Bracing for the brrr...and odd weather terminology

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's winter and winter is supposed to be cold, but I live in the mid-Atlantic states because I like mild winters and I don't WANT single digit temperatures. According to weather.com, the average high in January around here should be 44 and the average low should be 24. However, we are expecting an "Alberta Clipper" (i.e. cold air from Canada) and the temperature tomorrow night is supposed to be 9 degrees...as in single digits. This is quite simply not acceptable and I'm looking to lodge a formal complaint.

Around these parts, we use "Alberta Clipper" to refer to a cold front coming down from Canada. In Texas, they used the phrase, "Blue Norther". If you look at a topographic map of the U.S. and look at the area between Canada and Texas you will see that there is absolutely nothing to break the coldfront. There's barely a bump in the road. Erse: Blue Norther...and when they roll in they're quick and harsh. I sat on my patio one afternoon and felt the temperature drop 30 degrees in 20 minutes. It was a tad windy.

When we lived in Seattle, I learned a few weather terms that were new to me. "Sun break" is one that is used often in winter...as in after a week to ten days of steely gray skies you might actually look out your window and see sunshine that day. The other phrase I recall from living in The Emerald City is: snowline. The Cascades are just up Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle and in winter they report the lowest altitude where snow has fallen. i.e. "The snowline is at 5,000 feet." You just hope that your house is at less than whatever the snowline has been reported to be. Aside from the ubiquitous rain in the winter, Seattle had some of the most unusual weather I'd ever seen. The only times I saw lightening were during a snowstorm and during a hailstorm...never saw an old fashioned thunderstorm like you get on the east coast or in the southwest.

Heavy rainstorms in Texas are referred to as "frog stranglers" or "gully washers". Ice storms are just referred to as four letter words, hissed between clenched teeth. Texas is unprepared for snow or ice. You might as well hang up your spurs and stay home.

Stay home is exactly what I plan to do tomorrow night when it's supposed to be 9 and Friday when it's not even going to get as warm as freezing. Come on spring.