Snowpocalypse 2.0?

Well, here we go again...maybe. After an unprecedented four days off from school last week because of winter weather, it looks like we're in for a second round tonight--just in time to mess up my departure time for TMEA in the morning. (I'll have students from my school with me who will be performing down there, so if the school closes, the trip can't start yet.)

So what do you think--will this be a (much briefer) repeat of last week, or will it be more like this past Sunday night, when the much-heralded "snow during the Super Bowl" never actually took place?

UPDATE: We did get our "winter events," but by midday the following afternoon, the sun had been out a few times, and a lot of what came down had already evaporated. Here's hoping for a travel-worthy day on Thursday.

North Texas Can't Handle a Super Bowl? That Idea Needs to Be Put Back on Ice

I've watched the local TV news more during the past week than I have since Christmas, when I'm at my parents' and they watch it every day. So I've had to put up with all the smack that a lot of the national sports reporters' smack talk about how this area supposedly can't handle a Super Bowl just because the weather this week is colder than either of the home cities of the teams in the game. I know that Jim Rome (whom I've largely ignored over the years) said, "6 inches of snow? Really, Dallas? Good luck getting another Super Bowl." And Sports Illustrated's Peter King, whom I used to respect, tweeted, "I'm telling you: I-30 between Dallas + Fort Worth is a plow-less, snow-windswept moonscape. This is officially a debacle." And there are more at the link above.

My reaction? Eh, put a(n athletic) sock in it, guys. It's not like this sort of thing happens every week here; it's just an unfortunate convergence of events. (Though even I'll admit that I'm amused by those who are saying that this is obviously proof that God hates Jerry Jones. Heh.)

But the thing that really got my dander up was a column by a Fox Sports writer whom I'd never heard of before--and now have no interest in reading again--named Alex Marvez, who came up with this clunker of a statement:

Let it snow.

Let there also be sleet, freezing rain and an avalanche.

Anything that will convince the NFL that plopping Super Bowls in cold-weather locales is a brr-brr-brr-brutally bad idea.

Umm, dude...Dallas/Ft. Worth isn't exactly a "cold-weather locale." Neither is Atlanta, which had a similar thing happen when it hosted Super Bowl XXXIV back in 2000. It's just a freak of nature over which nobody has any control. Bad timing? Yes. But a reason to exclude all but a few cities from Super Bowl consideration for the future? Not at all.

OK, I agree with the guy that it might get, umm, interesting in a few years when Super Bowl XLVIII is played in the New Jersey Meadowlands--outdoors. And even though he notes that "such a cold-weather site is better equipped to deal with the elements than an area like Dallas-Fort Worth," at least the game here will be played with the roof closed.

It appears that, if this Marvez character had his way, the Big Game would only be played in two places: Southern California and South Florida. It hardly seems right to let those two areas hog all the attention (not to mention the economic impact from the big week), especially when other areas have new stadiums that they want to show off on the big stage (and especially when L.A. doesn't even field a team at the moment).

Look, I'm sure everyone wishes that the weather was a little more typical of the area this week. If it had been a week ago, the high today would be 75 (and how much do you want to bet that a few Northern reporters would be griping about the heat?). Yes, the bad weather couldn't have come at a worse time, but it's not like anybody could help it, and--apart from a few debacles like the rolling power blackouts and DART dropping the ball on having its trains ready to run on Tuesday)--everyone handled things as best they could.

Here's hoping for nicer weather for the next two days and a game that goes off without a hitch tomorrow; if the big day itself leaves a good taste in everyone's mouth, maybe those same mouths will finally stop slamming us.

Obligatory Snow Picture 2.0

Yeah, I know--I posted my obligatory annual Texas snow picture here a few weeks ago...but I had to post another one, because this snowfall is far superior to the previous one:


Last night's snowfall, on top of the remaining ice (and taking place during a time when we've been below freezing for over three days) was certainly nice-looking, but it threw a complete monkey wrench into anyone's driving plans today. I did take my own trek to the outside world this afternoon, but I stayed much closer to home this time, and the biggest challenge was getting back up my own driveway. (It's hard to differentiate the driveway from the yard in this picture, but take a look at the height of the railroad ties at the front of the yard and you'll get an idea; my driveway is pitched at about a 45-degree angle.)

