Weird November weather

This has been a really odd month for weather in the greater Seattle area. The first part of the month was full of rain and flooding. Just check out this picture for an idea of the flooding.

Now, we're dealing with snow. I've lived in this area for my whole life, and I remember when we used to get quite a bit of snow, and it would stick around for maybe a week or so. But in recent years, we typically get snow for one day and it quickly becomes ice covered with wet slush. This, of course, makes for very difficult driving conditions. People from all over make fun of us for the driving problems that we encounter, but I have to say that the snow we get here is very different from other places. Because we're close to the water, the temperature doesn't stay cold enough to keep the snow dry. Then when it freezes overnight, the road ways become ice and when it snows again and heats up a bit, you get slush on top of it. It's not like driving in drier snow. A friend from Denver, CO, said it was deceptive to drive in snow here because it's very different than what he's used to there.

In any case, I just watched the ground outside of my apartment go from wet rain to covered in snow and ice pellets. Should be fun driving tomorrow. And of course, this is all in time for rush hour commute (although rush hour is now more of a three-hour span). I now hear sirens going, so someone probably plowed into the back of someone else on the road. At least I have power. L. got back up to his place this morning (in Snohomish county) and found that his power was out and the whole area was covered in snow. Crazy weather.