Two days ago I checked my e-mail and discovered a new message from the weather department of a local TV station. It said “Winter Storm Watch for Dane County.” I wanted to throw up. I knew there was precipitation in the forecast for today and tomorrow, but it was supposed to be rain or just light snow. I didn’t even click on the message because I wanted it to be a big, horrible mistake.
Last year someone goofed at the National Weather Service (NWS) and issued an erroneous tornado watch. The weather radio even howled, but 20 minutes later they issued a retraction. I hoped that this Winter Storm Watch was another such mistake.
I finally buckled and checked the NWS website. The watch was listed there too and the details suggested we could receive up to 6 inches of snow. Later in the afternoon, one of our local meteorologists was calling for 4-8 inches. When I heard that, I felt like a deflated birthday balloon. That day we had just hit 50 degrees for only the 5th time since last November. We were finally making some progress and now this.
I’ve often made fun of people who can’t handle Wisconsin winters and bail out for warmer climes. Our winters build character, I’ve argued. Well after this winter I just want my poor character left alone, thank you. I had to laugh at Doug Moe’s column in the Wisconsin State Journal this morning. A local TV station has created a T-shirt commemorating our survival of the 100-plus-inches-of-snow (it’s being revised now, but it originally said “I Survived the Winter of ’08 — Barely”). Doug offers suggestions for other T-shirts. My favorite one is the angry response: “I Survived the Winter of ’08 — I Won’t Die Until Al Gore Has to Give Back His Global Warming Nobel Prize.”
Thankfully by yesterday morning the Winter Storm Watch had been cancelled, and as the day progressed, the forecasted snow amounts got smaller and smaller. Today all the weather people agree that we’ll receive less than an inch of wet snow that only accumulates in grassy areas. I don’t care to see another flake of snow for a very long time, but considering what we were up against 2 days ago, the snow that is gently drifting from the sky right now is a reason for celebration.