I Miss The Surprise Snows

Nowadays with the super-scientific, pretty accurate 10-day (and more) weather predictions, all the magic has disappeared from the snows which used to surprise us with their pristine beauty.

For me, surprise when suddenly it was snowing was one of the greatest things about the snow. It magnified its beauty.

from last year's snow of Dec. 2013

from last year's snow of Dec. 2013

Now, with all the warnings and predictions, people are so stressed out. A few weeks ago, the forecasters had claimed that last Shabbat (weekend) would be stormy and snowy, but it wasn't. There was a bit of rain, plenty of sun, but that was it.

And now the news has been full of snow warnings for the Jerusalem area. This has been going on for days. I work in a clothing store, as you know, Yafiz of the Rami Levy big-business, and heavy gloves are sold before they hit the shelves. People are buying "gotkes," that's the Yiddish for long underwear. You don't have to be an Ashkenaz (ethnic European) Jew to use the term. It's considered Hebrew, and I've even heard Arabs use it. Of course, we've sold lots of them. The same goes for heavy winter coats, sweaters and more. We have lots of fuzzy pajamas for women and girls, just perfect if you want to stay cozy and warm.

Too bad I don't have a large personal stock of hot water bottles to sell. Rami Levy ran out them days ago. People keep asking me if we have any to sell, so I send them to the nearby pharmacy in Sha'ar Binyamin.

I wonder how much snow will stick here in Shiloh. According to the forecasts, it'll only be "freezing" weather on Friday night, and not much precipitation is predicted for then.

Tuesday January 6						Wednesday January 7								Thursday January 8								Friday January 9								Saturday January 10								Sunday January 11								Mon. J. 12
Local time	08		14		20		02		08		14		20		02		08		14		20		02		08		14		20		02		08		14		20		02		08		14		20		02
Cloudiness,  %
Precipitation,  mm
Temperature,  °C	+10		+11		+8		+7		+8		+5		+6		+6		+8		+7		+6		+7		+7		+3		+3		+4		+5		+4		+6		+6		+7		+7		+6		+5
Feels like,  °C	+8				+4		+3		+4		+1		+3		+2		+5		+4		+3		+4		+4		-1		0		+1		+3		0		+3		+4				+6				+3
Pressure,  mm	686		685		687		687		686		686		688		690		692		692		693		692		690		688		691		691		691		689		689		687		688		691		694		696
Humidity,  %	65		66		44		56		61		84		75		70		68		71		79		77		81		93		70		66		72		94		85		84		85		77		78		75
Wind,  m/s	4		10		9		9		10		6		5		7		5		5		4		5		4		4		3		4		2		5		4		3		1		2		1		2
	SW		SW		SW		SW		SW		W		W		W		W		W		W		W		W		NW		NW		W		W		SW		SW		W		NW		NW		N		W
Sun rise / set	06:40		16:49						06:40		16:50						06:40		16:50						06:40		16:51						06:40		16:52						06:40		16:53				06:40
Moon rise / set	18:13		07:10						19:06		07:50						19:59		08:26						20:52		09:01						21:44		09:34						22:36		10:06				23:29
phase

But that hasn't stopped people from stocking up and panicking.