more from the frozen tundra

Looking through a crepe myrtle at the Bradford pear tree in our neighbor's yard. After the storm ended, everything in the neighborhood glistened in the sunlight.

the iceman cometh

For the most-part, winters are not harsh in my part of the country. The weather forecast for this past weekend was for an inch of ice followed by 4 to 8 inches of snow. Normally the weather forecast for our area is wrong. There's a ridge several miles west of the Mississippi River called Crowley's Ridge. That ridge affects our weather greatly. Any weather moving from the west to the east hits Crowley's Ridge and splits. South of us gets bad weather. North of us gets bad weather. But most of the time we get a milder version.

Well our 4 to 8 inches of snow did not happen. We got the ice part, but only about a half-inch. That was enough to wreak havoc on the Mid-South. Our power went out at 10pm Friday night and came back on around 6am Saturday morning. My in-laws lost power from 8pm Friday until around 6pm Sunday. Trees were cracking and popping all night long on Friday. Trees came down. Big limbs came down. Power lines came down. Our trees are just not conditioned for ice. Their limbs are weaker than northern versions of the same trees.

Although there was a nominal amount of damage in the area, it could have been much, much worse. I walked around the neighborhood and took a number of pictures. Here's one of them.

Stay warm. Use common sense. Wait for spring.