Winter-Weary Americans Plead: Get Me Out Of Here

[Purveyor]

CHICAGO (AP) -- Shannon Frauenholtz has had it with winter. Barely able to stomach the television news with its images of snowbound cars, she heads to the tanning salon, closes her eyes and imagines she's back in Mexico, where she's already vacationed once this winter.

She's toyed with the idea of joining her mother in Hawaii or just driving to an indoor water park, figuring that while the palm trees might be plastic and the "beach" smells of chlorine, at least it's warm.

"I don't need a vacation. I don't need the relaxation," said Frauenholtz, of New Ulm, Minn. "I just need the heat."

All over the Midwest and the East Coast, travel agents are being inundated with a simple request: Get me out of here. And travelers fortunate enough to have escaped are begging hotels to let them stay a little longer.

Because they know how miserable people are, warm-weather destinations in California, Arizona and Florida have stepped up their enticements. Trains and billboards in Chicago have been plastered with ads showing beaches and pool scenes. In Philadelphia, one promoter put fiberglass mannequins dressed in flip flops, tank tops and shorts atop taxis with their arms outstretched - a whimsical inducement to "fly" south.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINTER_FLEEING_THE_FREEZE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-02-28-17-23-23

[liberal N proud]

1. I am headed to Florida

Told my boss I couldn't take it any more.

[doc03]

30. I have to head back to Ohio Wednesday. I have been in St. Petersburg FL since

February 17. My last 5 days look great, sunny Saturday 74, Sunday 77, Monday 78, Tuesday 75 and Wednesday 74. The coldest day on my whole
vacation was 63 yesterday and 50 this morning it got up to 70 today. We are getting another
6-12" of snow this weekend in Ohio by this time I thought it would be over.

[longship]

2. This morning it was fucking -19F here!

Western rural Michigan. This is a horrible winter, one of the worst in years. Not so much the snow, which have been worse in some recent years, but the utter brutish nature of it. It's been a cruel and bitter season. It started way too early, letting us all know that, "Yup! You're going to be fucked for the next four months, or so." (Still counting.)

The media is talking about MLB Spring Training and it's still fucking -19F here.

Hunkering down in the Manistee National Forest.

[etherealtruth]

3. We were a little better in Metro Detroit ...

.... criminy ... this has been a HORRIBLE winter (I generally love winter ... but this year SUCKS)

[llmart]

10. But only a little better in Macomb County.....

there's no way I can spin it to make me feel better, though I have tried. Well, I guess I did say to someone today, "At least the sun's out and there's less wind."

Everyone is sick of it even those Pollyannas that always say, "Oh, I love winter in Michigan" aren't crowing this year.

[etherealtruth]

23. I am in Macomb county, too

This has been HORRIBLE

[Purveyor]

12. We went down to -15, mid-michigan Waterloo Rec Area. My Husky was

a bit pleased though.

He was finally able to walk on top of the foot and a half snow and make his way out to the back garden. Its been at least 6 weeks that we haven't been able to get back there.

He wasn't happy this afternoon though when the sun warmed the snow crust and it was back to 'no-go'.

[Crepuscular]

15. - 15

- 15 in TC this morning, I've lived here for 52 years and am about fucking done with winter. 4 more years till my youngest graduates and then we are outta here for the winters!

[Purveyor]

17. 2 years ago, I planted a small row of snow peas along the patio fence on the

1st of March. Had to cover them twice but we had peas by May.

Can't even get to that area yard right now!

I am going to start a couple of container tomato plants in the next couple of days in hopes that someday I might actually be able to put them outside.

I have to see some signs of spring even if I have to help it along a bit.

[raven mad]

28. And here, in Interior Alaska -

normally the "cold spot" - it's 23 above.

[LeftyMom]

4. Winter? Haven't seen it. -California

[Blue Owl]

5. It's Official: This IS the winter of our discontent

n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

6. I don't know what people are bitching about.

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2014, 10:44 PM - Edit history (1)

March is almost here, and already the forecasts are for refreshingly warm nights in the low 20's below zero, which is a vast improvement over the -30º and colder nights we were having just a couple of weeks ago. I predict that if this warming trend continues, some of the 4' snow cover will be melting by early August.

[Yo_Mama]

19. Cracking up, but yeah,that's how it's going.

The early spring warmup is going to feel like a typical winter in lot of places.

I found myself blearily contemplating snow cover (I'm in the PA/Jersey region right now), wondering if this is how glaciations start. Certainly the spring plantings will be delayed in a lot of places - the ground needs to lose the snow before the sun can start to warm it.

