Monday, January 25, 2016

Memorandum Monday - The Blizzard of 2016

I spent my weekend watching the snow pile up outside. Quite literally.  It started snowing here around 6 p.m. on Friday night.  When I awoke on Saturday morning, the window in my office looked like this:

We had such high winds that the snow blew through the window screen and was stuck between the glass and the screen.  It is still working on melting out as I type this.

And yes, it was this grey and overcast ALL. DAY. LONG.
The sliding glass door from the sun room to the deck at 9:45 a.m.  At this point we already had nearly a foot of snow.
Same location, 3:30 p.m. There were no lulls in this storm.  It was either snowing lightly or snowing heavily all day.
 At 6:06 p.m.  From the inside, that second line on the window is 28" from the floor.  But immediately outside, there is a step down, so the deck itself is about 6" lower that the inside of the house.
Final shot - 8:45 a.m. on Sunday.  The snow stopped some time during the night. All told, we got 30"  with blowing drifts that were easily 4 and 5 feet tall.  If that were water and the deck could contain it, we would have a swimming pool!

Obviously we can't open this door!

What I learned:

  • weather forecasts can be wildly inaccurate (our area was in the band that was supposed to get 6-12")
  • Perkasie had the highest accumulation in Bucks County PA.
  • 30" of snow means multiple times out shoveling and snow blowing. 
  • I am EXTREMELY grateful that Jay is the one who handles all the shoveling and snow blowing!!!  Here he is with the snow blower around 4 p.m. on Saturday. You can see the snow is up to his knees as he clears the sidewalk!
  • A day stuck at home when you are fully prepared is really a lovely thing.

And finally - check out what came in the mail on Friday (before the snow thankfully).  This beautiful calendar from Carola.  I'm going to enjoy all these scenes from the Oregon coast during the year!  Thanks Carola.

I'm playing along with Sian's Memorandum Monday.

10 comments:

Melissa said...

Oh my - I really want to come sit on your deck someday for a nice long visit . . . but NOT while there's all that snow around! :) Would it be wrong to tell you that I spent the afternoon today raking the front yard in 68 degree sunshiny weather?

Karen said...

I don't envy you and Jay at all! Been there, but so grateful to have missed this one.

helena said...

wow that is a lot of snow and fascinating to see it against the glass

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

Goodness, that is a lot of snow over a relatively short period of time. I remember one Winter growing up when we had enough to build an igloo on our front lawn. Really interesting to see the time lapse. Grey and overcast here today, but accompanied by yet more rain, rather snow.

Sian said...

Oh wow! It looks so beautiful and yet it has caused so much heartache. I'm glad you are safe ..and I am now off to show the photos of your poor man to my man here, just to show him what he didn't have to spend his weekend doing!

Stay warm this week

debs14 said...

Wow, that is a lot of snow! Lovely to look at from inside in the warm, but not so good if you're on path clearing duties"

Barbara Eads said...

We heard all about your blizzard on the news all weekend. I never considered that just shoveling the snow is not enough. I'm like you, I'm glad to have a guy that likes to do the outside chores. Our measly 7" doesn't compare to your 30, but we loved it. Unfortunately, it was completely gone by Monday.

Carola Bartz said...

That is some serious snow! I'm so glad that we don't have to deal with snow shoveling anymore. I still remember that from Germany and it sure wasn't my favorite part of winter. Neither was the driving (especially when there was ice).
The calendar is in the perfect spot - it looks like it was made for it.

Missus Wookie said...

Lots of snow is good only if you are prepared - glad to hear you were. I like that calendar holder too, such a neat way to display it and hold pens.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Congratulations on winning Carola's calendar.
I'm so jealous!
Rinda