New Page 4

	(Click on any picture to see it larger.)	Through January 2004 we have had the type of winter that has made Rochester, New York famous for snow! As of January 31, the official snowfall total was about 61 inches in January alone (not counting the December snows that had all melted by January 3). But, they take the official measurement at at the airport. Up on the Lake Ontario lakeshore (Webster, where we are), we have received about twice that – over 120 inches of snow in January. But, we have less than Oswego (about 60 miles east), where over 60 inches fell in two days near the end of January. They call this “lake effect” snow. Water evaporates from the lake, and then as the air moves over the land, the air cools and drops the water as snow.
		We have snow everywhere. In the more densely populated cities and villages, they are running out of places to put it! In our open suburban area we have lots of space, though you can see that the piles behind the mailbox and alongside the driveway are getting high. One of the challenges is that for the areas that we hand-shovel, we have to lift the snow over the existing piles. When we moved here in 2000 we expected this type of weather to be typical. But, we have learned that accumulations of feet of snow is actually rather rare. We are close to the record snowfall for January, but will probably not break the record. A feature that makes Rochester “lake effect” snow different from the snow in other parts of the country is that we rarely have a big snowstorm that drops snow and leaves. We get a few inches of snow on a frequent basis. I think there have been only two days since January 4 that I have not had to shovel at least a few inches of snow from the walks. We have a person with a snowplow on his pickup truck clear the driveway. We have also had one of the coldest Januarys on record – including many days just barely above 0º F. The low temperatures have prevented the melting cycles that usually keep large quantities of snow from accumulating.
	We have noted that one of the cats frequently sits on or next to the heater vent! She used to be able to look outside from there, but you will note that the snow has accumulated against the sliding door so that she can no longer see out to survey her external domain.
		This scenic view is our back yard from our living room window.

	So, once again, Steve can use his new ski equipment on local snow! Click on the photo to see more about Steve's endeavors.	For Nordic (cross-country) skiing, Webster Park is a winter wonderland, with miles of trails, most of which are shielded by trees from the wind. And really convenient. Park the car, pull the skis out, put them on right there, and off we go! No long walks to get to the skiing areas. The park also has a nice sledding hill. One of the world’s great sounds is the squeals of delight of the children (and their dads!) sliding down the hill on their sleds, tubes, and saucers.
	In what strikes me as one of the odder winter features, the ice fishers can get their live bait from a vending machine! We don’t have the elaborate fishing villages built on the ice that they do on some Minnesota lakes. People just go out with a stool, or sometimes a tent to protect against the wind.
		Before winter arrived, we did get some color display this autumn. Our new Red Maple trees lived up to their name. We had the new trees installed after the April 2003 ice storm severely damaged a couple of our large trees.

	For those interested in last spring's ice storm, click here.

2003-04 Has Been the Most "Real Rochester Winter" of the Seven Winters We Have Experienced