Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Forecast: Whiny with bouts of freak-out

Aaahhhh! The season is finally here!!

Down here in the heart of Texas they have four seasons:

Spring: Hard to say when this really starts since flowers bloom all year. Roses love January! Spring is generally agreed to be the time when the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush are covering everything - so March to April.

Summer: May through mid-October. Late October is when it may be cool enough to turn off the AC and open some windows without melting all the candles in the house.

Fall: Mid-October to late November. Oct-Nov. have been really pleasant -- either balmy or cool but no more than maybe a denim jacket at night needed. A few leaves do dry up and fall but it stays pretty green.

Whiny: From the first cold front that comes with a freeze or near-freeze, up until SXSW (mid-March).

Whiny just started yesterday! Central Texans are not a rugged bunch at all when it comes to cool temperatures. It froze in some places last night and may freeze in Austin tonight. (Buh-bye mosquitoes and some of you wasps!!) It will get down in the 30s and 40s during the night all week and only in the 60s and 70s during the day. People are now running around in OMIGOD amazement! Wrap up the pipes, bring in the pets (well, that's a good idea anyway), dress in layers, allow plenty of time to warm up the car in the morning!!! Film at 11!! You could die!

Warm up the car? Warming up the car is for near-zero temps where the battery and oil and stuff are having trouble dealing with bitter cold. This is sweater weather, if that. Back in St. Louis, which has an average winter -- sometimes bitter cold, wet, and gray for 6+ months -- there wouldn't be warnings like that until it got down around 10 degrees.



Oh yes, and the sun is BRIGHT and shiny here, unless there's a storm coming. Sun glare is a problem all the time. If there's ice, everything will close down. Fine with me, I'm not a fan of ice.
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3 comments:

TLP said...

Pretty funny! I live in PA. We get a real winter here. But, you're ahead of my area for any kinda freezing temps so far. Today was 70 degrees.

But winter will come. I love all the seasons. Each in its own time.

Blueberry said...

Weather seems to be in a weird cycle generally, with the extreme heat, hurricanes, etc. Last winter they had a white Christmas in Corpus Christi! It hadn't snowed at all there in 100 or 150 years, forgot which, and they made the most puny, pathetic snowmen you ever saw. I went down there a week later for an outdoor concert wearing only a denim jacket, which I took off during the show (and nearly ruined it by getting chewing gum on the sleeve while it was on the ground. urrrgh!)

You get a beautiful Autumn up there. PA is a beautiful place anyway!

Sprittibee said...

Love the Whiney vs. Winter. I agree that Texas winters are mild... being a Native Texan, myself. I much prefer those milder temps, but would like a longer winter... er... I mean, Whiney. :)