Some of our East Coast Juicers shared photos of the blizzard. First up, here’s faithful reader / infrequent commenter BL’s waggy, glorious, frolicsome golden hounds:
BL reports:
I live in the eastern DC suburbs near Goddard. I am attaching a photo of my wildly excited goldens in the snow. They refused to hold still for a posed picture and were frantically and happily running, digging, eating and rolling in the snow.
When I took the picture, the snow had abated for a bit. Now it is snowing harder than ever and the wind is up. I seem to have about 16″ of snow so far. Hard to tell with all the drifting.
More Snow Juicer photos and updates below the fold…
BL added:
I’ve attached a pic of my deck and the birds attempting to eat during the heavier snowfall.
Next up, faithful commenter Poopyman:
Some pics from this afternoon here in balmy Southern Maryland, just as the winds were ramping up again. You can’t really see it in the river pics, but the snow is flying sideways.
He continues:
The cars are dug out and now awaiting another 6 inch coating, which is about half as much as I’ve already removed. Nap time!
Also heard from valued commenter Redshift:
This was the view from my front door in west Alexandria, VA around 3pm, when the snow got much heavier and the wind picked up. We had 16″ on the ground at noon.
And our own Steeplejack sent an image from Falls Church, Virginia of the accumulation at around 1 PM:
It’s in the mid-50s here in the west central coastal section of America’s wang, but I wouldn’t mind trading with you snowbound folks for one day. As long as I wouldn’t have to drive. Or stay outside for more than 90 seconds at a time. The snow is so pretty! Open thread!
*”Thanks, Snowbama” stolen from valued commenter Germy
Mudge
Pet fact. Dogs love snow. Cats hate snow.
Corner Stone
I had a question about the earlier Gillian Anderson & Duchovny equal pay issue. I looked around a bit but never found any comments attributed to Duchovny on the issue, either the previous or current one. Anybody know if he ever said anything? How did she know what he was paid?
Linda Featheringill
Philly area had 17+ inches at 3 o’clock, with another 5 to 8 inches expected. I guess we’ll be here a while. It’s supposed to start tapering off at around midnight.
boatboy_srq
Outer NoVA checking in. Snow removal quit about 10 am, and any road not bearing a US highway number is blocked. 40″ and counting. Dominion Power is reporting a very small number of outages so far. Good thing the freezer is well stocked, and the power is (still) on…
srv
Snowmaggedon, Snowpocolypse I & II and now this. All under Obama.
When will people wake up.
Patricia Kayden
My full Boxer refuses to go out there which means that Hubby and I have been trying to lure him out to use the bathroom all day. I guess he’ll hold it in until the snow stops falling.
The half Boxer loves the snow and has been frolicking in it every chance he gets.
Have to admit that it has been nice being forced to stay indoors and stay warm. Not minding this storm at all.
Poopyman
The river pics are upstream and downstream on the raging Patuxent, fwiw.
Pogonip
@Mudge: When I was a kid our dog would go out and play in the snow, get all excited, come in and do 4 or 5 fast laps around the coffee table, shake vigorously, and finish up with an emphatic snow snort, a sound she never made at any other time. It was hilarious.
Southern Beale
Nashville got hit with 8″ yesterday. A lot for us. Our dogs were going nuts in the snow yesterday, slept like comatose bears last night, and today were like, “Meh. Which door can you open where there’s no snow on the other side?”
Poopyman
@srv:
I did, right after my nap!
Just chillin’ * with a glass of cabernet at the moment.
(* – not literally, thank fsm)
Betty Cracker
@Patricia Kayden: Are your dogs swimmers? Wondering if the half boxer is a more competent swimmer than the full boxer. We’ve always had boxers, and they are among the poorest swimmers of any species I’ve ever seen. They love to go out on the boat and will jump in and follow us when we beach, but they only swim when necessary and look like they’re trying to go straight up.
@Corner Stone: Great question. No idea.
Poopyman
@boatboy_srq: All told, we’ve had about 15-18″ so far, but a significant amount of today’s fall down here at sea level was sleet.
Patricia Kayden
By the way, Little Green Footballs is doing a great job of monitoring how Trump is pushing tweets from open racists on a regular basis. This is something that the MSM should be asking him to explain. It’s pretty shocking when someone is running for President and has no problems publicly fraternizing with White Supremacists.
