I spent last weekend in a cabin with some friends in Saugatuck, Mich. When we planned the trip a few months ago, we expected decent weather: maybe a little chilly and perhaps some rain, but there were visions of a day trip to the lake and a little exploration of a new town.
Instead, we got a snowstorm.
There are worse ways to spend a weekend than in a log cabin, snowed in with good company, but it was definitely not what we imagined the trip to look like.
When I packed up to leave Sunday morning, it took 20 minutes to clean the snow off my car. And when I got out of the car two and a half hours later in Chicago, it was 75°F and sunny.
While this type of weather isn’t unusual for the Midwest, it can be a wakeup call to the unpredictability of our climate and the importance of being prepared for more frequent, extreme or unexpected weather events. We've heard from experts who offer advice on how to prepare for and anticipate these unexpected weather events, and how to ensure our infrastructure has built-in resiliency and is smart enough to be ready for anything.
The sunshine and warm temperatures disappeared as quickly as they arrived, and the Chicagoland area is facing rain, snow and temperatures barely above freezing this week. Sunday's weather was just a taste of what will hopefully be a beautiful spring, but it was also a reminder be ready for anything.
