Talked to my 85-year-old uncle in Rhode Island on Sunday:

“This is the worst winter I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of winters.”

He didn’t even mention the word “snow.” The snow in New England hasn’t been unusual. He talked about the cold. He said he doesn’t remember a winter this cold. He says it’s normal for temperatures to fall into the teens, and even the single digits in RI, but it rarely goes below zero. They’ve had a -1 degree night and a -3 degree night so far, he said.

Of course that was before this latest storm that’s hit the Midwest and New England today, Wednesday. Freezing rain is the worst part. Early afternoon, more than a half-million without electric power in Pennsylvania, mostly the Philadelphia area, with the number climbing. Power company says people should be prepared to be without power in some places through the rest of this winter week, into the weekend. It’s almost time to start burning the furniture.

Judging by the Weather Channel radar maps, it looks like most of New York State and New England are in for a snowy Wednesday evening. I-95 in southern Maine, around Portland, looks practically empty and snow-covered at midday.

The worst part looks like a wide band of freezing rain across northern New Jersey, New York City, and especially Connecticut and Rhode Island, which don’t get no respect on TV.

The weather reporters jump from NYC to Massachusetts. Whatever they say about Mass. and NYC, Conn and RI are right in the middle of it, getting the same bad weather. From Pawtucket, RI, where my uncle lives, you can walk across the state line into Massachusetts.

Freezing rain coats the trees and power lines, inevitably bringing some of them crashing down. I hope the power stays on in Rhode Island.

Is spring coming? Not soon. — John