Snow in October

The year of the unusual continues. I thought learning the term “derecho” in August would be our only strange weather event of the year. But one should never underestimate 2020. I was shocked like everyone else when the snow squall warning took over my phone at 11:40 Monday.

I was as confused as anyone getting this alert. I have lived in Iowa my whole life, so I was used to blizzard and other snow storm warnings. This was a new one, a squall? I quickly typed it into Google to find out more. It typically deals with a lake effect snowfall that brings a large amount of snow in a short period of time.

The United States introduced the warning in November of 2018. It’s intention is to warn drivers that a large amount of snow is possible in the area that can affect visibility while traveling.

After speaking with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, the warning has only been used a few times in Iowa; and this was, in fact, the first time it had been issued for counties in Central Iowa.

What I thought would be just a quick dusting of snow turned into inches of snow. It seemed like it was never going to quit Monday morning. This is certainly the earliest snowfall I can remember and definitely the most I’ve seen in October.

It’s hard to believe we have had two days with snow already this year. I knew there was a chance overnight on Sunday morning, but my husband was completely shocked when he saw white covering our backyard. He had intended to mow and mulch up our fallen leaves that day. Thankfully by the end of the day, things had melted enough for Tim to get the yard work done.

I so wish we could enjoy a nice fall season without fastforwarding to winter.

We prepared for our son’s first Halloween by carving a pumpkin and involving Lincoln as we worked to hollow out the orange winter squash. Lincoln’s first touch of the slimy insides got a mixed reaction. He was excited to reach inside the pumpkin, but he wasn’t a huge fan of the “guts.” Eventually he got used to the texture, and by the end he was reaching into the bucket and playing with the stringy insides.

I was in charge of cutting the face into the pumpkin, and we took turns taking photos with Lincoln next to the Jack-O-Lantern. Lincoln was more interested in pushing it over and rolling the pumpkin across the kitchen floor.

We proudly put the pumpkin on our front steps to await the spooky holiday at the end of the month; however, the weather took its toll on Jack early and unfortunately he will not make it to Halloween.

We will make it a yearly tradition to carve a pumpkin with Lincoln, maybe evening carving more than one. Hopefully in the future the weather will be kinder to Mr. Pumpkin and they will make it to Oct. 31.

Contact Pam Pratt at pampratt@newtondailynews.com