Tuesday, Feb. 9th... Everyone Is Yelling Snow! I Remember February's Past......

It was 1960 and along with the infamous sit-in by the four black students at the North Carolina lunch counter, we were celebrating something different in Scotia, Pa. We had twenty-eight inches of new, fluffy snow everywhere and being nine years old, I was elated that there was no school and couldn't see why grownups were grimacing at the landscapes. Life was great...we had huge hills to sled ride on. We had all the time in the world......
In 1961......along with the launch of Explore 9, which delivered a weather satellite into space, my Grandfather swore that the foul weather we were experiencing, was because of those damned rockets NASA was using to punch holes in the sky. That date was Feb. 3rd and 4th... and man what a bunch of snow fell on us that time. Missing school for two days when you're ten years old was again...the masterpiece of winter! I believe there were some reports of total snow accumulations at close to 30 feet, combined, for that entire year in some locations.
1962...was Feb. 14-15th... two feet of snow blanketed the area and I was again elated at winter's masterpiece of work in squashing school days! However...at eleven years of age, I was now expected to shovel the stuff. Not such a masterpiece after all, as I started to understand the grimacing of adults!
1963 through 1966... Minor little snow falls...some in the low double digits, but melted fast and gave no problems... just the grimacing. No school closures though.
Ahhhhhhh, 1967... That was another biggie amounting to thirty inches and blowing winds, which drifted snow in some places to a depth of five feet. The valley where our little town was located was socked in and isolated for a week as they used D9 caterpillars, front end loaders and dump trucks to open the roads in the valley. I was sixteen, school was out for a week and I became rich shoveling snow as the property owners grimaced and I smiled all the way to the bank with my $110.00 for one day....
1968 passed without a twitch... very little of the white stuff....
1969...That was another bruiser amounting to twenty five inches with freezing rain on top. Thick crusted ice was a bugger to get through also and shovel....
We then ran a span of years looking pretty good throughout February... until the Great "Megalopolitan" Snowstorm of February 11-12, 1983. That was another deep, heavy, nasty snow to contend with.
The list goes on with February 8-9, 1994, February 11, 1994, February 3-4, 1995, and February 5, 2001 and there are more, including the infamous "Blizzard of 1996"when there were state of emergency's declared and roads closed in entire states... Then there was the "Presidents' Day Snowstorm" of February 16-17, 2003. Each year thereafter, we received snow...some years worse than others, but one thing is for sure, They always call the first two weeks of February, "The Snow Magnet" and this year continues to follow that distinction. It also seems that this year takes the cake and begins a new trend of shifting the winter weather around, so that you have to travel to the northern states to enjoy sunny clear skies without shoveling or wading snow. The cold is still here, but the lack of snow makes it so much nicer to endure... However, I cannot guarantee that that sentiment is felt in downstate New York or other southern points either. Now...I understand that they are calling for a possible 12 to 24 inches in New York City and Long Island for tomorrow. I believe they are now calling for all the previously crippled states south of the Mason-Dixon Line to get pummeled again, along with the northeastern New England states again. We are to get a dusting to...possibly two inches of snow this time. I love it!