Winter!!

Two weeks in and winter is most definitely here; half an inch of snow is still on the ground from two days ago and not looking like it's going anywhere.  Actually, that's not quite true; it is likely to go with rain tomorrow but may reappear early Monday morning and then, any that does fall will linger with the even colder temperatures headed deep into the continent.

Today's low of 10.4 was the coldest this season but will be smashed Tuesday morning and won't be much below Tuesday's high. Sunday is likely to start with freezing drizzle that will change to rain showers before turning back to the frozen variety as it ends early Monday, moved offshore by the coldest air to invade Central Va. in almost 20 years. Lows Tuesday will drop to around or below zero and high will only make the teens; wind won't make it feel comfy even with sun. Wednesday will moderate a little, lows only single digits above zero and will drift closer to freezing for highs. The week's end will get closer to early January normals (what really is normal, I meant average). Hunker down and stay warm - and while chilly, the sun made it a great day for a wander in the woods.

So, (to dance onto touchy political ice) this cold must mean that the whole, global warming thing is a hoax. That would be wrong, and confusing weather with climate. World wide temps are still slowly rising, glacial ice is still mostly melting, both of which lead to sea level rises (warm water expands/melted ice fills oceans). Climates change slowly and weather changes daily, hourly. And, storms of all varieties, as predicted both 20 and 50 years ago with mentions of human influenced climate change, seem to be getting bigger and wilder. Of course, maybe the 7+ billion humans on the planet have fewer options but living, poorly in crowded danger zones and with phone ready reporters all over the planet we can now hear about any catastrophe, today; see it as it happens. A thousand years from now we'll know...but we aren't planning for that. Earth will still be here and there will be weather, today on earth.