The Return Of Winter

For the past several years we have wondered what happened to the winters many of us remember when we were younger. The ones featuring ice skating (outside), sledding and mornings when we turned to the radio looking for the news that school was closed. Let’s face it, with few exceptions there wasn’t much use for sleds, snow blowers and shovels the last decade or so. When we got slammed with a huge and surprising snow storm before Christmas there were two schools of thought….this was our one big snowfall for the winter OR this was a preview of things to come.
Needless to say we all now know which of those scenarios turned out to be prophetic.

Welcome to the winter in which snow blowers are precious, snow plows are gold mines and kids with ambition can earn plenty of cash. Not only are we getting more than our fair share of snow but unlike any year I can remember….South Jersey is taking it on the chin even more than the northern part of the state. It seemed for years we would talk about how being close to the coast always meant we got rain when others received snow but that has not been the case this time around. Depending on what happens today we’ll have had two significant snow events in a matter of days that will have produced more snow then we’ve had in many winter seasons.

While all of this may be welcome news to kids who love having days off from school it is wreaking havoc in many other circles. First you have parents who have to scramble now that kids are home because they both might have to work. Then you have the strain this is putting on towns, counties and the state in terms of manpower and cost. Budgets for overtime are being blown up and public works employees are being pushed to the brink in some cases and road salt is becoming a premium item. If that’s not enough at a time when businesses need all the help they can get the snow is an unwelcome visitor that has resulted in reduced revenues.
With Valentine’s Day and President’s Day coming up this is usually a busy time for many but today and maybe even tomorrow will be largely lost.

One thing is for sure….nobody will ask the question, what ever happened to winter because it’s here.