[Reinmoose]

Maybe I should have put another season in there - we can call it "Dirty Slush" or "Salted Pant-legs"

It's the period between March and whenever it stops snowing long enough for the 7' high piles of snow to melt into a crusty, dirty, icy mass.

[robc]

So, which of you upstaters refer to hamburgers as boiled ham?

[robc]

steamed ham.

Dammit, not boiled ham.

[Reinmoose]

steamed ham

??????????????????

[robc]

Reinmoose,

Video was removed, audio only:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO2P-RO7UVA

[SugarFree]

"Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?"

[robc]

steamed ham bit starts about 1:15

[Reinmoose]

Can't watch Youtube here, but I'll try to get to it later.

When you said that though, all I could think of was Lindsay Bluth's Hot Ham Water

[Zeb]

Reinmoose,
I think you are about right for seasons in the north-east. However, I consider winter to have ended once snow starts melting, beginning what is known here in New Hampshire as Mud Season which usually lasts from some time in march until May when the black flies come out.
And since it seems to be that sort of a thread: you people from the south all suck. And summer in New England is just right.

[Nick]

Reinmoose, I guess I always considered Spring to be the time between winter jackets and shorts, which for me is as soon as the temp gets to 45-50 range during daylight hours until 70's all day.

There's a big difference between 50 degrees after a cold winter and 50 dgrees after a hot summer.

Winter = First snowfall after Thanksgiving
Spring = see above
Summer = Memorial Day to Labor Day
Fall = when the NFL season starts until first snowfall after Thanksgiving

[Reinmoose\'s Elementary School]

March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb

FAIL!

[Reinmoose]

Nick - I accept those definitions

Zeb - by "snow starts melting" surely you mean average net-loss of snow per time period measured? Because it still snows in April...

[joe]

March comes in like a lion, and out like a muddy, grouchy lion.

[Dagny T.]

all I could think of was Lindsay Bluth's Hot Ham Water

"So watery...and yet there's a smack of ham to it."

[damn it all]

"Keep in mind, Mr. President, that some students will be old enough to vote in four years"-

Thats the best one yet!

Thats ok, people Mocked us here in Seattle for our 2 week panic because of the Hellish weather we have had here.

Keep in mind, we don't normally have this kind of weather. Our entire city was nearly shut down for 14 days.

We had record snowfall and temps. 19F one day with 8 inches on snow on the ground.

Holy cow. Try driving up Pike street in that weather!

[Dagny T.]

Try driving up Pike street in that weather!

damn it,

I know it! A fellow Seattlite, I was foolish enough to drive up to Canada on one of the worst snow days we had in December. As soon as I crossed the Canadian border, the roads were so much better: salted, sanded, plowed, even though they got lots more snow than we did.

The hills downtown really can be vicious. Let these New Englanders mock if they like. ;-P

[Pro Libertate]

That is tragic; however, as you know, Jesus Christ made Seattle under protest.

[Dagny T.]

as you know, Jesus Christ made Seattle under protest.

Our silly little acronym made it all the way to the East Coast? Cool.

Not feeling so godforsaken today, though: it's been warm and sunny here for 2 days now.

[renniejoy]

Yeah, I was getting deja vu from some of the comments. I've been reading the same stuff on the Stranger's blog every year for three years. Often punctuated there by stupid people (duh) pushing some retarded anti-car rhetoric.

I moved to the Seattle suburbs from the Chicago suburbs 3 winters ago, FWIW.

[joe]

As soon as I crossed the Canadian border, the roads were so much better: salted, sanded, plowed, even though they got lots more snow than we did.

Canada's not a stingy with their public sector.

[Reinmoose]

I've been on Seattle highways - they have those little raised dots on the road in place of dotted lines. How are you supposed to plow anything with raised dots all over it?

[Pro Libertate]

Dagny,

I was a resident of Seattle for six weeks in 2001. Right up to 9/11, so I almost got to be a resident for another month. I'm a former WaMu employee, which meant spending lots of time visiting Washington and California. Seattle is very nice in the summer--I went hiking near Rainier and up in the North Cascades.