Yet, there was such an outcry about President Obama attending Reverend Wright’s church. I recall that Candidate Obama had to explain his membership in Wright’s church during the 2008 campaign.
Randy P
@Linda Featheringill: Ha! I was going to jump in to say that the Philly snowfall was kind of meh.
I haven’t actually been outside. We have no obligations to go anywhere till Monday, so I thought I would enjoy a day of not actually moving from inside the house.
However, from my scientific measuring method of peering out the windows, it never looked like it got more than about 1 foot deep. Wind-blown drifts seem to be more of an issue, some of those look fairly deep.
I’m in Delaware County. You?
Ridnik Chrome
20.4 inches at La Guardia as of 4 PM. I went out to the grocery store (I’m in western Queens) about 20 minutes ago and it’s still coming down in sheets. Fun fact: This will almost certainly pass the total for the 1996 blizzard, meaning that I will have lived through three out of the five worst snowstorms ever to hit New York City, and I’ve been here less than twenty years. That is to say, storms like this used to happen once every 10-15 years. Now it’s once every 3-5 years. But climate change is a myth…
cmorenc
in north Raleigh, we had almost an Inch of sleet overlaid by about .010 glaze of freezing rain, overlaid by about a half-inch of snow. It never got above about 30 today, but the sleet/snow combo on the completely covered neighborhood streets softened up just enough to turn them into sheets of glare ice tonight. It’s very pretty, though with the glazed bare tree limbs complementing the white ground and streets.
Elmo
Been preparing for this storm since Wednesday. Made ahead: two pots of spaghetti, chicken salad, tuna salad, braised chicken thighs, a pint of rice, and two whole roast chickens. Stored it all on the front porch. Also laid in 35 gallons of water.
Power hasn’t even flickered once.
Patricia Kayden
@Betty Cracker: My half Boxer was a swimmer. I say this because his write up from the Humane Society stated that he loved swimming and showed him playing with a stick in a lake.
Since I’ve had the full Boxer, we’ve never taken him swimming so I’m not sure about his swimming skills. I would assume he’s not a swimmer and hence hates the high snow.
Didn’t know that Boxers were poor swimmers though so thanks for that info. Will keep that in mind when we finally take them camping.
JPL
All the pictures are great and I’m just pleased that here, north of Atlanta, we only had a dusting of snow. Because of the cold and wind, I’m have to leash the dog and force him outdoors.
the Conster
After last winter in Boston, I find all the hoopla to be mildly entertaining.
NotMax
Totally spaced out on a cake now on the oven.
Things like misreading one part of the recipe that called for 1 Tbl. butter for 1 stick of butter for the caramel, mixing ingredients in one batch instead of alternating flour and sour cream, not creaming butter and sugar together first, etc., etc., etc.
I blame Obama. :)
Luckily, had planned on making two of the same cake so once the first is baked and removed from the pan, can concentrate on getting the second more precise. Turns out to be a good thing I couldn’t find the second springform pan.
Memo to self: More coffee before baking.
Linda Featheringill
@Randy P:
Chester County.
otmar
Fwiw, we also got a bit of snow today in Vienna / Austria. Perhaps 5 cm in the city, probably 15 in the suburbs.
The forecast predicts rising temperatures, so this will be all gone soon.
Anoniminous
@NotMax:
Herself once baked six dozen chocolate chip cookies and forgot to add the flour. They were REALLY good but tended to melt in the hand if not eaten quickly enough.
OzarkHillbilly
Back in the great snowstorm of 82 (?) STL got buried in 18″. The whole city shut down for 3 days and it was a week before things returned to any semblance of normalcy. Be patient folks, you’re not going anywhere soon.
Poopyman
@Elmo: @Elmo:
Mrs. P and I will be right over. My neighbor just came back from Mechanicsville with no problem, so I know it’s possible.
gene108
@cmorenc:
My mom lives in Cary and sent pictures from her front yard. Not as much ice compared to prior ice storms. Looked like more snow.
Luckily she still has power.
Edit: I’ve been throw some pure ice storms, when everything looks like it is encased in crystal. Downside is power goes out for 2-3 days.
