I've spent alot of time in the Poconos. Beautiful, unspoiled country. Most of the area still untouched by the developers. And the mountains are breathtaking. Enjoy your time and the weather up there. Venice Beach is also a beautiful area. My son's favorite beach. Sharks teeth galore whenever we roam the beach. Enjoy the Poconos and take LOTS of photos. I'll never get tired of checking them out. Thanks for sharing, Sue.

I lived in Massachusetts for my first 10 years then Illinois for the next 15. I came to California 31 years ago. Out of all the places I have lived I would say I like this the best. I like the weather most of the time and there is quite a variety geographically. We have beaches 5 miles away, ancient redwood forests within walking distance, we live in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mts. so have great views of valleys and even the ocean. I can drive to the mountains in a few hours if I want to play in the snow or to the desert if I want heat. I have lived close to the CA coast for 22 years and enjoy the Mediterranean climate. I can garden all year long and have fresh veggies, flowers and fruit. We are north enough to have some seasonal changes, but don't usually get the extremes in heat or cold. Though in the last couple of years I have been noticing some changes in the weather pattern. Everything you could want is close by, great 5 star restaurants, big shopping malls, historical sites; Santa Cruz, San Jose and San Francisco museums, symphonies, theaters. We get lots of big name entertainers. You could go 24/7 for a week and never repeat anything if you wanted. I don't miss the very cold snowy winters or hot humid summers of the East Coast or Midwest. Occasionally I get nostalgic for the Autumn changes that you get in New England. And I miss the fresh clams and fresh picked blueberries. The only other place I would want to live is Hawaii. Clare

Elmer Fudd: We have two levels of bicycle trails in Wisconsin: touring and mountain style. Most of our trails are touring trails with asphalt or crushed and compacted limestone roadbed. Many of the trails near urban areas are old railway beds with asphalt paving. The railway beds have gentle grades except for one named the "Bug Line". It has one section of 1/2 mile with 5% grade, very high for a railroad. This originally was a spur line that serviced lime kilns in Waukesha county. It pulled a low number of cars and snaked its way among various kilns. From overhead, it had the appearance of the random crawl of a bug, thus its nickname, the bug line. Today, only the remnants of a few kilns remain as a reminder of the past. The Sparta-Elroy trail is paved and passes through 3 railway tunnels. Even in the heat of summer, the interior of these tunnels are cool and dripping. the floor may be rough and wet. It is advised to walk your bike in these tunnels. and have a jacket. In the longest of these tunnels, a light is needed. Hikers and bikers share the same trails. There is no fee for hiking. The main problem that touring a biker has in this state is that many of the trails are short segments of 5 to 10 miles long. One must travel over vehicular roads to connect from one trail to another. Our trail system is a project in process and it will be many years before there is a contiguous network of trails. The city of Madison and Dane county has the best network in the state.

Ok...but look at the link I posted. It says that modern stations use "heating strips". By modern I mean the expensive ones used by airports and universities, not what is sold on Amazon. I too have looked at the raw data sheets, I know data can be missing - especially in smaller towns - but I really doubt it has been a major factor or otherwise the NWS would discuss it more. (You sometimes see M marked for the middle of summer. The reading just wasn't taken that day. Nothing involving snow.) In other words, for example, the Oakland data I posted would have some kind of disclaimer saying winter figures were low quality data. COCORAHS/amateur stations are an entirely different matter...which is why they aren't used for official precipitation figures... I think for any major city it's safe to assume the precip. figure has always included snow. If you consider the origins of the NWS, one of the main goals involved improving agronomic efficiency. It was part of the Department of Agriculture for 50 years. It would have been pretty pseudoscientific to skip counting snow as precipitation.