Graupel!!

The weather forecast called for 'graupel'!  I had never even heard of it before, but it turns out to be your typical late fall wet snow.  The weather folks who make up this stuff call it a cross between snow and hail, sort of like mushy hail, or splatty rain.  All I know is that you can see the tiny white bits in the air, and it splats wetly on my windshield.

But first, a few barns.  As I drive around the rural roads seeking pictures of fall colours, it's inevitable that a few of my pix will capture a barn or two.  They add a nice point of interest, and are set off nicely by a few fall colours.

This was my initial view; the one above was the picture I like best.

And without moving, but looking in a different direction, another barn.  This was a couple of weeks ago, so the fall colours were just starting; now they're almost over.

I really enjoy just driving down rural roads that I'm familiar with.  I know what farmsteads are coming next, what views to expect, and often, what was growing in the fields this year.

This barn, just south of the village of Kimberley, is no longer in use I don't think, but it was owned by an older friend of mine 30 years ago, and housed his small herd of cattle.  Just southwest of Old Baldy.

Roads provide lots of nice fall colour view themselves, especially when they disappear around a bend or over a hill like this.

And this is the hill - Sideroad 7 northwest of Kimberley.  Drove both directions down here and back last week when I was out leading a walk.

Today the leaves are well on their way to disappearing, except for this bright yellow Tulip Tree in our yard.  The forecast was for 3 days of rain, but we missed much of it because the very cold arctic air came marching south across the Great lakes and pushed that warm moist air moving up from the south away from us.  It stayed mostly dry here yesterday.

But then that arctic air got set up over southern Ontario, and brought frigid air straight down out of the north.  As it crossed Lake Huron and Georgian Bay it picked up moisture off the relatively warm water, and turned it into snow at high altitudes.  Down came the snow, turning to 'graupel' as it moved through the warm lower air.  And we ended up with one of those changeable fall days alternating between dark gray clouds and patches of blue sky, periods of rain and 'graupel' when the clouds were heaviest.

Can you see a few tiny bits of white in the photo above?  The warmer lined pants have come out of the closet, the winter coat has been retrieved from the basement, and it's hat and glove weather now.

Linking to:

The Barn Collective