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Well, okay, flurries, but it's definitely making lots of white stuff here in Dwight today! Anyone else had snow yet?

Not us. There is a cold front heading for us this weekend. It's supposed to be 30F Saturday morning! Ahhh!

We had flurries last night here in the great state of Iowa.

Feels like 31deg with the wind chill right now...

First snowfall = first hot chocolate

Not yet...

...of course I live in Florida.

Not here either.

Yeah, I'm still wearing shorts. Sunny and in the mid 70s. Won't be looking for snow any time soon.

Good one, Sean. Ditto on the current condition in the Central Valley. Shorts and t-shirts will not be replaced by pants and jackets anytime soon.

If I want snow, a 45 minute drive to the Sierras is all that is required.

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If I want snow, a 45 minute drive to the Sierras

Although I have local mountains here that will eventually get snow, they are nothing compared to the Sierras. A short 4-5 hour drive for me--and completely worth it!

Sunny and 65 here today

Of course, we are guaranteed wind and rain on Halloween.

It has been nasty here the past few days, Amie. Spots in northern Manitoba reported up to 6" of the white crap. Just a dusting here, but wind gusts up to 90km, so it's chilly!

We had some flurries today here in northeren Il. Right now it's 36 with a wind chill of 28.

Snow in Minneapolis-St. Paul off and on all day today. A high of 34 degrees F and winds of 40 mph make for one miserably cold day.

California this time of year.

California this past summer

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Check out the temperatures for the next six day's in Fresno. I am not looking forward to this. We had a high of 98 today and it's expected to climb in a hurry.
101 Wednesday
107 Thursday
108 Friday
107 Saturday
107 Sunday
104 Monday

I guess I spoke too soon. Those temps I previously posted are mild in comparison to what Fresno is experiencing this weekend.

112 yesterday.
113 is the forecast today. And it might be higher. Thank goodness for A/C.

Nice find, Rick. Now you know why I anxiously await the Fall Season to arrive each year.

No snow yet in Burlington ON, but south of us in Fort Erie and in NY State they picked up some lake effect snow.

FYI in the last ten years we have had 4 green Christmases, and one dusting.

Lovely sunny day here today, high around 40 which is low for this time of year. With the sun shining brightly, it snowed for about 5 minutes. It was that sugar snow: little round pellets that melted the instant they touched the ground. More of the same is expected tonight. No accumulations. Highs in the 50s forecast for the next 4 days. Then 63 on Tuesday.

was 65-70 all day long here .........nice and warm........what does snow look like

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Anyone else had snow yet?

yes......dammit.

At least I procrastinated long enough to where I didn't have to mow the lawn this year.

I'm going back to Florida.......

Very brief flurries at the office yesterday in the north end of Toronto. This morning when I went out any exposed water had a thin film of ice on top, including the dogs' water dish. There was a lot of barking about *that*.

I'm laughing picturing your little dogs complaining about the water dish!

The snow actually stayed on the ground overnight! Melted now but what a surprise to see so much white when we got up today. Fortunately I had gone extra-decadent on the hot chocolate yesterday so I felt it was fair trade . . . steamed milk with melted 70% cocoa chocolate stirred in . . . mmmm.

No first snow yet, but we did have a first weather wise today for the season.

First morning I had to put on a coat to go to work.

Same here. Frost was on the ground this morning, so I grabbed a jacket.

Thunderstorms and rain here for the next couple days, then back to sun and high 60's by Sunday.

Another first this morning after two cold nights in a row. First time to turn on the heat this year. It's down to 64 in the house this morning.

Geez, I'm burning a medium-sized fire every night to keep the house *up* to 66. It's 36 outside now and going below freezing every night. Lots of snow yesterday although most of it melted other than some buildup in the valleys of the roof.

First snowfall for Saskatoon last night, going to snow again tonight, still have not figured out how to mount my M60 on my snowmobile helmet! Fix night this week for the snowmobiles, thank god for snow - could not live here without it - guess that's why we live here.

