What a winter

We’re used to playing golf every month, including all the winter months, in McCook but not this year. It has been a cold and snowy winter and we still have the potential for snow storms through April. I’m sure not many of you have forgotten the 18-inch snow we had on the last day of April last year. This is the way winter used to be in McCook and around the country when I was growing up.

The northern half of the country was snowbound during winter with the southern half getting occasional snow to remind us it was still winter. It was a regular occurrence for us to receive three or four snows in Arkansas during the winter months, often causing cancellation of school. And when I attended the University of Arkansas from 1963 through 1967, Fayetteville, Arkansas was considered more a part of the northern half of the country than the southern because it was located in the Ozark mountains and received regular snows. But that’s not the case anymore. Its six least snowy years on record have all occurred since 1998. Driving a hundred miles south to Atkins, where I grew up, shows a similar picture. Despite the previous statement of averaging three to four measurable snows a year when I was growing up, Atkins hasn’t had a measurable snow in the past three years.

On the other hand, McCook has had snow on the ground since December 23rd, including a 2-inch snowfall on Christmas day. Ever since then, we have averaged seeing snowfall at least once a week and that continues to happen. After an inch of snow yesterday, McCook and the surrounding area has been placed under a Winter Weather Advisory from 6 pm tonight through noon tomorrow for up to six inches of additional snow accompanied periodically by freezing rain or freezing drizzle.

This week’s column is about the snowy winter we’ve had for more reasons than it replicating the way winter used to be in Nebraska. Being a southern boy, I didn’t grow up with a lot of snow so I was always thrilled when it DID snow, as was the rest of my family. Snow in Arkansas has always been different than snow in Nebraska because of a lack of wind. So in Arkansas when it snows, it falls straight down, hardly ever drifts, and is a joy to walk around in. In fact, some of the most memorable days I spent enjoying snow there was walking around the downtown area when it was snowing and being amazed by how quiet it was. You could literally hear the snow falling through the air and landing on the coat you were wearing. It provided a sense of calm and tranquility unlike anything else I had known up until then.

Of course, it’s just the opposite in Nebraska because snow is almost always accompanied by wind which often leads to blizzard conditions and deep snow drifts. It’s not very enjoyable to walk around in a Nebraska blizzard the way it was a heavy snowfall in Arkansas but there are exceptions like the one we had yesterday. It only snowed for an hour or so but it was moderate snow without any wind and it reminded me of the snows that fell on me when I was a kid.

But even for this southern boy, enough is enough. Constant snow on the ground and regular forecasts of more snow can be demoralizing and even depressing when no end is in sight and after three months of the white stuff, I’ve had enough. Thankfully, after the snow we’re due for tonight and tomorrow, no more is in the forecast for the following week and temperatures are supposed to climb into the 40s.

My son Michael, being a snow buff too, can’t understand how I could be tired of the snow but he hasn’t lived in it the last three months in it like I have.

I’m ready for Spring!