Floyd County public schools return to class Tuesday, a rare occurrence in this topsy-turvy winter of wind, snow and ominous weather threats.
The Buffaloes JV and varsity boys basketball teams face Alleghany in the FCHS gym for a home game and senior night. The Lady Buffaloes face Alleghany on their turn Wednesday for the end of the regular season.
On Friday, the Buffs and Lady Buffaloes open Three Rivers District tournament games against opponents still not determined with the girls at home and the boys on the road somewhere.
Wrestling regional competition begins Saturday at James River High at Buchanan and indoor track regionals kick off that same day at Heritage High in Lynchburg. Weather cancelled the two home matches of wrestling for FCHS this year.
Playoff season for winter sports begins and the regular season for baseball, softball, tennis and outdoor track starts in a couple of weeks.
Time, the cliché says, flies if you’re having fun or even when weather messes up the schedule.
Weather for this week forecasts warmer temperatures in the high 40s Tuesday, 50 or so Wednesday, 40 Thursday and 50 again Friday with rain Wednesday and Saturday and sunny Thursday and Friday.
Still a hodgepodge but still nowhere as cold as January…yet. The long-range outlook shows “snow showers” on Feb. 18-20 but with daytime temperatures well above freezing.
Punxsutawney Phil, on the other hand, supposedly saw his shadow four days ago and proclaimed six more weeks of winter, so we’re not out of the weather woods just yet if one believes the forecast of a fat rodent in a tourism-hyped event.
“While Phil is the most famous groundhog, he doesn’t have a great track record,” reports Time magazine, which says Phil has, at best, only a 36 percent record of accuracy for weather forecasting.
Time says eight other groundhogs it found did not see their shadows on Feb. 2 and that could make for an early Spring.
Near us, one of those groundhogs is Wally in Raleigh, NC. Says Time:
Wally in Raleigh says spring is on the way, according to ABC 11. Last year, TIME reports, Wally had 68% accuracy, based on the temperature reports at the nearest 539 weather stations.
Whatever happens, the best “forecast” is, in the end, pure guesswork.