I opened the door this morning to grab the paper and YEARRRGH. Where the hell did the cold come from? And why was I standing in my bathrobe in this? Is the Seattle Times really worth it? (With their eternal obsession with the estate tax, signs are really pointing to “no.”)

According to the National Weather Service, the overnight low at Boeing Field was 30F. On top of the hill where I live, it was a few YEARRRGH degrees colder.

And yes, 30F is nothing compared to, well, just about anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line. But in a town where I can count on one hand the number of times the low was less than 20F in the last 11 years, 30F is YEARRRGH cold.

And this leads me to this question: How do you know that the winter has arrived in Seattle? What signs are you looking for that tell you sorry, the days of sun and mid-60s are gone to their snowbird place in Phoenix?

Admittedly, once you get to Nordstrom building the Santa House and the Carousel going up in Westlake, you know the winter is a certainty. But what other signs out there tell you that the rain and cold and short-short days are here?

Related posts:

1. Winter Weather Outlook
2. Winter Wonderland? Only in Seattle
3. 3rd Annual Winter Beer Festival this weekend
4. winter brings its game face
5. best place to kiss in winter