Well, what latitude North is Kansas, anyway? Doesn't the Tropic of Cancer go through USA at all? At church this morning the minister added a prayer for the wild snowstorms the USA have been having, so I hope you are all bearing up well.

nice change today, the weather has cooled off a lot, the humidity has gone.

That is good. We had major bushfires in places like Coonabarabran, which destroyed many houses there. Now we are having major flooding in places east of there, especially around Kempsey on the mid-North Coast of NSW. Not nice gentle, pasture soaking, steady rainfall, but torrential downpours with rivers bursting their banks. I hope Coonabarabran and places further inland get some of the rain though.

Well, what latitude North is Kansas, anyway?

I believe Kansas falls between 37N and 40N.

Yep, we're holding up well here. Not sure about the east coast.

I know our resident hobbit is looking forward to more of the white stuff, and I assure you I enjoy the scenery it creates emmensly. But, I must admit I am tiring of the cold already. Perhaps I am just getting a few too many creaks in the joints for it.

Maybe increase the consumption of eel stew. I've heard tell it does wonders for the joints.

Glad you're able to get an A/C, IlF. What a relief!

How much snow did you get out of this latest big storm, jo? I see some locations in New England are reporting in excess of 40 inches/1010mm. That's a lot by just about anyone's standards!

Not nearly what the New England States experienced. We 'only' received 14".

[Embarrass, MN] apparently comes from the French fur traders who called the river embarras ("to hinder with obstacles or difficulties") since it was hard to navigate.

Many of our names Down Under were merely adapted from the local Aboriginal words. So it is worth noting that Canberra, our national capital, means in the local Wiradjuri language "meeting place", whilst Wagga Wagga means "place of many crows".

All very interesting!

The final snowfall total from Winter Storm Q: 14.2" !! That is the second highest amount of snow ever received in this city. The highest amount was 15" long before I was born.

Amazing! So glad you're finally getting some needed precipitation.

There is another large system heading our way Tuesday through Thursday. There is much speculation, because even the meteorologists are not sure which way this thing will turn: it's balancing on the freezing mark, so if it drops at all, we'll get a very decent amount of snow; if it raises even a bit, the rainfall will be plentiful. Of course, at this time of years, I'm rooting for the snow. We shall see ... and then come Friday, an Arctic air mass is hitting us again, with strong wind chills and very cold. Which will keep whatever snow we receive over the next few days around for awhile, hurrah!

Doesn't the Tropic of Cancer go through USA at all?

Yes and no.

Parts of Hawaii lie south of the Tropic of Cancer, but the southernmost part of the continental 48 states is in Florida, about 1 degree north of the Tropic of Cancer.

(Random note: the northernmost point in the Lower 48 is the Northwest Angle of Minnesota (at 49 degrees 23 minutes north) even though some map projections make it look like Maine is farther north (47.46 degrees north).

It looks like Kansas is getting hit hard again, with Kansas City in line for up to a foot of snow or more over the next day or so. This storm ("Rocky") was originally forecast to give us significant snow this week but has stayed too far south. It's expected to track across Missouri and give Chicago up to 8 inches of snow.

It was rather warm here today (about 35F/2C) and some of our snow has melted. The rest of the month is expected to be cloudy as the winter storm passes by.

How come Kansas gets all of the snow??? It's not fair, my cousins don't even appreciate it!

It's been sunny and 50s here the past few days. Going to get a slightly cool, in the mid 30s with some rain and maybe a little bit of snow.

This has to be one of the most boring winters ever, very little snow and in the 40s and 50s most of the time.

SnowAngel

How come Kansas gets all of the snow??? It's not fair, my cousins don't even appreciate it!

Your cousins aren't farmers are they? Well, we got 14.2" in storm Q and then another 6+" in Rocky. I heard we need another 10 feet of snow to end the drought, but I'm very thankful for the couple feet we got.

You've got a storm called Rocky? Well we have another one in the Pilbara area called Rusty. That is in Western Australia, in the North West at Port Hedland. By the look of it, Rusty is big enough to swamp the whole of the Australian Mainland.

Temperatures have been steamy rather than too hot here. The Queensland coast from Gympie down to NSW has dealt with floods for the fourth time this summer, and now there is Rusty.

