Thursday Wow!-blogging

It's a respectable amount of snow. Very wet, though. Those who are into waxing nordic skis would probably want to use Swix violet.

The forecasters on the Beeb this morning tell us that we can expect 10-15 centimeters through the day, which by my round-numbers math is four to six inches. That's a fair amount. I suspect Mrs. Werbenmanjensen will have some stories to tell. The Beeb forecasters also tell us that the dividing line between rain and snow was the M4 motorway, which runs into the city roughly at about its middle on an east-west axis.

I went for a run in Hampstead Heath this morning. Pausing by the Highgate gate of the Kenwood Estate, I looked around. Despite the trees, the open meadows, and the water, on a normal day you still the buildings, traffic noises and other signs of human habitation that remind you you're in the middle of a big city. But today, the falling snow wiped that clean. But for the spire of St. Michael's church, all was white. I could as easily have been in the Peak District.

To answer a question posted by Middle Kid at the post downstairs: I don't have any memory of Dickens' portrayal of snowfall, nor whether it did in fact snow more during his time. If it did, it's probably the Little Ice Age that's to blame.