It's snowing in New Orleans

December 11, 2008 2:08 PM

It's snowing in New Orleans.
posted by swift (108 comments total)

I'm confused. What does this have to do with desks?
posted by dersins at 2:13 PM on December 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

That's not snow. This is snow.

*pulls out snowball*
posted by chugg at 2:14 PM on December 11, 2008

Take that, Greenpeace!

Also, I find it really hilarious to read news stories about the hundreds of stupid fender-benders that inevitably happen when it snows in areas that don't usually get snow. Note to drivers: pavement is different with snow on it! (These stories stop being hilarious when the accidents are more serious, but until then we can all laugh.)
posted by Dasein at 2:14 PM on December 11, 2008

It's 75 and partly cloudy here. How about where you are?
posted by Justinian at 2:15 PM on December 11, 2008

It snowed when I lived there. On Christmas. It was quite lovely, actually.

The following autumn, a hurricane destroyed the city.

I may wait for another few years before I go back.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:15 PM on December 11, 2008 [4 favorites]

I woke up to giant snowflakes falling this morning.
posted by atchafalaya at 2:15 PM on December 11, 2008

It snowed four years ago in New Orleans. This is not news. Now get back to your desk!
posted by Pastabagel at 2:16 PM on December 11, 2008

It's snowing in NOLA and raining here in Maine on the same day. That's just not right.

I'd love to be there to see snow in Jackson Square, but the idea of New Orleans drivers in the snow is just terrifying.

I miss that city a lot.
posted by Wroughtirony at 2:17 PM on December 11, 2008

We had snow here on Tuesday.
I wonder if it's the same snow?
posted by Floydd at 2:18 PM on December 11, 2008

Please just don't make this an inconvenient OMG-moment. Rare, but yearly event.
posted by avocade at 2:19 PM on December 11, 2008

WeatherFilter
posted by Joe Beese at 2:19 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

It's 75 and partly cloudy here. How about where you are?

Currently about -1C (30F) dropping to -33C (-27.4F) by Tuesday.
posted by chugg at 2:19 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

I love this city.
posted by gordie at 2:20 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

More New Orleans snow on Flickr.
posted by swift at 2:21 PM on December 11, 2008

PROOF THAT GOLBAL WARMING IS A HOAX!!1
posted by sciurus at 2:24 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

I forget; is it frogs or pestilence next?
posted by yhbc at 2:25 PM on December 11, 2008 [6 favorites]

It's 72 and sunny here. Tomorrow may be partly cloudy and might go down to 42.
posted by elmono at 2:27 PM on December 11, 2008

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
And miss it each night and day?
I know I'm not wrong
This feelin's gettin' stronger
The longer I stay away.

Miss them moss-covered vines,
The tall sugar pines
Where mockin' birds used to sing

And I'd like to see
That lazy mississippi
Hurryin' into spring.

The moonlight on the bayou...
A creole tune that fills the air...

I dream about
Magnolias in bloom
And I'm wishin' I was there.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
And miss it each night and day?
I know I'm not wrong
This feelin's gettin' stronger
The longer I stay away.

Yup... I don't see anything about snow.
posted by turaho at 2:27 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

It's is 39°F and Rainy in New York and 38°F and cloudy in Billings. That's the MetaFilter weather, here's a look at what's happening in your neck of the woods.
posted by ALongDecember at 2:28 PM on December 11, 2008 [5 favorites]

That's the MetaFilter weather, here's a look at what's happening in your neck of the woods.

Whenever my wife asks me to look up the temperature for her, I always sing "Salt Lake City wea... ther!" - like one of those annoying radio news jingles - before announcing it.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:31 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Does this really merit a FPP? I mean, it's rare enough, sure. But it's snow, not a blizzard. If the city was ironically being devastated by snowfall, FPP away. This, however, is like a low-energy earthquake in Massachusetts. Rare, different, but not impossible, and not really noteworthy.
posted by explosion at 2:34 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Yes, it is indeed snowing here. Our graven image of Ullr did the trick quite nicely.
also we live in michigan
posted by Baby_Balrog at 2:34 PM on December 11, 2008

Yep. My little guy, who is one and a half, got to see snow and feel it on his face for the first time in his life this morning. It was pretty great to watch him take it all in.
posted by umbú at 2:35 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

People who aren't from Louisiana just can't understand how awesome it is when we get snow. Schools close, you get to stay home from work, you get a snowman in your yard for 6 hours, and you can make snow ice cream. This is a treat that comes around about once a decade.

