Snowmaking--Manmade and Natural

Now that the temperature is back well below freezing (and into the single digits), snowmaking has resumed at Ski Roundtop. Last night I was coming back to the cabin late in the evening and thought I'd take a photo of the action. As my readers know, I'm a staunch defender of nature and her ways, but I always find the sight of the mountain lit up and with snowmaking in progress to be a beautiful sight.

Natural snow also fell here overnight, though only about an inch. Local schools are closed today, not because of an inch of snow, but because last evening's forecast predicted several inches of snow to be followed by sleet to be followed by ice and freezing rain. It's the ice word that scares the schools. This winter I've seen a lot more ice than snow, more than I care to see.

My area of Pennsylvania is hilly. Even the flat land is rolling. The roads were all created more than 200 years ago along the edges of the property lines that existed at the time. Years later, the roads naturally have been improved but rarely moved. I don't think there's a single straight line or straight road anywhere. So school buses (and other drivers) have to contend with continually winding and hilly roads that, when combined with ice, are often very difficult to negotiate.

This morning, the forecast seems to have changed since last night. Now, the snowfall is to be lighter and the ice not to begin until after dark this evening, so the kids are ending up with a day off school when they likely wouldn't have needed to be off. I'm inclined to believe the change in the forecast. This morning, my feeder birds were eating normally and not in their frantic feeding mode that tells me I'm going to get hit with a bigger storm. At least that's my prediction, and for now I'm sticking to it.