A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!
Tuesday, December 09, 2025
It SNOWED! Nice Dusting. Daytime Snow! Some Wintry Mix. Then Nighttime Snow. IYKYK I'm Happy!
I consider this a good start to a "real Winter" where we actually get significant cold air and winter weather on the menu! Took the time yesterday to enjoy it in real time. Curious on how long it would snow and if it would actually ever coat things at some point. Cars covered in Snow (and ice) this morning and the rooftops coated with snow. Holiday Cards sang to me, I use them to decorate. I decorated :)
I seriously love Winter!
We are in a set up with "Clippers" clipping through.
Each brings the chance of more snow.
As always time will tell!
The MIMIC says Winter!!
All the way down to Florida.
And you know what's cool? Check this image from Windy.com out!
Sunday Morning. Freezing Fog in NC. Fins Play Jets. Carolina Panthers on a BYE Week. Snow in the Forecast Maybe. Time Will Tell!!
Winter came early to Carolina.
NC acting like it's VA
But it's not.
Also not seeing FROZEN fog here....
....tho lots of fog.
It's cold, it's damp and I am not going out in search of evidence of freezing Fog! First time I ever heard that term was the year of the Polar Vortex we were driving from Raleigh to Brooklyn for some holiday event, maybe a parade was involved or dress up costumes I can't really remember except that Mother Nature threw everything at us including the WARNING FREEZING FOG signs on the highway. I turned to my husband who is from Upstate NY and asked "what's that" and said "I don't know" and I thought "oh" because the warnings flashing with it on the highway seemed very ominous. A cold, surreal winter wonderland feel in the air everywhere from the snow, ice and Freezing Fog in some areas.
2025 could set up to be one of those winters and yet we have only just begun. The NWS Raleigh Forecast Discussion was so nebulous on possible snow on Monday I don't even want to go there and seems they did not want to go there as well. Everyone is fine tuning their forecast graphics for an "event" that's less than 24 hours away. Seriously???
Anyway.......... I may or may not update the blog later today if I am in the mood. It's been that sort of year where it's hard to fine tune anything that far out. La Nina was fading away during the later part of the Hurricane Season when the MJO was a no show and there were no tropical systems of any kind in the deep Caribbean. When you watch the satellite imagery vs every new run of a model you get a better feel for what is at play even if no one has yet to say "El Nino coming" ...
Cold, Damp & Snow Somewhere to the North While I Sip My Nespresso . . . Enjoying Winter in the Carolinas!!
Snow on the radar but not the ground...
Snow staying predictably North of Raleigh....
....this time.
I feel like we need a few "misses" before we get the real deal every year! Supposedly there's a band of "wintry mix" sliding West to East fast about to slide through the Triangle. Will see. When I first moved here years ago I'd stand outside on the deck waiting for snow flakes to fall and all I got was cold, nasty rain. I don't do that anymore, though I do peek outside just in case. If I need snow that much can go to Upstate NY or Colorado to visit the kids and hopefully I will sooner rather than later.
It is really dark outside. Dark and damp. So dark. No pics, use your imagination. Took a little walk, talked to my neighbor and sipped my Istanbul Nespresso and it was a nice cold wintry morning. Not too cold mind you, but really dark. The cloud layers must be wild for it to be this dark in the morning. It reminds me of how it looked at the peak of darkness during the Great Eclipse a few years back. I was watching the temperatures hang tight last night in the low 40s, I did not expect to see snow on the ground when I woke up and it's not.
There's wintry mix up there somewhere...
...in the many layers of the atmosphere.
But it's not here at ground level.
Funny thing is that it through the window it looks like there's snow falling, fine snow... a sort of illusion like those rainy days in Paris. I love the winter. I'm crazy about the winter. Snow or no snow and I do believe we will eventually get snow this winter. It's only December 5th! Lord have mercy, have some patience!!
That's it for today's post. Mercifully short! Wearing this big oversized brown fleece lined sweat shirt that falls to one side across my shoulder as if I am back in the 80s. It's a fun look, it's a fun feel and I am enjoying the beauty of cool, fresh, clean air rather than hot, stale summer air that hangs tight around your body and there's barely a breeze. I'll take winter in Carolina anytime.