Here comes the next blow folks. The local news is projecting nine inches for central Minnesota through the day tomorrow. Looks like I get to follow the snowblower one more time before spring.
And the Dairy Queen just opened for the season down the street last week.

Nothing like a frosty DQ treat in a snowstorm, eh, Puddleglum?

The prediction is 6-12 inches here in the Twin Cities area. Still, we need the moisture. The latest Drought Monitor shows our area in severe drought with 25% of the state (much of the southern Minnesota agricultural land) in extreme drought.

During our snowstorm, I know several friends and family who made Snow Ice Cream. Admittedly, I'm not sure what that is. I assume you just replace the ice with the snow?

Anyways, I believe we have reverted back to normal on our snowstorm status. You guys up north are getting loads of snow and we are getting, probably nothing. We do have a slight chance for some rain/snow mix here, but I doubt we'll get anything.

Yesterday was very nice outside. I saw the vast majority of snow in my backyard melt away. Though on the shady side of our house we still have snow a couple inches deep.

Despite living in snow country I've never made snow ice cream.

Just a few days ago our snow was melting too...I could even see bits of open ground out there.

Now there's a fresh coat of about 8 inches (203mm) everywhere, and I should go out and dig out my car. Still, it is pretty. Another inch or two is expected before this storm moves away to the east (where Chicago and even Washington DC may get comparable snow totals).

The Weather Channel is calling this winter storm Saturn - but when they talk about "Tracking Saturn" I'm tempted to make a snarky remark about Saturn being in Libra, just where it's supposed to be.

Oh, snarky comments and Weather Channel go together quite often in my house. My husband and I make fun of them all the time, and for the most part, I think it's pretty well deserved. I haven't been able to take them seriously as a channel showing weather ever since they showed Misery a couple years back. (We've called it the Non-Weather Channel ever since as it's hard to catch weather....)
Just a couple weekends ago we had it on in the background as we were trying to watch out for the winter storms coming through, when all of a sudden we realized that we were hearing about how the world would be destroyed if the other planets weather was here on Earth. I suppose it could have been an interesting show learning about the weather on other planets, except they hired the production team from It Could Happen Tomorrow and they were all dramatic about how the White House would be blown to smitherines... yeah.

Anyways, we actually got some rain from Winter Storm Saturn. I was not expecting that at all. More moisture, hooray! And then the big weather news I'm excited about is that we are going to be getting our first taste of spring this week. The highs are supposed to jump to the mid-60s tomorrow AND they're predicting our first thunderstorms this weekend.

Ah, spring. It was in the 60s around here this time last year, with 80s not far off. What a difference a year makes! We may reach 40F this weekend, with a chance of a rain and snow mixture.

I find that Weather Channel series, Deadliest Space Weather, interesting in an "astronomy lite" sort of way, but that "what if it happened here" can be a bit silly. I suppose showing an earth-based hurricane analog to Jupiter's Great Red Spot (or flash-evaporating Lake Michigan to illustrate Venus' runaway greenhouse effect) can help us better visualize these things.

How come Kansas gets all of the snow??? It's not fair, my cousins don't even appreciate it!

Your cousins aren't farmers are they? Well, we got 14.2" in storm Q and then another 6+" in Rocky. I heard we need another 10 feet of snow to end the drought, but I'm very thankful for the couple feet we got.

Nope not farmers, just town people! With a medium sized garden. My cousin told me they had 13 inches and she didn't even go outside!

Finally we have had snow that stayed all day! It started snowing late yesterday afternoon, we got about half to three-quarters of an inch. And there is still some on the ground. Great weather for using the hot tub!

SnowAngel

fantasia_kitty. I wonder if what you are talking about is anything like what was done by maple sugar, or syrup makers in the spring when there was still snow on the ground.
Fresh snow, ( you never want to use the old stuff ) would be brought inside, on a plate where the maple sap was boiled. They would take some of the thick leftover stuff in the kettle, and pour it on the plate of snow, and there ya go, instant treat for the kids. ( and some adults if any was left ).
We received a good foot here. Local news said about 7, to 9 inches, but adding up the three times I went out to move three to four adds up to about a foot to me. Ah whadda they know