meteorological terminology
I was introduced to a couple new meteorological terms during yesterday’s snowstorm. Thundersnow, as the name implies, is thunder during a snowstorm. Apparently it’s not very common. One website reported it was officially recorded only around 375 times between 1961 and 1990. I did see at least one flash of lightning as well, which is frequently absent from thundersnow. The second term was Freezing Fog, which is a fog where the droplets freeze on contact with exposed objects and form a coating of rime and/or glaze. I didn’t seem much evidence of freezing fog where I was.
I managed to stay on top of the shoveling, finishing in three passes. Total accumulation seemed to be about 12″. While I was out during the second pass it was snowing at the rate of about 2-3″ per hour. Shortly after that it stopped and I was able to finish clearing the driveway. Just as I was finishing, the setting sun peeked beneath the clouds and lit up the sky with an amazing pink and gold glow.
Unfortunately, my snow clearing duties weren’t finished. My mom’s still sore from her car accident a few weeks ago and wasn’t up to the task. Fortunately, she has a nice snowthrower, but it still took about 3 hours to clear her driveway.
Needless to say, I was a little sore, which I suspect is why I didn’t sleep well and woke up early (hence the early posting).
