They Got the "Blowing" Part Right

You may be on to something with your theory about why young people like new stuff. Another reason they keep "improving" things is to get us to spend our money. Do they think we are going to throw away our old stuff before it's worn out or used up just because there is a "better" version on the market? Maybe the new stuff is better, or maybe not but, as long as my old stuff is good enough for my purposes, I'll just keep it. Thank you very much!

We only have four or five inches of snow on the ground right now, while Buffalo, New York has four or five feet. Other locations around Michigan have gotten a foot or two, but the worst of it seems to have missed us here in Cheboygan. One thing, though, they got the "blowing" part right! This is not unusual for us when we get these lake effect events. You look at the weather map on TV, there's a lake effect band to our north, and another to our south, while Cheboygan lies in a clear streak. Occasionally we get hammered and the others don't, but that's the exception rather than the rule. A couple times in the last week or so it looked like Chicago was getting dumped on, which is why I asked.

Cheboygan is certainly not the coldest place in Michigan but, Pellston is only about 20 miles away, and I think they still brag about it being the "Icebox of the Nation". That myth originated in the days when there weren't as many airports around as there are now. Official weather stations are usually located in airports, and Pellston has had one for a long time. Truth be known, Gaylord, which is about 50 miles south of Pellston, commonly reports colder temperatures, being at a higher elevation, but they must have not had their airport as long as Pellston has. Fargo, North Dakota used to frequently report the coldest temperature in the nation, but you hardly ever hear about them anymore either.

I remember that, when they used to give the weather predictions for Chicago, they used to always end with "cooler at the lake". Of course, that's when Midway was the primary airport. Now I think they report separate temps for O'Hare, Midway, and the Loop. I think the reason Chicago is known as the "Windy City" is the way the wind coming off the lake has to funnel between those tall buildings, which must intensify it. Truth be known, I never noticed the wind to be all that bad in the old neighborhood.

I remember last year when you guys were way colder than we were, and they blamed it on the "Polar Vortex". The weather guy on our local station claimed that there was no such thing, it was just the same old jet stream that has been around forever. Sometimes the jet stream splits, and the northern branch gets labeled "the polar jet", so maybe that's what they were talking about. What happened last winter was that polar jet dipped south and brought all that Arctic air down here where it doesn't belong, and this winter is starting out the same way. There's no guarantee that it will stay that way all winter, though. It's early yet, anything can happen before it's over.