i know it's a little early.

and i may regret it...

but, i'm officially declaring that winter is cancelled in the detroit-windsor region.

this announcement does not apply to the rest of canada.

there's basically zero ice cover on the great lakes, and above freezing temperatures forecast well into january. winter is a thing that builds on itself. the snow cover, the ice cover, the absence of sunlight, etc. but, the solstice is next week. at this point, it seems essentially impossible.

even if we get a dip in the jet stream, if the lakes are wide open it won't be very intense. and, the fact that the days start getting longer again next week means there's not much that winter can do to assert itself.

it's not crystal ball shit. there's a point on the calendar where an absence of winter buildup means it can't happen at all. we're really just about there.

like, we might get a week where it hovers around zero or something. but, that's not winter.