My sister lives in New Orleans and called me this morning to let me know. Here are a couple of pics she took.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:36 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Whenever my wife asks me to look up the temperature for her, I always sing "Salt Lake City wea... ther!" - like one of those annoying radio news jingles - before announcing it.

And then she punches you, because she can't punch through the TV any more.

(At least you don't tell her to look outside).

As a life-long Coastal Californian, we have the odd hint of snow every great once and a while, but the only time the schools have closed was when it flooded. For days. Then we got to go back to school and sit in musty rooms, fearing the mold which was surely growing in our lungs.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:39 PM on December 11, 2008

Currently: 38 degrees Fahrenheit. This weekend: projections of -25, with windchills approaching -50.
posted by davidmsc at 2:40 PM on December 11, 2008

In 1965, when I was 12, I moved to Luling, LA (just across the river from NO) with my family. We were there for about 14 months before another relocation. However, during that short time we were the fortunate recipients of exceptional weather conditions that included Hurricane Betsy and one of these freak snow storms.

Growing up in West Virginia, I was quite familiar with snow, particularly in the mountains. The people of Louisiana, though, were quite charming in their less than adept nature. First thing in the morning, despite no accumulation, schools were closed because there were flakes in the air. Throughout the day, as the flurries continued, and there was eventually an accumulation of perhaps one quarter inch, vehicles were skating, slipping, swirling, and sliding like olive oil in a teflon pan.

When you try to drive in your normal fashion with even a trace of snow on pavement, the results simply are not the same. Man who drives like hell bound to get there. I read something this morning that said today was only the 7th time in the past 60 years it has snowed in New Orleans. Next time, build a snow man. It's much safer.
posted by netbros at 2:42 PM on December 11, 2008

Well, in all fairness it stopped snowing quite a few hours ago, and it's all melted and dried by now.

It was definitely fun while it lasted though.
posted by bookwo3107 at 2:43 PM on December 11, 2008

Why won't it snow in Whistler? It's snowing in Ontario. It's snowing in Kazakstan. It's even snowing in new orleans! Why won't it snow here?
posted by Pseudology at 2:44 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Overcast here, but not unpleasant.
posted by pompomtom at 2:46 PM on December 11, 2008

This is my fave flickr shot and I've been scanning them all day.


Also this slideshow.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:50 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

will this affect my ability to go ride bikes?
posted by yonation at 2:50 PM on December 11, 2008

Thank God I stopped by, my TV is broken.
posted by fixedgear at 2:51 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

8 times in 70 years makes this a notable event. Maybe not FPP worthy though. That'd require some data on such things I think.
posted by Tehanu at 2:51 PM on December 11, 2008

It's cloudy in Seattle.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:55 PM on December 11, 2008 [4 favorites]

yonation: It will. Even still, go ride bikes. I'm in Toronto and about to go ride mine. Winter cycling is the steak tartare of commuting. With the risk comes boundless thrill. Dress up warmly, and especially make sure that your extremities are covered by water and windproof things. If you have thin, slick road bike tires, go slow and be very careful. Once you're outside, make sure your brakes still work. Don't be shy about occupying the lane if the edges of the road are unplowed.
posted by goldfinches at 2:57 PM on December 11, 2008

I was at my desk yesterday when it started snowing in Houston.
posted by WolfDaddy at 2:57 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

We're gonna need a lot more strings of beads.
posted by CynicalKnight at 2:58 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Damn I miss that town. It's rainy in Metro DC right now.
posted by Navelgazer at 2:58 PM on December 11, 2008

35cm (that's about 14 inches to you) dumped on us and there's a transit strike on.