Have a wonderful weekend! Trying to figure out what to make for my Sabbath meal tonight. Will figure it out, enjoying the moment a bit longer and savoring my Nespresso!
Jack Frost & Sunrise Through the Carolina Pines!! Will It SNOW Tomorrow?? Who Knows ??? Supermoon in December is the "Cold Moon"
Woke up this morning, deep down under the covers as I prefer lots of blankets to the heat being on too high and tried to go back to sleep. My husband wakes up early and leaves early. I lay there, playing possum trying to stay in bed and enjoy the cool morning; the weight of the covers and dreams of snow falling from the sky tomorrow morning. As he was leaving he yelled out "there's frost on the cars!" and I giggled and jumped out of bed, threw on my faithful Victoria's Secret soft, warm hoodie over my pajamas, shoes and ran outside to see the frost for myself. I know for people raised up in Maine or Michigan or Minnesota this may sound silly, but in Miami I never could understand what frost was actually.
"Jack Frost" this character from Winter used in stories or referred to in movies really seemed an intangible sort of winter weather. Snow I get, snow I had seen and Ice Storms were explained in detail to me by my best friend who grew up in Upstate New York. Frost seemed some sort of fleeting, ethereal visitor as it creeps in like fog or something - in truth I never was sure. In Raleigh it happens sometimes, you have to be up early to see it and it melts as fast as the sun climbs above the level of sunrise. Even in Winter the sun here can warm things up fast, especially on a relatively clear day the first week of December. It's dry more than it's wet, so generally there's not enough moisture to get a real layer of frost. I live in the Suburbs of Raleigh, maybe if I lived out in the country I'd see Jack more often...
As the picture above shows I saw frost and I made a small smiley face on someone's red car and smiled like a kid. Normally, the only thing we could do similar to that in Miami was either because smoke for a fire in the Glades left ashes on the car or a heavy layer of Saharan Dust. My father was never happy when he saw smiley faces on his car, not because he kept it cleaned and washed but he didn't understand the need to make a smiley face!
Nuff said on the smiley face. But oh the sunrise was beautiful. In Carolina you get the chance in Winter to see the sunrise or set between the bare oak tree branches or through the Carolina Pines. Not exactly a clear cut view of the sky here as there is in South Florida. I finally get why people line up at sunset in Key West to watch the sun set out over the water turning tropical golds, pinks and sometimes even a drop of fuchsia!
Luckily I like the lacy look the Pines make...
As for snow tomorrow? Who knows.............???
Watching videos online.
Raleigh is always in that area of
"definitely maybe"
but
"probably not"
Raleigh is always on "the line"
But there's cold air coming down the road.
I'm a sick puppy.... I love the cold weather.
Had enough of hot weather most my life....
I like when the air feels like the AC is on outside!
On Miami Beach my best friend and I would tell the kids we were going shopping to Publix and run over to the beach about 5 blocks away from our house and watch the moon rise sitting on the boardwalk. Awesomeness. Then we'd rush to Publix and in a frenzy throw enough food into the shopping basket to make it look like we'd been wandering through Publix talking rather than hanging out at the beach. In later years we'd go to Hollywood Beach, after the move up the road, and there's nothing like Hollywood Beach during a full moon, let alone a Super Moon! People line up to watch, especially as astronomers bring telescopes to see the moon up closer; people dance by the band shell or walk on the beach.
Winter Dreams in the Carolinas. Winter Storm Moving East.... Cold Air in Place!
Google Weather. Either loves me or is just teasing me.
Really, really want snow.
A dusting.... flurries.
Wintry Mix!
Life in Carolina can be a heart breaker when it comes to Winter Weather. Those who love Winter Weather often get their heart broken when the temperature stays too high and we get rain or the snow turns to sleet (which is neat but cuts down the totals) or we get way more than expected and the whole place goes bonkers. Those who want snow often get their heart broken. Those who moved here to get away from the snow get their heart broken when it snows. It's good to know which side of this divide your friends are on before you say "WOW DID U SEE WE MIGHT GET SNOW?" and they scowl and explain they moved here to get away from Winter and you silently think "oh gee maybe you should have moved to Jacksonville Florida, you didn't research this well did you?" and then there are those who live here and love it because it has the Seasons. I love snow. I want snow. I like any form of Wintry Mix. And, yet I'm on that line geographically where there is usually snow to the North yet it seems very hard to get it to move South of I-40.
