Strange Weather? I’ve Seen Stranger in Lake Charles

I promise that I will not drag out that tired old saw about waiting a minute for the weather to change, but it's certainly been true lately. I won't bore with the details here, but that cold front that was was supposed to arrive tonight(Sunday) has arrived and the temperature just plummeted over night.

When I was out and about on Saturday, I saw a lot of folks in Hawaiian shirts and shorts. The topic around the various and sundry watering holes seemed to be the weather and the complaints of , "I just don't know what to wear" to "I know I'll have a cold from all this" and, of course, the ever popular, "It's not the (Heat/Cold) it's the humidity."

Since the weather really does change so quickly down here, we are used to it. Folks in this area know that, it's never time to put away your summer clothes. You can pretty much procrastinate on exactly when you get out your winter clothes, but putting away your summer clothes in our area would be just plain silly. You might need them on Christmas day.

All week long the weather has been back and forth. It's been more confusing than a time change. How does one dress for such weather? We find ourselves dressing for winter in the morning and for full on summer later that afternoon. It's like we need to keep an extra change of clothes to work each day.Still, this is far from my most unusual weather experience in Lake Charles. That happened years ago, but I'll never forget it.

It was back around 1979, I guess at radio station whose name must not be spoken and I was working very hard on a documentary about Buddy Holly. The name of the show was, The Day the Music Died" and I was so wrapped up in the project that I was not paying any attention to the weather at all. I spent days and nights in the studio making this documentary and nothing else mattered.

Well, I was working on a tight dead line. It was Friday, February 1st and I was, as usual, in the studio working on the show. I guess I worked until around midnight that night then went home to grab some sleep. I promised myself that I would go in extra early on that Saturday morning so that I could finish up before time to air the show on Sunday.

When I got home around 1 a.m., I knew I could only sleep for a few hours, but it was hot and muggy. I had turned off the A/C that morning before I went to the studio and now, my place was like a sauna. Now, I can't fall asleep when it's hot like that so I turned my A/C down as cold as it would go and stretched out to wait for the place to cool down.

I awoke the next morning, still on top of the bed, fully dressed and now in a panic. The added panic was there because I saw something that no morning radio personality ever awakes to. There was light coming through my window. It was light outside! I was late!

No cell phones back then so I grabbed my phone cand called the studio. I kew that one of the other guys, Patrick, would already be there so, in I called and told him I was on my way. As soon as I got off the phone I took a one minute show, changed clothes and made a b-line for the door. I yanked the door open and saw to my amazement that the weather had changed over night.

I stood there in my doorway staring stupidly, in dumb disbelief, at the sight I beheld when I opened that door. It was snowing like mad outside. This was no fine dusting of snow, it was full on snowing right here in Lake Charles. The snow was falling fast and heavy and coating everything as it fell.

As the snow fell and covered all beneath it, it seemed so natural. The snow fell on Lake Charles that morning with the attitude that it belonged here. This was no timid flurry this was a snowfall "just like the one's I used to know."

Now, I must tell you that all of those thoughts flashed through my head in less than a second and, there I was standing at the door trying to make any sense at all out of what I was seeing, but it was all too surreal for my barely awake, haven't had any coffee mind.

I know I didn't stand there for more than 30 seconds before I ran to the car and made my way to the studio. I didn't get to enjoy the snow because it took me all day to finish the Buddy Holly project. I did have a cold experience when I got home. Remember that the night before I cranked up the A/C? Well, it was still cranking when I got home.

No doubt the following day it was rainy and 80.