h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yes, the weather in Denver hasn't been that great for almost a month. We've had three snowstorms. Some of the sidestreets are annoying to drive and have caused damage to vehicles. Some of the sidewalks are a little stressful to walk. And I'm not going to use my bicycle for a while, because it's a pain in the bicycle seat to ride over the ocassional snow, ice, puddle, pothole ... and try not to hurt yourself or get your tire stuck too deep in slush or water.

And now we're getting bitter cold: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/weather/10718637/detail.html

I would like to hear less about it. Yes, it's news and all, it's even a bit interesting (Denver gets its share of snow in normal years, but most of it is in March and when it does snow, it's usually quite sunny in the next day or two and the snow melts away not long after. This is very different for us.).

Maybe I ought to be in Hawaii: http://denver.yourhub.com/PARKER/Blogs/Active-Life/Recreational/Blog~144823.aspx

"For tonight, expect the temperatures to continue dropping statewide with single digits in Denver and on the plains overnight. There will be patches of freezing drizzle and flurries scattered about with areas of fog."

Yuck.

I don't even watch/listen to the news anymore. If it's going to snow/get bitter cold, etc., it'll do it and I'll figure out how to cope.

Agreed. Let life disappoint us as it comes. Ironically, this leads to less disappointment.

Snooze, you lose, you Denverites, Denverians, Denvorkians, Denverbians, Denvernippians... whatever you call yourselves.... you're experiencing a typical Ohio winter! Mwaaaa haaa haa ahhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! *cough*

A. Dragonfly

This too shall pass.

Or a typical Colorado winter ...

Bundle up Dragonfly.

Keep warm and take care Dragonfly.

Its horribly, unseasonally warm over here. Often above 10 centrigrade. I wish we could have a proper winter, so many of our winter flowers won't be seen until we do. Many animals are not hibernating, even bees are coming out, spring flowers have been out for over a month. Its all messed up.

May we get the weather we want, but I feel we are getting the weather we deserve. Deserve as in for not coming together over global warming anyway, I hope we will start taking serious action soon.

1) Dude, this is NOT typical for Colorado in December-January and not really typical for March, our snowiest month, either. Usually we'll have one big snowstorm or two, maybe three in a winter, and not have snow drifts lingering and lingering and icing over and causing potholes in the roads ... And we might, once every three years or so, have school closures, but this year, some schools have had them three different times. And do you often hear about DIA closing? No. Sure, that happened with the first storm and I don't think the other ones have affected us as much. This isn't typical and a lot of us are getting cranky: http://denver.yourhub.com/NIWOT/Blogs/Life/Philosophy/Blog~168241.aspx

(The above link is a much better depiction: "It's not melting, and every Friday, there's more, like your boss asking you to finish something up for him at 4:58 p.m.")

2) We're Denverites.

3) I can't exactly let the weather surprise me because of my job -- we're always tuned in. Also, I have to be out in at least seven blocks of it twice a day.

4) Bees buzzing around in January is pretty scary and unnerving.

5) I am trying to say that I'm a little tired of our weather being big news, yet at the same time I do want to make the point that this isn't usual for us and I know that many parts of the country have winters like this all the time. Consider this -- one of our biggest towns in our fastest-growing county (I think the town has about 40,000 citizens and growing) only has ten of their own snowplows to deal with our storms. When I go home and there are snowdrifts nearly the height of my jeep on either side of the driveway, almost a month after these storms began, it's hard to ignore.

6) So I wish it wasn't a big deal, but it is a big deal.

7) The main reason I wrote this is because the link to that weather story was on fark.com and the gut reaction was "overkill!".

Truly, I need more rest. I just realised that no one said I was wrong on my explanation of the situation ...

in 1981 a protest against the possibilities of 48 US cruise missile in the Netherlands started chain reaction in other countries. US historian Walter Laquer coined the word Hollanditis. Denverites sound simular to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollanditis

I knew you guys got severe winters, so I wasn't sure whether it was normal for you. I wish we could have some of your winter over here. The weather is getting very polarised, we need a little of yours, to convince those bees to go back to bed.

Relax Dragonfly, it may ease, it may not continue like this through to March. If it does though then my best wishes to you, for coping with it.

I am happy to listen to what you are going through, it must be very frustrating sometimes.

I hope my post wasn't insulting to you, A. Drangonfly.... if anything, I know what a trial a hard winter can be, having lived through many. I sympathize.

Weather ebbs and flows. Sometimes we come to expect a certain pattern, and when that pattern doesn't happen, we get all freaked out and think the world is ending. Well, maybe it is -- then again, there are historical precedents for this year's weather pattern in the US. I read an article in a local paper about how, as far back as they've been keeping track of these things, when Denver gets hammered with blizzards, we get nothin' in Ohio -- very true of this year as well.

There are dire predictions that we may wind up paying for our locally warm winter with one of the nastiest cold-snaps in history within the next month or so. These things tend to even out over time.

I don't know what to think of the global warming issue. There is little doubt that human activities are ruining our environment. The arguments about the problem are strange, though. If it's warm, it's caused by global warming. If it's cold, it's caused by global warming. If the weather is too calm, it's caused by global warming, if it's too violent, it's caused by global warming. I see a pattern here.

Personally, I think we'd be better off consulting the ancients on the matter...

http://www.nativeamericanjobs.com/Pictures%20NAJ%20website%20new%203-21-2001/indian%20weather%20rock%20comp%2070%20percent.JPG

I know, I'm making light of a serious subject, but feel free to throw the aforementioned rock.

I hear that they're having record warm temperatures on the east coast while California is getting ready for an Arctic freeze that could decimate the citrus crop the way it was destroyed in 1990, which I understand took two years to recover from.

Albuquerque and Las Vegas have had unusually cold weather recently.
Boston was warm enough to go to the beach last weekend (which I did). So, I expect that the Jet Stream is dipping way South in the West, letting Arctic air masses penetrate way down, but swooping back up to Canada and Northern neew England when it reaches the east Coast. Some day it will change, and we on the right coast will get the Arctic air.

There was snow here yesterday, and ice today. I can see the ocean (OK, the harbor) from my kitchen, and my elevation in my second story (American stories) apartment is over twice that of the town. So snow's *slightly* unusual...

'Here' being Crescent City, California, not Sacramento, of course...

You live on the second story of a mobile home, Amy? That reminds me: the othe rnight I dreamed that I traded in my old mobile home for a neew one that had three stories and looked like a cross between a small chateau and something out of "Moulin Rouge.*"


* Not the origiunal one, but the remake with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.

Good to see everyone's comments. s all around.

I think the weather (and other stresses in my life -- read: I gotta say no to a few volunteer opportunities, even if they will be fun and good for me, etc.) has gotten to me lately. I was also a bit tired when I last read this thread, so I kinda flipped out like a ninja!

I'm not sure I like the thought of how a ninja might flip out .

There are no kind and gentle ninjas, are there?

Of course there aren't kind and gentle ninjas ... sheesh!!!

And I feel bad for California's citrus crops, btw.