This has been one of the strangest weeks of winter weather in the entire time I've been in North Texas; I can't remember there being four missed school days at any time. But, as Annie says, the sun will come out tomorrow, and long-delayed errands will get done. I for one can't wait!

Daily Snow Trek Report #3

And now, the latest report from Nanuk of the North, freshly returned from his daily trudge through the tundra: On the one hand, some of the roads are considerably better than yesterday, and more people are out and about. But on the other hand, bridges are still quite packed with ice, as are many parking lots and places that are completely in the shade.

I was able to hit a top speed of 30 MPH on the main road by my house, which is almost completely clear today. But the aforementioned bridges and shady spots (one of which is still so icy that it doesn't have a full set of ruts in it) caused the speed to go back down to yesterday's 20 MPH, which is fine; it's not like I'm in a hurry or anything. (But today did mark the return of a few overconfident idiots who think it's OK to go the regular speed limit, no matter the weather. I try to stay as far away from those people as possible.)

I won't bet on the status of school for tomorrow quite yet. I do have a few brave souls coming over for lessons, but the mad scramble to get everyone in before Solo & Ensemble will be all for naught if school is canceled again tomorrow; the contest will then be postponed for three weeks.

And they're saying there could be snow tonight. That would certainly make things look nicer than they have been, but it would also cover up all the ice. Here's hoping that a similar trek tomorrow afternoon is still possible.

A Most Unusual Groundhog Day

It's a good thing that Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning, because if there were ever a time when we needed an early spring, this year would certainly fit the bill. With schools closed for a second day (which is threatening to turn into a third), we're running out of bad weather days, and everyone's starting to get cabin fever in a big way.

I got a little bit of relief from that earlier this afternoon. Thankfully, local hamburger chain Scotty P's decided to open today and trumpeted that fact on Facebook. With one of those just up the road, I decided to venture out farther than the corner store today, and it was great to get out of the house for an hour or so. (Others had the same idea, of course; Scotty P's was nearly full.) The roads were much better than they had been yesterday, although the bridges are still pretty much a sheet of ice. I didn't drive any faster than 20 MPH, nor did anyone else seem to be going faster than that. The most treacherous terrain I encountered was the sidewalk, so walking was much more dicey than driving.

There's a chance that schools will be closed again tomorrow, so I'm bracing myself for a very busy day on Friday if we get to go back. This has definitely been the strangest winter ever in the whole time I've been in North Texas, and it's not even halfway done yet.

Snowmageddon/Sleetpocalypse

So they've just announced a second snow day for both my public schools and the college. I can't say as though I'm surprised, because I took a quick trip down to the corner to get a newspaper, and a morning commute tomorrow would have been adventurous, to say the least.

I'm not exactly happy about this, of course; my high school students have Solo & Ensemble contest on Saturday, and it will be a major scramble to get everyone's lessons rescheduled between now and then. But I'll do what I need to do, because there's really no other choice.

It is pretty crazy that we're using up both of our designated "bad weather days" in a single week like this, because there's no saying that this will be the end of the wintry weather (anyone remember last year's spring break snowfall last year?). Still, safety has to be the primary concern, so they'll deal with any extra missed days as best they can.

And there could well be more missed days, as it's not supposed to get above freezing until Friday. This could get interesting...

[Insert Obligatory Snow Picture Here]

I meant to post this yesterday when similarly doing so on Facebook, but I had to get the picture off the phone before doing this. Anyway, in honor of the (at least) once-a-year snowfall that seems to hit North Texas, here's my seemingly annual picture of Casa de Kev in the snow:


That is all. You may now resume your snowball fight, if anything is left in the yard.

No Ark Needed Today, But It Was Interesting

Living as far inland as Dallas/Ft. Worth, it's not too often that we're directly affected by hurricanes. And while Tropical Storm Hermine never quite made it to hurricane status, she certainly wreaked havoc with our weather all day today.

