Cary67

Going with 2" call

It's the NW burbs time. Will outperform southern sections by at least .5"

GFS keeps wanting to add a bit to those totals.

That could be the case. Just another misleading social media talking point to push a particular agenda

I think a new justification for the open everything back up group compares covid case rates and deaths in Florida vs California. Stating California having more severe restrictions is doing worse than DeSantis run Florida with its more open policy. I am sure there maybe factors that the non mask mandate followers don't want to delve into are responsible but more political and covid fatigue rationalizations will be made. On a side note ordered carryout from a local bar/restaurant last night. Went in there and the place was near 100% capacity and besides me only masks on were employees. Unfortunately they didn't get my order right and asked if I would like a beer while I waited. Only took a few minutes but as I sipped a beer watching this, the whole idea of restaurant employees wearing masks and customers not wearing any when it's 100% full and sitting next to each other at the barstools seemed absurd. Those few minutes probably the greatest amount of possible exposure I've had to covid since it started.

Would grade out this winter as a B+. Incredible turn around in 5-6 week window from January to mid February. Great duration of snow on the ground from late Dec till ?(still waiting on end date). Falls short of historic winters of 2013-14,1978-79, and 07-08 for my area specifically. Far NW burbs missed out on the heavier totals from most of those systems that provided lake enhancement and better totals just SE. Regionally don't think areas north in Wisconsin or in Michigan(lack of LES) grade out as well. Iowa did great as well as MSP which still could be adding totals. Rest of winter either side of this window seasonal, uneventful, if not mild at times.

Remnants of the lion still hanging around. Winter stays long this far north.lol

They pushed back Milwaukee Summerfest but dates set for early September this year. A good sign.

Quebec City would fit the bill most years. 120" snow average. Close enough to Atlantic for big dogs also.

ORD and MDW definitely in a sweet spot with lake enhancement adding to totals. RFD sitting at 34", Peoria 24.4", even GRR at 45"(20 below average).

Consult with your primary care physician. Depending on when you had Covid there seems to be enough evidence you should have some protection for at least 2-3 months. Would recommend receiving 1st dose but then see how you react to it. If it's a strong immune response may consider delaying or even foregoing second vaccine booster. Information I've seen indicates there's no harm in delaying the time interval between shots and in fact maybe more beneficial. In addition even as IgG and IgA levels wane in the plasma there still is an adaptive immune response in the form of T cytotoxic cells and B memory cells that need to be studied further in the case of Covid. Most antigens(pathogens) once identified create humoral B memory cells capable of eliciting a much quicker antibody and T cell response upon subsequent exposures.

A reasonable assumption could be made that your first vaccine shot is equivalent to the 2nd booster if you have already had covid. Especially if you experienced significant symptoms during your covid infection. On the other hand if you were asymptomatic or had a really mild case may consider two vaccine doses.

The determination of "essential" is being broad brushed to a certain extent. Not unlike businesses given that classification last spring to stay open. Limited supply will always lead to wealthy, politically connected, and highly motivated individuals cutting in the line unfortunately. A neighbor of mine in her 40s received the vaccine as a designated health care worker for fitting glasses at an eye care center. Bit of a stretch but people will take advantage of opportunities given. On the other hand worrying too much about prioritizing only those truly qualified just slows the process down.

3rd week of April most years. True sustained warmth and actual green grass with plants starting to grow. March is usually a grinder month cousin to November.

The winter window/favorable pattern Jan.25th-Feb21st has closed

Snowing here now also

We've had an unbelievable run so a clunker not unexpected

The freakish run had to end at some point. Back to standard LOT events

Any explanations for this precipitous drop? Would vaccines given the amt administered be having this profound an effect? Would think fairly large percentage still susceptible to infection combined with the seasonal component (still winter)favoring more infections. Yet here we are with substantial declining numbers. Most recent lockdowns didn't seem to alter most people's behavior. Lots of restaurants stayed open in defiance of orders. If anything covid fatigue has set in and more are just living their lives from what I've observed.

First off hope that is correct.Based on 59.5 million vaccines administered and 28 million documented covid cases would think a decent percentage of people still susceptible. The wildcard is how many undocumented mild or asymptomatic cases are there?2x,4x,5x the number of known cases? Also there's overlap between people vaccinated but also already having had covid lowering totals. Hard to gauge what the real percentage of susceptible population still exists. Also some of the recent sharp declines in new cases have weather related closures of testing sites playing a role.

07-08 was our year

At the very least would think mask usage may come back over the winter due to the success it had with depressing flu and other respiratory viruses. Seems to have caught on in Asia for years now.

I think masks will still be worn through next winter in public settings.

If that's even close than the increasing roll out of the vaccines in the next few months will hopefully drive new cases way down. Optimistically if the Pfizer vaccine is somewhat effective against the variants that could help to bring this under control by mid summer