To get an accurate total, snow must be measured at least six times a day

Several Press subscribers have asked me why I seem to measure more snowfall each winter season on Player Drive than they see at their particular location in town.

First of all, I live in a snowy part of Coeur d'Alene in the northwestern corner of the city. We certainly get more of the white stuff than down by the warmer areas near Lake Coeur d'Alene.

As I said in a Dec. 10, 2007, article in 'Gems,' "if our precipitation falls as snow and collects on the ground as snow, it should be measured as snow" ... Harris law.

That's why I measure local snowfall on Player Drive every four hours, six times a day, even during the night. (At my age, I have to get up at least once anyway.)

If I only measured a couple of times a day, our total seasonal snowfall in Coeur d'Alene would drop about 15 to 20 percent. That's because we tend to have substantial melting, particularly from late January through mid April, during the normally mild daytime hours, when temperatures often reach the 40s after going into the 20s or lower at night.

I measure snow depths in my backyard away from the house, the trees, the fence or various other obstructions. I melt the snow in the microwave to get its moisture content.

It was nearly 62 years ago on Feb. 22, 1952, at age 9, that I began keeping daily weather statistics and scrapbooks in Hamburg, N.Y., just south of snowy Buffalo on the eastern shores of Lake Erie. We were snowbound many times.

I took over the operation of the Hamburg weather station from my disabled grandfather, Warren Inskip, an amateur meteorologist and award-winning horticulturist with several large greenhouses that I also worked in at the time.

I have run various weather stations in the past six decades in upstate New York, California, Montana, Vermont and North Idaho, first in Hayden Lake in the early 1990s and, since August of 2003, locally in Coeur d'Alene on Player Drive in the northwestern corner of town in 'the trees.'

I have no plans to ever leave my beloved 'Camelot.' I will keep adding to the many scrapbooks, journals and charts in my ever-bulging file cabinets. I will never completely retire, health permitting.

I've collected thousands of weather articles and photos from around the world since 1952. Some of my charts, donated by the Weather Science Foundation of Crystal Lake, Ill., to me in 1978, date back to 600 B.C. Over the past 35 years, I've kept these various charts updated with the help of Randy Mann. Many of those long-term charts can be found on our website, www.LongRangeWeather.com.

All my work in climatology has led me to one strong conclusion. The global and local weather patterns are ALWAYS CHANGING. These cycles 'naturally' recur. They are not 'manmade.' Man just makes things worse, especially in the urban heat-island regions.

We should concentrate on cutting air pollution, levels of CARBON 'MONOXIDE,' not the vegetation-friendly levels of carbon 'dioxide.'

I'm all for 'going green' whenever possible. Clean water is a must. But, we should likewise protect our increasingly fragile economy.

On an added note, our seniors shouldn't have to choose between 'heating' and 'eating,' especially when they are in the dreaded 'donut hole' lack of drug coverage during the coldest period in years.

A puny 1.5 percent increase in their monthly retirement checks (C.O.L.A.) in 2014 doesn't even cover the added costs of medicare ... SHAMEFUL INDEED!

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas as I wrote this North Idaho weather update on Friday the 13th. Between 1 and 2 inches of the white stuff brightened up the landscape after a very cold, but dry, first 10 days of December.

We haven't yet seen a plowable snowfall at most valley locations. But, we still have a couple of storm systems headed towards us from the chilly Gulf of Alaska between now and Christmas Eve, so our chances of a brilliant WHITE CHRISTMAS look pretty good, even at the lowest elevations in the region.

Following a rather mild period across the Inland Empire between Dec. 14-18 under high pressure, we will see another arctic invasion locally between Dec. 19 and Christmas Eve. Temperatures, however, will not be as bitterly cold as earlier this month. Highs should be in the upper teens and low to mid 20s with low readings somewhere between 12 and 16 degrees. There will be chance of more flurries in the region.

Longer-term, the six-week span from late December through early February, thanks to a chilly 'La Nada' sea-surface temperature event lingering in the eastern Pacific waters, should result in at least slightly colder and snowier conditions in our part of the country. Skiers will like the fresh powder on these slopes. We'll get our exercise shoveling the driveway and the walkways, a typical winter in North Idaho.

The second half of winter, however, should see milder temperatures than normal with less snow than usual in the region, especially after mid March into the month of April. An early arrival of spring appears possible. We'll keep our readers updated.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com