Many people did not have to dream of a white Christmas this year and many of those who did not get one may well have a white New Year.
In central Missouri there is sometimes a white Christmas and sometimes not. This year the white stuff came down with several inches on the ground for Christmas Day.
This year the cheer of a white Christmas was spread much farther than usual, with reports of several feet of snow in Colorado, the first white Christmas in Atlanta, Ga., since the 1880s and the first Christmas snow recorded in Columbia, S.C.
This year, even the snowbirds may be suffering, considering the cold temperatures in Texas and Florida. Some crops may have been lost.
Still, it is winter and some snow is expected. For the local area, the amount was about right with enough to bring a beautiful white Christmas but not enough to hamper traveling too much.
According to the weather forecasters, a warm front is supposed to move in and melt the snow by mid-week. For New Years, it actually looks like rain.
For more stories and pictures of the winter scenes around Moniteau County check out the Dec. 29 issue of the California Democrat.