Towheeblog

Snow—Dec. 26, 2021

The forecast finally proved true.  It began snowing on Christmas night and we got up on Boxing Day to a white world outside. By mid-morning the depth on cold surfaces was over three inches.  Snow on the saturated soil or wet streets or heat-leaking roofs would begin melting on its lower layers.  On top of a cold and dry wooden fence, it just piled up, giving a good view of its accumulation.

Nora barked me awake at 230AM.  I let her out into the back garden.  Snow had already begun to outline everything it clung to.

Part of the morning there was snow and blue skies at once.  Sunlight from the low southern horizon blazed through white drifts on top of tree limbs.  Only in full sun does the colorless white of the snow become blinding, its shaded patches showing off Monet blues and grays.

In our local park the sledding began by 9AM.   Gone are the sleds of yesteryear.  No more wooden bed atop metal blades. Now sleds are inflated donuts or flat sheets of hard plastic.  You no longer have to tamp down the snow to sled.  Our park’s short, steep, grassy slopes, covered in damp, soft snow proved perfect for the quick rush of a sledding thrill.

In late morning strong wind gusts would create pocket blizzards as chunks of snow fell from tree limbs and trunks and smashed onto objects below.

SNOW GALLERY:

Then at 230pm and laster at 315pm there were snow flurries as what mmelted mid-day began to be replaced by new fallen flakes. Note the junco perched back in the limbs of the forsythia:

Snow is rarely a major event here just above sea level. Here’s what one website says about Salem snow:

“Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Salem experiences some seasonal variation in monthly snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 2.3 months, from December 3 to February 11, with a sliding 31-day snowfall of at least 1.0 inches. The month with the most snow in Salem is December, with an average snowfall of 1.4 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 9.7 months, from February 11 to December 3. The least snow falls around July 20, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches.”
Click here for complete summary of Salem climate.