And Winter Came
Newly released title song from Enya's 2008 holiday album.
December 24, 2008: The recent two-week period has all but taken our breath away with coast-to-coast storms of ice, snow, wind, torrential downpours, thundersnow, tornadoes and winter weather in the most unlikely places. From a blanket of white on the beaches of Malibu to New Orleans to Las Vegas, some of us are left wondering if the best way to see a White Christmas is to head for the place you would least expect there to be snow! This year, Mother Nature sure has made it clear that the winter solstice is a time not to be taken lightly.
December 21, 2008: Seattle. Two Seattle residents enjoy impromptu sledding on Denny Way in Capitol Hill as the city kicks off winter with the most snow in over a decade. Photo credit: Mike Kane/Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Visit the storm gallery.
December 18: 2008: Las Vegas. Palm fronds buckle under the weight of a rare pre-season snowfall that was the most since February 1979. Photo credit: Robert LaRocca, who features more delightful pictures of this event on her Real Estate blog.
December 11, 2008: New Orleans. Charter school kindergarden students and their teacher revel in the first December snow they've ever seen in their lifetime, as the last measureable snowfall was December 2004. Heart-warming to see that something so short-lived can bring such wild smiles to children in such a weather-torn city. Photo credit: The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which features an article and gallery of the blanketed Big Easy. Some areas just a few miles from the city received a much heavier blanket (6-8 inches!) as seen below:
While this photo journey around the country may temporarily lift spirits of snow-starved East coast powderhounds, you are no doubt left wondering: When will we join the fun?
North America snowcover on the first day of winter:
The encouraging indications I glean from this map are that:
1. For the first time since December 1971, Canada has snowcover coast-to coast. 2. Nearly half the continental US also reported measurable snow. 3. The albedo (reflectivity effect) of the white ground will chill the boundary layer of air, allowing for a large scale "recharge" of cold air to develop over the next 3-4 weeks. If that air remains locked in Canada, and the U.S. begin to experience a January thaw, I believe this will set the stage for a very cold and stormy period for the Midwest from mid January well into February.
So for those of us waiting to see "white in the winter night," your time to join in the fun is coming , it just may take a while for all the atmospheric dynamics to align just right. Until then, I might as well admit that I use songs from Enya on continuous play as a coping strategy during snow droughts. You couldn't tell though, right? Since I'm not ready to break this cycle of co-dependency, I have posted once more below for your holiday viewing pleasure our theme song from Enya's new album, And Winter Came: