We’re expecting a snowstorm this afternoon, kids.
I peer at the radar loop and see a swirling blue mass approaching.
I shared the approaching snow storm with our daughter in New York City.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s Caesar.”
Caesar? What the heck you talkin’ about, kid?
It’s all the Weather Channel’s fault–or credit.
They’ve recently decided to name the winter storms, just like those feisty tropical storms.
Brutus? Athena?
So Caesar is barreling down on the Midwest, bless his Roman name. The Weather Channel, according to my sources, says it gives our winter storms a personality. Something to better assist our social media society in recognizing what’s approaching. We’ll be better informed, perhaps.
We’ll at least have a relationship with our snowstorm.
We’ll gush to one another,”Wasn’t Caesar something? Gosh, how much did Caesar give you? Six inches? What? You only got one inch? What a good/bad Caesar!”
What happens when Caesar comes.
Apparently we’ve already seen Athena and Brutus. Our next system shall be (one second while I consult) Draco. Followed by Euclid, Freyer and Gandolph. I could type all the way through “Z” if you like.
Yes, you can imagine there’s been some weather controversy. Joel N. Myers, founder and president of Accuweather, has even said that naming storms will actually do more to confuse the public than to inform it. “In unilaterally deciding to name winter storms, The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety,” Myers said in a statement. “We have explored this issue for 20 years and have found that this is not good science and will mislead the public.”
So will Caesar astound us with a crazy winter storm? Or will he simply scatter a few snowflakes around?
Stay tuned. We’ll let you know what Caesar delivers. Or doesn’t deliver. Right now there’s nary a flake in the sky. (Hope you enjoyed the pictures from Brutus and Athena.)
What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods? Or…please share a memory of a snowstorm you remember. Tell what it was like. Was it like Great Caesar’s Ghost?
We’re waiting for You. We are.
Lake Superior Spirit 
Love those photos Kathy. I hadn’t heard about the naming of winter storms. Are we getting “dumbed down” with this ?
It’s craaaazy mild here today with off and on rain.
Hi, Syb! Caesar dumped us with two inches of snow. Today it’s sunny. Still raining there?
I like how the snowflakes that WordPress has along its top part fell on the pictures you posted..I’m not sure if you planned it that way, but it was a nice touch! The last snowstorm I saw was on the East Coast and it was the one that tore down all the trees and made us lose power for a week in the suburbs. It was a mixed bag because on one hand, it was hard to do my internet job and to have no running water. But on the other hand, people really did come together in many ways that are uncommon in suburban Connecticut, so that was nice. Now I’m safe in Austin and have no plans on seeing snow storms any time soon! 🙂
Jennifer, it is really cool the way people can come together during storms or other disasters. It can be so awful and wonderful at the same time. (I like how WordPress has the snowflakes you can turn on every December!)
How do you turn them on??
Go to your dashboard and go under “settings” and “general”. There should be a box to click that will turn on your snow!
Ohh! How cool!
Mild and rainy in my neck of the woods…the blizzard of 78 was a bad one here….. 3 truck drivers and a snowmobile rider who was trying to rescue one of the truck drivers were stranded at our house for several days. We ran out of milk and toilet paper. not good when there are 5 adults and a 5 year old in the house. My husband has heavy equipment and was out for days moving snow….. he tried to walk up to a house and check to see if everyone was ok inside and he tripped over the clothes line… it was THAT deep.
Needless to say, heading in to each winter since, I have at least 99 rolls of toilet paper on hand.
Thank you! YES! A REAL snow storm!
We remember the Blizzard of 78, too! We were down at Michigan State in East Lansing and it was wild! Gosh I have never once thought of stocking up on toilet paper before blizzards… (Although we do have 11 extra rolls downstairs now.) *grin*
We had snow yesterday and this morning. By noon the sun was shining and all looked fine. I have a feeling you are getting what we had. Have fun, loved the pictures.
Glad you enjoyed the snow pics. We actually only got two inches with this storm. And after all that hype, too!
In AL we have fans running; the temperature is hovering around 70 and rain (are they now naming rain) and possibly storms (are they naming tornado’s as well)?
Suppose to be cooler by tomorrow. Down to the upper 40’s and upper 20’s at night…the flapper temperature.
Seventy degrees sounds wonderful, Linda. I have not yet heard that folks are naming rain! Wouldn’t that be funny? Caesar didn’t live up to his erstwhile reputation, at least in our neck of the woods.
I heard that the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) refuses to name the storms. I agree that its kind of silly. I hope you stay saf and warm and enjoy the beauty. Caesar kind of detracts from the beauty that can come with a winter storm, don’t you think?
