Bracing for Winter

That seems to be an apt title, given our current weather situation and the forecast.  As of right now, a nasty nasty winter storm is taking aim on the area.  It sounds like nearly all of southern Wisconsin is going to see a foot or more of snow before things wind down late Wednesday.  Right now, the drive home tomorrow shouldn’t be too ugly.  It’ll start snowing in earnest just after I get home from work, so I want to make sure I don’t dawdle.  Then the winds pick up too and we’ll have whiteout conditions and near blizzard conditions come overnight Tuesday and through Wednesday morning.  If the winds are even just a little stronger than they think now, they’ll have to upgrade us to a blizzard warning (right now our winter storm warning starts at noon tomorrow and goes through midnight on Wednesday).  I’m hoping that work closes, but if it doesn’t, my mom and I will ride into work together, with her driving my dad’s truck.  And then even with the snow ending mid-day on Wednesday, the drive home on Wednesday won’t be much better as the winds won’t die down until late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning and the worst will be on north-south roads.  Unfortunately, all the ways home deal with north-south roads.  So we’re going to get lots of snow and it’s going to blow everywhere.  Honestly that’s the biggest thing going on right now.  Just preparing for a nasty winter storm (generally, storms don’t dump a foot of snow in a single episode around here).  And if we get any thundersnow at all (right now, all the total estimates are without thundersnow), our totals could go up in a hurry.  Right now I’m hoping, but not expecting my office to close on Wednesday.  And then the storm leaves and on Thursday we struggle to reach 10 degrees.  Overnight Wednesday night and overnight Thursday night will be very cold, especially Thursday night if we clear out at all (new snow+clear skies=rapidly falling temperatures).  I’ll be sure to take some pictures of the snow and the drifts and what not.  Otherwise, things are a waiting game.  If you want an idea of the weather for the next few days, look up the weather for Madison, WI.

"Life is measured not by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."