By Staff
Scot Beard
Living in Alabama gives people the opportunity to experience just about every weather related phenomenon known to mankind.
We get hot summers with spirit-crushing humidity and the associated heat waves. We get the occasional ice storm during the winter that causes massive power outages and shuts down several counties for days at a time.
We also get tornados, hurricanes, floods and droughts. The thermometer can top out at more than 100 degrees in the summer and bottom out near zero during the winter.
And, like everywhere else, the local meteorologists can't seem to make an accurate prediction.
While I can deal with the hot summers and the mild spring and fall seasons, I don't like winter in Alabama.
Don't get me wrong, I like cold weather and I love snow.
What I don't like is the inconsistency of the season.
Last week it was 65 degrees one day and when I woke up the following morning there was half an inch of snow on my car.
Events like that lead to several frustrations.
My biggest problem is these weird temperature swings never fail to make me sick. When the winter weather begins to yo-yo I always end up with sinus congestion and a sore throat.
It makes me feel sick enough to feel miserable, but not sick enough to use a sick day to watch The Price is Right and catch up on my sleep.
The other problem is that I never know what to wear. I have tried to watch the news to get a forecast, but it is rarely helpful. I then tried going outside to gauge the weather – that didn't work either.
One day it was so cold I was still shivering five minutes after I came back inside so I dressed accordingly.
By noon it was well above 50 degrees and I sweat my rear off for the rest of the day.
I guess being occasionally miserable because of the weather is just part of living in Alabama. They say variety is the spice of life and I guess that is right.
After all, who wants to live in a place where it is 70 degrees everyday and it rarely rains?
I do. I am moving to San Diego, I will see you on the coast.
On second thought I think I will stay put. I would much rather have the occasional cold than have to worry about wildfires and earthquakes.