*************************
I think my corner of South Jersey got 15″ so far. Some of western suburbs of Phily are reporting 24″.
eemom
My doggies are brown and black pit bull mixes and they look adorable jumping their way through the snow like kangaroos. The cold is hard on short haired critters, though.
rikyrah
The pictures look beautiful….but I know living through it is altogether different. Stay safe, people.
NotMax
@Linda Featheringill
Chester county? Brings back memories of travel on the Paoli local.
Used to know someone whose family owned and ran a good restaurant in Phoenixville.
Place is probably long gone by now.
Kropadope
Got pretty decent snow here, but we didn’t let that stop a family birthday party.
bemused
@Mudge:
A few cats do like to play in the snow. Our son in Brooklyn said his cat is pacing back and forth in front of the window overlooking a tiny courtyard. He wants out but our son just had some surgery so poor kitty can’t romp out there this time.
Peale
@Patricia Kayden: the difference is that Obama was running to be the president of all races and creeds. Trump isn’t.
Ultraviolet Thunder
Oddly, considering the meteorological chaos going on elsewhere, today’s weather in Detroit was pretty pleasant for January. Every car wash had a line of crusty vehicles outside because it was dry and above freezing.
I’ll be around home until Wednesday, when I have to go to Greenville SC or somewhere like that.
FlyingToaster (Tablet)
We’ve got an inch. It’s just as well I couldn’t buy a sled today (Wegman’s ran out), so WarriorGirl will just have to wait some more.
Elmo
@Poopyman: The roads are one thing. My 100-yard steep driveway is going to keep me and my wife trapped until May.
NCSteve
I’ll always remember the first time my cats saw it snowing. It was Thanksgiving at my Mom’s house in Kentucky. The Three Weird Sisters were about a year old and their mom the teenage unwed mother was little older. They ran from window perch to window perch confirming again and again that this strange, unfathomable, uncanny thing was happening on each and every side of the house. They’d get two paws up and watch and then turn around and say to the nearest human the cat equivilent of “Jesus Christ! Are you seeing this? What the hell’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you amazed by this uncanny, crazy ass thing that’s going on out there?”
WaterGirl
@Patricia Kayden: Decades ago my cocker spaniel and I were visiting my boyfriend in Rockford, IL when we got 24″ of snow. He lived in a third floor apartment – I kept taking her downstairs and she would look at all that snow that was higher than she was tall and she would just turn around.
She waited a whole 24-hours before she finally went to the bathroom.
Raven
Nuthin here but wind and cold. My pups go out when it’s time, witn me if course.
srv
I will predict here that Bloomberg will be the next VPOTUS for any permutation other than Trump being POTUS
bemused
I heard on MPR driving home that Trump said he could start shooting at people on 5th Avenue and his supporters would still vote for him! Too insane for words.
gogol's wife
We have about 8 inches and it’s still snowing (was supposed to be 3-6 total). I know they have it worse south of here, but I find that I’m still not over last winter. I’m not enjoying it one bit.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@gene108: Raleigh seems to have been right on the snow/ice line. I’ve been seeing photos from western Raleigh and Cary with several inches of snow. Here in NE Raleigh, we had a little snow and a lot of ice pellets with some freezing rain mixed in. The trees in the riparian buffer behind my house are coated.
SarahT
24 inches in Central Park, and though most subways are still running, far too lazy to head uptown to frolic, etc. Another Saturday night with comfy sofa, wine, TV, and Balloon-Juice it is.
eric
i say it has snowed 8 to 9 inches here, but my girlfriend says more like 5 or 6. :)
debbie
@NCSteve:
I had a cat many years ago, and one of my favorite memories is when she ventured out in the snow for a nanosecond, rushed back inside, and spent most of the afternoon try to shake the (no longer there) snow off her front right paw.
WaterGirl
@debbie: Her paw was cold, poor baby. She was trying to shake the cold off.
debbie
@SarahT:
We used to walk over to Central Park after snowstorms. So quiet and peaceful. The snow muffled whatever street noise there was.