As SidVicious mentioned - we got snow. We now have rain. Heavy, blattering rain, to misquote Rob McKenna the Rain God.

Bren R.

Wait wait...

Rob McKenna is the Washington State Attorney General. Probably the same guy, though, considering the first Fact.

I'd reply with something witty, but I just had most of a liter of Stone IPA, and I feel it.

Tom - no relation, I'm sure.

Bren R.

Speaking of winter sports, this is the season when we catch up on all the movies we missed since May (when we stop watching TV / movies and just watch the lake). Any good new releases? Any recommendations?

If you want to be depressed as hell, you can watch X-Men 3.

Which I just bought and watched yesterday... I second the recommendation if you're at least 1% comic book nerdy.

... and has a DTS Discrete 6.1 ES soundtrack.

Bren R.

And you like being depressed. Did I mention depressing?

Living just about as far south in "Sunny" California as you can get, I like the contrast to where I grew up (just north of Dwight)... This is why I moved here!

Current conditions as of 5:47 pm PDT
Sunny
Feels Like: 71°
Barometer: 30.01 in and rising
Humidity: 27%
Visibility: Unlimited
Dewpoint: 37°
Wind: Calm
Sunrise: 6:54 am
Sunset: 6:12 pm
73°High: 75° Low: 53°

Tonight Tomorrow Fri Sat Sun 6-10 Day
Extended Forecast
Clear Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny
High: 75°
Low: 53° High: 78°
Low: 54° High: 77°
Low: 57° High: 78°
Low: 57° High: 79°
Low: 57°

Sorry guys!

Sunny SoCal!

We turned the AC on at work today. Nice to see the weekend clouds go away. Lovely fall weather. Best news is that the winds have blown most of the smog and nasty air outta here. Got a clear view of the mountains finally!

I just took out a bag of trash. It's 11:39 PM and it's 78F out there!

I don't expect to wake up to flurries in the morn.

I find it hard to believe that parts of the Buffalo area are still without power. That must have been some storm.

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From CNN
BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- The state sent extra nurses Wednesday to help out at busy hospitals treating people for injuries related to last week's record-setting snowstorm, which knocked out power to thousands and was blamed for 12 deaths.

More than 170 people have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning from using improperly vented generators and stoves for heat. Others have hurt themselves or had heart attacks clearing mounds of tree limbs that litter the region.

Health officials said the deaths include one person hit by a falling tree limb, three killed by carbon monoxide and two who died shoveling snow.

"If you have one death it's bad," Erie County Health Commissioner Anthony Billitier said.

With round-the-clock cleanup efforts continuing, about 95,000 homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday, and schools in Buffalo and surrounding towns said they would be unable to reopen until next week. (Watch how western New York still in dark -- 1:04)

About 380,000 people originally lost power in the storm that dumped up to two feet of heavy snow the area last Thursday and Friday.

Several hospitals reported overcrowding over the weekend because they were unable to discharge patients to homes without electricity or on streets blocked by trees or downed power lines.

The state Health Department deployed 17 nurses from around the state, in the first use of a special emergency nursing program set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The emergency nursing program keeps a registry of 1,400 nurses around the state, Health Department spokesman Marc Carey said.

"They're relieving our staff, who have been working a lot of overtime over the past five or six days," said Michael Hughes, spokesman for Kaleida Health, which operates five hospitals. Many nurses had been unable to tend to storm damage at their own homes because of the workload, Hughes said.

U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response as inadequate, saying the agency had offered little guidance on reimbursement and loan programs and snubbed the city of Buffalo during a tour of damage this week.

FEMA officials defended their response, saying they had readied generators and other equipment even before a Sunday disaster declaration that made up to $5 million in cleanup funds immediately available.

