If you were already thinking that spring has arrived, you’re not out of the woods yet.
Tag: winter
Shovels Out: First Snow Accumulation of the Season Expected Thursday Night
It’s no blizzard, but the first snow accumulation of the 2016-17 winter season is expected to be disruptive.
Shopping Report: New Year, New Sales
The champagne corks have been popped and everyone is gearing up to go back to work and school. Around Baltimore, post-Christmas sales are winding down, though even in the thick of winter, there are sales to be shopped. Here’s some of what’s happening in Baltimore this week:
- The Winter Clearance sale has begun at Jones & Jones in The Village of Cross Keys, with fall and winter clothes on sale for up to 50% off.
- Also in Cross Keys, shoes are discounted up to 70% at Ruth Shaw.
- From January 8th through the 11th, the discounts will expand at Cross Keys, during its annual winter sale, with stores featuring discounts of up to 75% off.
- On January 3rd, newly engaged couples can get a head start on planning at the Bow Ties & Bubbly event, held just over the Bay Bridge at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. The event includes numerous vendors from Baltimore, from florists and dress shops to stationery stores.S
Bill, the Weather-Predicting Crab, Forecasts a Warm Fall
Punxsutawney has Phil, the groundhog who predicts the approach of spring; Baltimore has Phil, the weather forecasting crab. Oh, so you haven’t heard of Bill? That might be because he’s only been around for a few years — but in those couple years, he’s never been wrong.
Spring Are You Out There? Local Family Pleads for Warmer Weather on Video
From Cool Progeny – Spring… are you out there? One local family turned Disney’s hot snowman song into a melodic plea for warm weather with a side of funny.
Baltimore’s Best Snow Pictures
So far this year, Baltimore has seen nearly a foot more snow than we’d expect during an average winter. And because we’re just that kind of city, we’ve found all sorts of ways to get creative with the white stuff. Here are some of our favorite snow day images from this winter; if you’ve got some of your own, please send them to us!
That Nature Show: The Power of the Lowly Groundhog
This column, That Nature Show, is about the nature right under your nose: in our backyards, playgrounds and parks! Stop and look around, you’ll be amazed at what surrounds you.
This Sunday, February 2 is Groundhog Day (Grundsaudaag, Murmeltiertag) a holiday in the Pennsylvania German folkloric tradition of assessing when spring is coming based on the emergence of a ground-dwelling rodent.
They are my people, the Germans (not the rodents) on my mother’s side. My grandfather’s grandfather was a brewer outside of Pittsburgh, so as a child I was a big believer in the predictive abilities of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, Punxsutawney Pennsylvania’s most famous resident and a star of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.
My outerwear was determined by a groundhog. In late February with ice still on the ground I’d say to my grandma, “I don’t need a cardigan, Punxsutawney Phil said its going to be an early spring.” Like that carried weight.
Like you should trust the largest member of the squirrel family? Most certainly you should not. Research shows Phil’s “spring predictions are less accurate than chance.”
Why Baltimore Winters Are Not All That Bad, in One Photo
I case you’re wondering what you’re looking at, let me tell you. Those are thousands of fish that were frozen in an instant as a cold wind met the surface of the water. That’s a rare occurrence, even in the Norwegian bay where this photo was taken. So I’m willing to bet it could never happen here.
UPDATED: Bill, Baltimore’s Weather-Predicting Crab, Will Tell Us if Winter Is Coming After All…
Everyone knows you can’t trust a meteorologist for an accurate weather prediction. Do you know what you can trust? Baltimore Bill, the official weather-predicting crab.
For the past couple of years, Baltimore Bill has predicted the coming season by scuttling off his specially built crab platform and jumping into the Chesapeake Bay. Last year, Bill predicted an early winter, and sure enough, Baltimore saw its first snow in mid-November. The year before, he got it right as well. A 100% accuracy rate is better than any other weatherman, weatherwoman, or weathercrab we’ve ever heard of; it also handily beats out Punxsatawney Phil, who gets it right only about 39% of the time.
