Early Winter?

Every day this week, I've found a news story on "The Earliest Snowfall..." or "Coldest October..." This unsettles me, to tell ya' the truth. Outside the Ancestral Digs, it's a lovely Fall Day. Today will be warmer and sunnier than yesterday, and Dad's beloved red rose bush is pushing out yet another bunch of blooms.

Most of these Early Winter Stories hail from the Northern Tier, the early ski hill openings from Colorado, the early snows in Chicago, Upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and this weekend, New Jersey. Maybe this is the El Nino Signature Jetstream Shift? The Vegas Ski Hill early opening is the only story from the lower latitudes. People always imagine deserts as hot, hot, hot...but in Fall and Winter, some serious cold can invade desert nights. Deserts have some seriously wide diurnal temperature swings.

Around the CorduroyPlanet's World, Boreal Ridge announced that they were Suspending Weekend Operations "due to weather and snow levels" The Remote Sensors show temps have not been below freezing since Tuesday Morning. The thermometer says it's barely made it into the upper 30's since Wednesday Morning. This explains the shrinking ski run in Boreal's Webcam Image.

The Reno NWS Discussions say there's a couple more weather systems on the move for the next few days, but they won't bring much, if any precip into the mountains. These fronts could bring Snowmaking Temps back to the Mountain, though.

As I watched the Local TV Weatherman try to explain the El Nino effect to the Anchors, I sensed his disappointment that this was only a Moderate El Nino. I'm fine with it, really...

Fortunately, there was a way more interesting story dominating the News...Balloon Boy and the Mylar UFO Balloon! Gripping story! It had everything, lots of drama before the happy ending. I figured there was some hijinks afoot, and wasn't surprised to find that BalloonBoy's Dad is a YouTube UFOlogist! He alleges that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a Reptilian Extraterrestrial! In fact, several Government-types get the same treatment. I wonder how many times I heard him call the Art Bell Show over the years?

In all my years on The Mountain, I've seen plenty of stuff in the sky...night and day, but nothing that gave me a smile like I'd get seeing this family's Mylar UFO Balloon floating by!