Winter began here on December 22nd at 07:18.
According to the calendar.
Meteorologically it began on December 1st so it snowed.
It snowed again on the 7th - only about 30 centimeters.
It has been quite cold since, with temperatures averaging around 0°Centigrade. We haven't had had any fresh snow but what we got stayed with us.

It is still a little strange somehow.
I remember winters in Birmingham when it snowed. We had 2 inches of snow during the night; it was turned grey by the buses by 7 in the morning and had most likely disappeared by evening.
Here the snow plow comes through at 5 in the morning and clears the roads.
If it's a sunny day the remains of the snow on the roads will melt and dry. If the temperatures don't rise above somewhere round 10°C the rest of the snow won't be affected.

I had visitors over Christmas. Their children were thrilled to be able to get the sledges and toboggans out of the barn, drag them up the hill and hurtle back down again. Every day for a week - for hours on end.
They ruined my virgin snow, of course, but they certainly had fun!

My Dad built me a sledge when I was a child. While I very much appreciated it, I never got as much fun out of it as he would have liked me to.
There was just never enough snow.
I've got the snow now - does anyone remember where the sledge got to?