But my carbon levels? Thank you for asking. Super low. Can someone give me a drive to the store?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 2:59 PM on December 11, 2008

After all NO has been through, I think we should be able to share a tiny bit of joy from the simple concept of a hard-luck Southern town getting some rare and beautiful weather. Those of you openly wondering if this is good enough to make an FPP would be welcome to try the time-honored "Flag it and move on" method of thread participation. Thank you.
posted by BeerFilter at 3:05 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

i wish i could find a sound file, but mike west has a beautiful song about snow in new orleans:

i’ve seen wind
tear trees up by their roots
i’ve seen hail
the size of my fist smash windows
and put holes in this roof
i’ve seen the river run high
and i’ve seen it run low
i’ve seen it rain
i’ve seen it flood
and now i’ve seen it snow
i’ve seen some things
you would not believe
like snow in new orleans
on christmas eve
...

and truly, mike has beautiful, funny, wonderful songs about almost everything. if he ever comes to your town, you'll kick yourself if you don't go see him.
posted by msconduct at 3:16 PM on December 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

Buh. This will only get more FPP-worthy as time goes on.
posted by Restless Day at 3:18 PM on December 11, 2008

OMG!!1! Does anyone know if ColdChef is ok? Did he decide to leave town?

*snicker*
posted by Bugg at 3:23 PM on December 11, 2008 [4 favorites]

The Quarter is a little bit more French.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 3:26 PM on December 11, 2008

I'm going to need a pint each of tiger's blood and wedding cake, and a big spoon.
posted by zamboni at 3:27 PM on December 11, 2008

I can't believe we haven't made a ColdChef joke yet.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:27 PM on December 11, 2008

Damn it, refresh.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:28 PM on December 11, 2008

I was there for the snow on the Christmas before Katrina. Unremarkably it also snowed this week in Kansas.
posted by thylacine at 3:29 PM on December 11, 2008

That Obama wastes no time. Not even in office yet and he's got the whole place cooled down a notch.
posted by salishsea at 3:31 PM on December 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

It may not have been a really rare event or a whole lot of snow but it generated some very nice photographs, so I appreciate the post. Besides, a lot of people miss this city and/or have been heartsick since Katrina. I have only been there once for a week, but that was enough to love it.
posted by artfann at 3:32 PM on December 11, 2008

30 degrees and snowing here in Salzburg, snow through tomorrow.
posted by dunkadunc at 3:40 PM on December 11, 2008

Oh yeah? Well, it's freezing rain here and the furnace cracked open at some point in the last few days, which I'd been noticing the pipes gurgling more than usual but hadn't put two and two together until the exterminator came today and said hey, did you know there's a big puddle of water in your basement? and the fuel guy shut the whole thing down so it doesn't explode and my wife and son are spending the night with friends while I stay here hoping the fireplace will be enough to keep the pipes from freezing overnight and if we're lucky they'll be able to truck in a replacement tomorrow, assuming our road is navigable which is an iffy proposition in winter at the best of times let alone nights of freezing rain followed by snow. Which it's supposed to do soon.

Thanks, it feels good to get that off my chest.
posted by ook at 3:41 PM on December 11, 2008

It's snowing in New Orleans

Somebody from Wisconsin must have just moved there. It's a theory that some friends and I have, all the unexpected and unwanted cold weather in the world comes from Wisconsin; a friend moved to a warm part of Washington state, within a month it was covered in three inches of ice in one of the worst storms they had seen.

Another friend moved to Texas, two months later they had a half an inch of snow which forced the entire city to shut down for a couple of days.

I can't explain how it works, I just know that somehow, this is probably our fault.
posted by quin at 3:45 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's raining like hell here in Cheltenham, PA, USA. We're twins with Cheltenham, UK.
posted by fixedgear at 3:47 PM on December 11, 2008

That's not snow, that's the cremated remains of the Bush Katrina response.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:00 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

OMG!!1! Does anyone know if ColdChef is ok? Did he decide to leave town?

*snicker*

Woah, woah, woah... I know the sentiment of how everyone was concerned about this one dude back in the last hurricane, but can we please not fuck with ColdChef? Seriously, the man is one of the greatest guys you could ever have the pleasure to meet, and actually did go through hell at the end of the summer.

