Empire State Building in Black and White

In sticking with the dog and pretzel vendor theme, here is a mobile phone picture of the Empire State Building tonight. Wonder why the colors are just white? Me too. They change depending on the season and event. See the schedule here. Friday yellow lights will be added to the mix in celebration of Spring and Easter. Then on April 4th, for one day, all lights will be yellow. It's the 100th anniversary of the Yellow Cab. I'll try to get a pic for you.

spring in nyc

Overcast. Threat of rain. Yet enjoyable temperatures near mid 50's. The most telling sign of spring now in New York City is the return of the mr. softy soft-serve trucks on almost every corner. There also seem to be additional pretzel and dog carts. Plus the outdoor restaurants in the park are opening.

mobile blog

Snow! Finally. But barely measurable.

Driving home from work Friday morning was such a pretty sight along the Merritt I had to stop and take this picture. Looks like a nice park, but its actually from the gas station off the parkway in Greenwich.

Unfortunatley by the time I was home in New York City, there was no snow left in Central Park for my dog to root through. So she is still waiting for her first snow of the season.

Her dilemma is a little like that of some children in southwestern Connecticut. It snowed throughout the region Thursday night leaving a dusting to a half an inch. And when they woke up for school Friday morning, it was lightly snowing again. Unfortunately for them, still NOT a snow day.

We had an interesting conversation Friday morning just before starting the newscast at 5:30. That morning's light snow had not started yet, and we were trying to figure out what to call the snow that had fallen Thursday night. Of course it was the first time the utilities crews sent out the trucks to treat the roadways, and we had video of that. But, could we really call it a measurable snow fall?  In some areas, the snow melted as it touched the ground. In others, like Wilton and Redding, we had reports of up to a half-an-inch accumulating. So, I asked our morning weather guru, Paul Piorek, and he said records go by the Weather Station at Sikorsky airport. He said at that point there was no measurable snow there, meaning ultimately our first snow wouldn't be recorded as having been a snowfall!

But, by later in the morning it started snowing again, leaving another layer. So, finally. More than halfway through January, snow!  It's finally here. Time now for me to start perusing travel sites for my warm weather beach get-away!

Breaking a No-Snow Record

The lastest southwestern Connecticut has ever had its first snow fall of the season is January 11th. Since it's not going to snow today, we're breaking a record.

This is a picture of my aunt's house in New Mexico. Last month she got 18-inches of snow. Southwestern Connecticut got none!

SInce our region hasn't had snow yet this winter, some residents are a bit BUGGED!

Some say they just like the seasons and feel they are missing out. For others, business has been bad. Sales of snow-related gear is down. And for the kids they just want a Snow Day off to play.

Weather statistics from the past 40-years are compiled to compose average snowfall amounts. Thanks to my morning weather man, Paul Piorek for these numbers.

The average monthly snowfall based on 40 years of averages (climatology)
November: 0.6"
December: 4.9"
January: 8.5"

But looking at the ACTUAL snowfall for southwestern Connecticut:
November 2006: None; November 2005: 1.0"
December 2006: None; December 2005: 11.5"
January 2007: None; January 2006: 5.5"

Yet these stats don't mean we'll skip winter. Look at what happened last year. The majority of the snow fell in February. So much, in fact, the storm on the 11th and 12th was categorized as a federal emergency.

Plus, March 2nd, 2006 was a day off for kids; snow day! There was even a dusting of snow on the first day of Spring! Speaking of Spring, it's only 69 days away. Only ten weeks to go. (As you can tell I'm not one of the people pleading for snow.)

However, here is something funny I found. Easter candy out on the counter at a drugstore. Right there with all the Valentine's candy, chocolate eggs. I couldn't help but thinking, Easter candy out before the first snowfall of the winter season? It just so happened it was to the manager of the store I did my musing. He said he has boxes of it already in the back, and that those few boxes of eggs are all he has put out yet. But so far they're selling!

Resolutions: How Are You Doing?

This time of year we see numerous stories on New Year's Resolutions. However, when is the last time you noticed follow-ups in June? I think if we were reminded of our commitments throughout the year, we'd have a better success rate. It's said most resolutions are forgotten by the end of January!

As I was doing this year's "What's Bugging You" piece on keeping resolutions, a woman in Norwalk told me she never keeps resolutions so she never makes them. She also says she feels it's gimmicky. I think that's the key. We slosh champagne, we laugh and make resolutions for the New Year. However, they're not taken seriously.

For the past couple of years I've spoken with Stratford resident Dr. Donald Wetmore of the Productivity Institute for advice on keeping resolutions. He says he spend the first week of every year developing his game plan for his goals and resolutions. For instance, he says you can't succeed at saving money if you don't map out exactly how you are going to do it. 

So what are you going to do this year? I've created this web poll to see what most SAY they will do. I'll check back with you in June to see HOW you are doing.

While you are devising strategies to keep your resolutions, here are some links to facts related to and the history ofNew Year's Resolutions.