There's a Lizard in My Blizzard, page 1
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments:
We appreciate the expertise and generosity of Steven Decker, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor and Director, Meteorology Undergraduate Program, Rutgers University, and Jason Shafer, PhD, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Northern Vermont University-Lyndon.
For Cousin Caryl, who believed in Zeke from the get-go — J.A-C.
For my uncle, Robert H. Gould, who left me his nautical barometer — A.M.
To my father, who was a meteorologist at heart — P.J.B.
ISBN 978-1-5253-0447-7 (EPUB)
Text © 2023 Joan Axelrod-Contrada and Ann Malaspina
Illustrations © 2023 Paula J. Becker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of Kids Can Press Ltd. or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
Published in Canada and the U.S. by Kids Can Press Ltd .
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Kids Can Press is a Corus Entertainment Inc. company
www.kidscanpress.com
The artwork in this book was rendered digitally.
Edited by Debbie Rogosin
Designed by Barb Kelly
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: There’s a lizard in my blizzard / written by Joan Axelrod-Contrada and Ann Malaspina ; illustrated by Paula Becker.
Names: Axelrod-Contrada, Joan, author. | Malaspina, Ann, 1957– author. | Becker, Paula, 1958– illustrator.
Description: Series statement: Zeke the Weather Geek ; 1
Identifiers: Canadiana 20220231346 | ISBN 9781525304439 (hardcover)
Classification: LCC PZ7.A98 The 2023 | DDC j813/.6 — dc23
Kids Can Press gratefully acknowledges that the land on which our office is located is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
We thank the Government of Ontario, through Ontario Creates; the Ontario Arts Council; the Canada Council for the Arts; and the Government of Canada for supporting our publishing activity.
Title Page
CONTENTS
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Flurries
2. Cold and Wet
3. Home in the Rain
4. Birthday Washout
5. Below Freezing
6. Dracula’s Icicle
7. Humid Like a Rainforest
8. Melting Point
9. Winds Pick Up
10. Winter Storm Watch
11. Dangerous Wind Gusts
12. Blizzard Warning
13. Whiteout
14. Blizzard of the Decade
15. The Calm after the Storm
16. Winter Photo Contest
Zeke’s Weather Words
Cloudy with a Chance of Flurries
Sunday afternoon
“Hey, Zeke, wait up!”
Zeke’s little brother, Bub, was chasing him down Pine Street.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
Bub stomped along the sidewalk in his dinosaur boots.
Zeke couldn’t wait for Bub. He was tracking a snow cloud on Whirlwind, his weather scooter. The dark cloud was moving fast.
“I need to take a picture for the contest,” Zeke shouted.
“A picture of what?” Bub shouted back.
“Winter! I’m going to get a picture of the first snowflake of the year!”
Bub asked too many questions. Six-year-old brothers never fail to annoy.
Zeke’s curly red hair puffed out like a cloud. He liked having hair that told the weather. The wetter the air, the frizzier his hair.
“I want to see the snowflake, too!”
Why did Bub always have to do everything that Zeke did?
“Then hurry up!”
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
Bub’s dinosaur boots were no match for a snow cloud.
The Winter Photo Contest happened every December in Miss Li’s fourth-grade class. Zeke had wanted to win it ever since first grade. His friends called him Zeke the Weather Geek. He was proud of that nickname. But what he really wanted was to be a Weather Warrior like his idol, WXYZ-TV Chief Meteorologist Freeze Jones.
Weather Warriors stay one step ahead of the weather. They’re able to warn people about changes before they happen. They don’t miss predicting a hard frost and letting the pumpkins die in the school garden, like he did. Zeke still felt terrible about that!
To prove he was a real Weather Warrior, Zeke needed an awesome photo of winter weather for the contest. Let the other kids take pictures of ski slopes or hot cocoa. He wanted his photo to show the awesomeness of a snowflake falling from the sky.
At the corner, Zeke braked for the red light. He checked the temperature on Thermo, the mini-thermometer dangling from his handlebars. Exactly 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezing point. Perfect for a snowflake.
Zeke’s all-weather camera hung around his neck. Zeke liked to name his weather instruments. He called his camera Storm Shooter. Dad gave it to him before he left for Antarctica in September for the Polar Penguin Project. He was studying the effects of climate change on emperor penguins.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Bub finally caught up with him.
“Don’t you have to call Mom?” he asked.
Dad had given Zeke his old flip phone to call home so Mom wouldn’t worry.
“Yeah, I better do that now.”
Zeke punched in the number. When Mom answered, he told her they’d be home soon.
“Do you think Mom’s really gonna get you a puppy?” Bub asked.
Today was Zeke’s ninth birthday. All he wanted was a Saint Bernard puppy. He had already picked out its name. Blizzard.
“Of course. That’s why, at breakfast, she said, ‘Our family might be getting bigger!’ I bet she’s going to the pet store right now. She’s picking out my Saint Bernard.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Zeke said. “Dad and I have been talking about it all year. Saint Bernards love snow, just like we do. Say you’re trapped in a blizzard at the top of the Swiss Alps. A Saint Bernard would save your life.”
