COLUMN: Let It Snow, Baby ... Let It Snow
The weather forecasters say it's coming. So where's the white stuff?
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
Where is the snow?
Every TV weather forecaster I have watched predicted that December would be a snowy month.
Okay, it is December. Where is the snow? I’m waiting. I got my hip boots by the back door and my shovel on the porch. Bring it on!
Yes, we have the cold air in place, but we don’t have the moisture. And it takes those two for a frigid tango. As I said in an earlier column, the weather patterns must change for our neck of the woods to get snow because all the moisture has been going south and north of us since the middle of July.
November was the fourth month in a row with less than 1.75 inches of precipitation (about 3.5 per month is average) and the lack of moisture is beginning to show. The water level in farm ponds and area reservoirs has dropped significantly, and this prolonged dry spell has to be affecting the water table deep down. Tuesday’s rain helped, but we are still well below average.
The problem is that the storm patterns don’t seem to be changing, with most of the precipitation going up the Ohio Valley to our northwest. Winter, when vegetation is dormant, is the time of year when the water table is typically replenished, and snow, which seeps slowly into the earth when melting, is the best replenisher.
Snow also helps improve the soil and the old folks called it “the poor man’s fertilizer.” They also said that it helps kill germs and prevents disease.
This brings up another point. We are now in that second communicable disease season of year, and Covid seems to again be rearing its ugly head.
The virus season seems to begin when school starts but slacks off in October. Then comes the holiday season when friends and family from out-of-town spread germs and viruses like wildfire.
Covid is definitely going around, but I haven’t heard much about the flu yet. Then again, these days that virus seems to appear more in January and February.
Which reminds me; I haven’t gotten my flu shot yet. Yes, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., I’m going to take a flu shot. It might not prevent me from getting the flu, but it will likely make the virus less potent if I do come down with it.
These viruses get passed around this time of year because most of our congregating is done inside, at family gatherings, shopping in crowded stores and at indoor sporting events.
I will be congregating at any number of high school basketball games this winter (the season starts this week). Besides doing play-by-play for TV, I just like the excitement of watching the kids play.
Of course, when I think of high school basketball, I go back to the old Battlefield District days when James Monroe, Culpeper and Orange ruled the courts. I recall names like Hoagie Garnett, the Cunningham brothers, Willie McGee, Billy Thornhill, Chuck Mason, Brent Sprinkel, Harold Jones and Chip Utz.
Some great teams and great games back in that era, with every cracker-box gym packed every Tuesday and Friday night. Of course, those were the days when each county only had one high school, so games were sources of community pride.
There were only six schools in the old Battlefield – JM, Stafford, Culpeper, Orange, Osbourn and Spotsylvania. Now, many Northern Virginia counties each have twice that number of high schools.
Times have changed, but the excitement of high school basketball is still there.
Okay, let’s sum it all up. We need snow to replenish the water table, despite the fact that snow will play havoc with high school basketball schedules. But snow will kill the germs and fertilize the soil. And it is fun to play in.
So, I say bring on that December snow and pile it as high as a 10-foot Indian’s navel!
Oh! My first winter storm prediction was between Dec. 1-3. We got ice and cold rain on Dec. 2.
So far, so good.
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