Skip to main content

The Magic of a Christmas Forecast


The frenzy picks up every year the week before Christmas at the mention of possible snow in the forecast...and when I say frenzy, I mean businesses start running promotions around it, people stock up on sleds and snowball makers, viewership of weather casts go up just to catch the latest inkling that snow might happen.
I LOVE IT!
Honestly I get caught up in the frenzy too since moving to the South where it's not common at all to have an official white Christmas with an inch of snow or more on the ground. But why?
Christmas is ultimately the celebration of the birth of Christ. To many, a timeless miracle. Families identifying as religious or not are brought together and united. The festivities, parades, concerts and traditions surrounding the special day invoke a spirit of giving and love. The joy felt by believing and celebrating is why people can hardly wait to put up their decorations in November. The anticipation of Christmas Day builds as Santa and his reindeer travel the globe to spread cheer. It becomes more clear through the passed down storytelling and song singing involving a wintry scene like the classic, Jingle Bells, with "dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh." 
For a meteorologist, predicting snow for Christmas becomes a prideful duty, along with tracking Santa and his reindeer on radar. It's knowing that we might be able to bring a little more magic to the Christmas spirit and we look forward to that chance of making wishes of a while Christmas come true. Living in the South means that the likelihood of being able to fulfill both in a given year is sadly impossible. 
So what does one do? Personally I hang on to the romanticized magic of snow on Christmas, even if it's just a few flurries, until its no longer atmospherically possible. I revert to the inner child and cross my fingers collectively with everyone else and wait! Wait for that next timeless miracle. :)


To finish up this last post of 2017 I want to send meaningful wishes of health and happiness to all of you for the New Year and joy spent with family and friends during this holiday season. While this Christmas will be spent as a celebration of life for my Grandmother Rukavina, I am grateful that her passing was relatively peaceful and it will bring our family together from near and far after time has separated us for too long. I'm incredibly grateful for my mother, husband, children, in-laws and extended family that they too are healthy and bring much joy to my life. Here's to a prosperous and happy 2018!!!


Comments

Unknown said…
Blessings to you and your this Christmas as well, Jennifer! Thank you for your post and I offer condolences and prayers in the loss of your grandmother. May you and your family find much comfort, and maybe a little laughter, as you reminisce about and honor your grandmother.
Beverly Steele, Mayfield, KY

Popular posts from this blog

Planting Zones Heading North

As our global climate changes, so does our planting zones, helping us determine which flowers/shrubs/trees are hardy in specific areas. The Local 6 area has always been split by 2-3 growing zones so placement becomes very important to those in the agricultural community. The image below represents the average over the past 30 years. Climate Central published the following information:  "What kinds of flowers, shrubs and trees you’ll find at your local nursery depends on your climate — how warm it tends to get in summer, and how cold in winter. A plant that’s happy in Wisconsin might be miserable in Alabama, and vice versa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formalized these differences into " hardiness zones " — strips of similar climate that run more or less east-to-west (except in the high mountains), where particular plants should do especially well. But as the planet warms under its thickening blanket of greenhouse gases, those zones are shifting northward. Th...

Updates on Upcoming Winter Weather Events

Sunday Morning Update: A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for much of the WPSD Local 6 area with a handful of counties just reaching Winter Storm criteria. Here is the latest map. They are in effect until early Monday. Snowfall totals have not changed much from last nights posting and I really feel this will still just be a road impact for Monday morning. Here is the projected snowfall total map: Sorry, TN. Looks like another near miss on the snow for you. :( Saturday Night Update: A Winter Storm Watch has been issued by the Paducah National Weather Service for most of the WPSD Local 6 area. Portions of NW TN and MO Bootheel have been placed under a Winter Weather Advisory all for winters weather on Sunday as colder air begins to arrive.   Rain will switch over to freezing rain, sleet, and snow during the day on Sunday eventually leading to accumulations in the watch/advisory areas. Initially any frozen precip will melt thanks to Saturday's mild temps and warmer pavement surfac...

Longer Allergy Seasons

The National Phenology Network is showing the early arrival of leaves on trees in the Ohio Valley, the Midwest, and Western United States this year. This trend has become more of a norm over the past past 50 years.   Climate Central published data this week showing the same trend since 1970 with notable attention to the West where states are seeing as many as 17 more frost-free days, extending the growing season. Here in the Local 6 area, the growth is not as notable but still averaging between 4-9 days additional to the growing season. Why does this matter? Aside from having an influence on which plants are suitable for planting zones, it has a much higher societal impact by extending the allergy season.  "As the climate warms from the increase of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the last spring freeze is trending earlier and the first fall freeze is coming later. This means the growing season is getting longer, and so is the pollen season— whether it i...