In MA, the weather over winter break has been extremely warm for December. It’s been at least 60 degrees everyday for a week. And this is nice, pleasant and a decent change from last winter’s extreme snowfall, but it’s not all that great. Yes, this is an El Nino year so weather patterns are all over the place, but this warm weather is having a strange impact not only on the environment, but also on the usual winter break activities.

There are many other reasons this warm weather isn't all it's cracked up to be:

1. Pond Skating

Remember pond skating? That thing you do when it’s cold enough for long enough and the water on bogs and ponds freezes so that you can skate on it. With this warm weather, it’s not looking like there’s going to be any pond skating for a long time. No impromptu hockey tournaments, no exploring the lakes, no soaring on ice out in the open during this winter break.

2. Sledding

By the looks of it, there won’t be much sledding either. No gliding down a hill and tumbling off into the snow. No chance to feel like you're flying.

3. Snow Angles

No collapsing into a giant pile of snow and feeling ridiculous while you wave your arms back and forth.

4. Snowpeople

You won't see any of these smiling faces for a while

5.

You'll have no materials to build a proper outdoor fort to protect yourself with

6. Snowball Fights

No ways to get out your tensions by throwing some ice in your siblings faces

We do have rain and a muddy beach. We don't have to shovel our driveways or scrape our windshields, but for someone who loves snow, who loves pond skating, and sledding and wading through snow and building snow forts and having snowball fights, the rain and the muddy walks through the woods and on the beach doesn’t hold a candle to what a cold winter break could be.