Cold Weather

A fine layer of snow blanketed the ground Saturday, and temperatures hovered below freezing, but neither Dolly nor Anna seemed to mind. The two female elephants, like many of the hundreds of animals at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, might not be native to cold climates. But they've learned to adapt. And having a thick hide and big body doesn't hurt. "I always tell people, with animals, it's not so much where you're from as much as what you're acclimated to," said Mike McClure, general curator of the zoo in Druid Hill Park.

Wally Vait has a good eye for such things, so I'm not surprised that during a hike Saturday on the North Central Railroad Trail in Freeland, he spotted an Eastern garter snake on a sun-splashed rock. The question: What was it doing there, after one of the coldest Novembers on record, and with the winter solstice two weeks away? Did a snake aboveground portend doom for us all, as in the purported Mayan prophecy for Dec. 21, 2012? Was this a sign of the Almighty's unhappiness with Maryland's same-sex marriage law?

The cold weather's extended stay in Carroll County is chasing residents to warmer climes.FTC "People are coming in here saying, 'I want to go someplace warm,' " said Jodi Bunty, manager of Travel Agents International in Cranberry Mall. "They've said, 'I don't care where you send me. I just have to go south.' "Local travel agents said they usually see a surge in business during the winter as people confirm their summer vacation with employers and begin looking forward to spring. But this year's cold snap, starting with a treacherous ice storm Christmas Day, has area sun worshipers running to travel agencies.

I can't remember a winter I'll be so glad to see go. Even the pollen seems a relief, because it doesn't come without the warmer weather. And warmer weather means Toni will be with me through the fall.I wasn't so sure, two months ago, that would be the case.As she passed her 12th birthday in November, it was increasingly apparent my sweet old girl was falling apart.That, at least, was the vet's scientific summation. He's fabulous at explaining things in plain English, and at getting to the reality of the matter in a flash, even if the reality isn't really what you think you want to hear.

On Wednesday, when the Orioles earned their first win of the season, 9-6, against the Tampa Bay Rays, they also set a dubious Camden Yards record for all-time lowest attendance - 10,505. You can come up with all the excuses you want - cold weather (in the 40s for most of the game), a school night, a lackluster opener two days earlier, a ho-hum opponent, the typical Day After April Fool's hangover. But 10,000 fans?

Snow, salt-covered cars and school closings in February. What's up with that? The Mid-Atlantic region and perhaps much of the country became so accustomed to unseasonably balmy weather since autumn formally departed that winter's sudden arrival comes as a shock. Hasn't been this cold since 2004! Fahrenheit readings in the single digits doubtless inspire all the more shivers because residents of this region have not been conditioned by steadily declining temperatures. The mercury hit 70 degrees just last month.

Northeast cities from Baltimore to New York could be in for a snowy winter, according to AccuWeather forecasters. The weather service's winter 2012-2013 forecast calls for cold weather and large systems of moisture to converge, dumping above-average snow totals along the East Coast. The timing is expected to be in January and February. El Nino, the global climate pattern expected to develop by the end of September, could contribute heavily, according to the forecast. It typically causes a strong southern branch of the jet stream across the country, which can often phase together with cold air and the northern branch of the jet stream around the mid-Atlantic, causing major winter storms.

So far this winter, no flakes have triggered stampedes to the supermarkets. Tennis and basketball courts are drift-free. And Baltimore has barely touched its 17,000-ton stockpile of road salt.Where, you ask, are the snows of yesteryear?Missing in action, it seems, the chief casualty of yet another milder-than-normal winter in the region.While the Baltimore-Washington INternational Airport would usually have recorded 9 inches of snow by late January, there hasn't been enough this season to bother measuring.

So far this winter, no flakes have triggered stampedes to the supermarkets. Tennis and basketball courts are drift-free. And Baltimore has barely touched its 17,000-ton stockpile of road salt.Where are the snows of yesteryear?Missing in action, it seems -- the chief casualty of yet another milder-than-normal winter in the region.While the Baltimore-Washington International Airport would usually have recorded 9 inches of snow by late January, there hasn't been enough this season to bother measuring.

When I saw the weekend forecast calling for plummeting temperatures and even a slight chance of snow showers, I figured it was time to batten down the household hatches. It has been a benign fall offering plenty of opportunity to bask in the backyard, rake a few leaves in 70-degree weather and chortle over the fact that there was no need to fire up the furnace. That is over. We are moving from balmy to "brrrr." Tightwad that I am, I had an inkling it was time to finally turn on the heat when Christmas ads started showing up on television.