Worst Month Ever?

Whenever a winter thaw rolls around, I always get pissed at weathermen who take the stance that warm weather is good and cold weather is bad. No one ever says this, but it's implicit in the way most forecasters speak. Now, I like summer as much as anyone. I like nice, warm sunny days that you can hang out and enjoy. But once it hits Halloween (the anniversary of the famous 1991 blizzard), then it's winter, damnit. There's a line from a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin says "If I was in charge, we'd never see grass between October and May." I'd maybe shorten it to April, but I'm right there with him. Winters should be snowy and cold all the way through. No wishy-washy "oh, it's cold now," and then "ok, now it'll be 40 degrees out" crap.

That's why this January has been so damn horrible. Not only has it been warm, it's been the warmest January since 1846. That's 160 years, and even that's not certain, since it's based on unofficial temperature data that was kept at Fort Snelling. And it hasn't just been warm for January. In terms of degrees above average, this is the warmest month (I think) ever. Totally ridiculous. It's snowed, then melted. Then rained. Then snowed again. Then melted. You get the idea. The total opposite of what winter is supposed to be. And all I've heard all month is forecasters telling me the long term projections show no change in the weather patterns. I want my Alberta Clipper, goddamn it! I want it to snow 3 feet, then deep freeze to 20 below for a week and a half, then get back up to 25 so it can snow again. Stupid weather.

At least January is over now. Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of the coldest temp ever recorded in MN: -60 in Tower. I remeber that day very clearly, and it was awesome (all the schools in the state were closed by the governor). So maybe the gods of winter will take pity on us and use this anniversary to start getting things back to the way they should be around here. Say, I think I just read a report that said some long-term forecasts were seeing temps drop sometime next week...