The seasons––like Bob Dylan’s ‘times’–– are a-changin’

by Pat Laster

So the famous woodchuck Phil in Philadelphia saw his shadow. The bears at a zoo chose the “spring” bucket of food over the “winter” bucket of goodies. Nightly lows predicted for the week just past averaged 40 degrees. That spells spring to me. Besides, the spring peepers have been singing the entire month.
Oh, there’ll be more winter, but when lows stay in the 40s for a week, there’s something changing in this wonderful world.
The mini-snow of Monday, a-week-ago, in Central Arkansas, was indeed weak, even though the weather people scared some school folks into announcing on Sunday night that their institutions would be closed the next day. Even Henderson succumbed, Kid Billy said. He slept all day.
Reaching for the current Farmer’s Almanac, I found an article by Caleb Weatherbee, pseudonym for the publication’s weather forecaster, titled “Top Ten Cities Where Weather Can Shut Down Everyday Life.” Why don’t I share at least one instance of several cities shut down by a storm?
Washington D.C. – Before the … winter of 2009-2010, D.C. had seen some heavy snowfalls, but they were usually few and far between. The legendary Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 dropped 28 inches and caused the collapse of the Knickerbocker Theater, killing 98 people.
Chicago, Illinois – It is rare when snow freezes The Windy City to a standstill. On January 13-14, 1979, twenty-three inches of snow stranded thousands in offices, in schools and in buses. About 50,000 abandoned cars and 800 buses littered the streets and expressways.
Atlanta, Georgia – With usually mild winters, the storm on January 12, 1982 (6 inches coinciding with afternoon rush hour), the rare blizzard on March 13, 1993, and on January 9, 2011 (snow mixed with ice), all brought the city to a halt.
New York, New York – Despite being the “city that never sleeps,” a good snowstorm HAS shut down parts of this area. Two instances: the “Lindsay Storm” on February 9, 1969 that was forecast to be primarily rain turned into snow—an inch per hour. The sanitation department was unprepared and slow to get plows out. Mayor John Lindsay took a political hit after some sections remained unplowed for a week.
On December 26, 2010, even though blizzard warnings were given, New York City officials were again unprepared for the nearly two-feet of snow. Trains were frozen to platforms, airports were shut down, and again, many streets went unplowed for days.
Los Angeles, California – It was rain, not snow, that paralyzed L.A. on December 23, 2010. The rain that fell during this one week was equal to half the annual rainfall--nearly 8 inches—for the downtown area. Outlying communities saw homes and cars awash in mud, hillsides melting into major highways, and tens of thousands without power.
Dallas, Texas – Though usually mild, winters in this ‘humid-subtropical’ place are occasionally hit by “Blue Northers” that sweep from north to south, dropping temps rapidly, sometimes into the single digits. Then a deep blue sky follows. If a Gulf of Mexico storm develops and interacts, as it did on January 10, 2011, it can disrupt schools, businesses, power grids, and airports.
We're not looking for such a storm as shuts down our world, but a little more snow wouldn't be bad. At least for the kiddies. #