On another subject, I love how the photos I'm seeing seem to be of the Streetcars on St. Charles, rather than of the French Quarter. As far as I can tell, The French Quarter is like the Times Square of NO (i.e., all the tourists no about it, and the locals avoid it like the plague) whereas St. Charles is more like Union Square - the real place the locals can't avoid in their daily lives.

In my time in NO, I barely ever made it into the quarter, but St. Charles was always there. Good to see it represented.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:00 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

It's only weird in that it's snowing so early in the season. Every other (or third or fourth?) Mardis Gras is chilly, being at the far end of winter. My first Mardis Gras I went to was cloudy and cold and rainy the entire time; people were partying in their coats and carrying umbrellas. One funny memory: we were at Pat O'Brian's at about noon, sitting in the outdoor patio, getting sloshed as everyone does at Pat O'Brian's. It's cloudy and cold, but suddenly the clouds parted and a bright, warm ray of sunshine struck the entire patio area. Everyone stopped and erupted into drunken applause and cheers. Lasted about a minute, then the clouds came back. Over the next hour or so, those sunbreaks popped up every now and again, and every time us drunks would cheer uproariously and ridiculously. Good times.

And btw, for the northerners who scoff at southerners freaking out about snow: you have a valid point about snow, but it's the ice storms that can be a total and complete clusterfuck. You can't plow ice, you can't use chains, you just have to wait for it to melt.
posted by zardoz at 4:02 PM on December 11, 2008

It is also snowing here in Vermont. I bought a shovel today because we are getting a big storm. Both the hardware store guy and the farm stand lady said "happy shovelling!" to me as I went home.
posted by jessamyn at 4:02 PM on December 11, 2008

ha. this snow was melted by 3:00. it all came down in one blast, so that every tree had a snow-shadow on its eastern side.

this was the first time in memory that it had snowed enough (2 inches?) for kids to make snowmen tho.
posted by eustatic at 4:09 PM on December 11, 2008

jessamyn: I s'pose that's better than 'Get away from here you shovelling freak!'

Brighton, UK and it's fucking freezing. 0°C. In fact it's been mainly sunny for weeks. But so very cold...
posted by i_cola at 4:24 PM on December 11, 2008

I went to work today at an elementary school. The snow started coming down while we were still unloading carpool. Everyone went absolutely nuts. I teach third grade and under; a few students were old enough to rememeber the Christmas snow in 2004, and a few had gone to the Frozen North before. However, for the vast majority of my students, it was the first time white stuff had ever fallen from the sky.

We took a break from normal musical activities for 15 minutes a class to go outside and touch it. It was awesome every single time. "What is it made out of?" "I touched it, Miss Honeydew! Why is it so COLD?" "How come it's all crunchy?" "Why don't they look like the snowflakes we made out of paper?"

It was definitely the kind of day where I love my job.
posted by honeydew at 4:26 PM on December 11, 2008 [9 favorites]

Still not snowing in the Bay Area. As a recent transplant whose kids still fit into their snow gear, I would welcome a foot of snow here. That would completely rock.

Next year, once they outgrow their snowboots, not so much.
posted by GuyZero at 4:32 PM on December 11, 2008

Here's my flickr set from this morning (three pictures and four videos). I'd have posted a lot more but I kept getting something cold and slushy on my lens. q:
posted by djeo at 4:34 PM on December 11, 2008

but it's the ice storms that can be a total and complete clusterfuck.

Those of us from the north know all we need to know about ice storms. I remember seeing broken trees from the highway for years after that.
posted by GuyZero at 4:34 PM on December 11, 2008

OMG!!1! Does anyone know if ColdChef is ok? Did he decide to leave town?

He's having snow issues.
posted by gman at 4:34 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

I always have Phoenix on my weather app on my iPhone. It always makes me feel a little warmer whenever I see it & reminds me of seeing a diamondback on a day when it got to 105° at Cave Creek SP. (Currently 71°. Bastards.)
posted by i_cola at 4:40 PM on December 11, 2008

He's having snow issues.

