Whither winter?
 

As I sit in my office looking out at the pouring rain, and the 10 degree (absolutely balmy for December) temperatures, I wonder if we are going to be subjected to another mild - boring? - winter season. I suppose that not having to deal with major snow falls in the city is a plus but the ski season certainly suffers.

Then I hear about the weather woes down south as the Americans try to deal with the end of their Thanksgiving long weekend and travel plans affected by heavy snowfall. The great white north sure seems to be getting off light.

However, reading the following article in today's paper has me wondering how the TFP-ers from across the pond are dealing with the weather. What are your stories?



Weather360

Bitter cold kills 8, halts air traffic in Europe



GENEVA—Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures swept across Europe, killing at least eight homeless people in Poland, closing major airports in Britain and Switzerland, and causing delays to rail and road traffic across the continent.

In addition to Gatwick, one of Britain’s busiest airports, and Geneva, Switzerland’s second biggest one, Edinburgh airport in Scotland and Lyon-Bron airport in southeastern France were shuttered Wednesday as staff struggled to clear the runways of snow.

In Poland, police eight men died Tuesday night after a bitter cold front hit the country, with temperatures falling to around -20 Celsius. Police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said the men had all been drinking.

Sokolowski said the men died in different parts of Poland, where many people freeze to death each winter, mostly homeless people and drunks. The coldest temperature registered Tuesday night was in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, where it was -26 Celsius.

Officials at Gatwick said the airport would remain closed until early Thursday morning, stranding about 600 flights that were expected to depart Wednesday. The airport has added extra staff on the ground working “around the clock” to clear the runways. Passengers were advised not to travel to the airport but to check with their airline or visit Gatwick’s website for updates.

Geneva airport will be closed until at least 2 p.m. local time, said spokesman Bertrand Staempfli.

Zurich, Switzerland’s biggest airport, reported delays and cancellations on the day many VIPs, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, were travelling to FIFA’s headquarters to push their countries’ bids to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.

Airport spokeswoman Sonja Zoechling said officials anticipate heavy snowfall there from 1 p.m. local time, but expected to keep flights going.

Still, the presence of so many private jets in Zurich on Wednesday means the airport has had to turn down requests for diverted landings, she said.

The European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol also reported severe delays at Berlin’s Tegel airport and in northern Spain.

Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel were affected. Operators said six trains to and from London were cancelled and delays of up to 30 minutes on other services were expected.

Swiss weather agency Meteosuisse forecast more snowfall throughout the day as a low-pressure front centred over western Europe moves slowly eastward.

French weather service Meteo France placed nine regions in the northwest and southeast of France on a weather alert warning of snow and ice, in effect until Thursday morning.

SNCF, France’s national railway, said traffic on the main southeast routes has been affected by strong snowfall, but 80 per cent of high-speed trains were running.

Some 60 flights had to be cancelled at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s largest, due to planes that were not able to fly in on Tuesday because of weather problems elsewhere. There were no delays due to the weather on Wednesday, the airport said.

Winter weather caused some 2,000 accidents on German roads on Tuesday, officials said. A new law requiring German drivers to use winter tires took effect Wednesday. Drivers still using summer tires will be fined.

In Poland, police were carrying out patrols to find homeless people and get them into shelters, and appealed to Poles to contact authorities if they saw anyone lying out on benches or the streets. Throughout the country there have also been delays in rail travel.

Poland’s bad weather also was blamed for a collision between a tram and a car that killed one person in Szczecin.

-- The Associated Press

We're used to cold in Finland. It's been down to -20C lately, -11 now. However this cold at this time of year is not common for us either, the coldest time is often in January.

30+ years ago, when I was a kid, winters were like this for several months, but with lot more snow. Now we have barely enough snow to cover the ground, and since we are used to milder winters, I hear people complaining that this current cold period is lasting too long.

We didn't get any bad storms and even then we are pretty well prepared to plowing the snow and there are no such big problems with traffic as there might be in more southern parts of Europe.

Likewise in the northern U.S., and I'm sure even more so in Canada. But if it snows even just a few millimeters in Atlanta, for example, the whole town seems to go into chaos.

