Snow

As a hard-core griller, I try not to let bad weather stop me from starting backyard fires. For a time, I thought my winter grilling habit marked me as a smoky-smelling fanatic. Then I read the results of a national survey that reported 54 percent of grill owners say they fire up all year long. Of course, grilling on a sunny Florida patio in February is a much different experience than cooking in a frigid Maryland backyard. The pollsters did not ask these year-round grillers if, like me, they sometimes have to dress like they are climbing Mount Everest.

Arlene Rosenthal, of Columbia, spotted a puzzling item in the Post about a 21-inch snowfall in Texas in 1934. "Most of it melted shortly after reaching the ground," the story said. "Actual snow depth never exceeded 5 inches." If it melted that fast, Arlene asks, "how was the total of 21 inches obtained?" Do I really look that old? Today, snow is measured on a white plywood surface, cleared and remeasured every six hours. Perhaps more-frequent observations inflated the measured depth, while accumulations nearby melted and compressed.

GRANADA, COLO. -- The snow curled up before the massive plow blade fitted to the front of one of John Duvall's tractors. The 58-year-old rancher clenched his jaw as the vehicle trembled and then stalled. There were still a hundred yards of snowed-in road he had to clear before he could haul hay to the starving herd of cattle clustered in a small clearing. "This is [what] you put up with every day," Duvall said. "You're working your butt off, and looking at your livelihood go down the drain."

Baltimore's snow lovers are moping about the moderate-to-strong "La Nina" winter we're entering, with good reason. The National Weather Service looked at all nine such winters from 1950 to 2000 and found no "significant" storms (8 inches or more) at all. El Nino winters in the same period produced eight such storms. La Nina winter snow totals averaged 40 percent below normal. Our best chance for snow (or maybe the best month to leave town)? March. Four of the nine years saw above-average March snow.

The greatest snowstorm ever recorded in Virginia and Maryland began on this date in 1772, piling up 30 to 36 inches. Meteorologists call it the "Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm" because both future presidents noted it in their diaries. On the 27th, George Washington wrote, the snow "kept constantly at it the whole day, with the wind hard and cold from the northward." It continued on the 28th "with equal violence, the wind ... drifting the snow into high banks." Travel halted for two weeks, postal service for five.

Howard Baughman of Catonsville says he has lived nearly 83 years and sees occasional references to "traces of rain and traces of snow." "I have never seen `traces' quantified, however. Would you please clear this up for me?" Sure. Forecasters generally record a "trace" of rain or snow when it is evident, but too slight to measure. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center's weather glossary, a "trace" of snow is less than a half-inch in depth. A trace of rain amounts to less than .005 inch.

Baltimore, Washington and Maryland's northern counties fell into the "sweet spot" of yesterday's Alberta clipper snowstorm, which surprised commuters with an unexpected traffic nightmare and delighted school kids with the season's first all-day snow and early dismissals. There was little accumulation on major highways, but the morning commute wheezed to a crawl anyway as motorists slipped on melting snow and icy overpasses. Weather-related collisions jammed corridor after corridor, as half-hour commutes became two-hour ordeals.

Here it is the middle of February and we haven't seen any snow. Have you seen any snow? I haven't seen any snow. I think we got some snow at Christmas. I was at a friend's house the other day and noticed a brand-new L.L. Bean toboggan - that's a recreational sledding device - leaning against a shed, dry and pretty, and unusable. The fellow who bought it grew up in New Hampshire and now lives in a house with a perfect-for-sledding hill in Baltimore County. I told him that, as long as he lives here, he should use the toboggan for a coffeetable.

It was an innocuous-enough weather forecast that greeted readers of The Sun and Evening Sun on March 28, 1942, as they busied themselves with preparations for Holy Week and Easter."

Yesterday afternoon's lacrosse game between No. 6 Maryland and No. 13 Towson at Minnegan Stadium was postponed because of snow.It has tentatively been rescheduled for May 5 at 7: 30 p.m. The decision was made by Tigers coach Tony Seaman and Terrapins coach Dick Edell 40 minutes before game time when Towson's grass field had already been covered by a few inches of snow.The Terrapins lead the series, 15-4, and have won the last four meetings. Maryland has never lost in nine appearances at Minnegan.

