# It's not even winter and I already hate you motherfuckers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354 "2013-12-15T04:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/161 "2013-12-25T00:11:46Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Oh yeah? Well, when was the last time it snowed on the moon? Huh? Huh? I cannot argue with this logic. You win. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/162 "2013-12-25T00:37:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Too cold to snow.” This may be a good time to ask this. I’ve read it snows only about 6" a year in Antarctica. But it never melts and so remains a winter wonderland. Blizzards come from winds blowing around the snow that’s already on the ground. Is this true, and if so, is it true it only snows half a foot a year down there? Could this be because it’s “too cold to snow,” or is it something else? Not long ago [**the definition of the word blizzard**](http://past.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=what_is_a_blizzardij_010211) changed, in my part of the world anyway, to an annoyance, sort of like the planet Pluto being downgraded to a largish rock. > [@](#): > > Blizzards are characterized mainly by strong winds – specifically, winds that are expected to reduce visibility to 400 meters or less in combination with falling snow for at least four hours. > > Environment Canada currently applies that criteria to storms anywhere in Canada south of the tree line. North of the tree line (the northernmost portion of the territories, northern Quebec and Labrador), the criteria is the same, but the conditions have to be expected to last for at least six hours. > > Under the old definition, a storm would have to pack winds of 50 kilometers per hour or more, visibility of one kilometer or less, and windchill values of -25°C or lower to be considered a blizzard. > > Chris Scott, a meteorologist with The Weather Network, says the new definition actually makes it easier for a storm to be classified as a blizzard. > > “A couple of storms during 2008 could have been classified as blizzards with the new criteria.” > > Eventually, even this definition of a blizzard will change. I think the newer definitions dilute the term because radio and TV stations love to trumpet stentorian end-of-the-world weather alerts. Soon a blizzard will consist of clear, sunny weather but with a wind chill that might freeze your skin in 10 hours of playing outdoor tennis at the end of September, without a lunch break. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/163 "2013-12-25T02:24:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Too cold to snow.” This may be a good time to ask this. I’ve read it snows only about 6" a year in Antarctica. But it never melts and so remains a winter wonderland. Blizzards come from winds blowing around the snow that’s already on the ground. Is this true, and if so, is it true it only snows half a foot a year down there? Could this be because it’s “too cold to snow,” or is it something else? I think I remember reading that Antarctica is a desert …google google … Yup! [desert](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/164 "2013-12-25T15:42:13Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Oh yeah? Well, when was the last time it snowed on the moon? Huh? Huh? So I should give up on my “Ski Tycho Crater” campaign? Anybody want a basement full of posters and lift tickets? I suppose the t-shirts might be bought by ironic hipster college geeks… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/165 "2013-12-25T20:21:43Z")
Can you slide down a really dusty hill? Maybe you could do some lunar regolith skiing up on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/166 "2014-01-03T01:43:28Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > You chose to live in places with snow. Learn to walk on it. > > Just like I learned to walk on sunshine covered sidewalks when I moved to a place that only gets sunshine. I didn’t spend my time whining about how nobody was removing the sunshine from the sidewalk so I could walk on it. > > Lazy people. > [@PlainJain](#): > > This. Required by law or not - just fucking walk on it, you special snowflakes. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Maybe I missed it, but why can’t you people just walk on snow? Haven’t you got shoes? Because it’s pissing me off every time I try to go for a walk here, I thought I’d resurrect this thread to show you a video of what the sidewalks are like around here recently. [Snow, ice under the snow, assholes who haven’t done their civic duty.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2JzfWvpIG0) I scraped a few patches with my boot to show you the half-inch layer of ice under the snow - it isn’t everywhere, just enough places to be completely treacherous. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/167 "2014-01-03T18:16:55Z")
[Here’s a video taken yesterday of a neighbour’s sidewalk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsaJGinltY) - the chinook has melted the snow that wasn’t cleared into a sheet of ice. Today it’s snowing, so the ice will still be there, but it will be covered up so the first you’ll know of it is when you fall on your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/168 "2014-01-03T18:30:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > If you want your head to explode, you should read [the Chicago and Illinois law on this](http://www.domu.com/blog/snow-removal-in-chicago-whos-responsible). > > Basically, the law is in Chicago that you can get fined if you don’t shovel the sidewalk. (But nobody in practice appears to enforce the municipal law.) Illinois’s law on shoveling exempt the natural accumulation of snow in seeking redress from the property owners in a liability lawsuit. So, if that article is correct, basically, if you don’t shovel your walk, since it’s a natural accumulation, you can’t be held liable for injury. However, if you do shovel your walk and somebody slips and falls from the unnatural accumulation, you can be held liable. > > So if that reading of the laws are correct, you’re better off from a liability standpoint not shoveling your snow in Illinois. Weird. We discussed this in my torts class and the professor pretty much agreed with the above. My takeaway was that if you’re going to shovel, don’t do a half-assed job. Clear the sidewalk and put down salt. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354/169 "2014-01-04T02:04:45Z")
I ran into that today on my walk - a bunch of people had cleared the snow from their sidewalks, but they left the layer of ice that was underneath. In that case, the ice was actually more dangerous to walk on than if they had just left the snow alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-even-winter-and-i-already-hate-you-motherfuckers/676354.md?page=8)