Oh, the weather outside is about to get frightful ...

The brief video of snow falling on the deck is pre-blizzard, if you will. (Push the little arrow at the bottom left of the image to get the action.) It has snowed off and on all day, and the snow on the deck rail measures 4.5 inches (11.43 cm). Of course, the wind is gusting up to 24 miles (38.6 km) an hour. It is now 4:15 and this is the latest weather alert:

A BLIZZARD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN FOR TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. A MIXTURE OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW EARLY THIS EVENING... BUT NOT UNTIL MIDNIGHT IN THE FAR SOUTHEAST. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED WITH SOME AREAS NORTH OF A MILWAUKEE TO MADISON LINE LIKELY RECEIVING 12 TO 16 INCHES OF SNOW.

OUR BIGGEST CONCERN IS THE POWERFUL NORTH WIND THAT WILL ARRIVE BY MIDNIGHT NORTHWEST OF MADISON... AND TOWARD MORNING IN THE SOUTHEAST. SUSTAINED NORTH WINDS OF 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH WILL CAUSE CRIPPLING WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY WITH MANY ROADS BECOMING IMPASSABLE. EAST TO WEST ORIENTED ROADS WILL BE MOST IMPACTED.

BITTERLY COLD AIR... WITH WIND CHILLS DOWN TO 15 TO 25 BELOW ZERO... WILL FOLLOW THE STORM SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY NIGHT.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM IOWA... ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS TONIGHT... WHICH IS A FAVORED TRACK FOR HEAVY SNOW. AS THE LOW PASSES TO THE EAST... A VERY STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL GENERATE THE SUSTAINED WINDS.

THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW... STRONG WINDS... BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES... WILL MAKE FOR EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR ANYONE TRAVELING LATER TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS.

I know Sunny likes snow, but this is going to be a bit much. At any rate, Tom went out and stocked up on various supplies, including fuel for the generator. The odds are we will lose power, and we don't want to be without heat with sub-zero weather. We will huddle up with the cats and see what happens.

To make it a bit more bearable, he is making Cornish games hens for dinner and got a Black Forest cake for dessert.

It could be worse, I suppose.