So, for any other New Orleans residents out there: Ottawa is cold and snowy. Possibly the coldest national capital on Earth. They get snow every year. It's not exactly a surprise. And every year, multiple people die while shoveling the snow off their roof. Snow is heavy. And it makes your roof really slippery.

I have no specific advice here, but be careful. You might want to shovel a roof like that off to keep it from collapsing, but then again, you might not.
posted by GuyZero at 4:42 PM on December 11, 2008

Cool beans djeo. I was looking at your photos this morning without knowing you were a mefite.


Here in NYC, we have been cruelly deprived of snow so far. It was nearly 70 yesterday too.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:43 PM on December 11, 2008

1. Ulaan-Baatar (Mongolia) 29.7°F/-1.3°C
2. Astana (Kazakhstan) unavailable
3. Moscow (Russia) 39.4°F/4.1°C
4. Helsinki (Finland) 40.1°F/4.5°C
5. Reykjavik (Iceland) 40.3°F/4.6°C
6. Tallin (Estonia) 40.6°F/4.8°C
7. Ottawa (Canada) 41.9°F/5.5°C
posted by gman at 4:46 PM on December 11, 2008

Ulan Bator is totally cheating being in the mountains. OF MONGIOLIA.

Anyway, #7 is still pretty cold. And I bet Ottawa still has the highest rate of roof-shoveling related deaths.
posted by GuyZero at 4:48 PM on December 11, 2008

It was 70+ two days ago and it's forecast that we'll be ~70 degrees again by Sunday. Weird fall we're having...

It reminds me of when it snowed in Phoenix in 1986. Three weeks later and we were having record high temperatures. That's when I noticed that the weather seemed to be coming off the rails.
posted by djeo at 4:49 PM on December 11, 2008

It's been right fuckin' cold here in Toronto. Having said that, I look forward to that mid-December 10°C day when joggers are out in shorts.
posted by gman at 4:53 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm jealous I'm not in New Orleans right now. The only thing that could make that beautiful city any lovelier is a light dusting of snow.

The French Quarter is like the Times Square of NO (i.e., all the tourists no about it, and the locals avoid it like the plague) whereas St. Charles is more like Union Square - the real place the locals can't avoid in their daily lives.

While it's true many locals avoid the French Quarter, many do not. Certain streets are all tourists, yes. But if you know where to go good music and good food can certainly be found there. It's nothing like times square, and St. Charles is nothing like Union Square.

How long you'd live there, a week?

It's only weird in that it's snowing so early in the season.

Yep, snow fall normally comes much later in the season for New Orleans.
posted by justgary at 5:06 PM on December 11, 2008

There's going to be a white Christmas after all. Also, poverty.
posted by shadytrees at 5:06 PM on December 11, 2008

GrandmotherFilter
posted by DU at 5:11 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Somebody from Wisconsin must have just moved there.

My brother, who just graduated from university in Toronto, moved to New Orleans today.
posted by swift at 5:17 PM on December 11, 2008

Tokyo has be downright balmy the last three or so days. It was chilly for the past month, but now...I could walk around in a t-shirt and shorts. Almost.
posted by zardoz at 5:19 PM on December 11, 2008

7th?! Well I didn't say it was cold. I said there was a lot of snow and I can't get anywhere.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:26 PM on December 11, 2008

I come from the snowiest city in Canada: Corner Brook, NL gets 4.2m/year. And I walked to school, More than a mile, uphill both ways. Where I live now, we get very little snow. So congratulations, NOLA. Enjoy it!

Also, I am too young to be this crotchety.
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:29 PM on December 11, 2008

I am a-ok with being crochet-y, though. Beautiful patterns.
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:29 PM on December 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

*throws one snowball high up into the air, throws second snowball directly at your babymaker*
posted by clearly at 5:48 PM on December 11, 2008

It snowed four years ago in New Orleans. This is not news.

Four years!? That's like forever to "news" organizations.
posted by odinsdream at 5:48 PM on December 11, 2008

I hope ColdChef can get a refund on his car port. It's no picnic if snow falls in areas that aren't used to it and even here in Toronto, they still don't know how to drive in it.