It's amazing how many days we've been without power this year. Fortunately we haven't had any storm-related deaths in the area, but I think we're at 9 days without power so far this year. At this point, more than half the year-rounders (the minority in this area) have generators. Ian even had a spare generator mounted to a trailer so it can be driven to wherever it is needed! We have finally also got the entire factory on a backup generator, no mean accomplishment given the amount of power manufacturing sucks up!

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If you want to be depressed as hell, you can watch X-Men 3.

I just rented and watched it tonight. I'm not sure why you found it depressing though.

>>We have finally also got the entire factory on a backup generator, no mean accomplishment given the amount of power manufacturing sucks up!

Yeah, with M80s hanging on the wall and Bryston amps everywhere I'm sure you could cut the power consumption in half by turning off the factory SOUND SYSTEM when the power goes out

More snow tonight, first time it stayed on the ground in any quantity. Roads are icy. Snow seems to have come in at a 45 degree angle and gotten my firewood all wet.

How many posts do I need to go from "connoisseur" to "curmudgeon" ?

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How many posts do I need to go from "connoisseur" to "curmudgeon" ?

I don't really know, but I'm certain I've passed that point.

I just think it's funny that Jack answered that question as if it were directly asked of him!

It's so much nicer to have snow on the ground and in the trees than to look at 'normal' November. All our favourite restaurants close in November and it's too miserable to venture outside. And people are driving around with dead moose and deer in their trucks. What a month!

On the other hand, it's good Monopoly, theme party, movie-watching, fondue and French Onion Soup weather, so that's in its favour!

OOOOOOOO!

French Onion Soup! Fondue (I hope there is chocolate fondue with fresh strawberries, or sponge cake, or almost anything, for dessert)! And, movie watching! I think I've died and gone to heaven.

If you're a chocolate fondue fan, you should get my recipe for Toblerone fondue. It really takes it from yummy to downright decadent . . .

IMO, half a cup of port makes the difference between good French Onion Soup and gotta-have-it-again French Onion Soup!

IF I'm a chocolate (fondue) fan..........

I wonder if I should PM the recipe to Josh to help with his M80 quest this weekend? Trust me, it's more effective than candlelight!

Anyway:

12 oz / 340 g Toblerone, broken up
1/4 cup / 60 mL Half and Half or whipping cream
2.5 tbsp / 37 mL Amaretto

Melt chocolate with cream on medium-low until it's smooth. Stir in the Amaretto and enjoy! So good with all fruit and spongecake too.

(on occasion my elbow has slipped, and a little bit of extra Amaretto has fallen in - even Kahlua at the same time!

Good news is it doesn't hurt the recipe at all!)

Let me know if you try it! I had it here when all the ladies from Axiom came over for a girls' night and even the borderline chocoholics were won over.

YUM!

We do fondue once in a while here...I'll have to give that one a try.

>>And people are driving around with dead moose and deer in their trucks. What a month!

Hi Amie; I don't suppose you happened to notice from which direction most the deer and moose-laden vehicles were coming ?

And on the note of Toblerone fondue, i've passed the recipe onto my wife. We are gearing up for another company filled holiday season of meal after meal olympic like events and fondues are oh so much fun.

On a thought related to the original thread, we had 15cm of heavy white precipitation dumped on us last week and i've since ordered a new Craftsman 11.5HP (Briggs & Stratton) 30" snow blower. Should be here in a week or two. If it snows before then, i skip work.

Since the holidays ARE coming, we also decided to spend a bit and finally invested in a satellite system with the HD-PVR(Bell Expressvu). Some of the Discovery shows and other outdoor panoramic shots are quite amazing even on our ageing Toshiba RPTV.
Now i'm working on getting the satellite to our office computers. A slingbox may be in order soon...

This will be no help, Bridgman, but they were coming from the North . . . I passed the moose on Highway 11 between Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. Lots of deer in the yard here, of course ;-)

Thanks Amie; it is reassuring. A few years ago we were up hunting around Ardbeg (north of Parry Sound), camping in heavy snow, howling winds and way below freezing temperatures...

