Tonight on KDKA, the weather team gave their prediction for the upcoming winter of 2021-22. Before that was to happen, Ray Petelin gave his review of last winter. It was right on the nose, except for December and February.
His prediction for November was spot on, but for December, he was way off. December saw 26.5” in the Pittsburgh area and one of the snowiest Christmas days that I can remember.
The first day of the month saw a sizable amount of snow. I was working in Wilkinsburg that day and roads were mainly wet. I had to clear off my car at multiple times before heading home. The next day as the snow moved out felt really cold. I had worked in Blairsville the next day and ventured out to Ligonier afterwards to my favorite coffeehouse known as Abigail’s. Here’s the calm before the storm and after the snow hit in little Stars Hollow.
The second storm hit on Dec. 16 and dropped nine inches of snow in Pittsburgh. We were counting the second leg of Lowe’s in Bethel Park and while it was calm on our arrival, by our 10:30 break it was coming down. By the time we finished at 1:30, everything was covered. My coworkers were cleaning off their cars and trying to make the treacherous drive home. I know I had a hell of a time navigating 88 through Castle Shannon. It took me more than an hour to get back home. A perfect night to hold our Toastmasters meeting online.
The third storm came on Christmas Eve and dropped plenty of snow the next morning. If you were dreaming of a white Christmas, you got your wish. Five inches of snow for one of the snowiest Decembers on record.
January was predicted well, but February saw twice the predicted amount of snowfall. We kicked off the month with a good snowstorm but a week later we really had quite an adventure getting to our destinations.
February 9 was a difficult morning for travel as our guy showed up an hour late. Accidents were everywhere on the main roads. Vehicles getting in accidents, cars landing in ditches, it was a crazy day to be out on the roads.
March was quiet while April saw a few blasts of snow on April Fools’ Day and on the 21st.
Ray’s prediction for this winter sees two inches of snow for November, which ramping it up to ten inches in December. January will be the snowiest month with 17”, while February will have 12”. Winter is the shortest season and February is the shortest month, but both of these seem to last forever. March and April combined will see 5” of snow. Remember, March of 2018 ago saw some big snows after a warm February.
Tomorrow may see the first snowflakes of this season but, it won’t amount to much.
I’ll close off the blog with a quote from my favorite snow lover.
Stylish 🍒 