Got Winter Yet? As Summer Lingers Signs Of Snow

Two proud Canadians enjoy the summer weather
 near Calgary, Alberta on Friday. Photo
by Stella Galbraith via CBC.  

It's the end of August, so it's not surprised I can see the gathering gloom of cold gathering way to the north.

Yeah, you're saying shut up already, I can hear you.

True, where I live in Vermont, summer has shown no signs of waning, like it sometimes does in late August.

Temperatures are expected to get into the low 80s this afternoon, "cooler" than the low 90s of last week.

But the end is near, so we might as well embrace it.

The evidence to the north is clear. The high Arctic is definitely cooling down, and snow is increasingly making an appearance way up there.

The snow has even snuck pretty far south, too.

Friday it snowed near Calgary, in southwestern Alberta. Judging from the CBC reports out of Alberta, it looks like a few inches piled up in a couple of the ski resorts near there.

It does snow in the Canadian Rockies occasionally in late August, so this isn't the weirdest thing that ever happened. Still it's a sign of the times.

But don't worry, there will be plenty of warm days left before winter really gets here. Temperatures are forecast to be well into the 70s all this week in Calgary. Here in New England, there's no sign of anything cooler than the 70s in the forecast for daytime highs for most of us this week.

The early signs of fall are starting to make me wonder where I put the snow shovels, even as I go outside to pick tomatoes out of my lush green Vermont garden this morning.