2017 Blizzard

The much ballyhooed March 14th Blizzard was a bust for most of the East coast. But north of Boston it was an official blizzard.
Which according to the National Weather Service need not be a high snowfall event. The definition is heavy snowfall, high winds of 35 mph, and limited visibility all lasting at least 3 hours. Tuesday's storm met that criteria. We wound up with 20 inches to boot!

These pictures were taking on Wednesday the 15th.






It was a wet heavy snow. It took us 15 man hours to clear the driveway. I think the plow piles will be here till May


During the height of the storm our electric kept flickering but stayed on. I had the wood cook stove lit just in case.
I made chilli and baked some rolls. It was wonderful.


Phil

Phil, someday I should love to visit you for dinner, just not in winter, spectacularly beautiful though it is.  There is a reason I moved west, from Brooklyn to Toledo to San Diego, and your photographs illustrate my reason perfectly.

Freddy,
It's funny. I like the snow. I love the 4 seasons and the changes each one brings.
However I have never met any one, whom after moving south, has said "I miss the snow"

I wonder why that is

Phil

We had a mild winter this year in Michigan by our standards so I'm grateful for that. I like winter for about a month then it gets old real fast. I just wish it didn't last so long. I'm sure if we moved away, to a warmer region, we wouldn't be coming back.

That's crazy it took you 15 hours to clear it all away. I get annoyed when it takes me more than 15 minutes to shovel snow before work, lol.

"That's crazy it took you 15 hours to clear it all away. I get annoyed when it takes me more than 15 minutes to shovel snow before work, lol."

That was three adults going out two times to stay on top of it. We were out for 2 and 1/2 hours each time. And that was with a tractor and a walk behind snow blower. It was a wet heavy snow.

Phil

"That's crazy it took you 15 hours to clear it all away. I get annoyed when it takes me more than 15 minutes to shovel snow before work, lol."

That was three adults going out two times to stay on top of it. We were out for 2 and 1/2 hours each time. And that was with a tractor and a walk behind snow blower. It was a wet heavy snow.

Phil

Phil, all joking aside, please, make sure that your family and you stay safe and warm.  The rest will fall into place.

We got hammered by it also Phil. I have no idea how much accumulation we got due to the drifting. When the wife asked me how much we got I could only tell her "too much". I'm running out of places to put snow. But this blizzard was much kinder to us as far as snow amount than the 1st. That snow was up to just below my beltline; this was less. This storm however was far more intense as far as wind. It sounded like a hurricane at times and the snow deposited at the start I watched being lifted and taken elsewhere. But that's what makes for a blizzard. In theory one could have a blizzard with very little snowfall. It's the wind that prevents it from settling, and less than 1/4 mile visibility for 3 hours is what makes for a blizzard. We had far more snow than that and far less visibility. I think if we hadn't had the wind we still would have had a blizzard due to the sheer amount of snow coming down.

I certainly hope that's it for the winter. I'd really like to take the chains off of my truck and get it back on the road. I'm sure glad I bought the chains for it this year. One of the best things I've ever done and the best $170 I ever spent. That little 4 cyl' Tacoma is a plowing machine in low range and in 2nd gear when it's wearing the aggressive chains (V-bars and 2x the crosslinks). But I need room to put the snow. Every year when I push the snow incredibly far out of the way I always beat myself up about it. Some years it pays off, this year being one of those. Other years I wonder why I ever did it. I need to get a truck mounted snow thrower and just clear what I need. That's the best answer. I was only plowing for 2 1/2 hours but I just waited for it to stop before clearing it. With that sort of wind it would have just filled back in after being cleared so I hoped for the best. The 1st blizzard took much longer to clear.

I love the seasons too but when we get a winter this hard I re-examine that love. Winter is almost over; I hope. It's going to take most of April to melt the snow we have unless we get a warm rain and that would be a disaster for the folks near the streams and rivers. The longer the melt is put off the more likely that becomes. Not a good prospect. I don't know if the ice is out on the rivers. If so that's a good thing. Ice scrubs things away if pushed by flood waters.

On a bright note, our drought is over. The ground didn't freeze under that insulating snow and the melt water has been soaking in for a month already where I haven't plowed and allowed the ground to freeze.

"That's crazy it took you 15 hours to clear it all away. I get annoyed when it takes me more than 15 minutes to shovel snow before work, lol."

That was three adults going out two times to stay on top of it. We were out for 2 and 1/2 hours each time. And that was with a tractor and a walk behind snow blower. It was a wet heavy snow.

Phil

Phil, all joking aside, please, make sure that your family and you stay safe and warm.  The rest will fall into place.

Thanks Freddy.
M

"Winter is almost over; I hope."
Me too. We had a spring teaser. It was 60 degrees just a while before the storm.
Looked like Spring, felt like Spring, even smelled like Spring. Then bam. Mother Nature let us know she is still in charge.

Phil

We got crushed by it too. Not even close to the most total snowfall but it was so heavy and thick that it took several hours to clear off our driveway. Our snowblower broke two shearing bolts (we didn't break one two years ago).

But most importantly the snow and its aftermath has probably led to the delayed delivery of a Paladin brush I ordered! That's the real reason this storm was terrible!