'Blizzard' in Minneapolis   Lee Frelich
  May 28, 2006 15:07 PDT 

ENTS:

For the last two days the air in Minneapolis has been filled with white and
there are drifts up to 6 inches deep on the ground, but its the warm and
fuzzy type of 'snow', in the form of cottonwood seeds. One does not
realize how many big cottonwoods trees there are in this city until this
summertime blizzard hits. Building managers hate it because all the
screens have to be cleaned when its over, but I think its a lot of fun to
see the air filled with seeds and the grass in places completely covered
with white. Now wonder cottonwood trees pop up anywhere the soil is
disturbed. Their seeds are everywhere.

Summer has started early, and the annual cottonwood blizzard has been
accompanied by the first tropical air of the season. Today we will beat
Manaus Brazil, in the Amazon Rain Forest at 2 degrees latitude, for heat
index. Its already 96, and the afternoon is still young. Tomorrow should
be an interesting day as a strong jet stream blowing from the southwest
approaches, providing the setup for supercell thunderstorms, which will
supercede many Memorial Day picnics. We are already being warned not to
stray far from shelter tomorrow afternoon.

Lee
Re: 'Blizzard' in Minneapolis   Don Bertolette
  May 28, 2006 17:03 PDT 

Lee-

I am reminded of one of Aldo Leopold's essays, in which he comments on the
differences between 'the land' and 'the country'...one of the differences
was how the 'locals' viewed cottonwood trees during the time of year you're
having the last two days...

-DonB