Sooooo......... what was the verdict?

Did the groundhog, throw a shadow or not? Will it be a long or a short winter?

We don't have a tradition like this in Australia, and I'm still learning.

Sooo....Koala, here's how it goes:

Groundhog sees shadow------------>Six more weeks of winter
Groundhog doesn't see shadow------>Six more weeks of winter

Thank you, but.... isn't that the same?

Well, the six more weeks of winter part is the same. You didn't really think that there is any escape from that immutable truth, did you? The rest has more to do with who must buy whom the libations that follow, or so I'm told.

I can't fight off the feeling that somehow bagpipes were originally involved, and you know that nothing good can ever come of that.

Thank you Joan.

But.... if it's bagpipes you're after, my BIL plays them and is I believe, very good. He competes all over the world, including the Edinborough Tattoo in Scotland.

Most of us northern tier, midcontinental Americans are delusional at this time of year. JoanB is right....either way, if you are lucky it is 6 more weeks of winter, depending on your definition of winter....

For me it is 12 more weeks of winter, because it can still snow heavily for a month after the Spring equinox. Ugh....please not this year! I will be twice as fat at that ground hog! Eat and sleep, oh, and hallucinate.

I think the groundhog went back inside around here, (FAST!)
cause thy're predicitng 18-24 inches of snow in Wash-Balto area
starting today and going through tomorrow nite.
Blizzard conditions tonite thru tomorrow and
more snow predicted for next Weds-Thurs.
(Tues by some accounts)
I'm scheduled to go- off to the mountains of PA,
the last weekend of the month on a ski vvacation with friends
(I don't ski anymore because of the PN, but we all have fun
spending a week together.)
If this winter weather keeps up, it'll be ideal for my wife & friends,
but its a bummer trying to dig out, here in the city. I do as litttle of it
as possible, leaving the hard work to the local younger guys
who come around with shovels, trying to make a little extra spending money.

Bob

I hope you have one of those giant horsepower, self propelled snow blowers like we do! You are going to get nailed! You are getting more snow than here in the midwest! That makes me nervous, since March is when we get some of the biggest storms here....ugh. I WANT SPRING!

That groundhog is useless.

Nope, only commercial outfits have that kind of equipment in the inner-city. Some out in the counties, maybe, but I live in the 'Inner Harbor' area. Row homes and slightly hilly. Kinda like D.C.'s Georgetown, but with hills. Causes problems getting up streeets with snow or ice.

Its coming out of the South, along with the Western front.
When it comes out of the south it picks up moisture from the Gulf
and also from the Atlantic. Here on the Chesapeake, it picks up a little from the Bay, as well - so we really get nailed.
Bad storms in the summer when it comes out of the South, and big snow in the winter. But usually only one time in the month of Feb. This'll be the second time over 20" in less than 4 weeks - and more to come!
Due to the cyclonic swirl anti-clockwise, it drives as NE, which is where the Nor'Easter term comes from, but it actually is moving from S to N.
We usually get Canadian fronts (from the N & NW) with snow in the winter, maybe 1"-3", but when its from the South..... watch out!

We're not prepared for this, below the Mason-Dixon line. I heard on the news this a.m., that this city is already $10 million over budget for salt & snow removal.

Yeah, no sense having a huge snowblower for a small walk. We are not getting much from this storm like you are...maybe some lake effect, if that reaches us. Winds out of the northeast.

We have a 150' driveway, and we live out in the open...not many trees except the baby ones I planted. Farmers took them all out to farm every inch. Anyway, that leaves us vulnerable to snowfalls, even small ones drift, and no one is walking around out here with a shovel, lol. Hubby finally bought a decent snowblower two years ago and he is happy as a lark. He deserves it...he shoveled long drives for many a year. He is hitting the big 60 this year....waaaayyy too old to shovel, lol. At least that is what I tell him.