Flaky weather prediction
They couldn't have gotten it much more wrong than they did last week. On Friday, the weather forecasters were predicting possibly the biggest winter storm to hit in a decade. Some people greeted this prediction with enthusiasm, especially Schweitzer Ski Resort, Silver Mountain, Mount Spokane, and 49 Degrees North. Les Schwab was packed with procrastinators - those who have yet to mount their winter wheels and tires. The grocery stores were inundated with people buying supplies to get them through a weekend potentially without power. Those of us who've lived here for any length of time are well aware of how power can be interrupted during a winter storm. Even the library was preparing. We printed emergency closure signs "just in case". If the storm got bad enough, or the power failed, we would close for the day. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was looking forward to our first real snowstorm of the season. It's always magical when we get dumped on. The landscape changes so dramatically. On the other hand, I was dreading it. We were planning to do our Christmas shopping in Spokane on Saturday. A big storm would definitely put those plans on hold. Also, Jonathan has been sick all week and, as is typical with college kids, he wasn't taking very good care of himself. We were going to take him some medicine, feed him a decent meal, buy him some supplies for his room (water, Mountain Dew, and Cup of Noodles) and make sure he was doing okay. We might not be able to make the trek if the roads were treacherous.
By Friday, there was not storm, no snow, nothing. A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the region. At least if the storm hit on the weekend we could all just stay home and hibernate. The winter storm watch remained in effect for that night and Saturday though. We held our breath. Saturday morning dawned to a landscape identical to the day before's. No snow. I looked on weather.com for the forecast. The winter storm warning and snow advisory were still in effect, the timing of the storm was just delayed a few hours. We decided to go ahead and make the trip to Spokane. This will likely be Tom's last weekend for shopping. By next weekend he'll be so swamped he'll probably have to work on Saturday. FedEx truly is Santa's shipper of choice this time of year.
We made it to Spokane, did our shopping (got it all done), then went to pick Jonathan up from school. We took him out for a burger at Red Robin, then made a stop at Safeway for supplies. I had already bought him the essential cold and flu remedies in Sandpoint, which I brought with me, so he was ready to face finals week (December 14-18) - at least physically. Let' s hope he's prepared mentally as well. By this time it was about 4:30PM - time to head back - and still no snow. Not even a flake. Wow, I couldn't recall when the forecasters had missed it so badly before. We thought we might be surprised when we reached Sandpoint because often it won't snow in Spokane but will dump on Sandpoint. Not this time. The storm was nowhere to be seen. It was a little disappointing. What on earth could have gone wrong with the forecast models?
Sunday's paper had an article explaining what went wrong. The storm apparently split at some point out in the Pacific with the major storm part going north to Canada while the milder part was what eventually reached us Sunday afternoon. We got a mere 1/2 inch of snow. At the moment it's lightly snowing, but we're not expecting much accumulation. I'm sure all the ski areas and skiers/snowboarders are disappointed. Those of us who have to drive in it, though, are not at all unhappy.
Off to face the day...
