Goodbye Zone Nine Winter

The prediction  for a snow flurry or two was changed to perhaps a spotty accumulation of a trace to an inch.  As a cold moist air mass stalled over us, the snow came in sideways and temperatures plummeted to twenty degrees.  The snow fell all night and until Monday afternoon.   This was a bit of a shock having just experienced the warmest January on record.

The call announcing that school would be closed came long before dawn.

Usually when it snows, we all go outside and take a walk in the unusual white stuff.  However, with the strong cold wind making it miserable,  most folks stayed inside.  Notice the lack of footprints on the public sidewalk.

The hummingbird feeders were near empty and frozen so new nectar was prepared to fill them.  That froze in just a few hours so the feeders were zapped in the microwave to thaw them again.  Poor birds. 

Just when we thought that we'd have a zone 9 winter ...

We are NOT amused.

Although the snow has stopped, the freezing temperatures will be with us for at least the rest of the week and roads will continue to be slick tomorrow.  I wouldn't be surprised if schools are once again closed.

This is nothing compared to the cold suffered by those experiencing the polar vortex event but I'll certainly be glad to see the snow melt and the temperature to rise!