To the surprise of nobody, I haven't been very happy with the weather in southeast Saskatchewan in the last couple of weeks.

The snow, the rain and the wind have not exactly been the ideal conditions. They have delayed some much needed projects in the community, such as the Leisure Centre parking lot paving, the water main replacement on Sixth Street and the construction of the helipad for the STARS Air Ambulance.

Dense fog has also proven to be a nuisance.

October is typically one of the driest months of the year in southeast Saskatchewan, but you wouldn't know it with the precipitation that we have received in the last couple of weeks.

Am I the only one pining for the proverbial "Indian Summer?"

But, as always, it could be worse. Just ask the people along the U.S. eastern seaboard.

Our weather has been a nuisance that has, tragically, resulted in a number of fatalities. But the storm in the eastern U.S. and Canada was a disaster of historical proportions, the combination of a tropical storm and bad timing that resulted in torrential rains, high winds, snowfall accumulations in higher areas and a record storm surge, all of which caused extensive flooding in many areas.

Dozens of people perished in the northeast U.S., and millions are without power. Many will remain without electricity until at least next week. A fire in a Queen's suburb burned nearly 100 homes to the ground. A berm failed in a small New Jersey city, putting many homes at risk of flooding. And those who rely on the subway for transportation in New York City are out of luck, as the vital mass transit system is shut down.

"Super storm Sandy," as it's been named, has created an eerie atmosphere in New York City, Washington, D.C., and other large cities. Many people fled the communities before Sandy arrived; those who decided to remain are confined to their homes, shelters or other locations. The normally bustling streets are quiet and empty, and only those who really need to be on the roads were driving.

Sandy was a freak occurrence. The Atlantic storm season comes to an end soon; it's rare to have one so powerful in late October. It's even more rare to have one strike the U.S. eastern seaboard. Combined with another storm system that was approaching the U.S. east coast, as well as the high tides generated by the full moon, and you had the "super storm" with its record-setting storm surge.

All of those factors coming together simultaneously aren't a reflection of climate change or global warming. It's a very rare phenomenon and a fluke, the likes of which we'll likely never see again.

Suddenly dense fog, cool temperatures and a little snow in southeast Saskatchewan don't seem so bad.