What's up with this winter?

After all of the incredibly frigid arctic air over the holidays, and then enough of a moderation to finally get out there and try our cross country skis, the mercury kept on rising and we had a couple of really nice days. In fact, I switched up my workout plan last Thursday morning to take advantage of a 50* temperature at 5am and go for a run in capris and a shirt, no layers needed!

On one hand it's nice to have a bit of a break from the cold weather, but honestly, it's a disappointment to lose all of the snow. After our backyard adventure last weekend, I've found myself returning again and again in my mind to think about when and how we can get back on skis. Critical ingredient: enough snow on the ground, and sadly, it was totally missing as of last Thursday afternoon.

My guess is this is fairly unusual. As soon as the winter weather begins to appear, my very safety-conscious company sets out boxes of salt for the sidewalk, reminds everyone of the winter weather procedures, and posts safety notices around the building to "walk like a penguin" to avoid trips and falls.

With a 50* wakeup, it was hard to imagine there would be any risk of trips and falls - but this is, after all, Wisconsin. The warmer weather was very short lived, and I received a weather alert for a phenomenon that was a first for me, despite all of the different places we've lived.
Flash freeze?! It was kind of a mess, with rain turning to flurries and a wet ground ready to turn into ice as the temperature plummeted. By the time I left work, it was right around 30*, a twenty degree turnaround from my delightful run that morning.

As evidence that I'm truly embracing northern life and fitting in pretty well, I didn't mind the colder temps, and was even a little bit irritated that there was no measurable snow to go with the change. It's all about the skiing! I'm hopeful we'll get some tonight and into tomorrow, like the forecast says. If it's going to be cold, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!