Winter has arrived early!

We didn’t get a significant snow last year until Jan-Feb, significant to me means at least a couple of inches.  Last week we got our first dusting and that was a shocker enough, but today we have already gotten over 7 inches of snow!  We do live on a mountain so the difference in weather does vary from living closer to town.  I think a lot of times people think we might be making excuses not to go out because we’ll drive from 5-10 inches of snow on the mountain to a dusting in town.  I will have to get the pictures up that I took today, its definitely a sight to see!

We are now under a ‘heavy snow warning’, I haven’t seen the snow let up at all today so I am going to assume that we will have at least 10 inches by the morning!!  Our son has his Thanksgiving party at school tomorrow so I really hope that it is not delayed. 

Whether this weather 🙂 sticks around or not please please start allowing yourself extra time to get to where you need to.  There’s shoveling the walkway, dusting the car off, possibly plowing/shoveling the driveway, if you live in a private community the roads might not get cleared as early as you’d like and people always tend to drive slower in bad weather.  All that added up means you will need to allow plenty of time to get to places safely.

If it is your first Pocono winter then this has probably been an unexpected surprise!  Enjoy it, take the kids out to play or go for a walk and enjoy the quiet peaceful time snow brings.  Be sure to stock up now on shovels, gloves, hats, salt/sand, and whatever else you will need for the winter.

Be sure to pickup a few gallons of water to have around the house – if you do lose power and use a well then you will not be able to run the water, take showers, do dishes, etc.  So at least have some drinking water on hand to get you by.  Think about investing in a generator and get your lists together as to safety objects to have in the house, a flashlight, a stand alone heater, charged cell phones, etc.  Its always better to be over prepared then underprepared.  And don’t stress yourself out, do your shopping early – whether its holiday or food shopping, spend as little time on the roads in bad weather as possible.

If one thing is for sure, Winter is coming full force!  The picture you see in todays blog is not one you see often, a tree still changing and covered in snow already!

Here’s the current weather conditions for our area:

O.CON.KPHI.HS.W.0001.000000T0000Z- 071119T1500Z/ CARBON-MONROE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…JIM THORPE… STROUDSBURG 947 PM EST SUN NOV 18 2007

…HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY…

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY.

PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL OVERNIGHT WITH A STORM TOTAL OF 2 TO 5 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS AND 5 TO 10 INCHES IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE POCONOS HAVE REACHED 7 INCHES.

ROAD SURFACES WILL CONTINUE TO BECOME INCREASINGLY SLIPPERY… ESPECIALLY BRIDGES… OVERPASSES AND LESS TRAVELED ROADWAYS. THIS IS THE FIRST WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON. IF YOU WILL BE TRAVELING AROUND THE POCONOS TONIGHT… BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS. SLOW DOWN WHILE DRIVING AND LEAVE PLENTY OF ROOM BETWEEN YOUR VEHICLE AND THE ONE AHEAD OF YOU. THE FALLING SNOW WILL ALSO REDUCE THE VISIBILITY. PLEASE GIVE YOURSELF EXTRA TIME FOR YOUR MORNING COMMUTE.

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS. IF YOU MUST… KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT… FOOD… AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.