Snowfall Derby
For those worrying about the relevancy of newspapers the local Rochester Democrat & Chronicle offers its daily ‘Snowfall Derby.’ The cumulative snowfall, as of today, is 47.9 inches – a six-year high. Unfortunately, we are behind Buffalo and Syracuse, who respectively lead with 48.7 and 57.7 inches. We are not even at the midpoint. The average local snow fall season is 100.3 inches.
Living at the crossroads of Midwestern storms, gliding across Lake Erie, and Canadian blizzards swooping south over Lake Ontario, we adjust to the white stuff. Sledding, skiing, skating and snowshoeing seasons can last until April. Easter egg hunts are often inside. It is difficult to find them among the drifts.
Just when the local choir is humming, “Poor Us,” a horrific earthquake pounds poor Haiti. In moments an entire island crumbles. The death and devastation is heart-rending. This reminds us that Upstate New York may be close to the North Pole, but far away from earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, forest fires and droughts that haunt much of the world. We may dress like Eskimos, pay exorbitant fuel bills, and are heavily taxed for all the hardware that removes snow, but there are no fears of a Canadian invasion.
To our south are a dozen Finger Lakes that carve into hills, like Norwegian fjords. To the east are the Adirondacks Mountains, home of Hawthorne and Olympic pride. To the west is Niagara Falls, a place that millions hope to see, but we only visit with guests. The surface of the Falls actually freezes above the rumble of rushing currents. Except for frost bite, you could spend hours appreciating its frosty grandeur.
A warm front is moving in with a high of 39 degrees. That makes it a little dicey dodging ice cycles that fall, like spears, from sagging eaves. There is a major storm brewing in Winnipeg. If it stays above the Great Lakes, then dives directly south at Toronto, we may pull ahead of Buffalo and maybe gain a foot on Syracuse. Go team!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
