Watching Snow By "Streetlight"

[azskyman]

Now that I live in Phoenix, I no longer wait for that first snowflake to fall from an approaching storm. But how well I remember those days and nights of anticipation from my years back in Illinois.

I would watch the weather maps for days in advance. My first tip was often a sinking mass of cold air from Canada that slipped by our hometown unnoticed by virtually everyone. A gentle. shift to north winds about a day before the storm would arrive.

And then, when a Winter Storm Watch would be issued, my next most important observation was the surface wind direction. As the storm approached the Midwest, I would watch flags and trees and eventually my anemometer and direction meter for that telltale NE wind.

Finally, as reports of snow to our southwest began to come in, if all the components were together, I would position myself on a sofa, or turn on the back porch light, awaiting the arrival of a "first" snowflake....that sign that the snowfield actually arrived in my neighborhood.

From that point forward, I would watch the streetlight for such long periods that my neck would stiffen or I would fall asleep mesmerized by the snow whipping by it. And I would keep an eye on a more distant light...using the "fogginess" of the image as a measure of intensity.

I spent a lot of time watching snow race by that streetlight...even in the middle of the night I would get up for a "streetlight" view of the storm.

Those were special times I still remember when, while others were sleeping, I sat quietly and talked to the storm, urging it on, and felt a unique personal relationship with the sky at those moments.

I understood what I was seeing..and it seemed the storm was rewarding me with that wonderful combination of orange sky, blustering winds, and that streetlight view worth a million dollars to me.

For you snowlovers, does this story sound a whole lot like you as well?

[Pileus]

Azskyman, don't forget to use binoculars when looking at a distant
street light and it's important not to look directly at the light. In addition
if you have a security light like I do, look directly up toward the light
but cover the light with one hand so you'll be able to see that first flake
fall in your area. I could have typed everything in your post. I do the
very same thing. Thanks for posting it.

[Dave C]

I actually make home videos of my snowstorms here in SE Mass. I have the Jan 96 storm(24in.) April Fools storm in 1997(20in) and presidents day storm in 2002(20in) along with several less prominant storms. I make commentary as I go during taping. It's also fun to stare at the window glass as you anticipate a change from rain to snow, watching for the peices of ice in the raindrops followed by melted snowflake pattern as the wind whips it against the glass.

[Stephanie]

Absolutely Poppysky! During the nighttime that was almost the only way you could really tell how hard the snow was falling. The front porch and back porch lights were always "protected" somehow from the house. Nowadays, you could always depend on a neighbor or two to have their flood lights on as well and really get a good show of the snow falling.

I'm always excited with the first snowstorm of the season.

[azskyman]

Ah yes....a great point Piuleus. You can not look directly at the light. Holding up one hand to block out the direct light works...as did using a window casing or a tree or something outside...blocking the direct light and watching only the INDIRECT light.

Freezing rain and sleet have such a distinct sound...and that makes them easier to detect when they begin to occur.

Another sign, of course, for those living in a city is the orange or bright sky glow that accompanies heavy snow over the city.

Thanks for sharing your own additional comments.

[Persepone]

As a little child I remember watching snow in Maine not by streetlights, but by the light on a house owned by a fraternal lodge. It was a very old lamp with a purplish cast. But the next morning all the windows would have been painted over by "Jack Frost" and you had to breathe on them to clear a space to see through to see how much snow there was.

But most of my snow watching has been with streetlights. Some of the most beautiful were watching it snow on Paris in the middle of the night at the Jardins de Luxemburg...

Also, watching it snow at sea is interesting because if you are in the middle of the Atlantic there are no lights except on your ship. It's really strange...

My favorite snow watching streetlight is an old one on Main Street (Route 147) in Francestown, NH. It's an old, old streetlight (one of only 3 or 4) across from my daughter's house.

We don' t have any streetlights here, but I have an outdoor floodlight I can turn on on the back deck. I miss the streetlight in front of my old house.

It's still exciting to get up in the middle of the night and watch for the snow. Even though it does not mean "no school" anymore.