This storm was kind of a let down, Lisa. Here we were getting all pumped that Caesar would be something B I G!!! and he was just a little putzy kind of two inch snowstorm. So much for the Roman empire…
See, naming winter storms is silly. 😉
Yup! Silly naming….
YOu really captured the day well. Beautiful Photography
Did you get snow down Milwaukee way? We only got two inches, but it looks like points south may have been snowier. Thank you for liking the pics, Jasmine.
WE got a brush of snow that quickly melted off. Not even a hard frost yet. I worry about the stone fruit and apples. Don’t they need so many days in deep freeze in order to reproduce? At this rate I’m going to have to have my farm in Canada.
They say last year was not a good apple year, but I can’t remember why. Maybe the early spring weather? Good luck at that farm dream! It sounds wonderful.
Yes I’ll have to learn to live with the canadians! YEAH oh YEAH!
It’s beautiful here near Yosemite National Park in California. Sunny and cool with a few clouds today. Have the windows open to air out the house. Went on a picnic yesterday. Good luck with Caesar. 🙂
Janet, is that where you live? I have a good friend that lives in Mariposa! Went to visit her…and blogged about it…a year or two or three back. Sighing and remembering your beautiful neck of the woods.
Yes, I live in Mariposa! Or Bootjack just outside of the town. Does your friend still live here? Wow, what a small world. What is the title of the blog you posted back then, I’d be interested in reading it?
Do you happen to know my friend, Melinda?
OK here you go: https://upwoods.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/pinch-me-i-think-im-dreaming/
https://upwoods.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/
Unfortunately I don’t know Melinda. But I do know the Double Rainbow Guy, well, not personally. But I see him at the market once in awhile. And, I absolutely love the Bug (where you ate), one of my favorite places to go for lunch. Such a small world. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Melinda…long, grey hair, right?
I am still so excited, Janet, that you live in Mariposa! It makes me smile at the amazement of our small world. Yep, Melinda. If you see her do tell her (memorize this): “Her housewife friend from Michigan says hello.” tee hee.
That would shock her if it came out of the blue. 🙂
She’s the kind of person that would like that kind of shock, I promise!
I was going to rant about snow up to my knees as a normal and regular occurrence of Winter. Carrying hot foil wrapped potatoes in pockets to keep hands from freezing. There were no disasters declared no running to the stores, no EEEEEEEEEEEE GADS!!! fake artificial inflated fear, oh dear I did rant.
Here, I will go back to eating my rice pasta and basil, pumpkin seed, black olive pesto. It’s pretty good! Those pictures are beautiful thank you for taking them and posting.
Hot foil wrapped potatoes! Wow, I haven’t thought of that, Elisa. My gosh your pesto sounds good. This lunchtime I opened half a can of garbanzo beans, added a whole bunch of parsley, some lemon and some marinated artichoke hearts and put that in a wrap. OK, I admit to eating TWO!
I’m not sure what is happening with me, Kathy! I find myself wishing for a bit of snow (shhhh, don’t tell my family, they will think I’ve lost it! And perhaps I have..) instead of the rain we have predicted here for tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night. It has been kind of ugly outside lately – dead and brown looking – a bit of snow would liven it up.
It is amazing how snow livens up an ugly-dead-looking winter day. Everything sparkles, as with diamonds! Unless we have to drive in it. Then snow can stay away and come again some other day…
Caesar gave us a nice blanket of white, so perhaps our high school Nordic skiers can get back on their skis instead of dryland training! The Twin Cities received the heavier snowfall we were hoping for further north, though. If they’re going to name storms, why not give them sled dog names and see how big of a team each winter can put together? Caesar is winding down here and plows are cleaning up — Et tu, Brutus? ~ Kat
Sounds like you got a bit more from the Roman Empire than we did, Kat! We only received two inches around here, although they had much more in the snow belts. What a good suggestion about dog sled names! Only a Minnesotan would come up with that! 🙂
You taught me something new today – who knew the storms are now named. Stay warm.
I just learned it myself, Dawn! We are pretty warm today. OK, I just checked. The sun is deceptive. It’s 28 degrees.
HI Kathy, we are supposed to receive our “first significant bout of winter weather” tonight according to the Weather Network, but they haven’t given the storm a name. Snow and freezing rain are in the forecast, which will probably make driving into work tomorrow a real challenge. I would rather it just snowed. We don’t have much yet, just a thin layer carpeting the lawns.
Gillian, I can’t remember exactly where you’re located. I remember your bird passion though! We only received two inches with this much-heralded storm.
I’m in Ottawa, Canada…which is actually a little further south in latitude than Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!
