Squall, ya’ll

For those of you reading this in the Metropolitan NY area, where little to no snow fell, here’s a newsflash. We got snow here in the mid-Hudson Valley. And depending on where in the valley? A lot. Here at our home in historic Hyde Park, it was about 8-9 inches of fluffy snow. There was no changeover to sleet or freezing rain. Which actually is a blessing. That can be much more of a headache. Anyway! The real news of the day is that all of our phones were blowing up with exclamation point/ALL CAPS! notifications about a dangerous squall line in our area in the middle of the afternoon … around the time we would be returning from SUNY New Paltz for our Big Blue Doughnut workouts (for a handful of our athletes). We hyped up this squall quite a bit. It helped that precious few athletes had never even HEARD of the term “squall” … this certainly added to the hype, which fizzled as we drove back uneventfully to campus. No snow, no wind, no squall.

A ha! But then! As we headed up Route 9, there it WAS. Look over there! To the left! Over the river! (by this point, my passengers’ disinterest was notable) It looks like a big FOG! But no! It was … it was … it was … the squall! Yessiree … blinding snow (well, not really, but pretty fast) and wind, seemingly outta nowhere. A real live squall, something we don’t get too often in these parts. Being a certified and licensed Weather Geek, my excitement was palpable, something my passengers had never seen out of my usual somnambulant self. Apparently, my “reaction” was recorded and went viral on some group thing/social media outlet that I have no interest in, nor have I seen, nor do I care to see (the squall’s excitement was as fleeting as the squall itself: I’ve already reverted to grumpy old guy). So yeah, it was a squall, ya’ll, and it sure was neat!