... We ("chips" and myself) were complaining about the crappy weather and the lack of deer when my brother-in-law said "well, if we just wanted lots of deer we would hunt down south where they're easy to find -- we're up here for the authentic hunting experience".

We were *so* close to dragging him outside and tossing him into the swamp, but he was the only one who knew the route back home.

You want deer Bridgman?
Come to Winnipeg. Bren and I can show you deer until the cows come home, and even then, you will still see deer.
If you are into the hunting thing, just open up any kitchen window in the Charleswood area and point a gun.
There is a 70% chance the deer would be eating the grass in the backyard. If you feel the danger of hunting in town is too great, then take a chance on the highway instead. Drive your car down Hwy 1 (aka Hwy 17 west in ON) just east of Winnipeg and you have about a 20% chance of getting hit by one.

Road trip !!

We have deer around my house but not enough to make a decent herd. We want to let the numbers grow a bit... although from all the gunshots across the road that might not be happening anyways.

One of my fondest memories is walking through Banff watching an old lady chase elk out of her garden with a broom.

I had to point out in this "first snowfall" thread that it reached nearly 90 degrees today, here in LA.

OK, so your winters are a little warmer than ours

Yup, turned the AC on at home. Warm one today.

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If you want to be depressed as hell, you can watch X-Men 3.

Finally got a chance to see it this evening. Yes, a bit depressing, but I liked it despite that. Really shocking in the choices made, but dramatic nonetheless. Kinda keeps you on your toes.

I thought the first movie was alright. Sounds weird, but I enjoyed it up until all the superhero stuff started happening. I wanted more background on the characters. That part was much more interesting.

Second and third movies were very enjoyable. Ken, don't worry, they will probably concoct some stupid twist to rectify everything. . .well, let's hope not. Sorry dude.

>>Ken, don't worry, they will probably concoct some stupid twist to rectify everything. . .well, let's hope not. Sorry dude.

Sure... X-Men 4 will start with Cyclops waking up from an awful dream.

The outside dog water dish is frozen over again, probably time to bring it in for the winter. I'm going to have to put some kind of pond in next year I think; lots of wildlife seem to be using the dish.

Up to two small fires a day in the masonry heater, still keeping the house decently warm although the propane furnace (aka the money burner

) still kicks for quite a while if I miss a fire.

The firewood I bought is not quite dry enough so either need to pick up a couple of cords of "better than normal" firewood (either seasoned two years or one year "done right") or start working on that firewood kiln I always wanted. Where does one look to buy surplus shipping containers or refrigerated trailers ?

We got about 14” of snow yesterday and I think this is the dump that will stick. It stopped long enough for me to plow the driveway with the four wheeler and get my winter wheels/tires on the truck. Temperature is averaging a mild 25 F in town and hitting -40 up north on the pipeline. I guess winter’s really here now. Time to dig out the snow gear, tune up the boy’s snow cross sled and get my hill climber put back together after last year’s little mishap.

I never did get that lawn mowed last summer…….hope it comes up OK next spring.

I had Sunday brunch at a nice outdoor cafe this weekend. I think I may have gotten a slight sunburn.

bwaaahahahahahahahahaha...

I got snowed out from work and can't get a lowbed in to move my excavator til a grader plows my road.
I guess I'll have to listen to some music instead.

Yo Spif, that's just plain mean......

I had to get the winter coat out this morning. It’s getting a bit chilly out there………

The wind’s blowing most of the snow away and has left a nice sheet of ice everywhere.

--------

COLD ARCTIC AIR IN COMBINATION WITH A STRONG NORTH-SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT
FROM THE ALASKA RANGE TO THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO GENERATE
STRONG WINDS THROUGHOUT THE AREA. WIND DIRECTIONS WILL GENERALLY BE
FROM THE NORTH TO NORTHEAST THROUGH THOMPSON PASS AND OTHER CHANNELED
AREAS AND EASTERLY ALONG THE LOWE RIVER. EXPECT WIND GUSTS OF 55 TO
80 MPH TO CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.