Just the other day, there was a slick layer of ice when rain froze overnight. Think the the city would be getting the salt trucks out? Nope. Morning rush hour brought jack-knifed tractor trailers, cars flipped over in ditches, tons of fender benders — traffic stalled forever, rerouting, closed sections of highway... I wouldn't be so quick to laugh about the driving elsewhere...

It's always great to get your camera out after a large snowfall. Even if you're 'quite used to it'. or just a walkabout is wonderful. As for snow shoveling, it's not just those on their roofs, but slogging heavy wet snow when you've been surfing the couch for so long, every year, someone uses ColdChef's service when they die of a heart attack.

That ice storm of '98 was something else. There was a movie by Ang Lee shot during an ice storm. It was called The Ice Storm [trailer]. Wonderful shots.

May your pipes not freeze, NO and don't let that be an excuse for the Saints not being able to catch a pass from Brees.
posted by alicesshoe at 6:05 PM on December 11, 2008

Hanoi, Viet Nam - 16C (60F) and everyone is wearing Winter coats. I am considered "very strong" for going about in a t-shirt.
posted by grubby at 6:27 PM on December 11, 2008

Grubby, don't mix Celsius and Fahrenheit. These measure different things.

For example:
60F (measure of temperature in the US): Comfortable
16C (measure of temperature in Brazil/Viet Nam): Fucking cold, OMGIMGONNADIE!

Really, I used to numerically convert between these two, until I noticed that I was going outside in a t-shirt at f-ing 15C, and that just ain't right.
posted by qvantamon at 6:36 PM on December 11, 2008

It's not snowing in New Orleans. Or in Louisiana.
posted by crapmatic at 6:40 PM on December 11, 2008

Not to steal any thunder from New Orleans, but we enjoyed some snow in central Mississippi - check it out.

It was exciting to be in an office environment with everyone looking out the third-floor windows, witnessing the rain turn to sleet, then to snow. It's cheesy, but it felt like being a kid again.
posted by fijiwriter at 6:44 PM on December 11, 2008

explosion, Yes.

the comments save the day --and Mefites didn't even to
talk about desks to rock the weather.
posted by liza at 6:49 PM on December 11, 2008

Fucking snow killed my carport.

I'm not having a good "weather year."
posted by ColdChef at 7:23 PM on December 11, 2008 [6 favorites]

(Hurricane Gustav crushed my shed earlier this year.)
posted by ColdChef at 7:29 PM on December 11, 2008

It's been alternating between snowing and raining in Indiana, but I wish it would snow more.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:06 PM on December 11, 2008

ha. this snow was melted by 3:00. it all came down in one blast, so that every tree had a snow-shadow on its eastern side.

You mean, perhaps, all one burst, as in a snow burst? That was the "new" weather term that describe the first snow fall this year in WI. Last year it was snow thunder.

The snowpocalypse has begun!
posted by [insert clever name here] at 9:22 PM on December 11, 2008

Way to ruin our winter wonderland, bears.
posted by gordie at 9:26 PM on December 11, 2008

Second week in September. Regular as clockwork.

The weather =breaks=... before then, it's savagely hot and savagely humid. Going out at night is like opening the dishwasher door before it's done, fogging your glasses and getting your clothes damp right down to your skin.

After then, the air is as crisp and clear as an apple. It - gets - =cold= - then. By Christmas time, it can get cold enough to snow.

To someone from New England, this was a marvel... up here, dew on the grass starts in September, and first frost is sometime in October, but everything else is a crapshoot until the second week in May, when the leaves are all on the trees, but it may snow any damn way.

New Orleans was more important than Chicago before it was murdered, and only one step behind New York and LA in terms of its cultural and economic importance to the USA. That the Bush administration sat on its hands and let the most important port in the Americas die, because it tended to vote Democratic, might account for some of the economic heartache we're going through now.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:28 PM on December 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's been right fuckin' cold here in Toronto.

