That time of the year again

I was amused and slightly surprised to find out that we're going through something of a nationwide cold snap at the moment. Why is this? This is because in north central West Virginia, where I live, this is about the point where winter properly starts anyhow.

While day to day conditions are pretty much a coin toss, our winters tend to run on a pretty predictable schedule:

1. We get a tiny bit of snow and freezing rain starting in early-to-mid November (on rare occasions, this follows some late-October frost). The populace panics the moment accumulation exceeds two inches, convinced that removing cars from garages and curbs will cause them to explode and hypothermia will claim 1d4 investigators per round. The city of Fairmont waits a day or two following any snowfall before calling out plows. The roads go unsalted as cars are expected to bring their own salt off the interstate embedded in tire treads.
   
2. Snow picks up a bit by mid-December. We get a few inches' accumulation most years, but everything's melted and muddy by Christmas. People act surprised by the lack of a White Christmas, despite the fact that we average less than one per decade.
   
3. We're wet and miserable until mid-January, when everything freezes over again and we get a recordable amount of snow. Now the roads are salted, although local plows still operate on the 'wait to see if it melts tomorrow' schedule. (Personally, I've always had this mental image of city officials having to go into desperate negotations for twelve hours with the people who drive the snow plows every time we get more than an inch of snow to convince them to go out on any given day.)
   
4. This snow remains through March as nature slowly changes the 'snow on ground/mud on ground' ratio.
   

That's North Central West Virginia weather. And now you know the rest of the story... good day.