Unpleasantly Large Mid-Atlantic Snow Event Coming

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
181

I would have to think the government will be closed tomorrow. I doubt the Metro will be running very well, I’m not sure about the commuter trains, but they will have problems too. My street has been plowed, but only one width wide and I have 4-5 feet to dig out to that. I know I’m not going anywhere. I think in 2010 we were closed for 4 days, this storm was just as bad so I’m think a day or two at least. Especially since a lot more people telework.

I’m just wondering if my ex will want to come pick up the kids. She’s 15 miles away and way out in the country part of the county. I can’t imagine they have dug out that much. I’d say it would be dangerous to attempt getting out and about today. Though I have seen people trying, and sliding all over the place.

182

Flight rescheduled to Wednesday :smack:

Oh well. Clients and coworkers will deal with it.

183

Just returned from my daily walk here in Philadelphia. I was determined to get out because it was such a sunny, and mercifully windless, day. This snowfall is our new mayor’s “maiden voyage,” so I’m sure he’s gonna’ do right by all of us. The main streets are plowed and the snow trucked away(mirabile dictu!) Secondary streets(yay me) have also been plowed. We are getting SOME melt even though the temp is below freezing. Some civic-minded and strong-backed neighbors shoveled a path, both sides of the street. I got rid of the snow right up against the front of the house, to take advantage of living on the sunny side of my block. Re-freezing tonight, of course, but all in all we’re doing very well. Except for my car, which I probably won’t see until Wednesday. Idiot me parked on the shady side of the block.

184

Snowblower neighbor just saved me a day’s work, clearing the expanse between the bottom of my driveway and the plowed part of the road. I think I’ll make them some cookies.

There are bird footprints all over my porch.

185

I had started digging out in bits and pieces (and hadn’t even gotten through 1/4 of it) and was taking a break. I heard a knock on my back door–it was a friend and her husband with their snowblower. He had already cleared out in front of my garage (which sits at the back of my property) and done one strip from the garage to the house and was working on the second strip and one to the chicken coop. (The girls had been locked up in the coop and I couldn’t get to them for food and water since early yesterday morning. Although they had enough food to last for a bit, I knew their water would be frozen.) When I saw what my friend and her husband had done, I literally burst into tears. There was no way I would have been able to clear that much snow (about three feet deep), especially with my bum knees.

They no sooner cleared the back, when neighbors (who got a new snowblower) cleared a path on my front sidewalks and my porch. I’m still giddy that I have cleared paths and can feel the weight being lifted off my shoulders. The roads are still a mucky snowy mess, but I can get to my chickens.

186

I’ve often found that events like this really bring the good of people to the surface.

187

I shoveled out behind my car and on one side, then got lazy and came in for a break. Checked email and found an announcement that public schools are closed through Tuesday, so I won’t have to go into work until at least Wednesday.

I’d forgotten how much I hate shoveling, but it came back quickly.

188

All we got here was four inches or so - barely worth mentioning. :frowning:

But my daughter went out and shoveled the drive without being asked. :slight_smile:

189

phall curious how the chickens stay warm enough. Thank God for good friends and neighbor’s and snow blowers.

190

I just borrowed an electric hand snow blower from a neighbor. It was great! I cleaned out three cars, at least 6 feet in length plus the width of a normal car and then some plus the 25-30 inches we got. I need to find one for myself now. It was still hard work, but it has to have been easier then using just a shovel. I hadn’t even planned on getting my car out today.

Now I need to find one, the one I borrowed doesn’t even seem to show up on Google search really. But Amazon has similar ones for $100.

191

We got something in the neighborhood of 2 feet here (Maryland, near DC). Schools are closed through Tuesday. I don’t anticipate seeing a snow plow today, but we’ve shoveled our front stoop and walkway and cleared out around the cars. I can telework Monday and Tuesday, so I’m not in a big hurry to leave.

192

Montgomery County schools are closed Monday and Tuesday as well. Still haven’t heard anything about the Federal government. I have no hope of getting out of my neighborhood tomorrow morning, but even if I could, Metro won’t be operating above-ground tomorrow. So I’ve got at least one more day of working remotely. Fine by me!

193

They are covered in feathers. That helps. Chickens also have a higher body temp than do people. Their coop is closed up and dry, without direct wind. They also have 3 bales of hay they have scattered all over the floor which helps keep it warm. In the winter we practice deep litter method in the coop, and that keeps it warm enough for them.

