Sunday, February 13, 2011

A heat wave in Kentucky...highs in the 50s this week

The last time I didn't wear socks in the house was mid-November. Since Thanksgiving, we've had cold temperatures and snow on the ground each week. For more than two months, highs have generally been in the 30s and lows in the 20s or even colder. We've even had lows in the single digits near zero and wind chills below zero. It's 50 degrees outside as I write this post, a temperature we haven't felt in a while.

According to Lexington's LEX 18 chief meteorologist Bill Meck (read his weather blog at http://www.lex18.com/bills-weather-blog), Lexington has had 27.4 inches of snow, which is the 9th highest on record. This is almost three times as much snow as an average winter. The average high since December 1 has been 35 degrees, and there have been 53 days when the temperature did not rise about 40 degrees. We've had 32 days when we didn't get above freezing.

I started taking photos of the ice and snow in early December.


This amount of snow on our back deck was enough to get me excited. Little did I realize what winter had in store.


This first dusting happened while I was decorating for Christmas, which was nice. Within a few days, here is what the back deck looked like.


Remember the sunflower...how about snow flower.


We had a white Christmas. It started snowing Christmas Eve and continued through the morning.


Cash went outside in some of the first snow.


 During a period of melting, giant icicles hung from the roof.


I really like to see the snow fall at night. It makes everything so bright.



Spring is technically more than 30 days away, but we're having a warming trend for now. David and I agree this is as far north as we'd like to move at this point. Last Wednesday wasn't a fun driving day, but I still think I prefer this much cold and snow for a couple of months compared to many many months of Florida's heat and humidity.

There is a small amount of snow on the back porch now, but it will all be melted by tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day!