The weather has been unusual to say the least. Snow in New Orleans and rain in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Mostly here on the Carolina coast, we have had colder than normal weather with some rain and wind mixed in for good measure.
Rainy days were never my favorite days in Reston. Puddles in parking lots and accidents on the highway always seemed to make them a challenge
It has not kept us inside very much on the Crystal Coast. A little rain does not melt a sweatshirt or tee shirt. We took advantage of sun breaking through the fog after a shower to capture this Pelican landing near Swansboro, NC.
Still I miss my sunshine as I am sure everyone in Reston does.
Where we live in Cape Carteret, NC our sunshine peaks in April at about 70% of the time. December and January are the low points of the year at around 55%.
That might sound negative until you start comparing it to other spots. Reston makes it almost to 65% in June before declining to about 45% in January.
Cleveland, Ohio has a terrible sunshine curve. While it almost makes it to about 65% in July, it has a steep drop before bottoming out at 25% in December.
Some rain, fog, and even some cooler weather is not nearly the problem out in the boonies that it is in the cities. Mostly we are rescued by our more casual dress.
When I lived and worked in Reston, bad weather seem to know when I had an appointment in downtown DC. There is nothing like trying to stay dry and clean in your best suit while walking the streets of a city.
My area associate used to describe New York as the only city that makes its own gravy when it rains.
My college years in Boston and work time in Reston taught me that city snow is far from pristine. You need a full force blizzard to get really nice snow and keep it that way for a while.
On our farm in northern New Brunswick where we lived from 1974 to 1984, we could count on fresh snow on many morning during the winter. Three or four inches of snow just groomed the trails nicely, and the snow stayed white almost forever.
As I take a glance at the weather tonight at 10 PM, Reston is at 39 degrees. Here on the coast, we have just slipped below 60 degrees. The closest town, Fredericton, NB, to our old Canadian farm is at 23F with light snow.
Tomorrow morning, Friday, December 12, Reston gets a mixture of snow and rain and with a high temperature of only 36 degrees. I am glad that I do not have to head inside the beltway with that wind and weather.
Fredericton is even worse, they will go from snow to ice pellets to freezing rain to rain with a Friday high of 53F before going back to snow and a high temperature of only 19F on Saturday.
I think that I am ready for summer already. If not summer, I will take those five days next week when the temperature is supposed to make it into the mid sixties.
Here is a short video clip of our very damp coastal day. We know how to do rain here on the coast.