Ruckus
I won’t tell you all how much I don’t miss snow or that it’s 63 in Pasadena right now. No I’m not going to tell you that.
geg6
We reall dodged a bullet here in Pittsburgh. We were right on the northern edge and just got absolutely about 3 inches. Just down the road to the south and also to the east, they’ve gotten slammed. Cole’s neck of the woods has to have over a foot or two, so I’m sure he’s hunkered down with the critters. Lovey, amazingly, loves he snow. She just bounds and Boyce’s through it, sticking her whole face in it and eating as much as she can. She looks hilarious in it. Koda has always loved snow, too.
dogwood
It’s kinda like spring here in the Inland Northwest. We’re going to have another horrendous fire season.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@WaterGirl:
This summer I had to figure out a comfortable environmental temperature for cats. Iwas amazed to find that their comfort range is 10-15 degrees higher than humans. Most people are comfortable at 72F. A cat may prefer 85F or higher for comfort. Thinking about it, this explains their hogging hot air registers, sunbeams, window sills and human chests. They just need to get warm. What a nuisance to cats having to live with clothed apes who like ‘low’ temps.
different-church-lady
16 inches? Meh. Last year we Bostonians dealt with 108 inches in a single 14 hour period without once dropping our extra-large iced hot chocolate from Dunkies.
SarahT
@debbie: Some lovely photos on Gothamist that you might enjoy. During the snowstorm of 1996 a bunch of us had an drunken and epic 5am snowball fight in Central Park. How we even managed to get from a Lower East Side bar up to Central Park in that state will forever remain a mystery. Oh, to be young(ish) and stupid again….
different-church-lady
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Descended from desert cats.
Iowa Old Lady
The Des Moines Register has endorsed Clinton and Rubio.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Maybe for the first 15 minutes or so, but I think the rest of the time was editorializing. She was the one who wanted to go outside, but acted like I had messed up her fun with the snow. She wouldn’t let me towel off her paw, either.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Ultraviolet Thunder: I invested in some large heating pads a couple of weeks ago. Her Grace has claimed one and only stirs off of it for food and the litter box.
It has an auto-off at 40 minutes, but I think she stays there just in case it warms up again.
CaseyL
@Linda Featheringill: I read that and instantly called my Aunt, who lives in Philly and hates snow.* Discovered that she’s in the Caribbean with her sweetie, and not going back until Tuesday. (This trip was planned since last summer; they just got lucky with the timing.)
*Aunt lives in Philly and hates the cold; Mom lives in South Florida and hates the heat. I often ask them, “Why don’t you two just switch cities?”
debbie
@SarahT:
Thanks, love the Yetti!
father pussbucket
Yosemite Sarah Palin.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Crock Pot Hot Cocoa
We made some of this today. Hubby was pleased with it, though I think he will use plain cocoa when he makes it again. He used Mexican cocoa and had decided it was too much cinnamon.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@different-church-lady:
From Wikipedia:
“Humans generally start to feel uncomfortable when their skin temperature passes about 38 °C (100 °F), but cats show no discomfort until their skin reaches around 52 °C (126 °F),[52]:46 and can tolerate temperatures of up to 56 °C (133 °F) if they have access to water”
Recent DNA analysis has identified a subspecies of wild cat in Libya as the likely ancestor of most domestic cats. That’s hot enough.
Big Ol Hound
@Betty Cracker: Our Boxers were terrible swimmers but would dive under for a stick. I think it’s their overly muscular stature and short hair that dooms them to be sinkers or swim “straight-up” just to keep their heads above water.
SarahT
@debbie: Happy to oblige. They also have a swell compilation of dogs -rolicking-in- snow videos.
RedDirtGirl
Just ventured out to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for an obligatory snow angel and a slide down the local playground’s spiral slide. I’m not a metallurgist, so I don’t know if this is true, but IMHO slides are a hell of a lot slipperier in cold weather. I discovered this a few years ago during a snow storm when I almost flew off the banked edge. So fun I had to do it again, and again.
Boudica
We moved from Texas to Alexandria,VA in April. So far we have 27 inches of snow. Since it’s been 30 years since I’ve had to shovel snow, I’m enjoying it. We’ll see what happens Monday. Hoping they’ll cancel work.
PurpleGirl
@Ridnik Chrome: I’m over on Queens Blvd at 60th St. Granted I usually don’t hear the airplanes with the new windows (3 years old now) but my complex is under the bad weather landing zone. I should look out the window to see if any planes are landing at LaGuardia. One of the reasons I wanted a Co-Op and not a private house was that in the Co-Op I’d have a maintenance crew to do things like shoveling snow. (My sister tried to get my parents to buy me a private house.) I can stay home, be warm and enjoy the look of the snow before having to cope with it.
