9:45 am, January 31, 2005: Our weather has been so fickle the last week or so. Yesterday we had blowing snow without too much accumulation, and today the skies are crystal clear. It is a touch cool. This morning we woke up to a temperature of zero [0] Fahrenheit, or about -17 Celsius.

Last night with all the ice on the trees and the wind blowing, it sounded like wind chimes in all the trees. It was pretty cool and cold at the same time. This morning the same ice on the trees looked spectacular, when the sun’s rays made it look like all our trees were covered by thousands of glistening diamonds.

Two days earlier we had to cancel our veterinarian appointment due to ice and sleet everywhere. That ice storm left us with about a half inch crust of ice on top of the snow. And yesterday I was up on our roof with the snow scoop shoveling off, what seemed like, tons of snow. It really wasn’t – just lots of work.

For today, if all goes well, we will be driving to Presque Isle [about 48 miles to the south] for some major shopping. Because all of our local travels are so far [an oxymoron] we take audio books on CDs to enjoy enroute.

From our Vantage-Pro weather station at 9:45 am:

Current temperature: 6 degrees (F)

Barometer: 29.95 in. and rising

Humidity: 75%

Winds: 5 mph and variable from the NW

Wind Chill: 4 degree (F) and variable

Low since midnight: -0.20 degrees (F) at 5:52 am

High wind since midnight: 8 mph at 12:20 am

Snow accumulation on 12/30/05: ca. 4.5 in.