It's not as if we don't need the rain up here; we certainly do. But getting it all at once as we did (some areas of the Metroplex have gotten ten inches since yesterday) causes all kinds of problems--flooding, treacherous commutes into work, and so on. And the event that seemed to get the most news coverage was the early evening tornado that sheared part of a wall off a paint warehouse on Mockingbird Lane near Irving Boulevard just west of I-35. (I myself was teaching right through a tornado warning, blissfully ignorant of same until someone texted me about the status of an evening event.)

I can count myself among the thankful, because the only effect that today's weather had on me personally was a couple of really rainy trips between schools. I use a few back roads on my Wednesday commute, and they were almost flooded, but not quite; the afternoon activities at my last school of the day (which would have included five of my lessons) were almost canceled (actually, they were for a second, but they were subsequently un-canceled by the time school let out), and the bridge that would have taken me home was almost closed due to high water, but the levels dropped by the time I used it.

I hope that everyone else was as lucky as I was, and may tomorrow be a much less eventful (and drier) day.

Welcome to Dallasseattle, Part 2

Last fall, I noted that we'd been having a ridiculous amount of rain for the entire semester thus far, and this week's weather has been downright Seattlesque once again. In fact, it might be more correct to call it Houston weather, because it's doing exactly what I remember as a kid: Hot early afternoons, rain breaking out sometime in the mid-late afternoon, and then pretty muggy in the evening after it clears up. (People from Florida will be able to relate to this as well.)

I'm not complaining, mind you; my lawn is nice and green again, and after a decent amount of rain early in the year, we'd gotten behind again, so it's nice to catch up, even if it's chosen a single week to do so. But if it continues to do this for the next several days, it might (literally) put a damper on people's picnic plans and some of the local fireworks displays.

The weather app on my iPhone shows rain for the foreseeable future, but hopefully, we'll get at least a brief respite from the wet stuff for part of the long weekend.

A/C, or Not A/C: That is the Question

OK, I promise that what I post on Facebook won't always drive what I post here (though it may well have a lot of overlap with Twitter). But this seemed like a timely topic for both forums (and I've blogged about it here before), so here goes:

I posed this question today: "How long will I hold out before turning on the A/C in the house? It has yet to get above 78 in here--my usual spring/summer setting--even on the hottest afternoon."

The first response I got, from an old high school classmate, was "Are you green or broke?" I pointed out that it wasn't really either, but that I had managed to acclimate myself to 78 in the spring/summer and 68 in the winter. And I was quite surprised to find out that many people in my FB circle keep their houses at rather Arctic temperatures compared to mine. (73? 70? Really? I'd hate to pay their electric bills. Maybe I'm both green and broke compared to some of these folks.)

So feel free to place predictions on how long you think I can hold out before cranking up the A/C in Casa de Kev, as well as sharing the average late spring/summer temperature of your own domicile in the comments.

Blowing out the candles in a special way: Happy birthday to my Aunt Nora from Indiana, born a day before Tax Day and two days (and a year) before her younger sister, whom I call "Mom." This year, they're doing something unusual: Nora's in Houston visiting my folks, so the two sisters get to celebrate their birthdays in the same location for the first time in decades.

In DFW, We're Livin' in the 80s

No, I'm not talking about parachute pants or Flock of Seagulls haircuts or acid-washed clothing, but rather the weather. Everyone knew that it had been a pretty cold winter here in DFW, but only in the past few days did we realize that we were flirting with a record: Most consecutive days where the mercury stayed below 80 degrees.

Alas, the record was not to be ours. This afternoon, we hit 80 degrees at the airport for the first time since October 20 of last year. That's a string of 160 days, five shy of the record set 91 years ago.

I can only speak for myself, but I've been happy with the colder winter. My gas bill has never been ridiculously high, and it's nice to have some slightly better-defined seasons in an area where we usually only have "summer" and "not summer." And the wind today made it feel warm but not hot; no complaints about the day at all, save for the fact that I had to spend quite a bit of it teaching indoors.

How was the weather in your neck of the woods today?

Make breakfast in rapid-fire fashion: Want to liven up your morning meal? Here are the instructions on how to cook bacon with a machine gun.

