The Silver Screen Oasis

Got a light dusting of snow from Winter Storm Draco that was reported on numerous news channels ... got about third of inch of snow and should turn to rain later on. Got my first coating of snow before the Winter Season got even started.

Chicago's record - 290 consecutive days without measurable snow - is set to end today around evening rush hour. 3"-6" with wind gusts at 50-60 mph. Ho, ho, ho.

Nice. Be careful driving home please!

"Chicago! Chicago!" When winter hits the midwest, this great city always seems to be the coldest one mentioned. The temperature in Minneapolis is...In upper Michigan it's...and then there's Chicago!

It's 54 degrees in western Kentucky. That's expected to change tonight. Drastically!

No white Christmas here, it's tipping it down and is set to continue for days. It does Lara's curls no good.

Speaking of "White Christmas," I gave a friend a DVD of HOLIDAY INN yesterday. I wouldn't mind watching that one myself! Not a great movie, by any means. But fluffy and pleasant. No harm done. I remember watching it on TV in Chicago. 12 inch black and white set. No complaints. My needs are simple!

Drive home? I'm an L kinda guy. MrsChiO, however, enjoys the pleasures of the 45-60 minute reverse commute via automobile five days a week. Due to the barrage of media reports of the ferocity of the coming storm and that it would hit at rush hour, she left work a couple of hours early.

Finally, at about 11:30pm, it started to spit snow. Now? It's 5:36am and no snow is falling and the ground (not streets or sidewalks) has a slight dusting.

If this is measurable enough to bring our "consecutive days without snow" record to a close, then I bummed.

We got that "dusting"... With sustained gusts of 45mph winds... A co worker slid off the road and had to be towed out, and my son got stuck in Minneapolis airport, because the KC airport was closed...I think total snowfall here was 1-3 inches. Oh yeah, and wind chills daytime of -2. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE WINTER???

Have I ever mentioned that I HATE WINTER???

I think you did last year when your pipes were freezing. I hate it too.

I love snow, but I mean real snow that completely blankets things overnight so no one has to go back to school or to work in the morning.

We got freezing rain this morning and gusty winds, oh it was a marvelous combination! So great for getting the kids to school in... the big question was whether or not to take an umbrella, since the wind gusts were so strong. They still are actually. We took the umbrella because it was just too wet not to. I stepped off the curb and a small river ran through my shoe on it's way down the hill. This is what I can't stand, we always get this in between gunk, not snow, but freezing rain, and I just hate it. It's a mess, slippery and to me almost more dangerous than the snow.

I agree that snow is the easier one to drive in. Freezing rain is a nightmare. Ian is on his way back to MD today so we're praying for decent enough weather to get him here.

It seems to have cleared up here, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that he makes it without too much trouble. Now it's gone way up to about 48 degrees so it's much warmer and shouldn't be a problem. Tonight though, it's supposed to drop again to 32.

The only snow I love is the kind that keeps everyone home from school, it doesn't happen often though, plenty of freezing weather but not much snow. I hope everyone's Christmas weather is nice enough so everyone can commute comfortably.

When I lived in Chicago, I went through an umbrella a year. The wind just rips them apart! Gotta love Shytown, though. Roads slick? Don't drive! Most communities don't have that luxury.

The sun just came out. Go figure!