The Joy of Winter |
 Dave Thurlow, Host |
Today on The Weather Notebook, a few of my own childhood weather memories about how snowstorms could provide the single most joyous occasion imaginable: the no-school day. I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory.
The excitement of the no school day began with the evening television weather report. Back in the early sixties there were no radar or satellite pictures, no elaborate forecasting gizmos. Instead, an actual weather map was drawn on a board with isobars and fronts and other such things meteorological. This meant that the meteorologist had to be descriptive, creating a mental image of the snowstorm to come. They had to summon the memory and the imagination, both of which kept my 6th grade mind racing long after bedtime.
Now I don't remember what first creeps into the 6 a.m. consciousness of a school bound 12 year old on a normal day, but on a potential no-school day there's an influx of information that can size up the weather before the head rises from the pillow. Does the wind brush snow against the windows, or does a soft crackling sound mean a mix of sleet, snow and rain. Are the whines and whirs of tires muffled on a snow covered road? Is there any dripping or splashing of water? Does the snowplow blade scrape or glide? The positive snowy sounds would send me rushing to the window for the first look at the new backyard and neighborhood landscape, with school busses conspicuously absent.
If I ever get to the point where waking up to a fresh snowfall doesn't create a sense of comfort and wonder, then I know it will be time to start thinking about a different latitude....and for that matter, a different profession. The Weather Notebook is underwritten by Subaru, the beauty of all wheel drive, with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.