Groundhog Day

Today is February 2, Groundhog Day! Is it just me or has the first month of 2011 really flown by! It's hard to believe that it's already February, but it is! I've always thought that Groundhog Day is a silly holiday. If it's cloudy outside it means that Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow, therefore spring is coming in early. However, if it's sunny outside, then you can expect six more weeks of winter weather. That just sounds backwards to me, as I'm sure it does to most people.

Well, this year it was cloudy and Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so that means spring is coming early. I'm sure most people in the country are glad to hear this, especially those who have been affected by the massive winter storm that has affected a large part of the country.

I was personally disappointed in the way things unfolded yesterday. Unfortunately, the atmospheric temperature where I live was a little too warm, so most of the precipitation that fell yesterday was sleet. I learned on the news that this is the way sleet forms: snow is falling (way up high), then it hits a pocket of warmer air, melts and turns to rain. Then when it gets out of that pocket of warm air, it freezes again as it falls to earth, but it freezes in little balls, which is sleet.

Yesterday we got a lot of sleet… at least 2 inches, maybe closer to 3 inches, but it's hard to tell. If the air temperature had been colder, it would've been all snow… at least a foot, but probably more. That would've been so much more exciting than sleet!! The air was much colder to the north and west, so people who live 30 minutes to the north or west of where I do DID receive tons of snow. (About 15 inches.)

We've gotten quite a bit of snow this year, which I'm grateful for, especially since some years we don't get much snow at all! What if I lived in Chicago where they are getting 2 feet of snow?! Wouldn't that be exciting?!