Oh, you poor things, I can only imagine the headlines: TORONTO AT RISK FOR CATCHING A SNIFFLE - CANADIAN TROOPS TO BE PULLED IMMEDIATELY FROM AFGHANISTAN AND PUT ON STANDBYE, CIDA MAKES URGENT REQUEST FOR HOT WATER BOTTLES AND NEOCITRIN

My weather penis is bigger than your weather penis. Which is quite a feat, considering how cold it is.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:30 PM on December 11, 2008

I'm really glad my five years in New Orleans was between snowfalls.

I don't think my Los Angeleno ass could've coped.

It did freeze, though. It was really really awesome when the pipes froze in my dorm at Tulane, and every floor past 10 had no running water. Especially since I lived on the 11th. And had mono. And it was goddamned Mardi Gras.

Yeah, that was the bestest freshman year ever.



Now I live in England. My ass is still not coping with frickin' snow.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:12 AM on December 12, 2008

Oh, you poor things, I can only imagine the headlines: TORONTO AT RISK FOR CATCHING A SNIFFLE - CANADIAN TROOPS TO BE PULLED IMMEDIATELY FROM AFGHANISTAN AND PUT ON STANDBYE, CIDA MAKES URGENT REQUEST FOR HOT WATER BOTTLES AND NEOCITRIN

Whatever are you talking about?

Grew up in Tuxedo, myself. I know your pain. And I am humbled by it. I became the pussy I am today after not experiencing winter for 7 years straight.
posted by gman at 4:08 AM on December 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh, you poor things, I can only imagine the headlines[...]
posted by Alvy Ampersand

Thank you for reinforcing everything the venetian snares taught me about your province.
posted by boo_radley at 6:43 AM on December 12, 2008

Wow. Canadians really do have pissing contests over the extremeness of the snowfall. And here I thought that was just a stereotype.
posted by Tehanu at 7:20 AM on December 12, 2008

Hanoi, Viet Nam - 16C (60F) and everyone is wearing Winter coats. I am considered "very strong" for going about in a t-shirt.

Sounds just like my trip to trip to Lisbon last winter, with the desk clerk at my hotel almost leaping up to block my tee-and-jeans-clad exit, since at 15ºC "it's very cold for us here."
posted by kittyprecious at 7:39 AM on December 12, 2008

I'm jealous I'm not in New Orleans right now. The only thing that could make that beautiful city any lovelier is a light dusting of snow.

The powdered sugar on the beignet of the city.
posted by cereselle at 7:40 AM on December 12, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oh, you poor things, I can only imagine the headlines[...]
posted by Alvy Ampersand

Well you do live in a place that has the nickname 'Winterpeg'. At least Calgary has chinooks.

I do get a headache whenever one blows through. Still, they are awsome.
posted by chugg at 10:09 AM on December 12, 2008

S’why I like Chicago. Is it going to snow? Is it going to be overcast but a nice 75 in January? Or 60 and clear but with ungodly winds in November? Or are cats going to hurl sideways through the air while pianos fall out of a clear blue sky and singing stair rods boil out of the sewers? You just don’t know. It’s cartoon weather out here.
Saw some tourists in the snow the other day getting photographed outside the new trump tower where they’re doing some construction work on the river (wow those guys are some tough mothers, wet, cold, windy, snow, working construction hip deep in river water all day) they loved it too.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:13 PM on December 12, 2008

(N.O. seems like that on the other end of the warm/cold dichotomy - except, y’know, with hurricanes. They’ve even got the corruption and music.)
posted by Smedleyman at 2:15 PM on December 12, 2008

Katemonkey writes "Yeah, that was the bestest freshman year ever."

How many freshman years did you have?

chugg writes " At least Calgary has chinooks. "

Chinooks are just nature taunting you with half way decent weather before putting out the deepfreeze two days later.
posted by Mitheral at 5:12 PM on December 12, 2008

I lived in south Loo-eez-ee-ana when I was a kid in the 60's. A trace of snow (rare indeed) would close the schools and damn near everything else. Good idea, as no one in La. knows how to drive on snowy streets.
posted by telstar at 12:03 AM on December 13, 2008

Slap*Happy, it sounds like a little snowfall would be a great excuse for you to catch up on your history.
posted by darkwing at 3:21 PM on December 13, 2008