The joy is it's December, very early December and there will be many more chances for Winter Dreams later in the Winter. Cold weather currently is all the rage & it's a nice early bonus. Below is a good map I saw online put out by Gerald Mengel who is and On Air Met in Charlotte a city to my WSW that I spend time in often. It's the base of the Piedmont Crescent that runs from there to Raleigh. Hurricane people type things like WSW ...
You can see this storm....
...sort of matches up along those lines.
Carolinas have the mountains...
...and the beautiful beaches...
Many live in the Piedmont in NC!
Gets a nice mix of weather.
Seasons are awesome.
Can go W toward the moutains.
East to the beaches.
And many of us pray for snow!
I'm praying.
Wishing.
Hoping.
But I'll believe it if I see it!
Nice
Colorful maps today on X!
I so love color and maps!
December 1st brought winter.
Below Freezing nights.
Days in the 40s and 50s.
Polar Vortex is in style this year.
It drops down....
...cold air gets shunted down.
So yeah that's my weather world today!
This is a Weather online diary ya know....
Snowed in my son's backyard in Colorado.
Loved the pics!
It was very pretty, been there and it's beautiful.
Snow Chances in the Air.... Raleigh Convention Center on Fire Tonight from a Gas Leak! Shimmer Wall Keeps on Shimmering.
(note this blog was written in real time....)
Regarding the 2025 Hurricane Season....
...it's best to go straight to the source.
There's a link below to their story....
...the story of flying into hurricanes.
So we can get the best forecast possible.
There's not much to say the season is over and I've spoken on it and everyone has spoken on it and it was what it was and it was a season of disconnecting dialogues. It was a boring, slow season with mediocre storms struggling to get a name and survive a while and some Invests could not even muster the energy to get a name, let alone a track map. Then there were the Major Hurricanes that did Rapid Intensification as if it was a dance they learned in college or performed on the road. A little warming up and WHAM we had RI and everyone online went wild reading data from planes and they all curved up into the Atlantic far from any landfall. Until Melissa that managed to somehow break the spell, break the forcefield and slide into the Caribbean going where no other 2025 systems dared to go. And she hit the specific spot of hot water that would allow her to intensify stronger than any other Atlantic Hurricane on record since we've been able to collect the data. A season of extremes from slow, boring and exhausting to "OMG did you see the models" and watching it do what the models showed it would do ...though taking her own time to draw out the drama.
Tropical Storm Chantal.
People forget it made landfall.
In the USA.
It did the Carolinas....
...and a bit of Virgina.
Ye Olde Tidewater States.
United in history.
The USA did have a landfall.
But it was a TS not a Cane.
It's a season that will be studied for years to come and instead of saying "this could blow the top off like Wilma did" they will be saying "this could blow the top off like Melissa did!" and Jamaica tries to pull it back together, pick up the pieces and start over. After a Cat 5 Hurricane that is basically what happens. It's not "fix things up" nor "clean away the debris" it's starting over from scratch in some places. Some places fared better than others but the whole infrastructure and normal flow of life is far off like that distant galaxy over the horizon. Prayers and charity are important. Hard work, grit and a sense of determination and I've known a lot of Jamaicans and they all have that in abundance. I've lived twice in areas that were filled with Island Folk from the Caribbean, both in Crown Heights and in North Miami Beach Florida and they are awesome. But it's still an awesome challenge to get to normal after a Major Hurricane let alone a strong Cat 5 Hurricane.
Back at the ranch.... watching chances for Winter Weather that could pop up or rather fall down to the sky if the cards are all aligned and we are dealt a hand with Winter excitement vs cold, nasty rain. First there was a chance of next Tuesday (there was one flake on weather App) lol and then it said a chance of flurries Friday Night maybe.... then a sliver of a chance ?? Now it shows maybe Saturday!! Go figure there's possible snowflakes spread all over Google Weather! Maybe we will see flurries indeed!
So this happened..........
Checked X for a post on snow....
...and "oh my God!"
Raleigh Convention Center on Fire..
