That depends on, of course, who you speak to. DFW had its first run in with winter yesterday. A cold front from the North ran into a bit of precipitation from the South and by night fall the roads were icing over. In some parts of DFW, especially in the Fort Worth area the sleet started falling with the rising of the sun, which created a bit of panic across the entire metroplex.
I can't think of anything that illustrates that better than the mere fact the DART parking lot (the light rail system) in Garland was busier than usual with folks apparently wanting to try and beat the crazy traffic that comes with warnings of icy roads.
While the weather really didn't get bad in Dallas until late, a lot of companies and schools closed early and you can't fault them for being cautious with people's lives and vehicles. In fact my company closed down at lunch to make sure everyone could get home before the weather could get bad. We were also told that if schools were closed or running late, that we would also run late and open between 10 and noon. Tracy's firm decided to stay open, but then their operation is 24 hour in nature and international to boot. They did let people out though with plenty of time to get home before dark, when of course the roads typically get really bad.
Tracy and I met up at Mockingbird station around 4:30 and headed home. By the time we got to Garland station the sleet was beginning to fall. Luckily the weather really never got bad our our way, but the rest of Dallas apparently didn't fair so well. While Wylie and many of the other schools on this side of town were opening late, many more districts across DFW were closed for the whole day.
So today is starting off slow for us. Tracy and I are waiting to take Courtney to her bus stop then we too will head out to battle the roads and weather. It's cold outside to be sure, about 21 degrees, but we have no idea how bad the roads will be between here and Garland station. The good news is that we only have a 10 mile drive. Last year when we had similar conditions and I was driving to work, it took me nearly 2 hours to drive the 22 miles to my office and there was barely a patch of ice.
So while we won't be staying home sitting by the fire singing Christmas songs, we did get a bit of a break from the regular fast paced routine of daily life. It's nice actually, but of course when we get to our offices the paperwork will be waiting just the same. Oh, and I am taking off tomorrow, so I have that much more work to do. Come to think of it I won't miss the fast past, I will be knee deep in it; I still have half of my work from yesterday to do! Oh, the weather may not be frightful, but it sure is annoying!