[Stormsfury]

Freezing rain and sleet have such a distinct sound...and that makes them easier to detect when they begin to occur.

Freezing rain and the glaze, wow ... the wind blowing against glazed over trees have an unmistakable sound. Sleet produces the most unmistakable sound, sounding like little pingings, and awesome to hear when it's falling heavily ...

Even snow makes an unusual sound falling to the ground interacting with fallen leaves.

SF

[Anonymous]

In the wondrous winter of 2002-2003, when me and my friends were at Massanutten, near Harrisonburg, VA in mid February 2003, I had a WONDERFUL time in all that snow!!!!!!!! We were there from Friday night Feb 14 through Sunday morning Feb 16. I hardly slept at all. I was watching the snow fall and blow by orange streetlights in Harrisonburg! I was so happy I was dancing around and singing songs out loud!!

We got 18 inches of snow there, and I was so happy I was beside myself with joy!! I had brought along one of my square-edged, construction-grade digging shovels and I was out there digging snow!!! It was pouring snow and that refreshing NE wind was gusting to 35 mph!!! It was only 17 degrees!! Man those flakes were BIG!!! I took jebwalk after jebwalk!!! I was blasting all my favorite songs on my headphones!!! When I was not outside joyously digging snow or savoring a jebwalk, I was glued to the pane glass window, transfixed by that snow blowing past the streetlights!!

There is nothing quite like the rapturous joy of a long snowy jebwalk, and watching the wind blow the HUGE flakes sideways past the streetlights!!! I was so elated, I said the heck with other people (whom I am sure thought I was completely out of my mind by then), I started dancing as the wind gusted up past 35 mph and the visibility was cut by heavy snow wildly blowing past the streetlights!!!

Yeah folks, when the snow fever hits me, it hits me. I was dancing around. There was a place where the wind had blown the ice clean of snow. Just like a small child, I slid back and forth on that ice, all the while whooping it up with pure joy over all the heavy snow that was piling up at 2 inches per hour!!! I was BLASTING my favorite songs on my headphones!!!

WOW that was a night to remember for all time!!!!

-YEAH I'm back!!! Old Arctic Jeb is back!!! BRING IT!!!!

[breeze]

LOL! Jeb - you say it like NO other, mah man!

Our street lights tell the tale - Oh, my! Look at the
flakes whirling around the light out on the
main street bank! I'll bet there will be an inch or
two by morning....

[wx247]

This thread has me ready and waiting for the first snow of the year. Thanks everyone for making this such a wonderful thread!!!

[Pileus]

Yeah my childhood memories of snow are creeping back after reading
the posts. However, I only have to remember back to last February when
we received 21"(official) of snow from one storm. We go nuttso when we
receive 2 or 3 inches. You can imagine this event! One thing that leaves
an indellible impression on me is how it seems surreal outside at night
when it's snowing. I only hear tree limbs creaking from the wind. It is so
peaceful but yet unnervingly so. Keep it going, ya'll. This is great.

[Anonymous]

Well I got lots of snow stories folks. You know, I could go on for hours if you really want to hear them...........

:sled::sled::sled:

When it comes to fantasy blizzard stories, you'd best look out!!!


-ARCTIC Jeb!!!!! BRING IT ON!!! Yeah!!!!

[azskyman]

Excellent posts here about nighttime snows....

During the day, regardless of where I lived, I would pick one or two of the more distant images I could see as my reference points for whether snow was getting more intense or less intense.

For example, when I lived on Riverbend Lane, on a clear day I could see a distant horsebarn about 2 miles awa. When snow began to fall, that reddish barn became pale and brown. The heavier the snow, the less color it had...and if a storm was really cranking up, it disappeared altogether.

And Stormsfury, you mentioned the "sounds" of a storm. One of the most memorable moments in a snowstorm occurred when my dad and I drove to a distant country road. He pulled off the side of the road, shut off the engine, and there, in the middle of a wet heavy snow, we got out and just listened.

We could hear nothing (before the days of snowmobiles)....and yet we could hear everthing that storm had to offer. The "silence" that evening taught me that weather is not only for watching, but also for listening.