Wow. I’ve been a bit out of touch and I didn’t realize how much snow you guys have gotten. (When my friend mentioned 75 cm in Washington…) Your pictures look like standard winter conditions here in sunny Bancroft, Ontario.
Of course, you realise much of that snow is ours? Apparently it got misrouted. We’re far north of the storm track in Bancroft, where we’ve been having crystal-clear nights with a million stars and not much snow at all. The inter festival next week was worried that there wouldn’t be enough snow for the dogsled races.
Toronto has barely any (which is lucky for them because they blew the snow-clearing budget last year and were hoping not to need much this year).
Edit: this Toronto Star article says that you’ve gotten five times as much snow as we did so far… :eek:
Okay, I grok the snow, but how cold is it? I’m imagining all you guys getting your cars free of snow, and then finding out they won’t start.
I’m also bearing in mind that, by definition, anyone posting to this thread still has power. As I said elsewhere*, my MIL is without power, along with a large area of PA and WV. Who knows when they’ll get it back, either. And her pipes are frozen.
*I did two searches, and still did not find this thread. If I had, I wouldn’t have started one in the Game Room. :o
It’s colder than normal here in the western Philadelphia suburbs, but it’s not that cold. The snow is the big news.
My problem over the next couple of days is going to be ice dams in the gutters. The high temperature today got to just below freezing, which meant that the snow on the roof partially melted from the radiating house heat, then froze as ice in the overhanging gutters. As this continues over the next couple of days, large puddles of standing water are going to collect on the roof just short of the gutters (an area where the sloping roof just wasn’t built to expect standing water). We had this situation a couple of years ago and it led to major roof leaks.
I may well be on a ladder tomorrow with a heat gun…
It was around 15°F in St. Mary’s county, MD, this morning - at least the part of St. Mary’s that comprises my back yard. The sun is out now and there’s water on my driveway so that, at least, is above freezing. Daytime temps for the rest of the week are supposed to top out over 32°, but it’s supposed to hit 12° here tonight. ugh.
We were working the last bit of our drive when a neighbor with a gator and a blade came by. He cleared to our mailbox and the last of the driveway. He didn’t want any money. We gave him $20 anyway. I was impressed with how powerful that little gator is - it moved a lot of snow! And if a plow comes down the street tonight, it shouldn’t push too much in front of our drive. So yay!
I’m achy and I expect to sleep like the dead tonight. But for now, I’m showered, comfy in sweats, with a lasagna in the oven and a dog next to me whining to be fed. Guess I need to tend to the whiner…
Right now I am the luckiest person I know: I shoveled for about an hour this afternoon and only cleared maybe 1/4 of my driveway, and then the driver of the homeowners’ association’s Bobcat cleared the rest for me! Woot!
The roads are in crappy shape, so my little RWD sports car and I aren’t going anywhere for a while, but it’s good to know that I can get out if I really need to.
Mostly, though, I’m just extremely grateful that my power stayed on: 2 quick flickers yesterday morning and another brownout last night that lasted just long enough for me to grab a flashlight, but that’s it. I was mostly prepared in case it went out – I’d made plans for food, warmth, and light – but I am sooo glad it didn’t.
Oh yeah: Forecastfox says it’s 30 degrees here right now.
Me, too!
You know, I actually disagree with that: I’ve been living on my own since '94 and have only had a garage for the past 8 months, and I would much rather have to clear my driveway than dig out my car. Though maybe that’s just because I live in a townhouse, so my driveway isn’t very long. But even at the height of my despair this afternoon, when I’d put in an hour of shoveling and thought I was facing several more, I was glad that I wasn’t digging out a car.
We managed to dig a narrow path from the house to the street, and were going to call it a night at that point. However, a neighbor took pity on us and took time off from clearing the church parking lot to come over and clear our driveway the rest of the way. Yay! This means I can… uh… damn, go to work tomorrow. Crap.
Quick question:
How many people think they’ll be able to make it into work tomorrow? I’m hoping the federal government at least grants liberal leave; I really don’t want to slip and slide all the way to the bus stop.
Well, I have no idea how much snow fell in this area (Arlington) - wind blew stuff around enough that I can’t quite figure out what is a drift and what is a good ‘true’ spot to measure.
Thankfully, being in an apartment complex, I can just sit back and enjoy looking at the snow. I don’t envy the people I see trying to drive. Most cars I see seem to be taking it easy, while there are those that are driving like it’s sunny and 75 degrees out. I’m just waiting to hear a crunch from outside as one of the latter drivers realizes too late they can’t slow in time to avoid hitting someone.
<< Um yea, so I overdid my snow dance a little. Ooops. >>
I definitely will make it to work. But then, I just get out of bed and walk down the hall…
Everyone canceled. I could have saved some money and done it all myself at my leisure. However, even though I spent more than I wanted to, the truth is I am not upset about having had it done.
Here is Ames, Iowa, January 1, 1942.
Public weather reports had been discontinued after war was declared, so no one knew this was coming.
A photographer from Life, who was headed cross-country, got stuck here overnight and made this shoot.
It wasn’t very cold here today – above freezing for a lot of the afternoon, which is allowing fantastic amounts of water to soak down into the 29-inch snowpack and refreeze. Results should be not unlike iron in the morning.
Our plowing company was scheduled to return and do more, and after a phone call they reaffirmed that intention…and then never showed.
My contracting firm conforms to the Federal weather closings/delays, so I’ll be checking OPM.gov tomorrow in the pre-dawn darkness. Last time, they updated with the day’s ruling AFTER I already have to commit to getting ready to leave, though, which is very frustrating. Unfortunately the two people who back up my position (and incidentally live closer to work, where it also snowed less) have shown a firm commitment to staying home at any weather excuse, and are often late anyway, so if I don’t come in Monday I’m sure they won’t, creating a crisis.
If the ruling is that we are open, I am seriously considering taking a “hell with it” day after spending my entire weekend laboring. I can’t believe the timing of the historic record snowfall might give me no time off at all.
Ahh, Burke. I lived as a lad on Liberty Court in “old” Burke in a townhouse by the original post office from 1974-1975, then lived in a duplex in “The Woods” in Burke Centre from 1982-1985, then again on Carter’s Oak Way in “The Oaks” from 1986-1988 until I joined the Army (which my Dad was a 36 year vet of…and why we kept living in Burke…because of its proximity to the Pentagon).
Any Burke denizens ever eat at Pino’s? I worked there for awhile many moons ago as a waiter.
Ahhhh, cookie-cutter homes, insurmountable traffic, postage stamp-sized lots, a token handful of trees…that’s the 'burbs I remember. Robinson High School, baby! Class of 1987, WOOT!
It’s five and 3/4 inches deeper here. It’s downright weird to have snow in the DC suburbs (which is practically warm Southern swampland) that exceeds at least some historical snows from the epically chilly midwest.
I pretty much have to get to work, since I work in a hospital blood bank. I’m not the only one on my shift, but if everyone called out, they’d send a crew out to get somebody to work.
I’ll give it a try but I’m not suicidal. If it looks too risky, I’m staying home unless they want to come get me.
It’s downright weird to have snow in the DC suburbs (which is practically warm Southern swampland) that exceeds at least some historical snows from the epically chilly midwest.
