December 1, 2010

No, that's not the first snow.

P1050042

That doesn't count. We have a standard for what counts as the first snow, so you have not won your bet. Not yet.

Meade said the first snow will be before we get up and look out the window on December 2. I said after.

71 comments:

Scott M said...

No grass (normal yard grass) can be showing for it to count as the first snow in my house.

Albireo said...

Did you agree to the standard before making the bet?

jerryofva said...

Is that your car? I wouldn't have picked you for an Audi TT owner. :)

Hoosier Daddy said...

Well we got our first dusting of the year so I win.

MaggotAtBroad&Wall said...

A responsible driver will be inconvenienced as (s)he scrapes the snow from the windshield and rear window.

Just sayin'.

AllenS said...

Well, we had a shit load of snow a couple of weeks ago. Heavy wet snow. With my new steel roof that I put on my house this last fall, when that heavy wet snow slid off the roof the whole bunch would come off at once. And it sounded like this: WHOOOMP! Except louder.

MadisonMan said...

November in Madison tied for least snowy November, just a trace fell. A little more white to combat the gloom of December would be most welcome.

Chip Ahoy said...

Legally, that is snow. Decision: Meade.

JAL said...

"We" who? Madisionians or Meadehousians?

Is this the First Fight?

traditionalguy said...

The weather in Sweden is the coldest in the last hundred years. All the Swedish Wisconsinites should be thankful that they are over here. And Rush Limbaugh is not broadcast in Sweden, either.

Unknown said...

Well, we had our first snow last night. Just enough to dust the roofs and ground.

It's white, it's cold, it's wet.

That makes it the first snow.

AllenS said...

Well, we had a shit load of snow a couple of weeks ago. Heavy wet snow.

Sounds like you live near Philadelphia.

Richard Dolan said...

"We have a standard for what counts as the first snow ...."

Whatever the standard is, it's not "first snow" but instead "first snow +" with the "+" remaining a mystery. I think there may be a private language in use chez Meadehouse. That explains a lot.

AllenS said...

No, Star Prairie, WI. About 40 miles east of St. Paul, MN.

rhhardin said...

Snow in Ohio.

I see I'll have to figure out the snow exposure program again. The dog fades into blackness under the summer settings.

traditionalguy said...

Is that snow just more rain that is in cold storage until it is needed? We just get rain and more rain here. Our reservoir lakes damned up for hydro-electric are intentionally emptied in October so that they can refill in November and December rains. The cold air from Wisconsin hits the warm humid Gulf air going south and then they reverse it going back north as the Cold Air wars with the Warm Air until it wins in January.

Expat(ish) said...

Whose sissy car is that?

-XC

Ann Althouse said...

Meade and I discussed the standard in advance at great length. Oddly, we didn't discuss what one wins if one wins the bet. That was left completely up in the air!

Richard Dolan said...

"That was left completely up in the air!"

Evidently just like the snow that fell but still didn't count as "first snow". There is a language puzzle hiding in plain sight here -- of the "if a tree falls in a forest but there is no one around to hear, did it make a sound" kind of puzzle. Probably just a question of the "standard" too.

Original Mike said...

That ain't snow.

Chip Ahoy said...

Oh, you and your legalistic ways.

Leland said...

We got a better frosting than that in Houston this morning. Nope, I wouldn't call that snow either.

traditionalguy said...

When the wife and I bet on the best educated opinion, I usually tell her that if I win I get to kiss her, and that if she wins she gets to kiss me.

Opus One Media said...

could be mistaken for the "leavings" of a flock of pigeons....small ones. good aim.

ricpic said...

We're getting that much in upstate New York right this moment. A dusting. Since when does a dusting not count as snow? It's like saying new life isn't new life at conception.

Meade said...

Thanks, Chip. The check for your retainer fee is in the mail.

Here's what's happening at the Madison, WI Accuweather.com web page right now.

She's right about not yet having met the Meadhouse constitutional standard for what qualifies as "first snow," a standard that has to pass the highest level of scrutiny. Therefore, there must be a compelling household interest in removing the snow from the front walk and action must be narrowly tailored to meet that household interest.