“So would a dinosaur,” said Bub.
Zeke tuned him out. Snow was coming, and Blizzard was waiting for him at home. His Mood Meter was rising. This birthday was going to be great!
Zeke carried his scooter with one hand and held Bub’s elbow with the other as they crossed the street. Then the two boys headed up Summit Avenue to the highest point in the small city of Green River.
The snow cloud hovered overhead. Zeke looked up. No flakes yet.
Snowflakes in the Making!
So Many Different Shapes!
4 Because each snowflake encounters differences in temperature and humidity as it falls to the ground, no two flakes are alike.
4 Low humidity gives rise to snowflakes with simple forms. High humidity makes for more intricate, lacy designs.
Designer Snowflakes
4 The saying “No two snowflakes are alike” is true in nature. But in the laboratory, it’s a different story!
4 Kenneth G. Libbrecht, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, has designed his own twin snowflakes. He’s a scientist who studies the physics and beauty of snowflakes.
4 The process isn’t easy. Professor Libbrecht uses a chiller that recirculates air, several temperature controllers and a lot of special hardware.
Cold and Wet
Sunday around town
Luna Díaz lived at the top of Summit Avenue in a tall house with purple shutters. Who had purple shutters? Luna, of course. She was the most annoying girl in Miss Li’s class.
Zeke tried to hurry past the house so she wouldn’t see him. But the front door opened, and there she was. Zeke groaned.
“Hi, Zeke the Weather Geek!” she called.
Was Luna making fun of him? He could never tell.
Zeke did like his nickname and tried to live up to it. Sure, there was the pumpkin disaster. But, last August, he had correctly predicted the amount of rainfall during a tropical storm. Seven inches!
Luna’s weird cat sat on her shoulder. No one carried a cat on their shoulder. Except Luna. How did the cat even balance? It had blue eyes and no hair. Zeke couldn’t understand why anyone would choose a bald cat over a fluffy Saint Bernard pup.
“My cat just won the Most Beautiful Kitty Award at Stan the Snake Man’s Amazing Pet Store.”
“That cat?” Bub pointed in disbelief.
“Don’t insult my cat!” Luna said. “Queen Violet is very beautiful.”
Bub giggled. “She’s got blue eyes!”
“Yes, she does. They make her even more beautiful.”
Luna stared at the boys. She changed the subject. “Have you taken your winter photo yet?”
“Zeke’s chasing a snow—” Bub blurted out.
“Shhh!” Zeke whispered. He didn’t want Luna to know his plan.
“Well, the early bird catches the worm, and I have the perfect idea.”
Luna had that contest-winner gleam in her eyes. She was always winning something. The Neatest Homewor
k Contest. The Cleanest Desk Contest. The Milky Way Drawing Contest. Plus, she always got straight As. But Luna wasn’t going to win the Winter Photo Contest. That was Zeke’s contest to win. He needed a victory to clear his name after the pumpkin disaster.
At that moment, Mrs. Díaz stuck her head out the door. “Invite your friends inside, mija!”
Queen Violet winked at Zeke. Zeke shook his head. Weird!
“Sorry, Mrs. Díaz. We need to get home,” he said. “Come on, Bub.”
Zeke scootered down the other side of Summit Avenue. Bub clomped behind him.
“Did you see the ring around the moon last night?” Luna called.
Zeke didn’t even look at the moon last night.
“The ring was from cirrus clouds,” she screeched after them.
Why did Luna have to be so annoying? Zeke fumed. She was an astronomy geek. He wished she’d stick to outer space. Why did she have to know about clouds, too? What a show-off!
His scooter picked up speed. Bub tried to keep up.
Clomp-clomp. Clomp-clomp.
An icy patch sent Bub flying. Splat! He landed on the sidewalk like an upside-down stegosaurus.
“Zeke!”
Bub was holding his leg. “My knee hurts,” he whimpered.
Zeke sighed.
“Here, wear this,” he said to Bub, handing him his helmet.
Zeke boosted Bub onto Whirlwind. They held the handlebars together, while Zeke walked beside the scooter and pushed.
The snow cloud would have to move on without him. He had to take Bub home.
As the sun began to set, the wind picked up. The last few blocks took forever. The city of Green River had a lot of hills. It wasn’t easy to go up and down with Bub on his scooter.
As they turned up Pine Street, something wet and cold landed on Zeke’s nose. A snowflake? Maybe he would get his winning picture after all!
Holding Storm Shooter steady, he tried to focus on the falling snow. But before he could snap a picture, rain began to hit his face.
Zeke wiped his eyes and checked Thermo: 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Above the freezing point. No snow would fall now. The whole trip had been a dud.
At least Zeke’s new puppy would be waiting for him.
By the time the boys got to their little yellow house, it was almost dark and they were soaking wet.
Zeke burst through the door.
“Mom, we’re home!”
But the house was quiet. Why didn’t he hear Blizzard barking?
