Today’s weather forecast called for light rain showers in the evening. I was looking forward to that–the car could use a bath, after the snow and salt of last week’s snowfall.
When I left work the wind was blowing lightly from the north and west, and dark clouds hugged the horizon. I frowned–north and west were the directions I drive on the homeward commute. I knew those clouds. Those clouds said rain. I dislike intensely driving on the Beltway in rain. I pulled my jacket tighter, sighed deeply, and tried to put the drive home out of mind.
The car has an outside air thermometer. With the wind blowing I couldn’t judge the temperature, though I thought it felt slightly… damp. Snow weather? I shook my head when I saw the temperature–forty-six, definitely too warm for snow. (That’s about six or seven for you Celsius lot, you.)
The first stretch of the drive was uneventful. Traffic was lighter than normal. Then, as the Beltway neared Towson, traffic suddenly slowed.
Were those snowflakes I saw hitting my windshield?
Must have been a passing hallucination, I thought. Nothing else seemed to be falling.
Suddenly, traffic came to a near-stop.
It was a full-on whiteout.
But it’s too warm! my brain protested. I glanced up at the thermometer, and the temperature had dropped dramatically in fifteen minutes. It was now barely above freezing.
Eventually the snowfall thinned, and as I approached home it had tapered off to nothing.
Snow makes people crazy. Hopefully, this snowfall will stay a light dusting, and by morning it will have been a memory
Friday, though, the forecast is calling for an inch or two. Yippee? :/