Wednesday, February 24, 2016

The Big Storm

Last week, we had the biggest one day snowstorm of our 11 winters in The Valley with 50cm/20" falling in one day, most of it from about 8AM to 5PM. We've had much snowier winters for sure — colder too — but this was the biggest single fall.

I thought you might like to see some pictures.

We made sure to lie low during the storm, only going out to shovel the walk and by the garage door. This was our 5th shovelling of the day. The snow plow had recently come by to clear the driveway, but you can see that it was already beginning to fill in again. However, the storm was just about over, so it didn't build up too much more. You can see the sheer line of snow where the plow had cleared.
This is what our street looked like next morning. Most snow that you see had fallen on that one day. It's amazing how clear the more major roads were after such a fall. However, school buses were still cancelled because some side streets and many rural roads had not yet been cleared.
A few photos looking back toward our house, the first with Sue observing whatever I was doing from the front porch, coffee in hand.





We did get out for a bit of a walk, and I took some neighbourhood shots.

Snowblowers become handy after the storm. Some people are generous and clear their less fortunate neighbours as well. However, this considerate fellow was just doing his side of the shared drive. It's hard to figure some people.


Look at the snow on the deck.

Can you see the door? Actually, it is just a garage door, so access isn't important.
We made our way to the path by the river and were surprise to see that someone had cleared it for a little way at least. It wasn't the town but some neighbour who perhaps had a dog to walk.




Then, it was time to head back to our den and returning to the serious business of hibernating.

As I write this, we've had a mild day or two. It's raining lightly and snow is melting. But there will be more snow before winter is done with us. How much more, I cannot begin to guess and probably nothing to match this. Hopefully, we can avoid ice storms.

16 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

wow! like snowfalls of old!

ADRIAN said...

Now that is impressive.

Country Gal said...

WOW ! Did you ever get a lot of snow . Today just a rain storm for us so far high winds to . We have no snow , yesterday Miggs and I were outside enjoying the sun and I was cleaning up the yard it was lovely spring like day ! Thanks for sharing lovely photos even if it is of lots of snow lol ! Have a good day !

Mara said...

We had some snow this morning and it looked like it was going to stay. Well, all of an hour and it was gone again.

There are certain roads that usually get cleared first, sometimes even before main roads, because they can be really tricky (steep and very windy). I have yet to experience no school buses though.

Tabor said...

Big snowstorms are no longer exciting for me because I have to keep access for mail, cars, etc. Make sure the deck does not collapse. It is beautiful the first day but a lot of work!

Marie Smith said...

We are familiar with such an amount of snow in a day after last year. It will be amazing how fast it will disappear when it starts to warm up.

troutbirder said...

Wow. It been more than a decade since we had twenty inches in one shot. When our driveway becomes more than my small two stage can handle our farmer neighbor bring his real farm tractor over and clears of the driveway in two passes...:)

Ginnie said...

My heavens ...your pictures tell it all. What a strange year this has been weather-wise all over the world.

MARY G said...

We did not get nearly so much, but both of our daughters live downtown on old, curved and narrow streets. I had to let a repairman into one of their houses last Wednesday, and the street in front was one (narrow) lane wide. The piles they had made digging out were mind-boggling.

Linda Kay said...

That's a lot of snow.....nice that Sue can watch you working.

Mage said...

A wonderful entry. Thank you from the 80 degree beach.

Kathleen's Blog said...

Wow!!!
I couldn't scrape up enough snow in our entire 2-acre yard to make a snowball right now. It's currently 10 degrees Celsius and raining :(

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

You have beat us in snowfall with just this single storm, John. It figures that the year we bought snowshoes, there hasn't been a major snowstorm in NH.

Kerry said...

Yikes! Here in the Willamette valley we have had no snow this winter, just rain. Thankfully the Cascades are loaded with snow.

Vicki Lane said...

Oh, my! How beautiful!

Jim said...

We braced for a big snow last week with howling winds, but alas, we got less than an inch here in Wabash. However, friends in the northern part of Indiana registered 14-16 inches. Our local weather person is saying maybe another inch this week. We have had the mildest winter on record for a while here. I have registered only a total of 5 inches of snow all winter. That's fine with me! Yesterday, I spent the entire day outside in 68F weather. It was wonderful. Cold returned today, or at least colder. It made it to 38F. That old saying about, "if you don't like the weather in Indiana, wait a few hours and it will change," is certainly true.
Beautiful pictures.