[robc]

Canada's not a stingy with their public sector.

It is more than just that. Louisville has enough equipment after the 1994 debacle (UPS said buy it or we are moving our hub). When used correctly, it works well. However, they cant figure out when to use it or how, sometimes. Last week they did a very good job. The snow and ice was delayed a bit though, so they knew what was coming. They got caught be surprise a few years back and couldnt figure out how to get the plow trucks to the interstate before rush hour. Absolute disaster.

[Scooby]

John from Michigan,

While you are entertained by wimpy Southerners who can't take a little ice & snow, rest assured that those Southerners are somewhat intrigued by stories of Northerners dropping like flies when the summer heat gets into the low 90s.

[economist]

"Hey, look everyone! It's snowing! It's snowing! Isn't it magical?"

I hate snow, rainbows, puppies, and children.

[renniejoy]

Reinmoose,

A lot of the "snowplows" have rubber tipped blades, kinda like windshield wipers (from what I heard). The SDOT was quoted as saying that they were "trying to get a snow pack"... cause packed snow doesn't turn into ice or anything. 🙁

joe,

Maybe Canadian environmentalists actually know something about the environment?

Paraphrased from Slog comments:

ZOMG, salt would be bad for Puget Sound!
We almost never get enough snow to worry about, so we shouldn't worry about it.

And the ever popular "suburban, yuppie drivers are selfish whiny pussies who should learn how to drive"
Y'know, uphill on an inch and a half of ice.

Sorry, mostly irrational hot-button issue for me. 🙂

[renniejoy]

Yeah, I think I proved their point. Damn!

[MJ]

"I've found that people from hot climates, say Florida, like to set the AC at a much cooler temperature than people in New England."

People in moist climates like Florida often are not running their AC for temperature control, but for humidity control. Turning up the thermostat can leave the conditioned space uncomfortable because the AC does not come on long enough to wring the moisture out of the air. Apartment leases often have clauses that the tenant cannot turn the AC totally off during the summer months as the high humidity level can lead to mold growth.

[Grew up in DC]

For those asking what Dc winters are like, I think Thom summed it up pretty well. It is ridiculous that people in DC act like a blizzard is about to occur upon any forecast of snow. This is not NC or SC, it's DC, and and yes, DC gets snow, so they should be prepared for it, and not act like it's some precipitous event (pun intended). The ice is no excuse, a little salt on the roads and sidewalks takes care of ice. I noticed they put salt down preemptively on sidewalks all around downtown during inauguration week (I work in DC during the week, I was there). I was shocked. Something, I'd never seen before, and I grew up in DC. I thought they were finally getting their acts together, until they closed schools last week with a little ice and an inch or two of snow. Yes, the idiots shut schools down on a forecast of snow. I remember getting snow days and there was no snow on the ground, but because the weatherman said it's supposed to snow the night before, surprise. DC government is dysfunctional, and anyone who lives in DC knows this.

I live in Chicago now, and the response to snow is like night and day in comparison. If DC saw any of the snow that have seen this winter, they'd shut down just like the blizzards of 1992 and 1996, and I use the term loosely because in the Midwest said blizzards would just be considered a little snow.

So, as someone from DC, I can say quit your whining. Seriously, I had no idea what real cold and snow was until I moved to Chicago, and now I laugh at DC's reaction to snow. It's too funny!

Thom wrote:
The problem in the mid-Atlantic region is that people pretend like snow is a rare occurrence when in reality they get a fair dose of it every winter. Schools close, people stay home because of "the weather", and general productivity grinds to a halt not only when there is snow, but even where there might be snow. People view every snowfall equally: a quarter inch of snow is just as bad as two feet, and in both cases, people cancel all their plans, horde groceries, and "dig out" their parking spaces, which they then "reserve" with lawn chairs. Somehow, those spaces are still reserved a week later when the weather had turned, the sun is out, and that quarter inch of snow has melted...