ETA: I’m a life-long Queens resident and I remember a bunch of storms, including the one which destroyed the political career of Mayor John Lindsay.
Aleta
@NotMax: Part of my family had a farm in Phoenixville for some generations. I sometimes went at Christmas. The neighboring farm sang carols to the cows on Christmas Eve; we would go.
Granite
How’s everyone liking the three feet of global warming here in NoVA?
Felonius Monk
Checking in from eastern upstate NY at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys where nary a snowflake has fallen and none is expected. This is not a gloat. Just an expression of gratitude since we usually get inundated by these kinds of storms. So, thanks Snowbama.
For all of you affected by this storm, you have my best wishes. Stay safe and stay warm.
Bill_D
@Mudge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrH8RdVBP5A
raven
Big ass moon coming up.
Pogonip
@Elmo: Can we spend next winter at your house?
redshirt
As a Mainer it’s so strange to hear all this news about an East Coast blizzard and have nothing to do with it.
I’m with you in spirit, my snowed in southern citizens.
When shoveling show, be sure to avoid a heart attack! But also, focus on your form. It’s easy to twist in an awkward way while lifting weight and pull something. Nice and steady with smooth strokes.
redshirt
@raven: That’s no moon… wait. Yeah, that’s the moon. Resplendent in its fullness.
Brachiator
@Iowa Old Lady:
Rubio? Interesting.
If he does poorly in Iowa and NH, I wonder how long Jeb! will hang on.
Pogonip
@Elmo: Oh. Never mind. But if you bring the spaghetti you can spend next winter at OUR house.
Poopyman
@raven: Full tonight. The Snow Moon, as it happens.
Ridnik Chrome
@RedDirtGirl: Man, I wish I was within walking distance of Prospect Park. It must be gorgeous in the snow. I just went out and walked to the end of the block. No cars on the streets at all. Some weird sound like an alarm going off in the distance, but that might have just been the wind. Saw some of my neighbors walking their chow in the middle of 43rd Street. Great big dog, seemed to be enjoying itself…
jharp
Many thanks for the pics and goddamned glad this storm missed central Indiana.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Till mom tells him it’s OK to come in out of the cold.
Mike in NC
@Boudica: When we lived in a townhouse in Alexandria we had neighbors from all over. A number clearly had never dealt with snow before and were trying to clear their front steps and sidewalks with pots and pans. We clued them in on snow shovels and rocksalt.
raven
@Poopyman: I think photo’s will have to wait and see what I can get out of our big windows in the addition in the early morning.
TaMara (BHF)
I do not feel bad telling you it was almost 60 and sunny here today. Because we still have snow on the ground from Christmas – unheard of in this area. We like our snow where it belongs, on the mountain peaks and ski resorts.
raven
@Poopyman: “Snow moon or Full Snow moon is a traditional name for the full moon that occurs in February in North America. Usually this month is a time for snow and cold air temperatures, and this is the reason for the name snow moon. Storm moon, hunger moon, Little Famine moon, and Full Bony moon are other traditional names for this particular full moon”
This is a Wolf Moon I guess.
bluefoot
The expected snow totals here outside of Boston keep rising. First it was supposed to be a dusting, then 1-3 inches, then 3-5 inches, then an hour ago wunderground said 5-8 inches. So I am baking a pie and as soon as that’s out of the oven, I am starting on pizza.
I once had a cat that not only loved snow, he loved to run and slide on our backyard ice rink. We used to say that he was a natural hockey player because he’d find small pieces of ice (or we’d give him a small human-made snowball) and bat them around the rink while running and sliding. Crazy cat.
Elmo
@Pogonip: Deal. Hope you like spicy!!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Kinda related: I came across this recently – What if we burn all the fossil fuels?:
The things that youngsters and their kids have to look forward to, if we don’t change.
But cats will be happy, for a while I guess. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Elmo
@Mike in NC: When I moved to the Sierra from San Diego it snowed three feet my first night there. No shovel. But I had to get to work – couldn’t wuss out my first day!