194

My apartment building evidently has a new snow-removal crew (I’m guessing the landlord may have gotten in some trouble over their previous “eh, whenever” approach to snow removal), and very efficient they are.

The only trouble is they think the optimum time for snow removal is 1 AM. At least that’s the time I was awakened, Saturday and again on Sunday, by two roaring snow blowers in the apartment courtyard.

I’d be a lot more annoyed if it wasn’t a weekend and if I wasn’t grateful for the clear sidewalks. But I hope they don’t try that on a morning when I have to get up to work in a few hours.

195

Still deciding whether to close tomorrow. We usually go with the Federal Government but it is not a hard and fast rule. Side streets are not done but I don’t know if they have done my office complex. I can probably get to work since I use main roads but if the office is snowed in we need to close. My main worry is that the temps are going to be very low tonight so that everything that melted will decree do and there will be ice. Since I already slipped and fell and broke my nose last week when there wasn’t even any snow, I am not so eager to go out.

196

Total of 28 inches here in Reston, according to the Nat Weather Svc. We dug out about three times during the snowfall, and I put in another 4-5 hours just a bit ago. It’s been fun to see neighbors working together. I offered to help the older folks in our building but they gently turned me down. I guess they feel no hurry to dig out because they’re retired. The pile we made in front of our condo is literally higher than our kitchen window can see over – it looks like we’ve fortified the building with snow.

Plus there’s THIS terrifying inhabitant of the post-Cretaceous snowscape.

(I made him!)

It’s hard being a small dog in a big snow. In general, the dogs are not liking the frozen hellscape out there.

Here’s a couple of more shots indicating how deep it is:

Bench. Well the top of the backrest, at least.

Passageway cut through plowed-up snow.

197

We’re on the other side of the earth but due to fly back in under 48hrs. Once into Phnom Penh we were all about checking the news, of course, having been off the grid for some time.

Holy Moly! It’s a major snow event. Non stop coverage! States of emergency being declared in advance! What to think? News coverage seems both hysterical and light on hard facts. How much snow? Will our route be affected?

Initial concern begins to fade as we watch story after story of news broadcaster standing in a street with snow falling, less than a foot on the ground, carrying on about how awful every little thing is, city closed, all but abandoned, etc. When, quite clearly, just behind and in clear view of the camera people are walking about, talking on their phones, shooting selfies, without their coats done up, no hats or scarves, etc!

(We come from an area squeezed between two Great Lakes, known as ‘the snow belt’, as we routinely get lake effect snow from both sides! Two feet of snow is a non event in our city, schools remain open, people go to work etc. Things are sometimes delayed, but continue to function.)

On one of my return journeys I recall the two hour minibus road trip from my arriving airport to my home town went from 2hrs, 20 minutes to about 5hrs due to an unexpected ice storm. But the roads were still being cleared, a few highways were shut, but life went on and no one panicked.

Needless to say we are much calmed down from our initial hyper concern. What do the people in Washington, etc, think happens in Canada during the winter, I wonder? That we cower in our homes several times each month?

The last time my city shut down for a snow event, because it does happen, it was because 3ft of snow fell for each of three straight days! You’ll have to forgive us Canadians if we’re just a titch amused to see your government and several states close up shop, everyone ordered into their homes over two feet of snow! (Yes, blowing snow conditions should keep people off roads, and highways should be closed in advance of such conditions!)

We’ve been emailing some friends back home asking if we should worry, they all say, 'No need, relax it’s just a couple of feet of snow. Roads and highways are open, life goes on unchanged!" Good to know!

198

Federal offices will be closed tomorrow.

199

elbows, your attitude to me is akin to me making fun of people in Oklahoma struggling to deal with a mild earthquake. It’s a much bigger deal when an event of that magnitude happens in a place not equipped to deal with it because the magnitude is uncommon.

So no, I doubt anyone thinks you cower in your homes. I assume people think you’re used to dealing with it.

200

Darn. Now I have to decide whether to close tomorrow. Hired guns are shoveling me out as we speak. I figure they make money and I avoid shoveling so it’s a win-win situation. I do think that everything that is already closed through Tuesday is overreacting. I can’t believe that it will take more than 48 hours to clear everything.