Weather

The Winter can be a risky time for animals, but with a few tips and precautions, you can winterize your pet to keep him safe and warm in the most frigid temperatures. Keeping your pet indoors may be the easiest solution, but your dog still needs his exercise, and your outdoor cat will want to keep her normal routine. Weathering Winter elements like snow, ice, and salt takes more than picking the trendiest pet parka; read on for a few simple and important safety tips for winterizing your pet.

If your pet must be kept outside:

• If your dog has an outdoor house, then make sure it's elevated and dry and preferably insulated so that drafts don't creep in. And, of course, furnish it with warm, comfortable bedding.
• Add a pet door to your garage so that he can have access to extra shelter, and provide him with a nice doggie bed in a clean, dry area. Also, make sure to keep poisonous chemicals like antifreeze and rodenticide out of his reach.
• Check periodically to make sure that your pet's water is not frozen, and use plastic bowls instead of metal ones, as your pet's tongue could freeze and stick to metal, à la Ralphie in A Christmas Story.
• This may sound crazy, but check under the hood of your car before you start the engine. Cats are known to seek shelter in car engines when temps are low. Usually banging the hood or honking the horn is enough to startle them out of their hiding places.
• Outdoor pets will require more calories in the Winter to produce body heat, so make sure to keep his food bowl more stocked than in the Summer.

For more tips on how to keep your pet safe in frigid temperatures, just keep reading.

I know we're inching closer to a future resembling a Star Trek episode when concept gadgets like this Cryoscope weather cube are dreamed up. The haptic weather forecasting device works by the user touching its exterior aluminum cube to physically feel how the temperature will be outside.

Connected to the Internet, the cube translates web reports of the weather by pumping heat either in or out of the cube. Watch the Cryoscope's creator Robb Godshaw explain the inner workings of this magic weather cube in the video above. Do you think it's too early to add to my Christmas wish list?

The good news is it's March; the bad news is it's still officially Winter. And in most of the country, the season doesn't loosen its grip until April. But even if the weather doesn't warm this week or next, the countdown to Spring's longer days and warmer nights has begun. Last week I asked what you will and won't miss about Winter, and lots of you vented but a few actually gushed about the slushiest months. See what you'll miss and what you're ready to ditch below.

To truly appreciate Spring, you must suffer through Winter. And there are a lot of pluses to Winter: snow days, fireplaces, being cozy, layered clothes, and the majority of you say, Winter sex. I may live in San Francisco now, but I grew up in a mountainy part of Pennsylvania, so I know February is when Winter stops being cute.

Before we get Spring obsessed, tell me what you won't miss about Winter. And maybe something you will?

• Massive storm engulfs the Midwest — Yahoo
• Some good weather news: groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early Spring! — AP
• Woody Allen's new film, featuring Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, to open Cannes — Vulture
• Get ready for the Super Bowl with a look at past star-studded games — PopSugar
• Anderson Cooper punched 10 times in head in Egypt — Mediaite
• Jane Lynch is working on a memoir — Nerve
• Farrah Fawcett's swimsuit will hang in the Smithsonian — Jezebel
• Cameron Diaz and Colin Firth to star in remake of Gambit — BuzzSugar
• Halle Berry's custody battle is getting ugly — People

• Snow day! School, flights, and more canceled because of snow in Northeast — MSNBC
• And everyone's staying home watching TV to the networks' delight — AP
• Ugandan gay activist killed after name was published on "top homosexual" list — CNN
• Tiger Mom might get a movie — THR
• A sneak peek at Glee's Thriller Super Bowl episode — BuzzSugar
• Having a baby could impact your mental health more than abortion — Huffington Post
• FOX leads ratings for viewers of Obama's State of the Union Address — MediaBistro

The UK has been hit hard by Winter storms over the past couple weeks, and Paris is the latest city to be shut down by wintry weather. Our holiday season in the US has been milder so far, but if you do find yourself snowed in like the Parisians at some point this Winter, here are some crucial items to have on hand.

• Nonperishable food and drinking water: Snowy and icy conditions are a recipe for power outages and road closures, so stock up on drinking water and canned or dried goods! And if you have any furry friends in your home, make sure you have plenty of pet food, as well.
• Manual can opener: All those goodies won't do you much good if you can't open them! Make sure you have a hand can opener available, not just an electric one.
• Matches, candles, and flashlights: If a storm knocks out your power, the last thing you want to do is fumble in the dark for a light source. Keep flashlights, boxes of matches, and plenty of candles — I like these super cheap tea lights from Ikea — in an easily accessible spot in case the lights go out.
• Fully-charged laptop: Even if the power goes out, your laptop's battery can provide you with at least a couple hours of communication and entertainment during a big storm.
• Radio: If a snowstorm has hit your area, you'll need a quick way to get news about closures and other safety issues. And if you're thinking to yourself, "Isn't that what the Internet's for?" just remember that power outages can mean dead laptops and uncharged iPhones, too.

Keep reading for more tips!