So I dug out with a pink plastic dustpan.
Ridnik Chrome
@PurpleGirl: Hello, Woodside! John Lindsay was well before my time, but I do remember the storm that cost Michael Bilandic his job as mayor of Chicago (he later became a judge, so it didn’t quite end his political career). The roof of our neighbors’ garage collapsed from the weight of the snow…
Svensker
@geg6:
My cousin in central PA says they have about 24″ so far and are expecting 8-10 more. That’s real snow. Here in Toronto, land of snow, we have bare ground, clear skies, a gentle breeze and a forecast of sunny and 33 degrees. Haven’t even got the long-johns out yet this year.
redshirt
Anyone in snow country should own a minimum of two shovels: One with a metal edge and one without. If you have to shovel your deck or anything wooden, the metal edge will do damage, hence the other shovel.
A true artist will have many more than two of course, but that’s where you start.
raven
@redshirt: What kind of edge other than metal is there?
Peale
Pictures of monkeys in Japan living the good life during a snowstorm. Something tells me being snowbound would be better if I had a hot spring nearby.
Pandas in the National Zoo seem to like it too.
BruceFromOhio
Its kind of eerie to virtually look around NYC at 8pm on a Saturday… and see hardly any human activity.
redshirt
@Svensker: Toronto is no land of snow. Out of curiosity I checked your average totals with Buffalo, a city not very far away. Buffalo gets a LOT more snow than Toronto, despite the proximity. It’s being on the Eastern side of the lake is the issue. Toronto is on the Western side.
Svensker
@redshirt:
It’s true. It was lovely to move to Toronto and discover that it got very little snow, relatively speaking — certainly relative to Buffalo which just basically has sucky weather. (Not to mention Rex Ryan.)
But I was thinking of Acadian Driftwood…:)
P.S. But aren’t you getting your joggraphy bassackwards? Buffalo is on the eastern edge of Erie but the western edge of Ontario, Toronto is east of Buffalo and gets the benefit of the warm water to our west.
redshirt
@raven: There’s shovels that are all plastic, no edge.
debbie
@raven:
Mine has a plastic edge.
Elmo
@raven: Plastic. At least I’ve had plastic ones as well as metal.
redshirt
@Svensker: I feel real bad for everyone on the Buffalo side of the lake. Maybe the worst weather in the continental 48. I get some of the lake effect storms way over here in the mountains of Maine from time to time and I don’t like it one bit.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Svensker:
I spent my week in Ajax, Guelph, Mississauga (sp?) and Newmarket. It was COLD but I ran into little snow in those cities. The 401 must be a real chore when it snows. I mean, it’s a chore in perfect weather, but wow.
Betty Cracker
@otmar: Vienna is a beautiful city. I hope to see it again someday.
@Patricia Kayden: Just to clarify, they can swim. They just look unbelievably awkward doing it and don’t seem to enjoy it. Someone told me it’s because they’re such lean dogs — not much buoyancy.
@Big Ol Hound: Sounds about right.
raven
@redshirt: Ah, cool.
Svensker
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
The 401 is an amazing highway — rush hour starts at 2:30 in the afternoon! But usually, it’s pretty well plowed and salted when it snows. If it isn’t, it’s because there’s too much snow to be out driving anyway. Plus pretty much everyone here has snow tires, which makes driving in cold weather significantly less exciting. That was a surprise.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Svensker:
I drove 27,000 miles in 2015, much of it up and down the 401 to Oshawa, Ajax, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, London, Guelph and Cambridge. From Detroit. We really need to hire a new tech in Ontario so I can stay home.
I have to say it’s a nicely made road. And it helps that CBC gives frequent traffic updates PLUS rerouting directions around stoppages.
I haven’t had to navigate it in a snow storm yet. That’s what hotels and credit cards are for. My life insurance premiums are bad enough as it is.
satby
@Ridnik Chrome: Blizzard of ’79. On my street the neighbors cooperated to shovel the entire two block length by hand. The night before I was able to drive most of the way home, but had to park in a lot several blocks away because the streets were impassable. I had my Nordic skis in the car, so I skied home the rest of the way.
Good times.
Suzanne
67 glorious degrees outside right now. Mr. Suzanne grilled us some steaks.
