It is 9 Degrees Outside at 11:00am

There is a saying here in Michigan; "If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change." So far this month we seem to be proving that fact! Today is Janurary 20th, and we have had two decent snows (not unusual for Janurary) and one huge warm spell. And while a warm spell is not unusual for Janurary, the rapid and drastic change was odd.

New Years day we woke up to 15-18" of fresh snow on the ground. It was so deep in our back yard that Annika could hardly trudge through it; it was mid-thigh high on her!

We went over to our neighbor's house and played outside with Antonio, another 4-year-old. The idea was to play in the snow some, and maybe sled a little bit. All fine and dandy in theory, but the reality was vastly different. The snow was so deep that the kids could not push the sled through it. We tried and tried, but each time the sled stopped a few inches past the previous spot. They very quickly tired of that futile effort, and decided to play in the driveway and sidewalk where we had removed the snow.

Two days later it was almost 70 degrees outside and all the snow melted. We were outside in sweatshirts (and only because I insisted on wearing more than a shortsleeved shirt!) The temperature rose so fast that we actually had tornado warnings - during the FIRST week of JAN! It was crazy!


We then had another cold spell, and lots of ice, but now snow. The kids had another snow day due to icy roads. No snow,but lots of ice on the trees and roads. Then it warmed up again; this time to a normal January warm temperature of 35-40 degrees. Then, last week it snowed again. Nothing too major, just a normal snow of about 2-4 inches total. The weather has been hovering in the low to mid 20s for about a week now. Quite a long stable patch of weather, I'd say!

So Friday it starts to cool off a bit. The temperature itself was not so cold, but the wind was blowing and therefore the wind chill was quite chilly. Annika did not go outside for recess at school, much to her dismay. (She always looks forward to outside time with her classmates, yet at home by herself she does not enjoy it as much. Odd.) By late Friday the wind had picked up quite a bit and we had a winter advisory due to high winds combined with cold temperatures. And here we on on Sunday, with a high so far of 9 degrees. The wind has died some though, so it only feels about -6 degrees. Quite balmy compared to yesterday : )

And to make poor Bill shiver with confusion: Lauren has a pool party with her Brownie Troop today. He just cannot understand swiming in the winter. ...my poor California man.