When I went to bed last night, it had been snowing all day, but not much had accumulated—maybe 2–3 inches. When I woke up this morning, that number had jumped to somewhere between 9 and 10 inches.
We were notified on Friday that if we couldn’t make it in today, we could either work from home or take a vacation day. I have absolutely no desire to work from home today—I much prefer saving that for my usual Friday. So I sat here for a while debating whether to go in. Technically, I probably could. It didn’t snow so much that getting to work is impossible, but it would definitely make for a difficult commute.
It’s still snowing, and while the roads have been plowed, they can’t keep up. Lanes are hard to see, and according to the local news’s mobile weather van, the interstate is essentially down to one lane. Speeds are hovering around 50 mph or less, well below the usual 65. That translates into a long, slow, and stressful drive.
I also didn’t sleep well last night, which tipped the scales. So I think I’ll take the other option—which is to take a vacation day.
Sometimes the wisest choice is the coziest one. ❄️
Jack Frost must have rebranded himself as Jack Freeze. From Texas to Maine, much of the country is bracing for severe winter weather. Friends in Alabama are expecting over an inch of ice—never a good sign, since power lines tend to come down at just a quarter inch.
Here in Vermont, the temperature is dropping steadily all day. By the time I leave work, wind chills will already be in the negatives. Tomorrow, we’re looking at subzero temperatures all day, with wind chills plunging to somewhere between –25 and –45 degrees. By Sunday and Monday, forecasts are calling for 8–12 inches of snow, with southern Vermont likely seeing more than a foot.
Once I get home this evening, I have no intention of leaving my apartment.
Simply put, it feels like hell is freezing over—that is, the United States under Donald Trump.
Here’s a piece of medieval trivia for you: hell wasn’t always imagined as blazing hot. While the Bible gives us fire and brimstone, some medieval writers pictured the devil trapped in extreme cold—the furthest possible point from God’s light and warmth. In that tradition, hell freezing over isn’t a contradiction at all. It’s the final, most absolute form of separation.
Today is my usual Friday work-from-home day, and thank goodness for that, because our high today is expected to be 16 degrees. 🥶
I have absolutely no plans to leave my apartment. I’m staying curled up on my couch, staying warm, getting done what work I need to do, and then monitoring emails for the rest of the day.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premiered yesterday, and as a Star Trek fan, I watched it as soon as I could—meaning right after I got home from work. It was better than I expected, though the jury is still out. I’ll definitely keep watching, and I’m hopeful it will find its footing. It seems to have real potential.
Isabella woke me up way too early this morning and simply would not leave me alone. Eventually, I gave in, got up, fed her, and did something I almost never do when she wakes me before my alarm: I laid down on the couch, pulled a blanket over me, and went back to sleep.
I ended up sleeping a little longer than usual, which helped… a bit. I still don’t really want to be awake, but here we are—I have to go to work today. If I didn’t have two meetings I really don’t want to put off, I’d probably call in. Not just because I’m not feeling great, but because the weather is awful, and that almost guarantees a stressful drive in.
Last night, the news said this snow and wintery mix wouldn’t arrive until this evening. They were very explicit that my part of Vermont would be one of the last to see snow. Apparently, though, once the system crossed the mountains, it decided to ignore the forecast entirely and switched abruptly from rain to snow.
So now it’s dark and snowy, but at least it’s Thursday and tomorrow will be a work from home day. Right now, I’m just trying to convince myself that coffee will be enough to get my day started.
Looking at the forecast for the week ahead, it seems the rain has firmly decided to settle in. According to the latest report, we’re looking at steady showers through next Thursday—with chances of rain hovering between 45% and 75%. The temperatures will be cool and fairly consistent, offering the kind of weather that encourages cozy indoor pursuits rather than outdoor adventures.
Honestly, I don’t mind. Final grades for my class have been calculated and recorded, and the busy semester I’ve had is now over. I have no big plans for the weekend. It feels like the perfect time to relax, catch up on some much-needed sleep, and finally spend some quiet hours reading. There’s a certain peace in the soft sounds of rain outside my windows while getting lost in a good book.
Whatever your weekend holds, whether it’s braving the rain, enjoying beautiful spring days or, like me, embracing a slower pace, I wish you a happy, healthy few days ahead. Enjoy the weekend!
I had planned to write today about a recurring dream I’ve been having, but it has snowed all night and now we are having a rare Vermont thunderstorm. With bad weather inevitably comes a migraine. I dread today anyway. I have a dentist appointment late this afternoon. I think I might just go back to bed.
That being said, here’s you Isabella pic of the week. I missed her when I was in the hospital.