The sun just went down. Before that, beautiful clear blue skies today. Kids and dogs played outside much of the afternoon.
redshirt
@Suzanne: That’s called “gloating” or “rubbing it in” and it’s generally frowned upon.
steve
@Mudge: Goldens LOVE snow
Suzanne
@redshirt: Frowned upon? That’s why I do it.
In all seriousness, remember that I pay for this shit by LIVING IN ARIZONA. In Arpaio-ville. Down the street from that high school where those girls wore those unfortunate t-shirts.
Shana
@Boudica: Metro won’t even start running until Monday, so I think it’s safe to assume no work.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Suzanne:
Yes, but it’s DRY heat…
bluefoot
@redshirt: Two shovel minimum, definitely. One year someone stole all five of our shovels from the from the front entryway. I totally understand taking ONE shovel without asking if you’re desperate. But taking ALL the shovels is just evil. We moved the shovels inside after that.
I once had a downstairs neighbor who thought she was being helpful by clearing the snow off my car with a metal-edged shovel. Not good. She grew up here in MA, you’d think she would know better.
redshirt
@bluefoot:
I laughed, but that’s awful! I hope you worked it out with the neighbor.
Metal edged shovels can rip your boots too, beware!
I’ve got 4 main shovels: All metal with razor sharp edge for the ice snow and plow deposited snow or just when you’re lifting and throwing; full plastic shovel for decks, with a deep scoop; metal edge plastic wide shovel for some pushing and lifting; and an extra long double handled plastic shovel only for pushing – only to be used in the lightest of snows. I’ll also bust out a pick axe for the worst of the ice/plow snow.
randy khan
By measurement in my yard, 19″ in one place and 20″ in another. (Likely lower than the official totals – they empty the measuring devices so the snow doesn’t compact.) I’m about 3 miles south of Alexandria, VA.
A lot of snow but really not as bad as I thought it could be.
bluefoot
@redshirt: At least my neighbor managed to leave the windshield intact…
I agree with your shovel repertoire. :) I also have one old garden shovel that is used to move the crap at the end of the driveway that the plows leave if I can’t get to it before it freezes.
I grew up outside of Buffalo, and my neighbors here in the Boston area used to make fun of me for my snow removal. I *always* shovel the entire driveway, edge to edge, down to the pavement, no matter what – old habits die hard. Unlike Buffalo, it usually thaws between snowstorms here so people rarely shovel that completely. However, during a couple of bad winters here, I had neighbors willing to pay me $$$ to be able to park in my driveway overnight because I was the only one on the street who could still get their car in and out with ease. And had space for at least two more cars.
After last winter though, I was seriously thinking about moving back to the west coast despite the drought.
redshirt
@bluefoot: LOL. I love it. I appreciate your commitment to snow removal. I’m the same. I learned many years ago up here that if you don’t shovel it when you have the chance, you might not get a second chance. Winter is a war, and each storm a battle, and any ground ceded to the snow is ground you may not recover till mid spring. My first couple of winters in the mountains I lost access to my deck and my second garage bay because I let one storm remain, and it turned to ice, and it was ridiculous to attack. Never again.
I gave up on the mailbox though. So much work with the plow involved. I got a PO box and now just forward my mail to the PO box during the winter so I don’t have to keep the mailbox cleared.
J R in WV
We have 17 inches on the back porch, and 16 on the front.
Fluffy light snowflakes, so only about 100 people locally without power. We’re in the SW of the state, one county away from the Kentucky state line. In the NE part of the state Weather Underground has a report of 40 inches from a HAM radio operator… probably the only way to get a 40 inch report.
We prepped on Thursday since we had appointments in the morning. Then we stopped at a liquor store and got booze, water and milk (it was a Rite-aid) and then went to Kroger’s and got potatoes, onions, meat, etc, etc. And got some refills on some maintenance prescriptions I take.
The dogs are lab mixes, and neither of them loves the snow. One keeps forgetting it’s out there, dashes out the door and has to stop before she runs into 18 inches of cold. She really only goes out when she has to relieve herself. The other one is bigger, and seems to have cut paths through the drifts.
