I took the photo above three days ago - before the current snowstorm began. We were receiving about 8" with that storm. I got the driveway cleared, the deck shoveled, and the roof raked, and got to Target to stock up on food. The next round has begun. It will snow all day today. Here are the expected totals:
Those data come from a rather nice New York Times link that updates not just daily, but every several hours and can be customized to your ZIP code. It's worth bookmarking for those of you in the path of this unstable weather.
Addendum: We've been advised that after the snow ends this weekend that the high temperatures will be about zero, with wind chills approaching 30 below zero. Clearing the driveway and breaking through the wall created by the snowplows at the road is going to be an adventure.
Addendum: It was more of an adventure than I had anticipated, because halfway though the clearing of the driveway, our snowthrower stopped throwing snow, and I discovered a broken shear pin. This had happened to me once perhaps ten years ago when the snowthrower encountered an entire Sunday newspaper under heavy snow. This time the culprit was unknown - perhaps an ice chunk. Thankfully I was rescued by my neighbor Ben -
- and his crew of able assistants (Soren and Oskar) -
And so this morning instead of finishing the job with a shovel in -11 degree weather (-31 wind chill), I'm able to turn my attention to more interesting things like blogging how owlets can sing while they are still inside the egg.
As usual, your storm will be largely ignored by the media, but hold on when the first inch falls in DC or NYC. There will be wall-to-wall coverage of that.
ReplyDeleteToo bad. Snow pictures are pretty wherever they come from.
Good luck!
That NYTimes link requires a free account; cute but not worth it. I don't know your zipcode, but you might try https://merrysky.net/ for better weather?
ReplyDeleteThat's a cool site, but I see this at the bottom (in light gray text): "Notes: Forecasted snowfall from Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. to Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Results show the nearest location where such data is available." That's a starting time of 24 hours from now, so kind of misleading, as we're having a big snowstorm right now.
ReplyDeleteSo I've always wondered why y'all do all that shoveling. Do y'all plan to go out in that snow? (Alabamian here...obviously.)
ReplyDeleteIf you don't clear away snow, vehicle and foot traffic will pack it down into ice. Then you fall down and injure yourself and the American health care system takes all your money (or someone else falls down and the American legal system takes all your money).
DeleteHaha! That makes a lot of sense, then. Thanks!
DeleteSo I've always wondered why y'all do all that shoveling.
DeleteSame reason y'all clean up after flooding and hurricanes. Can't stay inside forever.
And please note, you may think that -30 is terrible. And you're not wrong. But for Minnesotans, Alabama summer temperatures make them wonder WTF you are doing outside ever. And they're not wrong.
Clearing the driveway and breaking through the wall created by the snowplows at the road is going to be an adventure.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if the DOTs in charge of plowing could be convinced to consider the needs of anyone else but cars?
It is a perennial pet-peeve that piles of snow end up on the sidewalks or worse *corners* of intersections, so that pedestrians have no chance of safely crossing the street - or as you point out - leave their freaking home. As if people can only go about their business in a car. You know, to walk the dog or so.
Good job, Ben!
ReplyDeleteThat "wall created by the snowplow" rings a bell. For the 40+ years I've lived here they have the same plow pattern. First pass is down the middle of the road pushing it all to my side. Second pass is back up the road widening the other side. Third pass back down the road pushing everything everything from the first pass plus what's left they missed into my driveway and the pull off for my mailbox, as solid ice walls. Snow shovel won't cut it, need a real shovel.
ReplyDeleteI keep telling myself it's good exercise, I'll live longer ... to shovel again. LoL
xoxoxoBruce
"need a real shovel." - I use what was a coal shovel for snow. Imagine a 9 x 13 x 3 inch high baking pan, a narrow side cut off, attached to a long wooden handle, but strong and sturdy as a shovel. That is just the right size to pick up a heave-able amount of snow, and then heave it. I can also cut snow blocks from that snow plow pile at the end of the driveway, push snow, and, it works with snow on grass, too.
ReplyDelete