I like my snow fresh, cold and powdery — the rough equivalent of whipped cream. People who speak Inuit and Yupik languages call this maujaq: deep, soft snow you can sink into. It doesn’t happen often anymore, does it? Instead we often get a day or two of good snow and then it crystallizes into sikurluk: crusty, icy, waterlogged snow — nastier than a 20-year high school reunion.
The odds of accumulating, wind-whipped snow are increasing Sunday into early Monday as a storm tracks from Denver to Chicago.
Weather models disagree (nothing new) but the European model suggests a plowable 3 to 6 inches of snow whipped along by 25 to 35 mph winds Sunday afternoon and night. The drifting kind of snow. No issues getting home Saturday, but travel Sunday afternoon into Monday morning may be tricky as another swipe of numbing air arrives.
We’ve already enjoyed our January thaw (in December) and the next couple of weeks look plenty cold, but not “Get my travel agent on Line 1!” cold. Whew …