We probably received the same, but it fell mostly as rain/freezing rain. The streets now have that awful icy crust on them now that it’s frozen. 😦
I’ll probably ask you this question about six more times, Gillian. Ottawa, Ottawa, Ottawa. It’s starting to stick. Hope you get snow for Christmas.
No snow here. I’ve been waiting….want to take a picture of the pond with snow…but so far nothing but run and a little sleet. It was snowing a bit in East Lansing yesterday, but really nothing. I guess I should be glad…but still, wouldn’t mind a bit of snow. Named or not.
Did you get snow, Dawn? The pond with snow will look beautiful. I love the snow, except when having to drive. Then it’s the world’s biggest pain, isn’t it?
just rain here — wonder if they will start naming rain storms?
Someone else just asked this, LouAnn! I wonder…I can just see it now…Always Alicia, Bobbling Bob, Crying Chris. OK, never mind, I probably wouldn’t be a good rain storm namer. 🙂
some pretty good names if you ask me
Our storm to remember is the Blizzard of “78 here in Norhtern Indiana. Because our kids walk to school there was no school for 2 weeks. Kids loved it, moms lived thru it. To top it off at our house my husband had had surgery on his hand the week before the blizzard arrived. No snow shoveling for him. Thankfully we had great neighbors to help us out. Kids loved sledding off the garage roof. Hope I never see another storm like that.
Charlotte, we remember that Blizzard of ’78 so well, too! We were in Lower Michigan, in East Lansing, and it was crazy! They weren’t as prepared to handle snowstorms down thattaway. You and your poor husband! Gosh, I am glad you all survived it. We did, too, and went further north. Crazy, I know.
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I heard the name Cesar on the weather channel and thought, “Oh No! Another big devastating storm coming our way!” So naming winter storms unless they are big and devastating will do nothing except immediately alarm people. I love your post and the personal relationships we will now gain with our winter storm pals. And I love the pictures with the WordPress snowflakes falling right inside them like it was really snowing there. I have a friend named Ariadne (a Greek Goddess I think) – good name for the next winter storm maybe?
You are right, dorannrule! Here we all were–alarmed–or at least excited–and what did we get? TWO inches! I am glad you like my blog posts. I am taking a wee break now. My breaks are usually wee, although you never know. Traditionally, they are wee. 🙂
Hot, hot, and more hot here. Sigh. Just doesn’t ever feel like the holiday season. More like the 4th of July. I miss the snow in December, but will be glad I’m here in January. I’m hearing all about this storm, ahem, I mean, Ceaser from bloggers and friends. Just read Terri’s blog in Minnesota. Talked to my bff in Chicago on Skype today, she said it was a mix of sleet and rain. Some of that cooler weather will blow south and bring us out of the 80’s for a bit. I could use a cool off. Whew! Get the blankets Floridians, it’s going down to 73. 😉 Beautiful photo of that evergreen and the reflection in the water. Just loved it.
Sometimes I dream, Lori, about what it would be like to live in hot year round. Dreaming of going to Fort Myers Beach in the spring. Did your friend Terri get lots of snow? We only got two inches. Glad you liked the pics. Snow certainly is beautiful, even though it always isn’t convenient.
I don’t know if Terri got a lot of snow, but I heard on the weather reports that they got 8 to 10 inches in Minneapolis. Here’s the link to her blog.
http://intomystic.wordpress.com/
I forgot to tell you that I had a dream with you in it. I was out of town somewhere and shopping in some gift shops. I walked into a place with eclectic merchandise, much of it metaphysical items, and guess who happened to be the owner of the shop? You! That’s all I remember about the dream, but thought you might like to know that bloggers are now dreaming about you. Hee, hee
gosh, Lori, it’s taken me a long time to catch up on comments! I think your dream was great! Haven’t been in a metaphysical bookstore in ages, but used to love them. I’ll agree to being both eclectic AND metaphysical! Do tell if you have any more dreams. (P.S. Since everyone in our dreams is also an aspect of ourselves–you must be both eclectic and metaphysical, too.) *smile*
Oh, yes, if you saw my bookshelf, you’d see it taken over by metaphysical books. I haven’t been to a metaphysical store in a while either, though. My mind put you as the owner of such a store in my dream, because I know it’s part of your make-up as well. And, perhaps a thought of meeting you one day. Glad you met Terri from MN on her blog. I tend to gravitate toward Midwesterner’s, since that’s where home is in my heart. I actually came across your Midwestern blogs by accident too, so that tells you how our own energy attracts.