A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED OR
OCCURRING. PEOPLE ARE URGED TO SECURE LOOSE OBJECTS THAT COULD BE BLOWN
AROUND OR DAMAGED BY THE WIND.

NORTHEAST PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...VALDEZ...THOMPSON PASS
1225 PM AST MON NOV 13 2006

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 12 PM AST TUESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ANCHORAGE HAS ISSUED A WIND CHILL
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 12 PM AST TUESDAY.

ARCTIC AIR WILL BE FILTERING INTO VALDEZ THROUGH TUESDAY. COMBINED WITH
THE COLD TEMPERATURES WIND SPEEDS OF 40 TO 90 MPH WILL INTRODUCE
WIND CHILLS OF 40 TO 55 BELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
MORNING.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN
FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

>>ARCTIC AIR WILL BE FILTERING INTO VALDEZ THROUGH TUESDAY

You're in Alaska. How can arctic air filter *in* ? You're already in the arctic...

Not quite. That's a little further UP^^^

We had a Typhoon warning this morning (city air raid siren and everything at 0300). The master bedroom zone pump went out sometime last night too. My day didn't start out all that wonderful. Woke up to a blaring horn at 3 AM to a room that was 50 Deg after no sleep from all this #$%!@%$ wind!!

Well at least I've aquired some new garbage cans, a new snow shovel and a GI Joe combat dune buggy.

Wow, man that's cold Mike. I have to hand it to you, I couldn't ever stand that kind of adverse weather.

Alcohol, movies and music would most definitely be my normal routine during your winters ... or summers.

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Alcohol, movies and music would most definitely be my normal routine during your winters ... or summers.

Uh Rick, I drink like a fish, have a two channel system and a separate HT system. I used to be quite content with my dirt bike and bruises till I moved here. They just pay me too damn much to leave, although I did get a recent offer to manage a major project in Saudi. Tempting…….not!

Hey Mike speaking of the dirt bikes, my son is putting a 500 kit in his 450 ... says he'll probably never have to get it out of second gear regardless of the track.

Now that most of the work is finished on the house and I *finally* have the garage cleaned out (to a T!) and can now find my old bike I'm contemplating jumping back on it for some much needed physical activity ... we went out this past weekend and rode quite a bit, spent some time on my sons 450 and I've been sore all week. Damn it sucks getting old and fat!

Dude, stay out of Saudi ... I have a friend who's flying cargo over there and is about to go nuts although he's making killer money.

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I *finally* have the garage cleaned out (to a T!)

Show me (i.e. pics!), don't tell me.

They are forcasting 14C here in Ottawa tomorrow..so I guess no snow for us for a bit longer.. but it is unavoidable.. this valley get's plenty each year..
Steph

My wife and I went to Emerald Lake BC for our 1 year anniversary...

It was quite georgous there, it snowed all weekend, must have been 1 1/2 feet. To anyone looking to go, it is an amazing experience, they don't have any TVs in the rooms, and only a wood burning fire place. THey want you to get away from life and force you to do, er, "other things"

. The food is very expensive though!

Nice Pics, I have never been there in fall/winter. However did you manage with out a TV?

Well, we managed very well without a TV

. And we also brought a laptop and rented 5 movies. Its recommended to bring a laptop or something, as well as longs of board games. It was a great time playing board games and taking walks.

Those are some really awesome pics. It makes me feel like I stepped through a wardrobe, and transported to Narnia.

Ya, Emerald Lake is quite something else, just going there makes you feel relaxed. We were there for 3 nights, probably 1 night too many, by the third night I was wanting to go back to the city because of lack of activities. In the summer there are more hiking trails and such to do, not in the winter though.

Some more for your eyes since you guys liked the other ones!

This is what they call the "Natural Bridge". In the summer they set up a bridge across the waterfall so you can walk right over it. It was closed

Just a bench I saw on the other side of the lake, the landscape was brilliant so I decided to try to take an "artistic" picture

...and artistic they are!

