Two Polar Vortexes in Pictures

2014 has been cold. Like really cold. Like we've created a new weather term to describe the cold. Introducing you to Polar Vortex 1 & 2.

This was the night that the first Polar Vortex reared its chilly head.

 

We were keeping Mosley while Cap and J were home for the holidays. Poor pup shivered his way through our snowy walks like a trooper. I think it was 5 degrees on this particular morning.

The beauty of it all almost makes up for the debilitating cold. Almost.

When Polar Vortex Numero Dos showed up last week, it was kind of like old news... 

....until it dropped about six inches of snow in a 24 hour span.

These pictures are not an accurate representation of all of the snow. Due to the bitterest of winds, a good bit of snow was displaced. The white cat begs like a banshee to be let out on the balcony. She doesn't really know what snow is, but thankfully, she doesn't like it. This outing lasted about two minutes.

 I had to work late on Friday and nearly missed one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen. If there is one thing that I will miss about the bitter winter months, it is the jaw-dropping beauty of the sunsets. I think it must be the sun's way of showing us a little lovin' through a colorful display. I wish that I had been close to my big girl camera and in a better location to catch the perfect pinkness of the sun's rays glowing over the mountains. The intensity of the pink in the reflection on the river was nothing to the depth of color burning in the sky. IPhones just can't capture it all.

W and I basked in the 30 degree weather Saturday night and walked to the river to get some pictures of what I hoped would be another epic sunset. Alas, it was not the gloriously pink performance of the previous evening.

 There were dark and ominous clouds rushing towards us from the West.

W indulged in a few more snowballs accidentally thrown at ducks floating down the river and rolling chunks of snow down the bank before we retreated inside to the warmth and some homemade risotto.

 

About 30 minutes after getting inside, we had a whiteout and mini blizzard move through. It lasted for about 30 minutes and also included a phenomenon known as "snowthunder." In the middle of the blizzard, there were two lightning strikes and a loud clap of thunder. The wind was insane and we could barely see across the street.

I thought the world was surely ending.

This morning, W left for his FINAL residency interview EVER. He has an 8 hour drive to Birmingham ahead of him. Unfortunately, I have to stay behind in cold and snowy WV. We have less than a month before his rank list is due, and less than 60 days until we find out where we will spend the next 5-9 years of our life.

Exciting times! Stay warm!

-b