P.S. If I had to describe myself in only a few words, I’d say I’m a down-to-earth, eccentric! Heh. The paradoxes of life. 😉
Oh, and that’s how I met terri-terri! I went visiting her blog after you suggested it, and then she came back here and said hello. She thanked me for visiting her blog, but–the memory thing happened–and I couldn’t remember the whys. Now it’s all Perfectly Clear. For now!
Kathy, as ya know I live in flaky weather Texas so I am 99.9% sure there will be no snow, It was warm Sunday morning and then a “norther” blew in maybe around 3p or so. I asked my son if it would freeze tonight and he told me that he heard maybe 20 degrees which I hope will not happen. I moved a bunch of potted plants to the shop where I hope it will be warm enough. I am not crazy about snow for no one knows how to drive in the stuff here. But my truck has 4 wheel drive and all terrain tires which we keep on all vehicles. It gives a bit more traction- how much I am not sure.
So, I hope that you get the snow but not too much so that everyone stays safe.
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne, smiling at you calling Texas “flaky” weather. When there aren’t even any flakes! LOL! (not even dry humor, there.) Hope your potted plants stayed warm. And glad you have some good all-terrain tires just in case you get snow this winter. I also pray for everyone’s safety.
I tend to agree about the inappropriateness of naming snow storms, but I shall not have a diatribe. We, of course, went out in it today to take in the developing beauty. Hope everyone enjoys Caesar, or at the very least, remains safe.
Oh c’mon, Heather, have a diatribe! I love that word “diatribe”. Perhaps I shall adopt it, along with “tomfoolery.” (And of course you went outside! Was that in question?)
Meant to be funny. Forgot to add “lol”.
Perhaps you can do a blog featuring all your favorite words (and non words like fancy-schmancy) 😉
We did go outside, but not nearly long enough for my liking. Thankfully Shanty opens Friday and I will get my outdoor hours in.
Don’t remind me of the Evils of Shanty Creek and that fence I hit at age 18. lol…sort of. We shall keep your fancy-schmancy suggestion open until I resume blogging in 7-14 days, or earlier, or later, depending on the typing renegade fingers.
Dreary and rainy all day yesterday with more of the same today. I’ve been doing some travelling between here (Ann Arbor) and Madison, WI lately and am so very glad that I was not scheduled to fly there today. I’ve lived in this area all my life so I remember many, many storms. The most memorable were in the late 60s where it seemed like it snowed for days and the depth was over my head. We built tunnels and forts and had epic snowball wars and only stopped playing when Mom made us come in for hot cocoa. So much fun and such good memories. I’ll have to try to remember those days next time I’m cleaning off my car and cursing out the snow!
Hi Annie! I am glad you weren’t scheduled to fly there during Caesar, either. Smiling thinking of those late 60’s snowstorms. I was a kid then, too, and we probably threw snowballs and drank hot chocolate, too. Except, I was probably such a wimp that ONE snowball hit me and I went inside and started writing. Yep, we gotta remember any childhood fun we can!
We had one heck of a snow storm in Minnesota on Sunday! I named it Beautiful.
You named it a really good name, Sara. I like that!
Lovely shots. Snow missed us again 😦
We only got two inches, Inger. So the snow *almost* missed us, too.
This weekend it was mid-60s, sunny, a magnificent time to walk and be with friends, to be honest. But back when I lived in New England, I found walking through the woods during a Caesar-type snow storm the holiest of times – the silence of the woods, just the balletic sound of snow falling on cedar, and pine, and oak, trasported me to a world of beauty and peace.
Sounds like a lovely weekend, Pam! But, yes, walking is snow is the holiest of holies. We’re surrounded by diamonds at those moments, and our soul seems to know it… Thank you for your balletic comment.
Hi, Kathy.
It’s the “Looper” again. So far the weather here near Detroit it is cold and rainy but no snow as of yet.
One snowstorm that I remember was in early 1965 or 1966 when my family and I lived in Detroit. There was a snowbank on one side of our driveway ( I think it was just the one side), and, boy, did I have fun playing on it! It became my favorite toy. I remember starting to throw a fit when I say my brother coming with a snowshovel-I thought that he was going knock down the snowbank but it turned out he was only going to clear some snow from the bottom of the driveway. What a relief.
I’m sure that if the “big one” hits your area you be photoblogging it for us. I am looking forward to the photos already.
Nancy the Looper.
Dear Looper, I have told you that I grew up in the Thumb of Michigan, right? We probably had that same snowstorm in 65 or 66, but my memory doesn’t recall. Glad your brother wasn’t going to knock down that snowbank! You were right, we didn’t get a big snowstorm. Only two inches. Barely enough to mention, let alone photograph. Maybe some pics in the New Year!
