Thursday, December 21, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

White Christmas denied! Today was billed as the last chance for the Twin Cities to get appreciable snowfall in advance of Christmas. Precipitation was forecast, and indeed it is here. As of 12:15 PM, it is in the form of a steady cold, crooked rain. It's just not cold enough today for snow. The bank clock on the corner lists the temperature at agonizingly close 33F. Damn you Global Warming, damn you to hell!

Before anyone is tempted to do something desperate like buy Al Gore's DVD, I should point out that according to historical averages, the chances we're not going to get a white Christmas on any given year is about one in four. And the last time we had a "Brown Christmas" in the Twin Cities was 2002, so we're long overdue.

Thank goodness, it appears we're reverting to the scientifically calibrated historical norms. But we're not out of the woods on this one yet. If the thermometer drops a few degrees and this rain turns to snow, it's clear we all need to start preparing for the oncoming global ice age.

UPDATE--The Elder Adds: It's 1:43pm and, in the southwestern 'burbs at least, it's snowing to beat hell. Looks like we won't have to dream of a White Christmas after all. We'll be enjoying the real deal.

UPDATE - SP PANICS: big glops of wet snow now falling on the east side of the river! This is historically unlikely! Run for the hills, the advance of the glaciers can't be far behind!

UPDATE: Les Enfants Terrible sums up the day in meteorology.

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