The bright side is that at least CA is finally going to get some precip. The dark side of the bright side is that they apparently expect that precip to cause massive flooding in some S CA areas without allowing ag to get water allotments!

Sheesh.

[gollygee]

7. I'm getting used to it

It was somewhere between -15 and -20 this morning. I had an appointment and by then it had warmed up to -11, and it didn't phase me. It's normal now or something.

In a few months we'll be complaining about how hot it is.

[frazzled]

8. For Chicagoans looking to perk up in this weekend's snow and cold

You can always head down to Lake Michigan on Sunday, at 10 am, for the annual Polar Plunge, in which a couple of thousand crazy people jump into the lake to raise money for the Special Olympics. It'll be a high of 20 degrees (with an extra 3-6 inches of snow on top of the 65+ we've already had), but the water should actually be a bit warmer. Maybe even 32.

And of special interest to DUers, your favorite politician, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, will be among those jumping into the lake (didn't you always want to tell him to go do that?). He promised that if Chicago school kids read 2 million library books this summer, he'd do it. The kids succeeded, and so he's jumping in, along with NFL defensive lineman Israel Idonije, cast members from NBC’s “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago PD,” Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and other local dignitaries.

But it gets better. The mayor got invited by Jimmy Fallon to come on the Tonight Show, and in a sort of Twitter war, he said he'd do it only if Fallon comes and does the Polar Plunge with him. Jimmy finally accepted, and the thought of all these luminaries freezing their balls off caused registration for the event, which is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, to shoot up to a record 3,000.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-fallon-emanuel-polar-plunge-20140228,0,5351035.story

Come on down! (I am, unfortunately, not going to be donning a swimsuit and taking the plunge.)

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. I doubt they will let Rahm do the plunge..

it will leave too much of an oil slick.

[brentspeak]

9. More major snow on the way this Monday

Sick of it all!

[Tikki]

11. Well, we are finally getting a bit of what might be Winter here in Coastal So Cal...

Rain rain and rain…but the temps are very moderate. We haven't turned on our heat yet this year…
…and at this rate we probably won't be turning it on for the rest of the year.

Our local So Cal mountains resorts all have printed hopes that this rain will be snow up top and down their ski runs by the weekend.


Tikki

[LumosMaxima]

13. Seriously.

I never like winter, but this year has been acutely stressful in a way I haven't experienced before, and it makes me want to run away, but there's no possibility of taking a warm vacation, either. I have moments of feeling trapped -- not enough to make me panic, but only because I refuse to let myself dwell on it.

[PasadenaTrudy]

14. Still waiting for winter here

At least it is raining now.

[MerryBlooms]

16. It's been brutal and we're so ready for spring.

[lpbk2713]

20. It was kind of cool where I am last night.

It might even go down to the upper forties tonight.


Link: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Lakeland&state=FL&site=TBW&textField1=28.0412&textField2=-81.96&e=1

[RebelOne]

29. Don't envy you. I lived in South Florida most of my life

until I moved here to North Georgia where there are actual seasons and not just spring and summer. I hate hot weather, and even though we have had a brutal winter, I'll take that over the year-round heat and humidity of Florida. I used to be ecstatic when the temperature hit the 40s for a few days when I lived there.

[lpbk2713]

31. Very true.

Summers here can be miserable. Around the end of April or so I'll
turn on the A/C and I won't turn it off until the end of October.

[Montezumasdaddy]

21. -32

In northern Wisconsin this morning. I'm so sick of this crap!!!!!!!!!

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Where?

[reformist2]

24. "When you need it bad..." - Remember this jingle? :)

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

25. Just spent 8 days in the Bay Area (sunny and 70)

The 2 days prior to leaving Chicago, the temps were 43 and 43. The next 2 days were 52 and 50. I returned Thursday morning. The temps Thursday and Friday have been around 11 both days and wind chills around zero. Normal in Chicago this time of year is 40. More cold and snow promised. 8 days of nice weather last week already seems like last summer. Not much relief.

[Warpy]

26. Those of us in the southwest are wondering what the hell they're talking about

We've had less than a week of real winter. Our precipitation was about 2 inches of snow since November. Daytime temps are now in the 60s and I saw a few people out in shorts and wife beaters today.

They're saying maybe showers tonight. I don't believe a word of it. They've lied too many times this year.

Oh, and we'll probably need sympathy in summer. I'm bracing myself for a lethal summer like the one Australia went through.

[MADem]

27. More crappy wx expected, too...

I've had enough as well...