South winds

After days, no weeks, of North winds, today it shifted and came in from the South. I hear it first on the weather news, and then when I step out to ride to work I'm immediately aware of the change. It's moist and trending warm. That is, even though it's still below freezing outside, you can feel that the warmth is coming. Do you know what I mean? I'm not sure how to quantify this because all of these conditions could be the same - below freezing, Fall, 15 k wind - and if the wind is from the North, the air would bite shrewdly. But if the wind comes from the South, the same conditions usually feel hopeful. At least at this time of the year.

Some weather guy from central Canada (of course) predicted, two weeks ago, that winter would come hard and fast and that it would be colder than average, with a smidge less snow. What does he know? El Nino? La Nina? Okay maybe these have some influence on things, but if my memory serves me close to correct, it was about 20 years ago that these weather guys started suggesting that these Latin-named currents were altering our weather, and that once we knew which current was in play, we'd know whether the weather would be more extreme in some way, or more moderate. Whatever. I'd like to have the hard data presented in the cold (or warming) light of day, without managing the numbers by scaling graphs to make the differences more pronounced. 

Winter's going to be winter, whenever it wants to be. Some winters hold the snow back until around Christmas, or even later. Most winters wait for Halloween. The last few have waited until after Remembrance Day. I like those the best. But there's really no use in predicting these long term trends. I prefer the more obvious short term observations. If the wind comes out of the South, things will get warmer, and often wetter too. If the wind is from the Northeast things will get colder, and likely wetter. If the wind comes out of the North, brrrr. If the wind comes out of the West, hold on because it'll likely blow hard. 

I love the wind. I hate it too. But I like it more than not. It lets you know what's coming. 

Ride report

in:       -3'C wind 15k S

out:    10'C wind 20k S