I concur with the opinion of the other Supreme Member of the Household that the remedy is, at the moment, "up in the air."

jungatheart said...

Star Prairie. Now that's a pretty name. What color is your roof?

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that it really depends on where you live. In the South, maybe a standard of snow sticking for an hour or two. In the middle, when it lasts maybe until noon, or completely covers the grass. And, in snowier climes, when it sticks all day.

My next brother has been training on skis for maybe a month now in Colorado - yes, most of the snow is manufactured, but not all.

And, here in Northern Nevada, our office was shut down a week ago for snow. I missed it, but you know it had to be a lot more than Ann and Meade are seeing, because we have superb snow removal (we do have a decent sized ski resort - Heavenly Valley - within sight in the county).

jungatheart said...

"Therefore, there must be a compelling household interest in removing the snow from the front walk and action must be narrowly tailored to meet that household interest."

lol I see Althouse is a good influence on you.

JAL said...

@ deborah What color is your roof?

Speaking of roofs (rooves?) did y'all see the google shot of the the Tehran air terminal that the Israeli builders years ago left a star of David on? (@ Drudge)

What a hoot!

Apparently the builders did the same on some other building (built pre "revolution")in Tehran.

Iran should be careful about taking them off... it might be like the blood on the doorpost... ;-)

Back to snow:

If that isn't snow, why should Meade remove it from the sidewalk?

Bruce Hayden said...

Is that your car? I wouldn't have picked you for an Audi TT owner. :)

A couple of years ago Ann moved from (new) VW bugs to Audi TTs. A year or so ago, she went through the agony of deciding whether to replace her TT with another one or do something else. So, this may be a second TT. Not sure.

You can, of course, view Audis as upscale VWs, like moving from a Chevy to a Buick, and then you can move up in the Audi line to the equivalent of a Cadillac. Same company. But, as a 23 year Audi driver, I would never consider a VW, even when they sometimes appear to be sharing body parts.

I should note that I bought my first Audi 23 years ago in law school. I was commuting 60 miles each way, and needed something great on snow. I looked at other 4x4s, but none of them did nearly as well on the freeways. Entire family still drives them, almost exclusively, at least as our winter cars.

I have several of the large GM SUVs - a GMC 2500 Suburban and a Chevy Tahoe. But in the winter, with snow on the roads, I drive my A6, unless the roads are horrible, and then I use the big Suburban with the big lug tires in either 4 High, or 4 Low, depending on how deep it is (and this happens maybe once a year). If you are driving 60 and hit snow or ice, you want the Audi Quattro, not the SUV.

And, did I mention heated seats if you get the Audi cold weather package?

jungatheart said...

lol JAL, that's clever.

Ahem: who can beat me?

kjbe said...

First flakes, but not the first snowfall, I agree - the forecast for that is Friday night. Yay!

As for a standard, ours growing up was that you had to be able to track a cat. This from my dad, so, I've always assumed it was an Indiana thing.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Well we got our first dusting of the year so I win.

Phsaw!. We had 5 inches of snow since the day before Thanksgiving and ever since then since the high temps have been below freezing.

Hard crusty frozen snow.

Some may melt off today. Yay.

(low yesterday 6 degrees high 21)

Do I win a cookie?

jungatheart said...

k*thy, my dad's standard for going barefoot outside was May 29, his mother's birthday.

Revenant said...

It was kind of chilly this morning.

That's what passes for "weather" in San Diego.

bagoh20 said...

"Meade said the first snow will be before we get up and look out the window on December 2. I said after. "

Strategy, my boy. Reverse the bet, and Ann has an incentive to stay in bed. Unless you were thinking it would get her up first to make coffee. In that case, well played.

Leland said...

there must be a compelling household interest in removing the snow from the front walk

If that's the bet discriminator, why isn't it also the wager?

bagoh20 said...

Low 70's today here in L.A., but we can see the snow in the mountains, a 90 minute drive from the beach. California does have it's charms, when you look past it's rulers, who are a bunch of dangerous sissies.

Tibore said...

Oh Silvio... poor Silvio... Professor, you don't have a garage for him? Poor thing... out in the cold like that. :(

Tex the Pontificator said...

