December 5th is Evil!!!

I don't know what it is about December 5th, but for some reason it likes to snow in NoVa (Northern Virginia) on that day. Here is the weather for the last several December 5ths:

2009 - Cold, snow - 4 inches
2008 - Sunny, cold, high of 40
2007 - Cold, snow - 3 inches
2006 - Sunny, cold, high of 41
2005 - Cold, snow - 3 inches
2004 - Warm, high of 59
2003 - Cold, high of 33
2002 - Cold, snow - 6 inches

The normal high temperature is "around" 50 degrees for December 5th. I say "around" 50 because I checked 2 different websites and got 3 different answers for it. Weather Underground says it is 48 and The Weather Channel has both 49 and 51 listed as the "average" high in different parts of their colossal website.

The last eight December 5ths have been quite a change from the four before them when it was always warm and we had 2 record highs set for the date within a period of three years:

2001 - Sunny, warm, record high of 77!
2000 - Warm, high of 51
1999 - Warm, high of 66
1998 - Partly sunny, warm, record high of 73!

For the record, my first two years in NoVa featured fairly uneventful December 5th weather:

1997 - Sun to clouds, high of 46
1996 - Cold, high of 39

I suppose when you average it all up you come out with a normal high of "around" 50 degrees.

You might think that I would be appalled at snow in December and in fact it is just the opposite. I think snow in December is the sign of a mild winter to come. I was actually very worried that we are due for a really bad winter this year. The first winter I was in NoVa, 1996, was horrible and seven years later the winter of 2003 was also a bad one. If the seven year pattern holds, 2010 is due to be another rough year with a huge snowstorm hiding somewhere in it. The more snow we have now, the less likely that outcome is in my opinion. I will take 4 inches of snow in December over 24 inches in February any day!

Mood: Chilly

Song Of The Day:

"But under my hood is internal combustion power and Satan is my motor."

-Satan Is My Motor

Cake