BRING ON THE CHILL: If only we'd heard about this on Sept. 15, when thermometers around SoCal topped out and people could only discuss the extreme high temps. But we're so happy to hear about it, because it means the sweatier temperatures may indeed be waning for winter: The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway just announced the kick-off for its annual Snow Guessing Contest, one of the Golden State harbingers of the colder season. The upshot? Try and land on the correct date that an inch of snow will fall at Mountain Station, which is up San Jacinto from where the tram leaves the valley floor (up San Jacinto to the tune of 8,516 feet). And best make that a "measurable inch"; no little melty flakes'll do for this contest.
WHAT YOU WIN: Four tram passes if you guess the correct date; that's a good savings, and it means you can ride up the mountain, for free, to enjoy the snow you guessed would fall. The guessing opens on Oct. 1, so we hope there's no major snowfall before that date. Oh, har har, we're SO kidding; it was 106 in Anaheim last Saturday, so snow falls in Southern California in the next week, it'll have supernatural causes. Your entry will need to be via postcard, in case there are multiple entries; the earliest postmarker will nab those passes. Can you even believe we're talking snow? It's happy thought at the end of this sweltering September streak.
CLOSED: The tram is closed for its annual maintenance through Sept. 23, but watch this space for Snow Guessing info.
