Groundhog Day!

Hooray, hooray, it's February, and about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox!

 

 

February 1 and 2 was and still is celebrated as a pagan holiday---Imbolc, the beginning of the end of winter. There would be feasts and gatherings, preparation for spring and growing season. The flower of Imbolc is the snowdrop, one of the first flowers to emerge in the lengthening and warming days. 

 

This holiday is also known as Candelmas,  a Christian festival that falls 40 days after Christmas. It is a festival of light, again to mark the longer days.

But in these times, February 2  is best known as Groundhog Day. People gather to celebrate Punxutawney Phil, in Pennsylvania, and Woodstock Willie, in Woodstock Illinois, where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed.  

 

So, will we have an early Spring, or  six more weeks of winter?

 

If the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.  Why? Sun and clear sky, the ground is colder.

 

No shadow means overcast, and the ground is warmer, and early spring!

 

January Days

 

 Remembering the snows of years ago.  The photo above is from the Chicago Tribune Archives of the Big Snow  of 1967.

The blizzard of 1967 is still  the largest single snow event  in Chicago history. During  35 hours on January  26-27, a total of  23 inches of snow fell on the city and suburbs.

We've had winters of ice jams and ice dams, double-digit subzero wind chills, Chiberia   and the polar vortex.  But when we think of January in Chicago, maybe it's the snow days we remember. 

January this year has  seemed especially long, and gray. There are 5  Tuesdays in January this year!  When will it be over?  We are all asking ourselves that question, as we walk on the treacherous  ice, under gray sky the color of dirty snow. 

But January has its beauty, too. Just ask the die-hard folks who ventured out the first day of not-so subzero temperatures to go to the grocery store or walk their dogs  under bright sun and dazzling blue sky.  

 We are almost 2/3 of the way through meteorological winter---December,  January, February. Yes, there can be blizzards in February, too.  Remember the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011?  This was the third  largest snowfall  total in Chicago history, a total of  21.2 inches (54 cm) of snow fell at O'Hare Airport. 

But February is the turning point. Days are getting longer, almost 2 minutes of daylight every day. Today, we will have 30 minutes 46 seconds more daylight than  the winter solstice on December 21, 2023.

 

Welcome to Chiberia!

 

Chiberia is back--- cold winds off the lake, the Hawk wind out of the west. This is the subzero side of Chicago. Some folks may remember single-digit temperatures and brutal -30 and -40- wind chills of years past. For others, this will be a whole new experience!

Yes, this may be the closest any of us will come to living on another planet. The extreme cold affects everything from  switches on CTA trains,  starting a car, doing anything outside.

If you have a dog or cat, please keep them safe. If it's too cold for you, it's too cold for them, too.

If there are stray cats in your neighborhood, Alley Cat Allies has some advice on how to help them. You can read more here.

Please dress for the subzero temperatures. The chart above, from the National Weather Service, offers you some examples---layering is the way to go-- wear loose, light layers, a windproof jacket, a scarf, a hat  that covers your ears, mittens or  gloves, and waterproof boots.  Snowboard pants are also great--loose and light, and plenty of pockets...

 Dress for the weather, and be careful out there!

January 6---And Snow!

 

 

 

 

We are still new to the new year, and new beginnings. Already, earthquakes, missiles and the first school shooting of the year.  Today is January 6--- and 3 years ago, it was Insurrection Day, a  violent attempt to overthrow an  election. It didn't start that day, and there is still a threat to democracy today.

Saturday, January 6---Epiphany, Three Kings Day.  And snow today! This is real snow, the snow the kids wanted for Christmas. About 1 or 2 inches of wet snow, here. Yes, enough to shovel.  It's so beautiful, clinging to the bare branches of the trees,  the milkweed  pods, and stems of the autumn grasses.  

The snow is the color of the sky, and the sky is the color of the snow.

And today, walking through the alley, there are  Christmas trees,  covered with snow. 

Happy New Year

  

 

Just past the  last full moon of 2023.  And today, 2 minutes, 36 seconds more daylight since the winter solstice on December 21.  

It's been a year of  tornadoes and hurricanes, erupting volcanoes, and wars.  The plague is still with us.  If you want to read more about the hottest, coldest,  rainiest and snowiest days in Chicago in 2023, here is an article from the Chicago Tribune.

No, we didn't get snow for Christmas, but there was some snow on Halloween!  

The new year will still  be influenced by the strong El Nino.  Will there be snow in January?

In November,  we will be voting in a general election. In the meantime, what will be happening in Ukraine, in Gaza, at the US Southern border?  

And still, we look up at the moon. In these  uncertain times,  the moon is still with us,  always changing phases. Waxing, full,  and waning.  And new again.

Wishing you all good things in the new year! 

Winter solstice 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

Counting the days to the winter solstice, and the holiday lights and decorations are festive in this dark time of year.   Sunset today, December 17,  is at 4:20 pm. 

This time last year, we were shoveling snow here. Friday, December 15,  it was a festive 51 degrees, and a neighbor was cutting the grass on the parkway!

 According to the old Celtic calendar, the solstice in December marks midwinter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the return of the light. This year, the solstice will occur on December 21, 9:27 CST. 

 Here's a post I wrote about it last year. 

 May you celebrate this time of year, whether summer at the South Pole, or winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Season's Greetings to all, this is the season of light.  

Amid wars and plagues, climate change and uncertainties, may this also be a season of hope, and peace.

El Niño update

 

 

 First week of Meteorological winter, and the holiday lights are welcome in the long nights and earliest sunsets of the year now. The December Solstice on December 21.  The high temperature was 51 on December 7  under cloudless blue sky and sun. It was the warmest December 7 in 42 years, since 52 degrees in 1981! 

The sunset was spectacular, too. It was a beautiful day---but it didn't feet like December.  Today, December 8, it was even warmer, almost 60 degrees!  Yes, unseasonably warm.  Enjoy it while it lasts, people say. And if you are from Chicago,  you may say, we'll be paying for this in January. 

Is this part of the El Niño effect?  Global warming?  Climate change?  

Yes, weather folks are confident  in a strong El Niño lasting through the spring. This means a milder winter here,  and not as much snow.

Global warming caused by human activity affects the ocean waters, too, which in turn affect the jet stream, and the polar vortex, and weather all over the world.

Global warming and climate change are not the same thing. Global warming is part of climate change. Due to warmer temperatures, hurricanes may be more extreme, and intensify more rapidly.

 Climate change is weather over time, a pattern of more severe storms, heat waves, droughts and flooding. 

These changes affect everyone, everywhere--from melting icebergs in Antarctica, to fall foliage in New England,  fewer bees, more mosquitos, changes in crops and timing of flowering cherry trees.  

We are all part of these changing climate patterns,  even as private jets fly into Dubai.