Walking in a Spring Break Wonderland

I knew that it was supposed to get colder this weekend and maybe even rain yesterday, but the idea that there might be snow this weekend was unknown to me until a friend complained that his outdoor gig got postponed yesterday because of the possibility of the white stuff. But it's easy to be a weather skeptic here in North Texas, thanks to years upon years of screaming headlines on the ten o'clock news about the upcoming ARCTIC BLAST! that rarely, if ever, pan out the next morning.

I did see some precipitation that could be called a flurry-raindrop hybrid during yesterday afternoon's errands, and by the time we went to a late dinner last night, there was quite a bit of blowing snow, though the forecast seemed to have the heavier stuff to the north and west of the Metroplex. The roof was covered when I got home last night, but everything was supposed to stop by this morning, when the winter weather advisory was set to expire.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up to this:


(I love how the landscape lights look like giant mushrooms...)

So it turns out that Chicago wasn't my only snow experience in the Winter of '10 after all; I had been bummed when I missed the mini-blizzard here last month while I was away at TMEA, but who knew that winter would make an unauthorized trip across the border of spring (which started yesterday at 12:32 in the afternoon).

And now they're saying that there's a 50/50 shot of more snow throughout the entire day. But it won't quite hit freezing tonight, so there's little if any chance of spring break being extended by an extra day (which would be made up in a few weeks, on The Holiday That Schools Aren't Allowed to Call Good Friday Anymore). And to top that off, tomorrow's high is supposed to be 60. Gotta love our Texas weather...

So Far, Today Was a Snow-Go

One to two inches of snow expected in the Metroplex today, they said. I prepared myself for long drives between schools, even possible closures (and as I tweeted last night, I did not want a snow day today because of some important rehearsals for upcoming performances that were scheduled to take place). Starting around 5 a.m., they said last night. Moving in slowly from the west, they said this morning as I drove to school at 7:30.

So what did we get from this? Bupkis, so far. It was supposed to be heavier just to our south, in Hillsboro and Waco, but it actually stretched as far south as Austin, which got a rare snow day today. (My sister sent a picture of one of my nephews with the snowman he'd built; everyone say "Awww!") I have a feeling that the whole system ended up a bit further south than expected.

So if the DFW area is to break the record for most snowfall in a season, they'll need two more inches before spring, and it looks like today is out of the picture. And looking at the 10-day forecast, it's not supposed to drop below freezing again (after tomorrow morning) through at least March 4, so barring anything really unusual (spring break snowball fight, anyone?), the old record will stand.

Hey, fellow DFWers--anyone get snow today? Post your accounts (and cool snowman pictures) in the comments.

So Far, It's Stock Show Weather at TMEA

SAN ANTONIO--As I tweeted just a bit ago, some mornings you wake up, look outside and say "What a beautiful day!" Others, your response is just "gross." With cold, rain and fog, it's the latter here at TMEA today.

Up in Ft. Worth, they have a term for this: stock show weather, as the cold, wet stuff seems to plague their annual event. Granted, I'd rather have this than the snow that they're experiencing back home right now (though a friend texted that it's like a picture postcard at the moment), and it is expected to clear up by late tonight. It'll never exactly be shirtsleeve weather while we're down here, but at least it'll hit the 50s tomorrow and there'll be a break from the wet. (Meanwhile, back home, Dallas is expecting more snow today than Vancouver, where the Winter Olympics are starting tomorrow.)

The trip down was uneventful, and we even made pretty much record time despite a late start at the rental car place. The locally-based Air Force jazz band Dimensions in Blue opened the event in fine form last night, with a guest appearance from Woody Herman alumnus Dave Stahl, whose high trumpet chops are still solid after over 40 years in the business. I also enjoyed the solo work of tenorists Cody Brown and Rob Karns, altoist Ryan Leatherman, bari player/spokesairman Ken Drefke, pianist Darrin Dziergowski, and trombonist Don Marchand, a former college classmate of mine.

It's about time to venture out in the muck and catch some clinics and All-State rehearsals (I have two students in the community college jazz ensemble and one in its high school counterpart), as well as the legendary exhibit hall, whose gigantitude was noted here last year. I'll try to post updates here and there (and maybe catch up on some unfinished ones from last week), and I'll wrap it all up when I get back.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night Trip

SUGAR LAND--I made it here with no problems today, but my gosh--the middle of my trip (roughly from Fairfield to Huntsville) was among the stormiest trips I've driven in quite some time. At times, it was impossible to see a few yards in front of me (the drivers who inexplicably had their lights off didn't help), and I'm pretty sure that a decent portion of the trip was spent not touching the pavement at all.

