The weather forecasts here in Vienna are surprisingly inaccurate.  We’re not sure why — whether people just care more at home, so more resources are put into forecasting, or whether something about the climate of Vienna makes it hard to predict the weather.  But it’s common for the temperature forecast to be off by 10 Celsius degrees, and occasionally even more.  Likewise, when any kind of precipitation is called for (or not) we don’t really count on that happening.

Everyone in Vienna seems to be used to this.  People carry umbrellas every day, keep the buntings and rain covers with their strollers all the time, and dress such that adding or removing a layer is as trivial as possible, in every season.

So, earlier in the week, when the forecast called for snow, I tried not to get my hopes up.  It’s March — at home, March isn’t at all too late for a good, big snow storm, but I don’t know about Vienna.  We’ve gotten a little snow here this winter, but not as much as I’d like (it would have been especially fun to have gotten a significant snow in the lead up to Christmas while the market stalls were up, but alas, no luck).  So, I was hoping for at least one more snow.

We were pleasantly surprised this morning when it actually starting snowing (the forecast had called for snow tomorrow and sun today, but whatever).  It started off as flurries, but persisted throughout the morning, getting intense enough to shroud the Rathaus from our vantage point in the kitchen — and that’s only a few blocks from here.

It’s been too warm for the snow to stick or accumulate, but it was nice to get a little anyway.  A reminder that winter isn’t quite over — and maybe we’ll still get a big wintry storm before spring is really upon us.