The temperature is dropping

Monday. very cold and white today.  When I left the house this morning everything was dry and cold.  As I was approaching HWY 99 from the east I saw the first of the light snow flurries, and then ran into the first sign of sticking snow at the highway.  Within a few minutes of getting to campus the parking lot went from bare and dry to having a thin but solid coat of light snow. It looks like it is starting slow down now, which is consistent with the forecast. Accumulations of up to 1-2" are all we are supposed to receive.

I drew the short straw for morning weather watch among the VPs, the process that starts the decision-making for how weather might affect the campus being open or closed.  At 4:30 this morning there was nothing to show but the forecast possibility of light snow.  Even now, shortly after 7:00 AM, the roads around the college remain largely clear and very drivable (most folks are doing full speed as they pass my office window).  I'm not much concerned about conditions this morning or today, but as the temperatures drop further over the next day or so I am more worried about icy conditions.  We're told to expect lows around 20º F (-7º C) for much of this week.  More fun to come, no doubt.

Went to put the studs on my wife's car (so we can get up our long steep hill if it ices up) this Sunday only to find the new rims we had the winter tires mounted to this spring were sent home with the wrong mounting hardware. Grrr! Given that the snow is now falling and that everyone will be queued up to get tires swapped out, it's especially frustrating to have to join the queue to get a very stupid problem resolved.  Here's hoping my wife can get up the hill with just the all-weather tires on this morning.

Music on the ride in this morning:

 - Enya: Isobella

 - Van Morrison: Wonderful Remark

 - ELO: Last Train To London

 - The Guggenheim Grotto: Heaven Has a Heart of Stone

 - Wilco: Wishful thinking