Not sure I like this. Tropical storms have substance. You can see them via satellite imagery. Winter storms are not so defined nor created to be. I like naming them AFTER they go by. Like the Blizzard of ’66 is still remembered.
I know it was kicking up a storm in Green Bay last night to the west of you. 🙂
Scott, you write the Weather Channel and tell ’em, lol! And then there are our Lake Effect storms. How are they going to name them? Those that twirl around and around and around for days… We only got two inches, by the way. Silly Caesar.
I think I will just do that. Good ideas stick. This one like the snowfall where I live, won’t. While they say we’ve gotten a few inches already, nothing has accumulated and it is still green here.
Kathy – so far, so good in our neck of the woods. A few flurries, a bit of ice. But……February of 2011 brought the wrath of the gods. This must have been before they started naming winter storms, so I’ll name it RPOZ — Really Pissed off Zeus! So much so that he ripped off all of the siding on our garage (and many other homes in our sleepy little town).
Really Pissed off Zeus!!! Ha ha…except for that siding on your garage. I guess that wasn’t very funny, pocketbook-wise. 😦
We have sun peeking through a thin layer of clouds, no snow and I’m fine with that. Names should be reserved for epic storms I think, but I do love what you captured of Athena and Brutus.
shhh, Carol, I’m not 100% certain they were of Athena and Brutus. They were kind of in this folder where they could have been any snowstorm. Maybe they were Xander or Matilda or Samson from last year? But keep quiet about that, because Uncertainty rules on this one.
everyone’s snow photos are better than mine 😦 I agree that the naming convention is bad science, but I also prefer calling them something other than snowpocolypse so……..
Lisa, yep, I suppose snowpocolypse might be a bit inclusive and–well, apocalyptic! Especially since we only got 2 inches. What did you get?
I think the final official count was 10″ I know people who measured a foot on their yard furniture.
LOL! Were those double entendres intentional? If not, ignore that question. My mind must be in the gutter today. lol! I’m not sure how I feel about the naming of winter storms, although I do think it is not about science at all but commercialism. But that’s what they do at The Weather Channel now, and who can blame them? They gotta pay their people somehow.
We had a crisp, bright, frosty morning here, but still no real snow to speak of other than a few lake effect flurries the other day. The morning was gorgeous in it’s sparkly coldness.
What double entendres? What gutter talk? Oh do tell what I did so I can decide whether to be ashamed or amused! (If it’s bad, we’ll give the typing fingers a talking to.) Your crisp bright frosty morning sounds lovely. Hopefully you have pics. Will be visiting soon.
It must be me, not you, Kathy. No need to be ashamed (although maybe I should be…lol!). It was the part about “how much did Caesar give you…” after you mentioned having a relationship with our snowstorms. I have to admit that it seems less of a double entendre when I read it today than it did yesterday. Yep, it’s definitely my mind. 😀
Ha ha ha, Robin! Barry would have got it right away. I am a little slow catching some of these references… Thanks for the smile!
I didn’t relize they had begun to name winter storms, like they do for tropical storms. I hope Caesar did not cause too much havoc for you.
Funny me reading this right after a Facebook post about snow completely covering someone’s front door. It reminded me of a blizzard back in ’66 when the neighbours, who had side doors, were completely snowed in and one of the neighbours had to climb out a bedroom window, roll along the top of the drifts and dig down to the garage door to get his shovel. Then he had to dig through 5-foot drifts to get back to the house. That same storm, in Hubby’s neighbourhood where the houses were closer together, the snow completely filled the spaces between their house and the neighbours.
Another time, when we were in Grand Forks (1978, I think), we went back to the hotel after shopping. We were only in the room maybe an hour, but when we went to leave for dinner, we could not open the outer door and the blizzard was raging so hard we could barely see the building where the front desk was located. Fortunately, there was a restaurant nearby where the desk clerk was able to order in sandwiches for all the guests. It was quite an adventure – especially when we had picked up some tiny lizards that needed caring for! The most amusing part was when their food (live crickets) escaped from the bag and were sneaking out of the room and down the hall. I’m sure the other guests thought they were going crazy, hearing crickets chirping in the hall of the hotel in the middle of a blizzard – and we felt pretty silly chasing them! 🙂
Wow, those were a couple of interesting snow stories!! (Have you written a blog post about them?) Can you imagine having to climb out a bedroom window? You read stories of winters like these, especially in the past and in the Great Plain states. We had a big snowstorm in lower Michigan in 1978, too. People still talk about it. How funny about the crickets! The stories that life is made of!