Beautiful pics, I haven't seen snow like that in years.

This is probably a good time to offer up this old chestnut...

Dear Diary,

Aug. 12 - Moved to our new home in Canada. I am so excited. It's so beautiful here. The mountains are so majestic. Can hardly wait to see them with snow covering them.

Oct. 14 - Canada--it is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves have turned all colors and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the beautiful countryside and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Certainly they are the most wonderful animals on earth. This must be paradise. I love it here!

Nov. 11 - Remembrance Day. Deer season starts soon. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill such a gorgeous creature. Hope it snows soon. I love it here!

Dec. 2 - It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed with white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a snowball fight (I won). When the snow plough came by we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I love Canada!

Dec. 12 - More snow last night. The snow plough did his trick again to the driveway. I love it here.

Dec. 19 - More snow last night. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work. It's beautiful here but I'm exhausted from shoveling. F*****g snow plough.

Dec. 22 - More of that white sh!t fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands and a sore back from shoveling. I think the snow plough hides around the corner until I'm done shoveling the driveway. Asshole.

Dec. 25 - Merry F*****g Christmas! More frigging snow. If I ever get my hands on the sonovabitch who drives the snow plough, I swear I'll kill the bastard. Don't know why they don't use more salt on the roads to melt the f*****g ice.

Dec. 27 - More white sh!t last night. Been inside for three days now except for shoveling out the driveway after that snow plough goes through every time. Can't go anywhere, the car's stuck in a mountain of white sh!t and it's so frigging cold. The weatherman says to expect another 10 inches of the sh!t again tonight. Do you know how many shovels full of snow 10 inches is?

Dec. 28 - That f*****g weatherman was wrong. We got 14 inches of the sh!t this time. At this rate it won't melt before summer. The snow plough got stuck up in the road and that bastard came to my door and asked to borrow my shovel. After I told him that I had already broken six shovels shoveling out all the sh!t he had pushed into my driveway, I damn near broke my last one over his f*****g head.

Jan. 4 - Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on my way back a damned deer ran in front of the car. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those f*****g beasts should be killed. The bastards are everywhere. Wish the hunters had exterminated them all last November.

May 3 - Took the car to the garage in town. Would you believe the thing is rusted out from all that f*****g salt they put all over the roads.

May 10 - Moved to Florida. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever want to live in Canada.

Oh crap, winter is coming isn't it ?

Well it's not here yet, but it has already snowed in Florida. Yesterday I was out at at the dragstrip, first time ever for late November and it was a balmy 14c/57f.
Our west coast is certainly getting hit though.

Its snowing in Calgary and has been most of the weekend, not much a few inches but it has been around -25C/-14F and right now it is -27C/-17F and windchill of -40C/-40F. Don't you want to come here now?

We're having unseasonably warn weather here in the DC area. Thanksgiving was only in the high 40s, but every day since then has been at or near 60, and we're expecting mid-60s this entire week. Mornings are still frosty, but if I dash to my car in the morning, I can skip my jacket.

Actually I love the cold weather but those temps need a lot of respect. It's certainly a different world from southern Ontario

Yes it is, but as they say it is a dry cold....I don't get it, when its this cold all humidity is gone. We generally are not this cold for this long, been a week so far.

I get a chuckle every time I hear of a weather warning for S. Ontario and the temps are only -18C, but the snowfalls you get are way worse than ours, thanks to those lovely bodies of water nearby.

We had a two month switch this year. Our Octobers are usually sunny and balmy with beautiful fall colors. Novembers are usually cold and gray. We had Novemeber in October, and October in November. Highs in October were often in the 30s and it was cloudy all the time. We had well above normal temp today (in the 60s) with lots of sun, and have been that way most of the month. Highs tomorrow and Wednesday, 63, with more sun. Winter arrives Friday with snow showers. Saturday, high 35 but more sun.

