windy christmas eve

2008-12-24 17:01:51.000 – Stacey Kawecki,  Observer

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Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say, ‘Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?’

Even with Rudolph’s glowing beacon of a nose I wouldn’t recommend a trip to the summit tonight. Conditions will be dangerous at best. Winds are forecast to be sustained near 100 mph, with higher gusts. It looks like the summits will see some mixed precipitation and even rain. Temperatures will warm to the lower thirties, coating the summit in glaze ice like frosting on a cake. Then, when temperature creeps above freezing, that ice will start to melt, making even walking around the summit a most difficult challenge. It’s similar to walking with sneakers on an ice-rink. When you add a thin layer of water and a lot of wind and you will most likely spend most of your walk sliding on your behind. Also, with such high winds and melting ice, large chunks of ice are likely to fly off the buildings. A chunk of ice could easily take out a reindeer or two.

Will Santa land his sleigh on the Observation Deck tonight? Unless his reindeer can fly in 100 mph winds and his sleigh is equipped with GPS, I think we’ll have to take a rein-check.

Merry Christmas!

Stacey Kawecki,  Observer