Live Breaking News...
LED Wall still works!
Go figure.
In shock here......
All news stations good here.
WRAL is a go to for Breaking Local News.
Seems fire was on the roof.
Seems electricity is on as LED wall working.
We do so love that Shimmer Wall.
Rarely does anything happen in Raleigh.
Anything big or terrible.
Watching coverage in real time...
...old school style.
Really crazy.
ABC News put this image up ....
Maybe we will get snow........
.... this looks fake...
But it's a real picture.
My mind went to that pic from 2014..
..or maybe some scene from Ghostbusters!
Old pic from 2014.
Just a reminder that you think you know what you are going to write on and suddenly news happens, close to where you live at a place you know well. Will see in the morning if there are snowflakes on the Weather App tomorrow! Maybe sometimes things happen in Raleigh, we had Tropical Storm Chantal, could we get early December snowflakes or even some Ice?
Leaving a link to my friend Mitch who put up a good video on YouTube on Winter Storms and Snow possibilities. Mitch wants snow. I want snow. Will see as life happens in real time....
Thanksgiving in the Tropics! Hurricane Season Ends with Only Tropical Storm Chantal Making Landfall in USA. Major Canes Out at Sea Til Sadly Melissa Slammed Jamaica with Historic Hurricane Force Winds... Winter on the Way I'm Happy to Say! Thankful for All My Weather Friends ;)
Black Friday is all about cold air.
Buy hoodies, boots and gloves!
There's a very old saying "don't take any wooden nickels" and I'll add that should be remembered when the GFS promises a named tropical system in December in Florida when cold fronts reign across the South. Cold weather with dry air behind it all the way down into Florida. Miami may or may not participate but it's beginning to look a lot like Meteorological Winter and that's in 5 days when the calendar flips to December.
Thanksgiving scatters snow in the Midwest.
It already snowed in Minnesotta yesterday.
More is on the way behind that.
The front is draped across South Florida.
No named storm is in sight!
Over the next few days I'll write something on the 2025 Hurricane Season as it ends officially very soon. I'm a Capricorn, while I am not boring, I do like traditional dates and November 30th it's officially over. As for the seasons I go by Meteorological dates so on December 1st Winter begins officially for me. I do pay attention to the Winter Solstice and it deserves it's own attention especially in a year when the Polar Vortex may be a term as popular as Rapid Intensification was in 2025 with our Major Hurricanes.
Our Season was a Tale of 2 Seasons.
Perhaps 3 in ways.
The early weak Tropical Storms.
Chantal did make landfall in the USA.
Went deep into NC over Raleigh & beyond!
The clean up from flooding is still going on.
Carrboro, Durham, Chapel Hill had flooding.
People seem to forget that....
..while high giving "no hurricanes in USA this year!"
There were a plethora of Invests.
Some elevated to "any time now" status...
...yet they faded away.
I was at OBX with the Invest nearby before Erin.
Major Hurricane.
Cat 3, Cat 4.... Cat 5 oh my!
It did miss making landfall...tho it impacted NC.
Erin then moved close to landfall and...
...pulled out at the last moment.
Something changed after Erin.
The predictions for a backloaded hurricane season veried and the season came alive when Humberto went Cat 5 as the calendar turned towards October and it ended when Melissa broke through the dam and made it into the Caribbean and aimed itself directly at that pool of hot water South of Jamaica as if it had been reading posts on X showing it where it needed to go to explode. And explode it did and with that explosive energy we had the strongest gusts every recorded by recon in the Atlantic Basin EVER!
While the USA did not get a direct hit by a hurricane, Jamaica got a Cat 5 that'll be remembered forever and be written about in the history books. More on that later in future blogs.
The season was a tale of two seasons in that many storms were forgetful and not worth remembering and struggled greatly to even keep their name and other storms took off as if they were on steroids exploding and putting on quite the show.
Barry remnants were or weren't involved in Tx flooding.
Location: Miami, Raleigh, Crown Heights, Florida, United States
Weather Historian. Studied meteorology and geography at FIU. Been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & everywhere else... Lecturer, stormchaser, writer, dancer. If it's tropical it's topical ... covering the weather & musing on life. Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/BobbiStorm
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