Saturday, April 16, 2011, is a day we won’t soon forget around here.  A violent storm system spent the week marching across the U.S., leaving death and destruction in its wake, and saving the worst of its wrath for North Carolina.  Lives were lost and homes and businesses were destroyed.

While it was a very frightening experience huddling in the closet with my family, all of us were all safe and we didn’t personally suffer property damage. However, all of our neighbors in Downtown Raleigh were not as fortunate, as Downtown suffered a lot of destruction.

When we opened our door after the storm and smelled freshly-cut wood, we knew things could not be good around us.  Everything—houses, cars, signs—was plastered with tattered bits of leaves. (The last time I remember seeing this was when Hurricane Fran roared through Raleigh in 1996.)

Bit of leaves were stuck to everything in Downtown Raleigh near where the tornado hit.

There were trees on top of houses, power poles laying across roads, crumbled chimneys, the tops of trees sheared off, asphalt and sidewalks raised up where trees were uprooted.  Main arteries in and out of Downtown were completely blocked by trees and downed power lines.  The damage to Shaw University’s campus in Downtown Raleigh was so extensive that the rest of the spring semester had to be cancelled.

New Bern Avenue in Downtown Raleigh after the tornado.

Tornado damage in Raleigh City Cemetery.

After the storm ended, Downtown Raleigh residents left the safety of closets, bathtubs, and hallways and ventured outside. Neighbors were checking on neighbors and lending a hand before the rain even stopped coming down. Those who regained power quickly offered hot showers, cell phone charging, and freezer space to those who had to wait longer for power to be restored.  Community cleanup efforts have been ongoing.  Progress Energy seemed to put forth huge efforts to restore the power as quickly as possible. And the City of Raleigh has been doing a fantastic job of management in the wake of this emergency, from organizing volunteer efforts to planning for debris removal.

Today seemed like a beautiful early spring day, so we decided to walk around Downtown Raleigh and look for signs that spring is headed our way. I’m really hoping warmer weather is right around the corner, and from the sights we saw I think we’re closing the book on another record-breaking winter here in N.C.

Signs of spring spotted during my stroll included blooming bulbs everywhere, flowering trees that seemed to be outdoing themselves, and even some over-achieving bushes and trees already sporting that fresh green sheen of new growth.  Plus there were people in flip-flops and so many of the restaurants had their outdoor tables and chairs at the ready.  And the surest sign of spring in Downtown Raleigh?  School field trips!!!

I think we’ve almost made it.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Field trips are the surest sign of spring in Downtown Raleigh.

Even though I’ve been dwelling on the weather lately–and not only in my writing–I really have to point out what a beautiful weekend we’re having in Raleigh here at the end of January 2011.  Sunny with a high of 60 degrees on Saturday and Sunday.  And the timing couldn’t be better.  There are sooo many things going on around here this weekend, and this kind of weather always makes everything better!  We’re showing off our awesome city to our international audience this weekend as we host the NHL All-Star Game and Festival.  Yep, great hockey towns don’t have to be covered in snow and ice.

While I’m planning to spend as much time as possible outdoors enjoying this much-deserved break from winter, I’m not putting away my electric blanket yet.

Well, the forecasters got it right.  We did get snow on Christmas Day and more snow on December 26th.  A lot of snow.  Maybe 8 inches or so, which is a huge amount for Raleigh.  And it’s still cold. Today’s high is forecast to be 35 degrees or so, and tomorrow we may hit 38 after dropping into the teens tonight.

There is hope ahead, though!!  By the weekend, our temperatures are forecast to be in the 60s again.  It would be really nice to be already done with winter around the first of January.  To be fair, I think we’ve done our time.

In the meantime, we’ll enjoy another day at home with the family. Movies, music, games, and a warm kitchen with heavenly smells. We need to finish our snowman, too, and take our sleds out on the hills of the cemetery.  There’s a lot to do before our normal temperatures arrive!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

My sign decorated for the holidays and topped with snow.

So it’s still too cold here in Raleigh, N.C.  Not only is it still too cold, the weather experts are now calling for snow here on Christmas Day!!  We haven’t seen snowfall on Christmas Day, they say, since 1947, but this could be our lucky year.  And not only are they calling for snow Christmas Day, Christmas night, and December 26th,  Accuweather.com is even predicting that it will be a “two-loafer” storm.

Never heard of a two-loafer storm??  Well, here in the South, when any amount of snowflakes are predicted, we stampede the grocery stores to buy loaves of bread and milk.  Why?  We just do.  Well, I actually didn’t mean “we;” I meant people around here do.  (We in the Callahan household are more likely to make a run for beer, chips, and movies.)  Now, you can’t actually blame us Southerners for trying to prepare by stocking our pantries, because when it does snow we’re pretty much trapped at home.  Our community doesn’t need to invest in lots of snow-removal equipment that would just become rusty from disuse year after year–normally.  Our citizens don’t need to invest in snow tires or chains that would rarely be used.  So we rush to the store, stock up on bread and milk, and stay home in wet, wintry weather.  We enjoy the slower pace, family time, and have all the makings for French toast.

The way this winter is going, I may soon be saying “Life just like in Canada,” or something along those lines.  Hope not.

That’s Life in Raleigh.(I think)

It’s still too cold for December in Raleigh, N.C.  While it’s not yet time to call for breaking the coldest-winter-on-record mark that we set last year, our local meteorologists have declared that we have just finished the coldest two weeks in December here in Raleigh. That’s not news to us.  I bet we’ve also set a record for how many times so far this December we’ve had snow/sleet/other stuff we don’t like around here.

We just had another round of wintry precipitation yesterday.  Even though it didn’t stick this time, we still have traces of our previous rounds!  My neighbor’s snowman is still hanging around, even though he’s now just a lump.  I hope he’s gone soon.  Enough is enough.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Remains of the Historic Oakwood snowman

It’s too cold for Raleigh, North Carolina, in the first week of December! Today our high temperature is forecast to reach 35 degrees.  Oh, plus we need to factor in what has to be gale-force winds.  What?!?  And you don’t have to look very hard to find leftover bits of snow on the ground from Saturday’s dusting. Our normal high for today is 55 degrees.

Looks like we’re off to a good start if the goal is breaking last year’s coldest-winter-on-record mark.

That’s Life in brrr-Raleigh.

Historic Oakwood snowman

Rain moved in and ruined my plan.  I was hoping to enjoy the beautiful, colorful, autumn leaves while they were HANGING IN THE TREES.  But the rain knocked down an incredible amount of leaves.  While they have covered the ground in a beautiful, multi-colored carpet, I’m going to need to dust off my rake a little sooner than I was hoping.

That’s Life in Raleigh.