I remember when I was growing up, before there were any hints of global warming, it wasn't until Halloween that it started getting really cold. I could generally go trick or treating with out heavy winter clothes, so some years I do remember it being very, very cold.
Generally we did not see snow until December. But now we got snow on October 3, 2012 -- this is the southwestern corner of North Dakota. I grew up in the northwestern corner, so it's possible, it's always been colder and snowier in the southwest.
Anyway, here's the North Dakota weather advisory map. If you go the site at the link, you can see webcams of various locations in North Dakota: a) go to the sidebar at the left on that site; b) scroll down to the end or near the end; c) click on "Weather Cameras"; d) then go back to the map itself and click on the cameras. Beach, North Dakota is to the west of Dickinson, where you will see snow.
I digress, but one of the ... okay, two of my fondest memories when growing up in North Dakota -- during the coldest Januaries and Februaries when walking home late at night, maybe 10 or 11 p.m.:
- the crunchiness of the snow; it was so cold, the snow froze into very, very crunchy crystals that seemed so loud when walking on an otherwise very quiet, still night; and,
- the northern lights
the colder the temperture the louder the snopw squeeks.. when i lived south of Bemidji, mn. we used to try to quess how cold it was by the squeeek of the snow..
ReplyDeleteI did not know that (about the sound of crunching snow and the temperature), but that fits with what I remember. I remember some nights it was so cold, and the snow made such an incredible sound. It was even more magical because there was absolutely no traffic, and some nights, absolutely no wind, so it was so still and so quiet. With heavy parka, gloves, etc., and no wind, I never felt it was that cold. And it could have been 40 degrees below zero.
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