Tomorrow we’ll fire up the tractor, which is in the garage, and clear the snow from the farm roads, and perhaps even the county road, the DOH usually stops at the end of the pavement, which is about 50 yards into our farm. And I’ll shovel the front steps too. We have 10 gallons of diesel, which should be more than enough. We may have to use the loader bucket to pick up the snow and drop it out of the way. I hope not, the grader blade is a lot faster.
The SUV looks like a giant snowball, with tiny black wings where the rear-view mirrors stick out – that’s the only part of the car you can see.
Stay warm, everyone, and be careful.
redshirt
@J R in WV: 40 inches is incredible. That’s a snow storm!
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
Have a picture somewhere of cars in Mammoth Lakes, in the Sierra range of CA with about 4-5 feet on top the car and nothing stuck out. You wouldn’t know there was a car in there except that the owner had dug from the road to the front door and had it opened. It was a full size Plymouth station wagon from the late 60s, a land barge if there ever was one. But it was powder snow, even our snow is under drought conditions.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Overnight snowfall once when I was teaching. Accumulation in the parking lot was about halfway up the ’68 Chrysler Town & Country wagon’s grille.
Schools were open (Minnesota, don’tcha know), so had to chance it. That baby nosed it’s way through the parking lot and out onto the street with ease.
Prescott Cactus
@efgoldman:
If she was Metric-land she be gazing at 13 to 15 cm.
73 degrees out West today. If it makes you feel better it was only 23 Celcius.
redshirt
@Ruckus: I came back from Florida last February to find my truck plowed in with snow over the front of my hood up to the windshield, with both side doors completely snowed in. This isn’t powder, but “plow snow”, as the Eskimoes call it. It’s compacted and often dirty.
Luckily, I travel with a shovel, but even then it was a hard half hour plus of digging while it continued to snow and was cold as hell. I suspect many of my fellow passengers were stuck for some time.
Last winter in New England was unreal. This winter so far has been so tame.
And I probably just jinxed everyone.
Renie
Here on Long Island we are up to 27+ inches and more expected. My learned trick of shoveling snow on sidewalks that I had to teach my NYC born husband when we first moved here is to shovel away the snow to the grass line abutting the sidewalk so the snow/ice melt can go into the dirt and not sit on the cement and freeze up. Works every time.
Patricia Kayden
@WaterGirl: Wow!! That’s a tough doggy you have.
muddy
@WaterGirl: My dog Druid hated to go out in any inclement weather, and he was also very concerned about pooping as far away from the house as possible. One year I had to shovel a 10′ x 10′ area for him to walk out in since the snow was so deep, he was dismayed at how close to the house it was. So he’d back up to the 3 foot high wall of snow to get as far as he could and then poop. He ended up with a bunch of turds neatly studded into the snow wall at about 1′ off the ground.
MomSense
I really shouldn’t say this but I’m wishing we had some snow. It is soooo cold but no snow. What little snow we have is covered in a layer of ice which makes being dragged by the dog difficult.
redshirt
@MomSense: Grr-Argh!
MomSense
@redshirt:
You can blame me for our next snowpocalypse.
redshirt
@MomSense:
Thanks! I’ll keep this in reserve, for now.
Ruckus
@redshirt:
When I lived back east I came home from a road trip in January to find my SUV at the airport with about 3/8 of an inch of ice over the entire thing with snow plowed up over the rear bumper. So I have to get into the car to get the ice scraper but there is all this ice. So I have to pound on the door with my fist to break the ice all around the door and the lock. Then I have to start it, scrape the windows and dig it out so I can leave. It’s about 10 deg out as well. I figured that if I got it moving, didn’t hit the cars on either side or not be able to stop as I was backing out and didn’t hit the cars opposite me everything would be fine. Of course this all took over 1/2 hr to make happen. Did I mention it was about 10 deg out? That was January, about 3 weeks after moving from Los Angeles. Good job my ass.
BD of MN
Several years ago we had a particularly snowy winter, enough that our 100lb mutts couldn’t really navigate the back yard too well, so I took the snowblower out to clear them some paths around the deck. At one lucky point I managed to fling a hunk of frozen dog poo onto the roof of my neighbor’s garage, where it stayed until spring…
redshirt
@Ruckus: Same.
The lesson is: Keep a snow shovel in your vehicle.
Along with your:
Jumper cables; first aid kit; tire pressure gauge; AAA card; throwing stars