John Taylor "> | | | Good morning, It’s Saturday, Feb. 7. Thanks for letting me take last weekend off. And thanks again for all of the kind notes you’ve sent us this week. Speaking of your emails, let’s pull one up right now. Answering your questions The cold, snow and wind have hit us hard here on the East Coast. It prompted this question from a reader in Wappingers Falls, New York: - For many years now I have noticed that weather patterns seem to fall into seven-day cycles, such that a similar weather event ends up happening on the same day of the week, over and over, across a certain season. For example, one year my morning class was canceled on Fridays over and over again due to snow. Another year my nephew’s Saturday soccer game was rained out consistently for weeks. I remember years where the “culprit day” was Thursday and others where it was Monday. Right now it seems to be Sunday. Is this just cognitive bias? Or is there something in nature that tends to roll this way?
I immediately forwarded this note to Ben Noll, a meteorologist here at The Post. When the weather gets weird, he’s on top of it, explaining to readers how, why and what it all means. He may be one of our most-referenced writers in The 7. His short answer: No, weather events don’t favor a particular day of the week. But, month to month or annually, “you might find that a particular day or days would be more likely to have unsettled weather than others,” he said. He explained why: Weather exhibits periodicity. When atmospheric circulation patterns stagnate, weather patterns can repeat for weeks or months on end. That may lead to certain types of weather happening on certain days for a while. | | | | Ben added: “The only constant with weather is that it’s always changing and nothing lasts forever.” Does that mean the snow surrounding my home might soon melt? Fingers crossed. What else to know Thanks to Ben for taking this question. He’s an essential read, especially when the weather turns treacherous. You can follow him on X at @bennollweather. And please, keep your questions coming: If there’s something you want to know about the stories you’ve seen in The 7, send them here. We’ll find the right person to answer them for another weekend edition of The 7. Keep reading Each weekend, The 7 team shares our favorite recent Post stories.  | Hannah Jewell | I was horrified to learn this week that people have been singing along at Broadway musicals. (There’s a video of one brave soul trying to stop it in this story.) Remember: If people really wanted to hear your voice, you’d be the one onstage.  | Izin Akhabau | I'm totally in awe of this 13-year-old boy who swam two and a half miles in rough waters to get help for his family, after they were swept out to sea.  | Jamie Ross | I’ve been eagerly awaiting the revival of “The Muppet Show,” so I was thrilled when critic Lili Loofbourow posted this glowing review. I’ll be watching this weekend.  | John Taylor | An artist took $100 to the grocery store to create a music video for Leonard Cohen’s song “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” (Watch it here.) Art critic Sebastian Smee calls it a “masterpiece.” It’s a Cohen music kind of week, and I’m going to miss reading Sebastian’s work in The Post. |