Breaking Records

Snowfall records are being shattered around here this winter. I can almost set my clock to 8+ inches of snow every 5 days. Yesterday we received another 12+ inches and the forecast is showing 100% chance of snowfall for Friday night through Saturday. The geek in me loves this stuff. My grandfather was a weather nut - after he died we found years upon years of weather calendars. I remember visits as a kid when he would run around tracking the temperature differential between each side of his single wide. I'm not that crazy, but I do appreciate recognizing the extremes.

Snowfall total information can be hard to locate online. However, I recently came across the National Weather Service Forcast Office's handy online NOWData Center. The online tool provides all sorts of stats for all sorts of places - from record snow totals to heating degree days for Burlington, Barre, Tupper Lake, NY and all places in between. I am always impressed with the NOAA site. Their National Graphical Forecast Database is genius. This is federal tax dollars at work that I can be proud of.

Snowy winters are great for winter activities, but it makes the live music thing a bit dicey. The concert calendar on the right lists a tremendous number of amazing acts playing within approx. 2 hrs, but that's on dry roads. There aren't many concerts worthy of a 5 hr drive in a snowstorm through the windy wilds of Quebec. Flatlander and I have Bon Iver and Black Mountain on tap for tomorrow night at La Sala Rossa in Montreal. The show sold out, so I'm glad we purchased a few weeks ago. However, they may end up donated to old man winter.