Tag Archives: groundhog day

Midwinter Reprieve

January was bitterly cold in Colorado and to make things worse, we got a lot of snow. Scoping the yard midmonth, I was wondering if I would need a shovel on Groundhog Day. But as the month wound down, the chill moved on and February started out unseasonably warm. Each coin has two sides.

These next few days, as we feel the “heat wave” of midwinter, I fully intend to find a comfortable rock outcropping and stretch out on it to get a little warm sun. You can’t beat warm rays of light bathing your fur after chilly month. (Well, maybe a deep bowl of seeds, nuts, flowers and some native grasses would come pretty close.)

But there’s that other side of the coin. Nice as a warm sunny day is in the winter, tradition holds an ominous undertone. I did indeed see my shadow and that says winter is not over yet. In fact, I’m looking for a chill to settle in, about a week from now.

If you’re in Colorado, enjoy the midwinter reprieve, but don’t put that coat away just yet. Mother Nature isn’t quite ready for summer just yet.

There's a shadow here. Definitely.

There’s a shadow here. Definitely.

Chilled to the Bone

With the cross quarter day here, I had to get out of my warm burrow early and head outside to test the weather.  There was a little bit of good news.  Unlike a few days ago, it wasn’t -10°F.  Yes, that’s a minus in front of the ten.  23°F seems almost summer-like by comparison!  Of course I wear a fur coat, so I have a different measure of what really cold is.  -10°F is really cold.

This winter has been unusually cold.  Winter solstice brought bitterly cold weather with temperatures in the negative teens and wind chills down into the negative thirties.  The snow that fell that week is still out, which is also unusual for Colorado.  We haven’t seen a major snowfall, but cold temperatures and regular dustings of snow have maintained that base of white and discourage me from wanting to go outside.  And this past week, another bitter chill, although not enough wind to freeze you to the bone.  It’s just enough to chill you that far, though.

The sun is definitely out this morning, so going with tradition and the miserable weather we’ve been seeing, I have to call for six more weeks of winter this year.

I see that Punxsutawney Phil made the same call this year.  I’m glad he’s getting on the same page with me.  Even a blind (ground)hog will find an acorn occasionally.

It's a Sunny Day!

At least the sun is out!

One Cold Marmot

As I stand in 6” of snow this morning, in 9 degree weather with a wind-chill of -2 degrees – that’s -19 degrees Celsius for my European friends – I have just one thought.  My teeth can’t chatter because I have a horrible overbite.  Well, it’s not horrible.  This is perfectly normal among marmots and all rodents in general, but the point stands.  A thick furry coat is nowhere near enough in this weather!

With snow continuing to fall, it’s easy to give up and say this winter thing isn’t going away any time soon.  We still have piles of snow from the last week of January, but I need to look past what this week is like.  No shadow.  And we are in a La Niña.  I’m definitely leaning towards an early spring.  Just as soon as this February thing blows over.

It’s so cold that snowflakes are not melting when they hit my nose and I’m pretty sure I’m getting snotcicles.  Don’t give up!  Spring is coming!  And yes, Punxsutawney Phil and I still don’t agree on anything.

The Blizzard Marmot

Stormy Marmot braves a blizzard to make the 2022 Groundhog Day prediction.