Technically winter in the northern hemisphere starts on Monday, December 21st. Boise made other plans over the weekend, setting new snowfall and temperature records. My Meridian neighborhood received a nice coat that left the houses and cars sparkling in white. By late afternoon it had melted. But Boise reported 2.7 inches of snow, the most since 1911. With the rest of the week threatening more snowfall and rain, safe to say  (cue season 6 finale of Game of Thrones) winter is here!

Which means the holiday vibe is in full effect! Trees glistening and rooftops shining with blankets of snow. Bundling up in a cozy sweater by a roaring fireplace while sipping hot chocolate. And hopefully ice skating at Indian Creek Plaza later this month! Unfortunately winter in the Treasure Valley also comes with the annoying weather phenomenon, inversion.

Forgive me for being a newb, but I only just learned of this! Basically cold air is trapped under a layer of warmer air making everything dreary and grey and can last for weeks at a time. It also traps pollution close to the ground, so that's gross. Funnily enough, this happens to a lot of cities in California because valley. So Idahoans and Californians have a little more in common than they'd like to admit.

Am I a weirdo that I'm excited to experience this? A friend told me that if I drive up Bogus Basin on an inversion day I can look down and see a layer of clouds while the sky above me is bright and clear. Seems like a cool panoramic photo op, and I do live to post a cool picture. And now that I know what inversion is I must ask: If you could get rid of inversion or crappy rain/snow drivers, which would you choose? I say get rid of the bad drivers! Traffic is bad enough during regular weather. I wonder if part of the hate for the inversion is linked to the disdain for drivers who don't know how to maneuver in cold weather.

 

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