Every day with sun this time of year is pure gravy. November and December are our dark months. It's cold the rest of the winter, but we get more sun than we do in November and December.

The Snow is here to stay in Saskatchewan. About 2 feet on the ground, -25C -40 windchill. Four more months to spring - keeps you going, so does the two weeks in Hawaii in Feb. We hosted the Canadian university national bowl game here on Sat. -21 on the field. Of couse because we are from Saskatchewan half timers with too much booze and too little brains were running around with no shirts. We had a very full drunk tank that night. Time to turn up the the system and force the cold out of the house. Forgot to mention the hollowed out half watermellons on the thier heads - football gods would be impressed.

Man I am not looking forward to what the forecasters are saying is coming our way

Cold temps and a possiblity of up to 16 inches of snow. I sure do hope they got this one wrong.

Reminds me of a joke where a Los Angeles weatherman, after just finishing the weekly forecast, launches into the typical banter with the news anchors and says, "You gotta love Southern California winters. My wife is visiting friends in Chicago this week and tells me she got 12 inches last night."

We just started getting our first snow of the year about an hour ago

The kids just got done romping around in it. It makes it seem more like the Christmas season with a bit of snow on the ground.

Yeah, this mid-60s weather in Virginia certainly isn't putting me in the mood.

45 degrees out here in sunny San Francisco. It only got up to around 50 something today.

Here in Phoenix today’s high was only 73 °F / 22 °C and low was 49 °F / 9 °C. I had to dig out some extra blankets.

Got up this morning and it's 11c/52f, long range forcast is for a GREEN CHRISTMAS in this part of Ontario. No leaves on the trees but my lawn looks like it's still July.

In Minnesota and the Dakotas the forecast is we're having a dead, brown Christmas.

I think it is important to "give back" to your local community. My contribution so far has been the purchase of a snowblower -- from the minute the transaction went through the weather turned warm and has been unseasonably warm ever since.

Maybe the greenhouse gases emitted from the countless snowblowers fired up last winter are to blame?

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I think it is important to "give back" to your local community. My contribution so far has been the purchase of a snowblower -- from the minute the transaction went through the weather turned warm and has been unseasonably warm ever since.

LOL!

And, I'm sure you are universally loved and revered by your neighbors for this contribution.

We did some Christmas shopping this morning and I about froze to death!! I really should have known better and dressed more warmly.

I couldn't wait to get back outside! That Mall was cold!!

Sadist!

It snowed a little last night.

32" before it started to rain. It rained most of the day while I was shoveling / pushing this stuff around.

It's snowing again. About 2" per hour...I'm getting too old for this crap.

Whoa, man that's some serious white stuff Mike ... is this about average for your area? For some reason the radio antennae sticking up from the snow covered fender of your Avalanche(??) cracked me up whenever I first viewed the picture. Avalanche, now that's an appropriate name for a vehicle in those conditions huh!

Come on down my man, you know we'll always have room for you guys here in sunny south Florida!

The yearly average is 350". Up in the pass twenty miles away it averages 800" a year. That's where the World Extreme Snowboarding Championships occur. Used to have the World Extreme Skiing Championships there too, but sponsors became scarce. Now it's just heli-skiing and snow machine hill climb competitions.

That's my pickup. It's a GMC Sierra Denali. I had an Avalanche a few years ago. Nice ride but I like the pickup better.

The skier's amongst us - especially in the East - are begging for snow, any snow, or at least cold temperatures to have the resorts make snow.....

I guess I need to book a flight West to ski.....

Enough about the truck - that's the view from your front door? Gorgeous!!

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Enough about the truck - that's the view from your front door? Gorgeous!!

I concur!

Ya Amie...that's looking up the canyon to the North. This little town is surrounded by mountains and ocean. It's very pretty in the summer when everything is green.

Here's the same view from the third floor.

Here's a couple shots from last winter. We like to find the top of the mountains. The cliff face is pretty much straight and down, 2800'.

That's me...

This would be Ken...

