After an unusually mild winter so far, we are finally getting some snow. Previous winters have seen temperatures staying below freezing (32°F / 0°C) for a whole week at a time occasionally, however the last month or so has seen days with temperatures peaking near 60°F (15°C), and no snow at all. Until now.

The weather guys predicted a bit of a blizzard, and this time they got it right. It started with light snow at about 4pm yesterday - as predicted, then got heavier around 7pm - as predicted, and it's been snowing heavily all night - as predicted. Currently there's maybe 8 inches (20cm) of snow on the ground at a very conservative estimate, however the weather guys have been predicting around 15 inches (nearly 40cm) and up to 2 feet (60cm) of snow by the time it eases later this afternoon. From what I saw on the news a few minutes ago, Manhattan has already passed the 20 inch mark (50cm) so maybe we will hit the 2 feet mark. The temperature is expected to be hitting highs of 50°F (10°C) by Thurday. Go figure.

I wrote a whole bunch more here about IceQueen's birthday weekend and about the Muslim cartoon riots, but unfortunately I wiped the entire entry by mistake, and I'm not in the mood to rewrite it all again. For now I'll just say this: for a religion that preaches tolerance and peace, these extremists sure have a funny way of showing it.

..later in the evening..

Ok, well it snowed alright.. or should that be snew? or snood maybe?

By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, 26.9 inches (68.3cm) of fresh snow lay in Central Park, making it the worst blizzard to hit New York since records began in 1869. Who would have thunk? People were skiing down Broadway in Manhattan. Serious.

I looked out the window just on dusk and managed to quickly grab this picture (thanks to IceQueen's suggestion) of the sun setting through the snow. Quite amazing isn't it ..although it almost looks like something exploding. Hmm.

In the morning while it was still snowing heavily, the guy who lives in the house behind our building was out with his noisy snow-blower machine (petrol engine) attempting to clear a path around his house. What I can't figure out is why the hell he bothered when it was still a full-on snow storm out there? The work he labored at for several hours was covered in snow again within an hour of him 'finishing' the job. What was the point? It's like those people you see in Fall (Autumn) furiously raking up dead leaves when the wind's blowing 25mph - it's nothing but an exercise in futility, so why do they do it? Freaks.