Who remember's the good-ol-days when it comes to killer snow storms? The early 80's were the best. For years we were trained to endure long winters that included numerous snow days, routine drifting and the scrolling "Blizzard Warning" alerts at the bottom of the screen. Not any more. Were those times a fluke? A 50 year cycle? El Nino?

Earlier today we saw a rare "Blizzard Warning" close to home. I can't remember that last time I experienced a blizzard. Yes, wait, I can. It was my first year at the University of Minnesota on Halloween of 1991...But I still don't remember it. Since then, the weather patterns have changed. Remember 81-84? It was just the norm to have record breaking temps and snowfall amounts. Those were my first years in Minnesota as a kid. On some level, I internalized the idea that every Minnesota would be just like that. When we have a mild winter, I think, this is odd. But which is it. Are we "normal" now and those times just the oddity?

Yesterday we had the largest 24 hour temperature swing in 20 years. If you consider the wind-chill, it felt 80 degree's colder than the day before. This is absolutely nuts. I'm surprised that we can even cope? You'd think that car tires would deflate and asphalt would just open up and swallow cars. Just look at the tight color depiction of the temp fallout on this map. I plan to come back and look at this post in the summer. We quickly forget just how "bad" it gets when it 95 and sunny out.

Here are photos from the 1980's snow bliss era.
(photos of 1701 Jackson Court. Nfld. 1983)