A Perfect Storm

For days the newscasters had been hyping it up.  Residents prepared for hazardous driving conditions and there was even talk of possible school closures.  I felt like I was back in Florida for hurricane season.

The big event?  Impending snow in Austin!  I know.  Yes, I know.  I can hear the snickering and feel the eye rolling from those of you who live in northern climes with legitimate snow.  But bear with me.  This is a big deal for those of us who hail from the tropics.

It was beautiful.  Soft snow flakes fell like molted feathers from angels’ wings and drifted and twirled to the ground.  Only thing is, 35 degrees (F) is not cold enough to sustain any accumulation on the ground.  So while the flurry lasted for about an hour, at the end of the hour there was absolutely no evidence that it had snowed.  Although I had witnessed it first hand, I wondered, “was it just a dream?” 

Now if you get out your electron microscope, you can see little white dots – especially in front of the fence.

 After about ten minutes, I found glaring evidence of snow fall.

I did my best to capture this brief interlude for posterity but about two seconds after falling,  all the snow had disappeared.  No white Christmas here.  But before you start to feel sorry for us, realize this solemn truth.  This was the perfect storm. 

A little magical flurry, the exhilarating feeling of soft flakes falling on your face, a gray shrouded sky, cool crisp air and then…  no shovelling driveways or salting sidewalks.  In fact, the sun came out as we hadn’t seen it in days and just like that, took us from 35 degrees (F) to 45 degrees (F) in about 60 seconds flat.  I’ll still be dreaming of a white Christmas, but I’ll be pretty warm while I’m dreamin’! 

Please enjoy the most non thrilling 42 seconds of your life as you watch this video of Austin snow fall on Friday December 4th, 2009.

Imagine if they had cancelled school for this.  That would have been hilarious!