Our First Snowfall of the Season

The date: Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Today many people were shocked with a drastic change in weather. It’s only the middle of October, and today we received snow. Just a few short days ago, we were basking in sunny, warm temperatures in the 70’s, as we celebrated our Canadian Thanksgiving. We were enjoying the peak of our autumn season, and the many wonderful colors of bright gold, crimson red, deep orange, brown and greens, that we often see at this time of year when the leaves change color and fall to the ground. The ground is basically covered with snow, along with the many tree tops around that are still laden with leaves. The colorful beauty of autumn was turned into a wicked, and dangerous situation as heavy snow fell all around us. High winds also played havoc, causing blowing and white out conditions.

Some areas of the USA such as Buffalo, New York, along with many areas all around the great lakes have become dangerous places, because of the heavy snow, and fallen branches. I heard on the news that some areas have so much show that they have already cancelled school for tomorrow.Heavy wet snow, created havoc in the streets, and weighed down the branches of many trees that were still full of bright, colorful leaves. The weight of this snow in combination with the weight of the leaves, has caused the branches of trees to snap off. As this happens, broken branches are laying all over and cluttering many streets, pulling down hydro lines and causing great danger as they fall to the ground. This is a highly unusual situation for this time of year. Cold temperatures, heavy snowfall, and high winds have caused hazardous conditions in many cities around the great lakes, but especially around the Buffalo and western New York area, along with some parts of Ontario, Canada.

I can hardly believe that we had snow at this time of year. I’m sure we must be setting some records for this much snow so early in the season!
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Thankfully the snow didn't last for more than a few days here, but it certainly sounds like there are many places in New York and in the midwest part of Canada that still have snow, or received even more. I'm sure winter is going to come soon enough but mid October is way too early. This week we've had a few days of warmer temps. sunshine, and rain. As I look around though, I notice how many of the trees around here are almost bare. The leaves have fallen off and all of the beautiful colours that were there last week are now gone. Another part of our autumn season here in Canada!