In San Antonio, that's almost a blizzard.

Tibore said...

"Revenant said...
It was kind of chilly this morning.

That's what passes for "weather" in San Diego."


:P Phbppppppppppppppptt!!!!!!

"bagoh20 said...
Low 70's today here in L.A., but we can see the snow in the mountains, a 90 minute drive from the beach. California does have it's charms, when you look past it's rulers, who are a bunch of dangerous sissies. "


And a double razzberry for you, bagoh, for reminding me that I've got cold winds and chill nights to face for the next several months. :p PHBPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTT! I say again, :p PHBPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTT!!!

Michael Haz said...

I thought Madison froze over on November 2.

garage mahal said...

Speaking of chilly, twas a nice little gift Republicans gave to 1.36 million Americans yesterday by blocking an extension of unemployment benefits. Merry Christmas. And good luck!

Revenant said...

Wouldn't extending the benefits be the gift? It isn't like "living on the dole forever" is the default.

AllenS said...

The roof is white. White reflects heat. I don't have air conditioning, so it will help a little bit. Plus the fact that it will probably save the polar bears and some other stuff.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Speaking of chilly, twas a nice little gift Republicans gave to 1.36 million Americans yesterday by blocking an extension of unemployment benefits. Merry Christmas. And good luck!

Yes. It WAS a great gift to millions of American Taxpayers who are being shafted for billions of dollars of unemployment payment extentions.

Thank you Republicans.

And please, don't rant on about how those poor people on unemployment have paid for their benefits. THEY didn't pay squat. Their employers pay the INSURANCE which is minimal...peanuts.

The tax payers are the ones who are making up the shortfall between premiums collected and benefits paid. With the never ending extension and free lunch....the tax payers are taking it in the shorts.

Don't make me do the math for you.

Speaking of cold....It should be a cold day in Hell that the Republicans allow any extension of benefits that are paid for by more and more tax hikes on the working. Fund it from current funds or can it.

jungatheart said...

St. Allen, patron saint of the Polar Bears...I like it.

Have you considered a whole-house fan, or does it not get hot enough to warrant that?

AllenS said...

I have ceiling fans in almost every room.

garage mahal said...

Don't make me do the math for you

You couldn't anyway. You're just old and bitter, as usual.

Bob_R said...

I'm afraid that in SW Virginia that not only constitutes snow, but would start a debate about whether the cancel school.

traditionalguy said...

Do you remember the Professor's challenge to the commenters to guess how many jelly beans or some fruit was in a large bowl? She can be a Professor gone wild with bets sometimes. She also sometimes remind me of Groucho Marx in a woman's body.

JAL said...

@ tradguy She can be a Professor gone wild with bets sometimes.

You need to meet my oldest daughter sometime, Trad Guy.

We have a picture of one of their cousins trying to discretely slip her a twenty at his wedding reception because she had bet him 3 years previous that he would get hitched before she did. And of course she was going to collect. And did so publically. :-)

Only one of many such transactions. Many these days with her husband involving smoothies.

Naked Surfer said...

"I concur with the opinion of the other Supreme Member of the Household that the remedy is, at the moment, ‘up in the air.'"

"The gods shall convoy, so the high fate saith,
..
life runs smoothest: whether storm, rain, snow,
Come never!"

The Musket said...

In Alabama we'd call that much snow a storm and cancel school.

The Musket said...

Ann - you win bragging right for a year - that's all that really counts anyway, lol

MamaM said...

Being able to track a cat seems like a good qualifier. Tree branches and shrubs covered in white is another.

Visiting Allan S sounds like a heads up experience. Be something if he could rig the roof for avalanche on demand and deliver a real life Chip Ahoy style pop-up plop with WHOOOMP as the surprise.

I'm still savoring the dynamics and laughter that were part of the Rush response yesterday. Any post that causes Rush to respond and RhHardin to trade pithy statements for multiple comments of length and insight is a two'fer in my book!

I especially liked hearing Althouse laugh at the end of the video. Her laughter sounded spontaneous, sincere, delighted, confident, and inviting. Real.