As I said on Twitter, Godspeed to my fellow travellers whose journeys haven't yet begun.

Welcome to Dallaseattle

I can't remember a time when it's rained as much during the fall semester as it has recently. While it's not so unusual to see this much rain during the spring and summer, it's definitely weird to see it in September and October. Maybe it's trying to catch up from the dry spells of earlier in the year...

And how about that almost 40-degree temperature drop from yesterday? It was 87 degrees when I went to dinner last night, and it's supposed to be near 47 for the low tonight. (Thankfully, that isn't happening yet, since my high school students are just finishing up their football games in marching band as I write this. At least, for their sakes, it stopped raining in plenty of time for them to get to the stadium, and, with any luck, the seats were able to dry off before then.)

Someone on the radio the other morning made the crack that this really was Dallas and not Seattle (the latter does have a few more Starbucks), but anyone visiting from out of town the past month or so would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

Are you a fan of all this rain, or would you like it a little drier? And if you're not from Dallas, how's the weather in your part of the world?

Please Don't Rain On My Parade...

...or my baseball game, or my picnic, or my football game, or my trip to the grocery store, or...well, you get the idea. But this weekend, there was a good chance that your outdoor activity was indeed so affected.

This is the rainiest four days I've seen in recent memory. Sure, we were behind for the year (and down at my sister's place in Austin, they were--and still are--way behind, and it's been wet there this weekend as well), but it's crazy to see it all come down at once like this. I also can't remember the last time I heard of an actual flood warning on the radio as opposed to the "flash" variety. (Speaking of that, it was nice to hear Tom Hale--still a great weather name if you say it out loud--in the studio on KRLD instead of depending on the TV people like they do so often during the week. But I still miss Brad Barton...)

Did the weather mess up your weekend plans? I took a pass on attending the UNT football game because of it (and because I'm a bit, well, under the weather already with allergies this weekend), and, watching the fourth quarter on TV, I was glad I didn't go up there, since it appeared that everyone in the stands was wearing a poncho. Beyond that, getting around in general was somewhat annoying, because--as I said in the spring--a cane in the rain is mainly quite a pain, especially when balancing an umbrella in the other hand and having to carry anything else--newspaper, coffee, what have you.

Anyway, to all the locals, or anyone else who was under this downpour--I hope you made it through the weather relatively unscathed. From the looks of the freeways today, not everybody was quite so lucky.

They were lacking some street smarts: I do have one gripe for the city of Bedford: If you're going to close a road because of high water, it's best to put the sign saying so at the entry to the subdivision (as you did at Jackson and Cheek-Sparger), rather than a few blocks into it (as you did at Martin Parkway). I'm just sayin'...

Welcome to "Spring" Break?

Classes let out for spring break today, but it sure doesn't feel like it:



Thankfully, the rain has all but stopped now, but we still have yet to see that mystical yellow glistening orb that I remember from days gone by (some would call that "Monday"), and I'm still waiting for the temperature to crawl out of the hole it fell into during that 40-degree drop on Tuesday night. Our spring break doesn't feel very "springy" yet. (But it least this isn't happening a week from now; thank goodness for small favors.)

It's Friday the 13th...but I didn't teach anyone named Jason today, nor did I cross paths with a dark-hued feline or anything of the sort. Do you have even the smallest degree of triskaidekaphobia, or do you take days like today in stride? (A month ago at this time, when I was at TMEA, the hotel where we stayed, being in a renovated 80-year-old building, skipped from the 12th to the 14th floor, if memory serves.)

A Midweek Saturday

Even though we've had plenty of occasions during the winter when forecasters spouted predictions of doom and gloom, I had the feeling that the ice storm that started yesterday and solidified itself (pun intended?) overnight was for real this time. And sure enough, the weather didn't fail to disappoint. I woke up at six this morning to check the TV and radio for the status of my school district, and it, like virtually all the others, did indeed have the day off. I watched a bit of the TV footage before going back to bed for several more hours, which was nice; my Saturday this week will be taken up by an out-of-town workshop that I'm running, so it was very nice to get a substitute Saturday now.