Home in the Rain
Sunday before supper
“Hey, birthday boy!”
Mom had been calling him that since Zeke woke up that morning.
“I hurt my knee!” Bub wailed.
Mom peeked out of her office. Her smile disappeared when she saw Bub’s tears. She was wearing her Tech Lady hat and smock. Mom fixed people’s computers, and her office was full of broken keyboards and mice that had stopped working.
Zeke looked around. No puppy. Maybe Mom was saving the surprise for later. She must have a good hiding spot. But wouldn’t the puppy bark when he heard Zeke and Bub come in?
“Bub, what happened?”
“He slipped and fell,” Zeke said. “Sidewalks ice up at 32 degrees.”
Bub limped over to show her his knee.
“My poor Bubby.”
She swept him into her arms. Mom had curly red hair like Zeke. But she used a special de-frizzing shampoo, so her hair couldn’t tell the weather like Zeke’s.
“You scraped your knee,” she said. “Let’s get a bandage.”
Sometimes Zeke wondered if Bub fell down on purpose, just to get one of his nifty-wifty dinosaur bandages.
While Mom helped Bub put on the bandage, Zeke turned on the six o’clock news on WXYZ-TV, with Chief Meteorologist Freeze Jones. Listening to his forecasts always made Zeke’s Mood Meter shoot up 10 degrees. One day, he hoped to meet Freeze Jones in person.
Tonight, the meteorologist wore his special storm visor with the yellow lightning bolt.
“It’s going to be a wacky weather week! Rain today. Flurries tonight. But the big news is the blizzard coming later this week. Winds from the northeast will really whip it up! It’s going to be a doozy!”
A blizzard! Zeke loved winter storms.
But right now, he had to find his new pup. He turned off the TV.
Maybe Mom had hidden the Saint Bernard in the backyard? But when Zeke put on his poncho and went outside, all he found was the rain. Good thing he needed to check his weather station anyway.
The weather station was in a plastic crate on the picnic table. Dad helped Zeke set it up before he left for Antarctica. They had attached a thermometer at the back, to keep it out of the sun. In the middle was a barometer made from a mason jar. The rain and snow gauge sat outside the crate.
The weather station reminded him of Dad. Zeke really missed him.
Dad always called home on Sundays, and today was Zeke’s birthday, so there were two reasons for him to call. Zeke couldn’t wait to talk to him.
He brushed away the raindrops on his weather instruments. How would he ever get his winter photo with all this rain? Zeke’s Mood Meter sank to negative 30.
Temperature: 34 degrees Fahrenheit
Barometric Pressure: Falling
Snow: 0 inches
Rain: 0.5 inches
He wrote all the numbers in Sky Tracker, his weather journal. He slipped it back in its waterproof plastic bag and put the bag in the pocket of his cargo pants.
Back inside, the search continued. Zeke peeked under the kitchen sink. In the stinky dirty clothes basket. In Bub’s dinosaur trunk. No Blizzard.
Then he tiptoed into his parents’ room. Dad’s closet held only his summer clothes and suits. No Saint Bernard. Zeke peeked in Mom’s walk-in closet, which, now that he thought about it, would be the perfect place to hide a puppy.
Zeke slid past the empty shoeboxes Mom saved for his weather projects.
No puppy.
“Honey, can you get Bub’s slippers for him?” Mom called from the bathroom.
This was it! The puppy must be in the bedroom he shared with Bub.
Zeke raced up the stairs, his heart beating faster. He looked in the closet and then under the beds.
Nothing except Bub’s stinky dinosaur socks.
Why didn’t he hear any barking? Where was the puppy?
Zeke’s Mood Meter sank another 10 degrees.
Mom and Bub were waiting at the foot of the stairs.
“Do you have my dino feet?” Bub squealed.
Zeke sighed. He found Bub’s furry green slippers behind his statue of a brontosaurus.
Mom gave Zeke her what-a-good-big-brother-you-are smile. He wanted to ask Mom about the pup, but he knew he couldn’t. You can’t ask about a birthday present that’s supposed to be a surprise.
Where else could he look? Zeke thought hard.
Maybe Mom was hiding the puppy in the bathroom. Zeke turned to check it out, but then he realized that if the pup were there, Bub would have yelled up to him when Mom was putting on his bandage.
Where was it? He was still racking his brain when the doorbell rang.
The puppy wasn’t in the house. Maybe the pet store delivered.
Zeke crossed his fingers. He held his breath. He opened the front door with his right hand and reached for the puppy with his left.
Air Has Weight!
4 Air has weight, just like you!
4 Air pressure is the weight of the air in the atmosphere pressing down on the earth.
4 The more air above you, the higher the air pressure will be. The less air above you, the lower the air pressure will be. So, in high altitudes like on mountaintops, the air pressure is lower.
Air on the Move
4 Air masses are constantly moving in the atmosphere. Warm air rises, creating low air pressure. Cold air sinks, causing high air pressure.
4 Rising and falling air pressure helps give us our weather.
4 Low pressure is rising air, which helps form clouds. Expect stormy weather.
