Friday, January 10, 2025

Snowmaggedon 2025

 

Well, an apocalyptic event happened down here in Texas yesterday: Snow.


We’ve been down here for 3½ years, and normally we receive but a dusting of snow once or twice a winter. The temps plummet below freezing for a week or two every January and we’re forced to let the faucets drip to avoid burst pipes. Our first winter saw a mini-freeze where icy rain coated the streets for two or three days and schools were closed and everyone worked from home. Other than that, we really don’t have harsh winters down here, for obvious reasons. The severe weather comes in the form of 90 days of summer heat over 100 degrees (the record for my experience has been 108 degrees) and harsh hail storms every couple of months.


Rumors of snow circulated Monday night. In the grocery store with Patch I overheard a couple catastrophizing about 9 inches of the white stuff. I inwardly laughed. Back in NJ we’d get one or two of those sized storms a winter and drive to work the next day. But at my job Tuesday word spread we’d be remote on Thursday and Friday. By Wednesday it was official. And yesterday morning, Snowmaggedon 2025 began.





 The view outside my front door at 8:15 am.

 




1 pm.

 




2:48 pm.

 

Around 3 o’clock the snow stopped falling at around 3 inches accumulation. After a brief reprieve it started up again, this time as sleet. Icy rain. Much more dangerous to these southerners. The sleet continued throughout the evening and overnight and as I write this at 11 am on Friday, it is still going.


Since we hardly ever get snow down here, the towns do not stock up on salt or invest in snowplows. They do have some, a fraction of what we had up in Jersey, but that’s reserved for the tollways. The side streets are on their own. I expect to be “snowed in” until late Saturday afternoon. Today’s high will be 37, but Saturday will go up to 46. It’s supposed to be sunny, too. Most’ll melt by dinner time. I expect to be driving to pick up some takeout Saturday night, and attend mass with the family Sunday morning.


And Texans will speak of Snowmaggedon 2025 in hushed tones for years to come …

 




The current view from my north Dallas home office window.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

😅😅 have you shoveled out yet? Schools closed🫣🤭! Enjoy….all too soon you’ll be back to 90 degrees!