Abbey Topples Competition & Gusty Winds Knock Us Straight into Winter

Here is my daughter Abbey with her first place bear and medals she won over the weekend. If you think those tumbling temperatures outside are impressive you haven't seen anything yet. Abbey makes backflips look as natural as walking to the mailbox. She was certainly born with a lot of talent and athleticism and that great part is that she is putting that talent to good use. We call her the "wild child" in our family. It seems like she has more energy than a category five hurricane. The great news is that she is learning to focus all of that energy into something she really has fun with and loves to do. Abbey competes for the Lafayette Area Gymnastics Club and her team traveled to Greenwood, Indiana to partake in the Turkey Trot Invitational this weekend. Girls from all over the state compete. Abbey is very lucky to have great coaches that work with her almost every day and it certainly showed on Sunday. Abbey made it look easy or effortless out there and as a parent I could not be prouder. No matter what place she finished in I would have been proud, so the awards were just the icing on the cake. The amazing part is that when Abbey gets home from the meets she is ready to do more flips in the yard or unfortunately the living room. I am still trying to steer her away from that second part. But overall she is a great kid. Wonderful job wild child!



Speaking of wild, everybody is asking about our weather today. We have had vicious wind gusts near 35 mph accompany the strongest cold front of the season. Check out the latest winds in Remington, Indiana live thanks to our weatherwatcher Mary Anne Best.

http://maryannes.homeip.net/

I am also tracking snow to our north as you see above on the 3-D fly-thru. Parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will receive close to a foot of snow. Here at home we have not had any snow in the forecast since April 14th when we had our latest one inch of snow on record since 1961. Now I am not expecting any accumulations so do not hit the panic button. You will be able to get out and vote. Just do not be surprised to see a few spits of snow, especially on Tuesday afternoon. Now a lot of folks have been asking when winter really begins because it is like we have gone straight from summer into winter because 3 out of every 4 autumn days have been above average. This time of year we cannot be surprised by anything as you can see below. Check it out.



Most people do not realize that solar winter begins to day and continues until early January. This is when the sun angle is usually lowest in the sky and we have our darkest days of the year. Today certainly felt like solar winter and it turned dark in a hurry as the front blew through the area this afternoon. Meteorological winter begins December 1st and this is based on weather. Our calendar tells us winter does not officially begin until December 22nd which we all know is a bit laughable. This is because it is based on astronomy. No matter what calendar you choose to follow we all need to bundle up. By morning, temperatures will be in the upper 20s with wind chills near 20. Tomorrow night, a hard freeze is on the way. Tune in tonight and I will tell you why this pattern will likely not last too long. So we will keep our glass half-full or in this case half-iced! Have a great day.