It's already snowed here in the Pacific Northwest, which I find crazy, but it's not the first time it's happened. Personally, I'm excited that we may be in for a snowier winter--a couple of inches of snow usually means we get a snow day, and it also means more snow at the nearest place we can go to ski for free.

I wouldn't live anywhere that didn't have 4 seasons. I'm an avid skier and quite fond of winter. I put away the motorcycles and had my snow tires mounted at the beginning of Nov. That is pretty average for me over the past 11 years. It's been a bit colder than average, though snow fall has been a bit light.

I love cold weather, and I really love snow and always want more. (Three years in the midwest was not nearly enough) However, where I live snow is quite rare so I make the most of it when it does arrive. The temps have gotten down to freezing a few times, but I haven't turned the heat on yet. The weather took a turn for the much colder yesterday after a few stormy days so maybe some real winter weather will set in.

I got pulled over once for doing the speed limit on my way to the Atlanta airport with snow on the ground.

"Snowplows in Colorado leave more than this" seemed to be an adequate excuse. Or maybe he was happy that another Yankee was leaving.

Ugh I HATE winters!!!!!!!!!! :mad: I was going to go mad if I had to spend one more morning shoveling out a driveway or trying to navigate an unplowed, unsanded country road. Blech.

Once I moved here to Tennessee I thought I had put all that behind me but last year turned out to be one the coldest and snowiest in decades. This year seems to be starting off no different after the t-storms and tornadoes moved out Tuesday morning a cold front came through and dropped some flurries and a little accumulation on us...now its just a little on the chilly side but at least whatever snow we got has melted.

:):):)

In Norway it's been the coldest November since 1924 and December doesn't look any better.
It's 18-25 deg below zero (Celsius) - today our car refused to start. It was too cold :(

I like the winter, but prefer the temperature to be between 5-10 deg below zero.

Not trying to be rude, but I'm SO ready for global warming ;)

We've already had quite a bit of snow compared to the last several years. I hope it doesn't keep up, I detest snow with every fiber of my being.

No snow at all yet in the immediate Philadelphia area. But a friend sent me a photo, I think it was from last week or just before that, in NYC right in front of the Flatiron Bldg with snow on the ground.

I've noticed local squirrels seem to be acting ...at least based on my interpretation... more panicky and nervous than usual and I think it might be because they sense a heavier than usual snow season coming. Also might explain why a lot more than usual are being squashed on the roads. I've already had a couple practically jump under my tire and get smashed.

It was a balmy 33c here today. That said, it's the rainy season and we have been getting a lot of rain. The good thing is, it doesn't rain all the time. We get four or five hours of steady downpour, thunder and lightning, etc. and then it's usually sunny (like it is right now as I write this).

We don't really get winter.

...

The older I get the more I dread winter. Not just the snow but the cold. I'm fine with whatever happens until the end of December. But after that it gets so much worse for two months and that really sucks. I am quite happy that this winter seems to be starting late. I'm not happy that by all accounts we'll get hit pretty hard over the weekend. Dealing with lake effect snow from Lake Michigan can become very trying.

It was -8c the other day. I used it to finally defrost the freezer.

It seems to get colder every year, even though the last few have been relative cake-walks around here. It's 13F at the moment.

We get lake effect snow here because of the Great Salt Lake. Certain areas of the valley can pretty much expect to tack on 4-12 extra inches on top of what the weatherman is predicting because of this. It's awesome!

One more reason to hate winter in the Salt Lake valley - we have horrendous pollution (inversions). I believe at one point last winter that we had the worst air quality in the US. Salt Lake City is basically at the bottom of a bowl and when the warmer air gets trapped by cooler air on top of it, the air in the valley becomes a smog soup - some days, you swear you're chewing it instead of breathing it. I can tell when there is an inversion without watching the weather because my tonsils become inflamed and I have a sore throat until a storm cleans the air up.

Is it spring yet?

A coworker of mine is originally from SLC and she says she can only remember once growing up where they had a green Christmas. The rest of us laughed because those of us who grew up here can only remember one white Christmas.