Another whoomp to the head and special thanks to Chip A for pointing out the little expansion triangle in the bottom of the comment box. I consider myself observant but didn't see that before yesterday. It works great.

Here's to crows and dusts of snow:

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

R. Frost

Dust Bunny Queen said...

We have some friends who were entertaining their Grandchildren over the Thanksgiving holiday. The kids are from San Diego and they had never seen snow before.

The children were thrilled !!! and spent all day making snowmen and snowballs. They went ice skating later in the week on the pond. Had a hot dog roast and drank hot chocolate.

Old news for us who live here but exciting for the kids. Created memories for them that they will treasure their entire lives.

Phil 314 said...

As a resident of AZ I'd be a poor judge.

However, as a former resident of the New York State Snow Belt I'd give you two good "snow" rules:

1) If you can't easily make a decent snowball, its not snow
2) If you can't ski on it (downhill or x-country), its not snow.

JAL said...

@ The Musket
Heh. When we first moved to NC from NY they called a snow day. Three flakes, I saw.

I asked the mailman "Do you always do this?"

Mailman: "What?"

Me: "Have snow days when there is no snow?"

Mailman: "Oh... there's snow over on the other side of the river..." (7 miles away)

Sure enough, there was. A little bit.

Of course back then they didn't even plow the roads until after the snow melted.

Phil 314 said...

Low 70's today here in L.A., but we can see the snow in the mountains

That's a great day, meaning you can actually see the San Gabriel's. Wind must have blown the smog out.

To paraphrase Nicholson in Easy Rider:

This used to be one helluva city

Anonymous said...

There was snow on the ground in Paris when we landed on Monday, and it snowed (just flurries though) for most of today.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gabriel Hanna said...

@Bruce Hayden:

But, as a 23 year Audi driver, I would never consider a VW, even when they sometimes appear to be sharing body parts.

I'm a lifelong driver of both, and the parts are in many cases identical, such as my '84 Audi Coupe and the VW Quasar.

I and my immediate family have racked up literally millions of miles on Volkswagens, especially Rabbits and Jettas.

Gabriel Hanna said...

the VW Quasar.

By which I mean "Quantum". In my defense, I've never seen a Quantum, only its parts.

Revenant said...

The kids are from San Diego and they had never seen snow before.

The funny thing is that San Diego County gets as much snow as places like Kansas and Ohio. It is just all up in the mountain towns like Julian, instead of in the city itself.

wind.rider said...

Oh good grief. I can't believe no one asked about this.

After what, exactly?

Robt C said...

The heck with all this snow talk. I'm with Ulissi. Fix It Again, Toni!

Clyde said...

It sure looks like snow to my inexpert eye, although I personally have not seen snow since the airport in Philly in January of 1989. Here in southwest Florida, rumors of flurries in Cape Coral count as snow.

That said, it's supposed to get down to 39 degrees here tonight, according to my home page's weather widget. That's damn cold! I blame the hubris of those hypocrites in Cancun.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Here on the other side of the Lake, I have to concur: that's not snow. We had our first persistent snow of the season today, thanks to lake effect. It started before sunrise, and halted just before sunset. At mid-day, snow on the porch rails was more than a hand width deep.

It's a good day to be a telecommuter.

Ann Althouse said...

"A couple of years ago Ann moved from (new) VW bugs to Audi TTs."

Well, I totaled my New Beetle, so... yeah... I "moved."

"A year or so ago, she went through the agony of deciding whether to replace her TT with another one or do something else. So, this may be a second TT. Not sure."

I had a lease and I decided to purchase this 2005 TT. I didn't want to replace it because they changed the design and I don't like what the TT looks like now. And there is no car that I like the look of that is also good for winter driving. So I'm glad to have this care, though it is nearly 6 years old. It looks pretty, don't you think? Works perfectly too. Rock solid on the winter roads. I really feel at one with this car when I drive it... which isn't that much any more. I let Meade drive me around, and that's pretty cool too.

Deb said...

It Atlanta, that's a good enough snow to close schools and most federal agencies, snarl traffic, cause lines at the supermarket, and have 24 hour weather reports. (Kidding!)