Brrrr

For Thanksgiving I went to visit my friend (and former labmate) Brittany in Albuquerque, which is about 200 miles north of Tucson, and at a considerably higher elevation (5300 ft vs 2400 ft). It was cold. So cold that we woke up to this Thanksgiving morning:


Not seeing snow very often, and never in Tucson (although you can occasionally see snow on the tops of the nearby mountains!), I was pretty excited. As long as I don't have to shovel it or drive in it, I love snow.

It's been cold all over the southwest lately, not just Albuquerque. Before you make fun of me, let me tell you it's been well below freezing the past few nights, and was 26 degrees when I walked to school this morning. After living in Tucson for 3 1/2 years, that's freaking frigid. We'll usually hit freezing less than a dozen times/year, but usually much later than this and only very late at night. January is usually the coldest time of year here. But this early cold snap is good practice for Christmas break right? Not looking forward to being cold for nearly 3 straight weeks...

Even though it's been super cold overnight, the minimal vegetation, moisture, and cloud cover makes for HUGE temperature swings. Even though it was 26 this morning, the high this afternoon was 60 degrees. And we're likely to get back down to freezing again tonight. The desert is a strange, strange place.