This week's snow left 5.8 inches at BWI, the most since February 2006. The storm brought the total snowfall for Baltimore this season to 9.1 inches, exactly half the 30-year average. Only three winters since 2000 have produced less. There's still time for more. Every March date has seen snow at least once since snow tallies began in 1883.

There are a few of us here in the newsroom who are still praying for a really big snowstorm - call us nutty, if you want - before the winter of 2009 recedes into memory. So, it's not uncommon for us to beat a path to our in-house weather oracle, Frank Roylance, who keeps his eyes on the skies and for developing lows over the Gulf of Mexico. Those southern-bred storms give us snow-lovers hope and have the potential of being big snow-makers as they roll up the Eastern Seaboard, sucking up all that wonderful Atlantic Ocean moisture that translates into snow, snow, snow and more snow!

I don't know about anyone else around here, but I'm sick of the whole thing - this winter without significant snow. Bad enough the Steelers won the Super Bowl and Channel 11 had to reduce Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to the size of a playing card so they could telecast the Maryland evening lottery numbers being drawn during the halftime show. Bad enough that we're now in the real boring part of winter - Pro Bowl, anyone? - and that the Terps aren't doing so well, and Gary Williams appears to be circling the drain, and Michael Phelps wants again to be forgiven for being young and foolish.

Two weeks ago this afternoon, an inch and a half of snow fell in Western Maryland. It should have been no big deal. Snow has been falling in that location, near Myersville in Frederick County, since long before there was a Maryland. What was different this time was that some of that snow fell on Interstate 70. Sometime after the snow began falling, there occurred a chain-reaction crash involving 47 vehicles, including six tractor-trailers. Two women died in the pileup. At least a dozen people were seriously injured.

Mid-January and only 0.6 inches of snow. Bob Brown in Cockeysville wonders: "When was the last time there was no snow through the middle of January? Is there a year when no snow was recorded?" Only a trace had fallen at BWI by Feb. 1, 1973. That season saw just 1.2 inches. It also happened in 1913-1914, but 23 inches fell after Feb. 1. Skimpiest snow season? Seven-tenths of an inch, in 1949-1950.

A fast-moving cold front from Canada brought nippy air and a dusting of snow to the area yesterday, triggering scores of accidents. Although strong winds will blow away the clouds this morning, temperatures are expected to barely edge past freezing today, with forecasted highs 20 degrees lower than normal, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kramar. Although less than an inch of snow fell yesterday evening, more than 50 crashes were attributed to slick streets, Maryland State Police said.

Ed Stawinski writes from Perry Hall: "The Great Lakes give off 'lake-effect snow.' Why doesn't the Chesapeake Bay give off 'bay-effect snow?'" It can, and it has, but rarely. Ideally, lake-effect snows require cold winds across broad, open water, then rising terrain to lift and cool the air, forming snow. The bay is small, with flat terrain on the lee side. Still, north winds down the bay have dropped snow on Norfolk.

On July 2, 2008, PHILLIP SNOW JR., beloved husband of Edna Snow. He is survived by a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Tuesday after 8:30A.M. where the family will receive friends from 5 until 7P.M. The family will also receive friends Wednesday at St. James Free Baptist Church, 3916 Old York Road, at 10:30A.M. followed by Funeral Service at 11A.M.

On April 7, 2008, PATRICIA MAE SNOW; beloved mother of Shelli Snow Ajibade. On Monday, friends may call at Greater Bethlehem Temple, 8334 Liberty Road from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. On Tuesday, Ms. Snow will lie in-state at Greater Bethlehem Temple, 8334 Liberty Rd, where the family will receive friends from 7 P.M. to 7:30 P.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to Leroy O. Dyett Jr., Funeral Service, P.A. 410-262-1198.

It was still snowing on this date in 2003 as Marylanders dug out from 28 inches of snow - the deepest since records began in 1883. Jeffrey Brauner of Baltimore recalls that the seven-day forecast a week earlier predicted rain, with highs in the 40s: "How could it have been THAT wrong?" Easy. A southward twitch in the jet stream dropped temperatures into the 20s. Seven days is a meteorological eternity. Forecasts are improving, but weather systems are still too complex for precision a week out.