First snow 2009 - how ghastly!

Oh dear. I can't remember first snow this early in the year! We're only three weeks into autumn! Usually the snow comes in the second half of November. Still, it won't linger. It's +1.6C right now, a north wind's gusting at 47kph.

Absolutely horrible outside. I shudder to think what my journey to work will be like! I leave in five minutes for Platan Park, driving down the awful ul. Poloneza; then park'n'ride into town from Stokłosy. Puławska will be blocked up solid. The thought that it can be like this for the next six months fills me with dread. (Latest snowy day in Poland that I've experienced was 13 April, back in 1997).

And here we are - ul. Poloneza. I could feel the Nissan's vulnerable electrics getting sodden; windscreen wipers and heater fan would slow noticeably after splashing into a deep puddle. The snow fell all day. Warsaw's snow ploughs were caught on the hop - we've never had snow before the clocks go back for winter! Temperature hovered between +0.8C and +1.2C, so the snow was melting as the new snow fell.


What's strange is that trees are still very much in leaf - why, there's still a fair amount of greenery around! Above: Photo taken from bus window returning from meeting, lunchtime today. Ul. Czerniakowska.

Above: Trudging back from lunch, I was ankle-deep in slush, the uncleared pavements were treacherous. The air was damp, the wind harsh, feet wet with icy water - in all - thoroughly miserable weatherwise. Yet somehow, a most Scandinavian klimat.

Above: Imielin, dusk. Notice how the leafed trees form snow shades; a phenomenon you'd only get with settling snow before November. Less than a week ago, it was +24C!

First snow 2008 (22 November)

First snow 2007 (14 November)