How I get up there...

The rest of the boys....

The view....

Hmm.. making me seriously look at a sno-cross helmet for the winter.. I usually just wear a motorcycle cranium casket and stuff a scarf up the bottom to seal it up.

Bren R.

Oh man, Ian and I will trailer up the sleds and come right up! That looks like it would be an amazing ride!! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Shoot Amie, that's just the riding right from my house....You wouldn't believe the places you can go around here. There's even a whole network of cross country ski trails right out the back yard too. I have plenty of room if you get the itch to come up. Have Ian bring up one of them fancy amps he's playing with.

Bren,
Moto-cross helmets are the only way to go. We ride pretty hard, lots of air, deep snow, boon-dogging, sidehilling and just plain crazy assed stuff that most rational people wouldn't ever do. It's usually full throttle until you get too tired to hold on, then take a break. With these helmets and quick straps for the goggles, it's real quick to pull off the helmet and relax a bit. Plus, they're light and the goggles don't fog up. I usually have three sets of goggles with me.....clear, blue and amber for the different snow conditions. When it's real cold, I just put on a head sock.

Care to give an extreme skier - and Ski Patroller with experience in escaping the "dragon" - a couple of rides to the top?

I will find my own way down....I see several sick lines I would rip down those hills!!!

There's two heli-ski outfits that operate here each season. Dean Cummings runs one of them (you should know him). He's nuts, but safe. http://heli-skiing.gordonsguide.com/deancummings/website.cfm

There's also a couple snow cat operations. They don't go up as high, but it's a lot less expensive. Or, if you can hang on and bail when I need you to, I'll run you up.

My knees won't take it anymore, so I had to give up the vertical stuff. I've got a freshly tuned set of Soloman AK Rockets for sale...

That's some truly beautifull country Mike, I guess most that white will be gone in June when we get up there, my wifes gift to me and the kids for Christmas is a cruise on the Norwegian Pearl through Glacier Bay

Quote:

Moto-cross helmets are the only way to go. We ride pretty hard, lots of air, deep snow, boon-dogging, sidehilling and just plain crazy assed stuff that most rational people wouldn't ever do. It's usually full throttle until you get too tired to hold on, then take a break. With these helmets and quick straps for the goggles, it's real quick to pull off the helmet and relax a bit. Plus, they're light and the goggles don't fog up. I usually have three sets of goggles with me.....clear, blue and amber for the different snow conditions. When it's real cold, I just put on a head sock.

I finally got a chance to try sno-cross and goggles last year (along with a Polaris 900 Fusion) at the farm. It's a huge improvement, so many factors going against me for a full cranium casket - I wear glasses, I'm a head-sweater and a mouth breather, and I have a goatee. Seriously considering changing over this year, so I won't have to leave my visor up an inch just to be able to see... that blast of -80 wind chill on the top lip just isn't any fun anymore after 30.

Maybe this year when I go out I'll bring a camera... no shortage of sleds out there, with about 25 of them within a 5 minute drive (and being a rural area, everyone gladly hands over keys to their sled to the "anglophone guy from the city" without hesitation, and even fuel and oil it up!)

Usually a Polaris 600 Classic for me if I'm riding with the guys, or a heavy, older Indy 440 if I'm taking the girls out.

Wonder if there's enough snow now... hmm...

Bren R.

I have heard of Dean, but I am more familiar with Chugach Powder Guides

Salomon's huh.....same as I run. Solid ski, wood cores which are important as the foam in most skis goes "dead" with serious use, and allows flexing to de-engage the edges...especially bad when you really get into them and need the edges.

Hey you have a park nearby!!
That's great.

Fantastic pictures, Mike! Thanks!

Beautiful photos Mike!

On a less grand scale may I present a "typical" Canadian Christmas Day scene, with a green lawn and daffodils coming through, about 2" high and about 3 months early.

Thats at my mother's place in Ancaster Ontario, on the escarpment where winters are "supposed" to be cold and snowy.