The Snow Dance Didn't Work!
All of the relevant (and not so relevant) signs were there:
A host of television meteorologists began forecasting snow several days ago.
A frenzy of shoppers at local grocery stores was present on Wednesday.
Event cancellations in anticipation of bad weather began last night.
A steady mix of snow and rain started to fall around 10PM.
With the cold ground of the last several days, plenty of moisture headed our way, and cold air temperatures it seemed like a lock that we would get snow here in East Tennessee. Just to add a little to the chance of snow (and to make my daughter Alexa (Lexxi to her friends) Schoenfield happy), I did a snow dance last night long after she had gone to bed.
It simply didn't work. While areas to the north of us got snow and the mountains of the National Park got a lot of snow, we didn't get any. Even the small amount of snow that had fallen by midnight had been melted away by the rain that started later in the evening. When we awoke this morning Sevier County schools had NOT been cancelled or even delayed although schools all around us were (much to Lexxi's dismay).
I really shouldn't be surprised however for two reasons. Primarily, our typical winter weather pattern is that when the temperatures are cold enough to freeze moisture and create snow the moisture generally isn't present. Conversely, when the moisture is present, the temperatures stay above freezing and while we may get wet weather, it isn't frozen. This is exactly what happened this time. The temperatures in Gatlinburg flirted with freezing but then rose back into the mid 30's and nothing froze. No streets, no airborne moisture, not even the sidewalks had ice this morning. This really isn't so bad as most folks aren't quite of fond of snow as some of us are.
In fact, living here provides four mild seasons and while it does occasionally snow, it never stays on the ground for long before it melts away and we just don't get as much as we used to in years past. While I don't personally believe that global warming is caused by mankind there is no arguing that temperatures in our area are generally milder than they were 40 years ago when I was just a wee lad. There is snow in the higher elevations which will make the folks at Ober Gatlinburg, our local ski slope, happy but down here in the valley it's just rain this morning.
What, you may wonder, is the other reason that it didn't snow? That's rather simple. As folks who know me well will tell you, I'm no dancer. My snow dance isn't any better than any other dance that I might be foolish enough to try and that is probably the reason it didn't snow for very long at all last night in Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, or Gatlinburg.
If you have an interest in living where it doesn't snow often as well as many other benefits, please contact us. We can provide professional real estate services for residences, vacation homes, investment properties, or other commercial real estate. Just please don't ask me to dance...
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