November Surprise

When we first moved to Pennsylvania, people there, upon hearing we'd moved from Seattle, would say, "Boy, you know all about snow then." The comment had context. The year we moved, 1994, was the "winter of the century" in central PA. So, it was perhaps extra difficult to explain the concept of temperate weather in a place almost 7 1/2 degrees latitude to the north of Harrisburg, PA. Sure, we got snow in Seattle and one year we even had enough sustained cold weather to freeze the north end of Lake Washington, but such weather was infrequent and fleeting. Of course, in a way, every snow storm in Seattle is major because a mere inch of snow completely shuts down the city. Once we even got a foot of snow and people were leaving their $50k BMW's on the Evergreen floating bridge to walk home to Bellevue. The snow was gone 3 days later. While it was possible to go an entire winter in PA without snow, it was unusual and we frequently had more than a foot of snow on the ground for weeks at a time.

So, it struck me as a bit funny, after expending all the energy to educate Pennsylvanians about temperate climates that we got snow in Seattle 3 days before Thanksgiving. I could be wrong, but the earliest I ever remember getting snow in 17 winters in PA was Thanksgiving day. I sensed it would be beautiful and it had been a while since inspiration had come for some picture taking. I dressed warm (long johns and all) and cautiously drove to the Meadowdale Beach trail. I say carefully because Seattlites really are the worst snow drivers I've ever seen. Above are some pictures from the hike. It did not disappoint. The snow brought a wonderful beauty of contrasts. Hopefully those who view this will feel a little like they were there to experience it because it was spectacular.