I almost titled this post “Another Snow Day,” but snow day usually implies a day out of school or off work because of snow. For there to be a snow day in Vermont, a snow storm must be particularly severe. This morning’s snow doesn’t seem to be severe nor as bad as had been predicted. Some parts of Vermont did get a significant amount of snow, but where I am, seems to have only gotten about an inch or so of snow. Of course, there is always the possibility of two things: 1) the snow may begin to come down at a faster pace before I leave for work, and 2) there may be places between my apartment and work that are in worse shape than we are. Thankfully, the snow should be over by mid afternoon, and when I head home at 4 pm, the roads should be in better condition. I wish I could just stay home today. However, I have a class to teach, and I will be the only person in the museum today.
My plan today is to leave earlier than usual and give myself plenty of time to take it slow and get to work safely.
Today is going to be an ugly weather day. It started out at midnight last night at -4 degrees. The temperature has risen to 2 degrees and temps will climb throughout the day ending at 32 degrees by midnight.When the temperature rises like this, it usually means a nasty weather front is coming in. It’s dry outside right now, but around mid-morning snow and mixed precipitation should begin. According to our local meteorologist, the snow has a chance to turn to freezing rain on my commute home. I hate freezing rain. I can handle snow, sleet, and rain, but not freezing rain. If you’re not familiar with freezing rain, it comes down as supercooled rain that freezes when it contacts any surface, which means it leaves a glaze of ice everywhere. Ugh! I hate freezing snow.
Anyway, I wish I could just stay home and snuggle up with Isabella. She seems to always find a warm place to nap. The other day, she finally discovered a place that I’ve wanted her to try out for years. Several years ago, I bought her a little cat house, which she has always ignored. The most she has ever done is stick her head in and turn around and walk away.I also bought her a nice cozy looking, fluffy cat bed, which she has never even contemplated using. She prefers a fuzzy blanket. The other day, I looked up, and she was in the little house I’d gotten her. With her eyes closed, you could barely notice her, so I made a noise to get her to open her eyes. I took the opportunity to take the picture below. It apparently pissed her off that I saw her in there, and she crawled out and stomped off never to return again. Such a stubborn little girl!
When I was growing up in Alabama, we didn’t have snow days. We were more likely to have hurricane days. Today, we are expecting 3-5” of snow. That’s not enough snow to cause a snow day at work. In fact, where I work rarely ever has snow days. I think twice in the last nine years have we had a delayed start, but never the full day. Since I’ve moved further away from work, I have had to take a few “work from home” snow days because there was too much snow to get to work. Today will not be one of those days. It hasn’t snowed enough so far to make it difficult to get to work. Yesterday had more of a chance in at least making me late for work because we were expecting snow squalls and whiteout conditions around the time of my commute to work, but it never materialized where I was. There was just some light snow on the way to work. So, today, I’ll be heading to work as usual. Besides, I have things I need to do at work today, so it’s off to work I go.
My sympathies go out to my friends in the South who will be dealing with snow and ice today. It has been snowing here for a week and very cold with windchills as low as -9 where I live, but most of the snow has not been accumulating more than a dusting. Burlington was experiencing whiteout conditions yesterday, but we just had light snow because the mountains stopped most of the snow from the west. Some places on the eastern side of the mountains received snow, but where I live, it’s been only a dusting. Tomorrow, we may get 1-2” of snow, but that doesn’t compare to northern Alabama who will get 2-4” of snow. My weather app actually says 7-8”, but that’s not what the meteorologists down there are forecasting, Even if they get 1-2”, it’s more like us getting 8-12” because they are just not prepared for winter weather. No one has snow tires, and I’d be surprised if very many people are aware there is such a thing as snow tires. Some places have a supply of salt and sand for the roads, but only the state has plows, so only the state roads get plowed. In other words, if a person lives in a rural area, they will be stuck in their homes. Roads are usually closed, which means if you get out on the roads and have an accident, insurance will not cover it, and trust me from experience, anyone who gets out on the roadways will have an accident. The last time I experienced a winter storm in Alabama, the roads were covered in nearly an inch of ice. It was tricky to even walk on the roads, let alone drive on them. Every car I saw went into a ditch. The good thing is that it should not be a long lasting winter weather event; the temperatures should reach the lower 40s by tomorrow. That being said, there will most likely be massive power outages due to the weight of the ice bringing down power lines. Rural areas in Alabama losing power is no different from rural areas in Vermont losing power, you could be without electricity for days.
If you are wondering, my family lives in the southern half of Alabama, so they should experience rain but no snow. As bad as it is when North Alabama gets snow, they do get snow more often than South Alabama. In my lifetime, I can think of only four major winter weather events in the area of Alabama I grew up in. We’ve had more hurricanes and tropical storms than we’ve had winter storms with ice/snow accumulation. South Alabama is not prepared at all for winter weather, and it usually means you are stuck wherever you are for days, usually without electricity, because the crews to restore power also can’t get out until the icy conditions are gone.
Joe
The Closet Professor 