A few random observations about all this:

• I know that, at 22 degrees, we can't hold a candle, weather-wise, to places in the North (compare Madison and Minneapolis--not to mention the 7 degrees that my friend in Wisconsin reported at lunchtime--and we're downright balmy here. But the fact of the matter is, Dallasites don't drive well on ice, we don't have the heavy equipment to clear it that northern states do, and it's just better for all concerned that people stay home if at all possible.


• I don't watch TV news much, but it's always amusing to see the reporters all bundled up and stationed near big freeway intersections like the High Five, Ft. Worth Mixmaster, and so on. I suppose they could do fine without the visuals, but it's become such a staple of news coverage in times like these that I suppose everyone has to do it. And there's something about looking at the glazed freeway surface that makes one think, "I'm really glad that I'm warm and dry in my house right now."


• But you do have to hand it to these people for putting themselves in harm's way. One of the reporters in Denton this morning regaled us with a (slightly embarrassing, to her) story of how she fell on her behind on an icy sidewalk; another one in Ft. Worth last night told the tale of their news van doing a 180-degree spin on a freeway, noting the uncomfortable feeling of seeing headlights in one's own direction.


• This type of reporting sure is rough on the local flora. It's bad enough to be sleeted and iced upon, but it seems like every reporter is doing something destructive to some sort of plant life, be it crumbling some leaves, ripping a shoot off a bush or repeatedly kicking the ground with one's boot to show how badly everything is covered in ice.


• The TV stations' lists of schools and other closings has gotten massive; it took nearly half an hour to scroll through the entire thing. I was impressed by the organization of FOX 4's list, which categorized everything into Public, Private, College, Business and Other. (My only gripe is that they didn't keep the list going during commercials, and--inexplicably--the weather.)


• Some of the names on the lists were amusing, such as Lil Rascals Daycare (I guess they can't have the pit bull in this day and age), Somebody-or-other's Family Karate (It just amuses me to imagine Mom, Dad and the kids doing that together), Classical Karate (are they accompanied by Beethoven? I"d think Jazz Karate would be cooler), and the Barbara Gordon Montessori School (you'd think she would have been more renowned for her incarnation as Batgirl).

If you're from around here (or anywhere else where it might be even worse), I hope you got to stay out of this weather yourself. And feel free to make your predictions as to whether this is it for our major winter weather this year, or if there's more to come.

Cocooning and Catching Up

What a difference 24 hours makes. Yesterday, I was enjoying a beautiful afternoon outdoors in shirtsleeves. By the end of the Cowboys game last night, the temperature had dropped some 20 degrees. This afternoon, there was some light freezing drizzle, but nothing of much consequence on the roads, save for a few bridges. And by dinnertime tonight, bridges were freezing left and right; the one that I crossed--not a big elevated one, just over a creek--was running at about 5 miles an hour and already caused a wreck.

So after a quick trip for dinner with a friend (away from said bridges, mind you), it was time to do what some people call cocooning for the rest of the night. Despite the mess on the bridges, though, I'm not expecting an ice day tomorrow, although I'll turn the radio on at the first alarm tomorrow morning, just in case. But honestly, it's close enough to break that I don't need a day off tomorrow, and the lost wages that would ensue.

Tonight's night in did give me a chance to catch up on almost a week's worth of blog posts, though; I've been pretty bad lately about starting posts and not finishing them until several days later. So that my work doesn't go for naught, I'll call your attention to what I've intended to talk about for the last week:

• A solution to the oil crisis and Starbucks' financial woes? Someone has come up with biodiesel made from used coffee grounds.


• Last week, I actually assigned some homework to a few of my saxophone students in honor of a notable day in music history that's being celebrated tomorrow.


• Read about some unusual ways to keep skin moisturized during the winter.


• A Texas Congressman wants to use legislation to outlaw the Bowl Championship Series in college football.

I'll catch up on a few more during the week (I have unfinished posts going back to November!) and link to those as well.

In the meantime, if you're up tonight and reading this right after I post it, cast your vote for tomorrow: Ice day, or not?