We're literally coated with ice this morning - but it's gradually warming and melting in at least some areas.  There was a gusty wind earlier this morning, and that set the trees to rustling and crackling as their ice-laden branches swayed. 

The top picture is of our living room windows when we first got up this morning.  The ice is just now, at noon, melting off on the windows on the south and eastern sides of the house.  I couldn't make out the temperature on the thermometer outside the kitchen window (2nd picture) but the weather station was registering 27.6 degrees.  Now it's up to 34, and the windows have cleared enough so I was able to take pictures.  

I measured 1 inch of new snow and .84 inch of precipitation in the gauge this morning, but there was a crusty frozen layer under the snow, and at 9 a.m. we were getting sleet and pretty strong gusts of wind that made the icy branches rustle and crackle.  We haven't had any power outage so far, but can't rule it out as there's still some wind and lots of ice weighing the branches down.  Click photos to enlarge.

We had a message today from our friend, Mike Wiedmer in Alaska.  He has quite a collection of antique cars, and sent us this from an article he did for the Hupp Herald, the journal of The Hupmobile Club.  Click to make it large enough to read.  Apparently Alaska is getting a good amount of snow and weather - looks like Vermont but with more snow!  Mike  is our neighbor Elisabeth's son.  Elisabeth is spending the winter with him and his wife, Gwyn, in Anchorage, Alaska.  Elisabeth is such a great sport, and she enjoys going to the various auto shows and rallies with Michael, so I expect she'll be a big part of all the winter celebrations in Alaska.  Having been brought up in Switzerland and living in Alaska many years before she moved to Vermont, she's no stranger to snow and winter weather. Above is another shot of the Hupmobile.  That's Elisabeth in the passenger seat.