Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Storm Diary

A big storm was forecast, with maybe 15-20 cm. of snow (6-8"), but I was a bit cynical, winter has broken so many promises this year.  It started about 9.30 yesterday morning, and for several hours was just tiny flakes falling gently to the ground, not those big fluffy flakes that accumulate so fast.

By this morning we just had beautiful sunny skies, but yesterday there was a big blue blob on the radar, stretching all the way from Iowa to Montreal.  It just slowly moved east all day and all night.

By nightfall it looked like we might actually get those 15-20 cm., and I went to bed thinking I'd be on the snowblower in the morning.  I was wrong!  But there were some neat shadows across the front lawn from the morning sun.

I thought I'd just check out the side yard too, and guess what I found when I opened the door!  This storm came with an east wind, and obviously built a substantial drift out here.  I've never been able to see that before, 3 feet high where I measured it!

Eventually, after a couple of fortifying coffees, I headed out to blow the driveway, but the snow had continued heavily overnight, accumulating in big piles and drifts on the leeward side of the house.  Snow caught in the bushes here is 4 feet deep, and it felt like 15" deep walking across to the garage.

But the snow was going to thwart me yet!  It had drifted across the front of the garage, so I dug out my builder's ruler to see how deep it actually was, sticking it in in front of the garage door.

The view up our driveway was looking daunting at this point.  Can you see what that reads?

Just in case you can't, it's just over 18", or 46 cm.!  I have to back the car out first to get my big snowblower out, and guess what?  The car wouldn't go through this, and my wife keeps a vigilant eye out to make sure I don't actually shovel any snow.  Before the car got stuck, I decided she was right, and we needed some help.

So I called and left a message for our friendly neighbourhood farmer with his big snowblower, knowing we didn't have to go out anywhere today anyway.  He arrived by about 3 o'clock, having a very long day himself.

It was a slow job, even with his big blower.  The fine flakes had packed together tightly, so it was heavy snow, and so deep that it would overwhelm his 2 foot blower if he didn't go slow.  But still, it was about 8 minutes and our drive was clear. There's a time when my winter toys just aren't enough!  And so nice to know your neighbours!

And in two days it's supposed to be back above freezing, and by next week it's going to hit 15°C.  What is winter coming to?!?!



25 comments:

  1. It is so nice to have ti heavy equipment to clear things up when it gets like this.

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  2. Lovely photos ,WOW ! You got hit with lots of snow , Here we got more freezing rain then snow maybe 1cm of snow or less but the ice was heavy here and layered everything and all done in one night we lost power for 6 hours over night to , the sun shine today and a lot of it has melted already . My step daughter who is in Collingwood they got 43cm on top of all they already had . When I lived in Caledon on our farm we had snow drifts like that and even higher back in the 70's . I hope next weeks temps are the start of spring pushing winter right out the door for good ! Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

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  3. We got it too. The drifts did some interesting things on the surface of the Rideau Canal.

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  4. Perhaps you'll get to ski for a couple of days -- I envy you your snow, that's more than we've gotten all winter.

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  5. I'm glad you didn't stress yourself by shoveling all that snow. Gosh, we don't have a trace on the ground in Saratoga County, NY, nor have we had much all winter. No skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, animal tracking, snowball throwing -- in short, none of the stuff that makes winter fun. I've been jealously enjoying your blog posts showing the beautiful snowy scenes. We just have brown grass and mud.

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  6. I saw the huge snow monster over Ontario yesterday when I checked the live Exeter Radar feed & said to Kelly that it's the worst I have ever seen that radar screen looking. Indeed a huge storm packing a lot of snow. Must admit I do miss winter sometimes & especially those first sunny days after a big storm when everything is looking so pretty. I remember cross country skiing on those sunny days after new fallen snow years ago. So nice out in the quiet forests.

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  7. That is a massive drift.Love the snow blower, good friends and neighbours are so valuable in times of need. Down here, Autumn is in full swing, 5C early this morning!!!

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  8. Wow you did get a lot of snow. It sure has been a crazy winter.
    It snowed all day here and it was 20 degrees but for some reason the snow didn't stick. It just blew around in the wind.

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  9. Wow! I'm salivating over all that deep, lovely powder. I'm sure it's not fun when you have to get it removed from your driveway.....but good thing you have a nice neighbor!

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  10. That is amazing!!! Glad the neighbor was there with his big blower. Your wife is doing a great job keeping you from shoveling the snow - we want you around longer.

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  11. That's an impressive photo of the drift at the door, with the door panels imprinted upon it. When I worked on a farm we spent a lot of time in winter helping out the neighbours with our snowplough or towing stuck cars with the tractor.

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  12. What an impressive snow blower! I would like one for those two times a year that I need it. We do not have even a small snowblower, but I keep trying to get hubby to buy one without luck. We are getting too old for snow shoveling, but he will not admit that.

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  13. Oh wow, that is a lot of snow. Way too much to shovel. Thank God for our nice neighbors. Have a happy day!

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  14. I hear you! I don't like the 'chinook' thingie we're supposed to get. I don't mind the snow. As you day, you just deal with it a bit at a time. Happy trails!
    (ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

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  15. Now that is some snowfall! Love the pictures, and I'm glad your wife kept an eye on you so you won't try to shovel it yourself. And kudos to your neighbor! :-)

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  16. Hello! Wow! To open the door and see so much snow is daunting indeed.So glad your generous neighbour helped you out.

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  17. wow-zees, gorgeous snow captures!!!!!

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  18. Remember days like that when I was growing up. Now with a bad back I'd rather avoid it all together. The snow is beautiful to see as it gives a facelift to the imperfections of the landscape around us. At this point we've both developed an allergy to the cold and snow the season brings but still enjoy the memories of the past.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  19. We got off easy in the GTA.

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  20. Now that is a lot of snow ...

    All the best Jan

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  21. We don't get snow deep enough to measure (we did get a dusting on Monday night on the top of Goat Island), but I bought a measuring stick similar to your so we can measure the water level in the lake. We keep lots of weather records at the cabin to we can compare from year to year. - Margy

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  22. Holy Cow---I've never ever seen that much snow... Wooooo---glad you have a neighbor who can help at times like that... YIPES. How long does it take that much snow to MELT??? Guess it depends upon the temperature... Wow--I'm impressed...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  23. What a job....good thing you have good neighbors!

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  24. Thank goodness for neighbors!!! We missed a day of work one year after a storm left a 3 ft. drift against our garage doors. Took quite a while to dig out with snow shovels. and good for your wife monitoring your activity.

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