FIRST PERSON | THROUGHOUT THE MIDWEST -- As a neurotic traveler, I had checked the weather in Cleveland, Ohio, (our flight destination) and Clearfield, Pa., (our final destination via rental car) several times before flying out of Lubbock, Texas, with my girlfriend. Bound for a quaint bed-and-breakfast in the small Pennsylvania town on the Susquehanna River, I had reserved a standard-size rental car to deal with the potential of snow. This was eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania in December, after all!
The night before our 6 a.m. flight to Dallas, my girlfriend's father informed us of the storm that was predicted to hit Amarillo, Texas, (and, by extension, Lubbock soon afterward) the upcoming Monday.
"Well, we'll miss out on that," I thought happily. "It'll be cold and cloudy, but not snowy, in Pennsylvania!" We were off to visit my sweet grandmother and nothing was going to ruin our romantic holiday season getaway.
When we landed in Cleveland on the afternoon of the 17th we were welcomed by blowing snow, and by the time we got our rental car there was a good three inches of damp, wet snow on the pavement. The car, a Chrysler sedan, struggled on the icy streets until we hit I-80 East.
Weather troubles returned as the sun went down, dropping temperatures and allowing snow and icy slush to build up on the asphalt. Shortly after 5:30 PM our sedan began slipping and sliding on the Pennsylvania hills, making the holiday vacation drive morph into a white-knuckle survival experience (and this is coming from someone who lived in Wyoming for six years!). I contemplated leaving the Interstate twice for respite, but struggled on.
The weather turned a 3 ?-hour drive into a 5-hour drive, adding almost a 100 percent delay.
We left Clearfield this morning, extra early to try and avoid any potential weather delays, and, lo and behold, have ended up at the Cleveland airport with hours to spare before our flight back to Texas. According to www.weather.com, the weather awaiting us in Lubbock is cloudy and cold...but no precipitation. The upcoming weather in Clearfield? Cold and rainy.
Could snow hit either location tonight? I'm not packing away my winter coat!
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