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As I sit down to write this week’s column, everyone is wearing their amateur meteorologist hat and trying to figure out if it’s going to snow this weekend. Will it be a snowstorm of apocalyptic proportions or just a cold and dreary wintry mix full of bitter disappointment?

By the time this column is in print, you’ll know the answer to that. (And you’ll either be elated or devastated, depending on how you feel about winter weather.)

I, however, am writing this ahead of the winter storm, and I’m certainly not an experienced forecaster. Sometimes my right shin aches before it starts snowing, but not every time, so I wouldn’t consider it an accurate predictor of the weather! (It is a funny story to tell people though.) I have no idea what the weather is going to be like.

It’s been a while – a few years, I think – since we’ve had any substantial amount of snow in our local area. So I must admit, I’m kind of excited about the possibility of snow, perhaps because my snow memories are tinted with nostalgia. Truthfully, I enjoy watching a nice, gentle snowfall (from the window, of course, inside the warmth of my house), and then getting a chance to marvel at the temporarily transformed landscape buried under a blanket of white.

But after that, I’d be happy if the snow melted away quickly and didn’t bother anyone. I’m not actually a fan of this frigid cold weather!

Regardless of what kind of weather we get, we’ve still got plenty of time left before winter ends. So I’m sure we’ll still be talking about snow and sleet and freezing rain many more times until at least March. (Either in the context of “I sure wish it had snowed” or “I sure wish it HADN’T snowed,” again, depending on how you feel about winter weather.)

And if we’re talking about winter weather, we’ve got to have the right vocabulary for it. Thankfully, my favorite dictionary – Merriam-Webster – has us covered. Here are a few snow-related words that maybe you’ve never heard before (unless you’ve lived somewhere a lot colder than North Carolina):

Neve – “the partially compacted granular snow that forms the surface part of the upper end of a glacier”

This is snow, but it’s specifically the kind of snow you’d find on a glacier, so you’re not going to find it anywhere around here. The word, which is properly spelled with accent marks above the vowels, comes from a Swiss dialect of French, and was first used back in 1842.

Sposh – “soft slushy mud or snow”

This word is a portmanteau, which means two separate words were smushed together to make it. Those were “slush” and “posh.” If you think posh might be a weird choice here, that’s because there’s an older definition of the word that doesn’t mean “fashionable.” Back in the day, “posh” meant “a slushy mass (of mud or broken ice)”

This might be a word that’s fun to say, but not to experience. Nobody likes the gross slushy mud left behind after the snow starts melting. It’s like watching a delicious ice cream cone melt into a soggy mess before you get to enjoy it. How dreary!

Blizzard – “a long, severe snowstorm”

Okay, this is a word we’re all familiar with. (If not for the weather phenomenon, then at least for the ice cream treat with the same name you can buy at Dairy Queen.) But Merriam-Webster pointed out that the word can differ in definition. What might be a blizzard to one person, could be a regular snowstorm to someone else.

I thought it was interesting that the National Weather Service (NWS) definition says that a blizzard is “at least three hours of snow with winds reaching 35 MPH, and visibility of a quarter mile or less.” That sounds very unpleasant, so I hope we never manage to get a NWS blizzard warning here.

Onding – “a heavy fall of rain or snow”

You could use this particular word to describe a storm that doesn’t quite qualify for blizzard conditions. Apparently, it originated in Scotland and Northern England since the 18th century, presumably because they get a lot of heavy rain and snow up there.

Skift – “a light fall of snow or rain”

This is the opposite of onding. Though I’m not sure if the word comes from the same part of the world or not. If I had to choose, I’d pick a skift over an onding or blizzard every time.

Graupel – “granular snow pellets”

A word that made its way to English via German originally in the 1870s, this is also known as “soft hail.” I don’t think I’d want to go outside and find graupel (or any sort of hail) on my car this time of year.

And, lastly: firnification – “the process whereby snow is changed to neve”

Remember that there’s a specific word for the kind of snow you find on a glacier? Well, there’s also a specific word for when that kind of snow is made. Basically, glacial snow partially melts, then refreezes, and then compacts. That’s firnification!

It’s not a word we’ll ever really use in real life, unless you’re a scientist visiting an actual glacier. But, hey, I just really like science words.

No matter what kind of wintery weather words we end up talking about for the rest of the season, perhaps the most important ones are these: “stay inside where it’s warm!”

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or by phone at 252-332-7206.