As of Thursday, Dec 17, the online forecast I use (for my zip code) was still indicating 1"-3", not enough for me to worry about preparing. But friday morning (Dec 18) a cousin called me to see if I was aware that one of the local TV guys was saying we would get 12"-18". I wasn't. I then got back online and checked again, but the forecast there was still saying only 1"-3". Better safe than sorry, though, so I went ahead with the mowing-to-plowing conversion since other TV channels were also indicating significant accumulation amounts. Later the online forecast finally did indeed change to match the TV predictions.
It started snowing very late friday night/early saturday morning, all through saturday, and well into late sunday morning. When all was said and done I measured four times in the front yard and found 15"-18". My cousin next door, though, said he measured 23". The next town over (roughly 5 miles) officially reported 24" according to the TV accounts. Since I don't really know the vagaries of how snow tends to accumulate, nor how to (or where to) properly measure it to account for the hills and valleys as drifts form, I'm willing to go with the official 24". No matter what, frankly it was just too danged much white stuff for someone like me who doesn't like it even a little bit to begin with. (Which is not to say I can't also cope with it or drive in it once roads are reasonably clear. I just really don't like it along with all the cold and wind, especially while plowing because for really large snowfalls you have to do intermediate plows while the stuff is still coming down.)
Net result... too much snow, barely enough tractor. There's only so much "light & fluffy" I can push (and only so far). With a snow blade measuring 15" high and snow accumulations higher than that, it presents a few challenges. I thought a few times that I wouldn't be able to adequately clear the driveways (mine and my neighbors) that I needed to clear, but given time and patience (helped by the fact that the storm hit early on a weekend) I eventually managed to clear enough (on one long driveway in particular) to allow folks to be able to get their vehicles out to the road. A snow emergency was declared by the township for saturday night until 8 AM sunday morning, so it was illegal for anyone to be out on the roads at all without a very good and legitimate "personal emergency" reason, but anyone with common sense would have already been snowed in and abiding by that anyway.
This was the most snowfall in one storm in the Philly/South Jersey area since '96 and the most December snow in one storm since sometime in the 1800s, I believe I heard.
But enough of all that trivia, let's just get to the visual aids. I've always found that pics of large snowfalls generally don't do them justice and I don't think this instance is any exception. Snowstorms are one of those things you really have to experience first-hand to properly "appreciate." That being said, here are some pics of the local homes in the order I took them. I will dispense with any commentary and useless details as they pretty much speak for themselves. I do just want to mention that it always fascinates me how snow can sometimes do that massive overhang thing off a roof as seen in one of the pics below.
Click'em to view'em full size...
Footnote: It warmed up well into the forties yesterday (Christmas), started lightly raining last night, rained more heavily through the night and into this morning (still), and now the snow is rapidly disappearing. Actually it seems that the non-piled snow is all gone already, revealing large swaths of lawn once again. It's only the piled stuff that will take longer to completely melt.
Getting rid of the snow this way is OK by me. I just hope there won't be too serious flooding anywhere in the area as a result. There won't be any such problem in my own immediate area, but other areas of the Philly and South Jersey region are always susceptible.
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4 comments:
Hey, I recognize that area. :-)
Wow, lots of white stuff and just before the official beginning of winter. It's amazing. Glad you got through it OK. That driveway of yours is just so much to deal with. Where I grew up, it was a small one and we only had to clear it to get Dad's car in...a good thing.
Yeah, I knew you'd have a little better perspective on these pics now.
;-)
For 99% of the snowstorms clearing it is not an issue. This one was a bit taxing, though. Still, patience and fortitude plus good timing made it manageable.
I can't imagine what it would have been like if this rain we're getting now had been MORE snow—there'd have been no place to put it all!
I hope the rest of the winter isn't gonna be like this.
DimSkip, yikes, 24 inches, that's no child's play. (Actually, that's a lot of child's play of the first order; it's the adults who cannot appreciate the marvelous gift. ;)
The pictures look so peaceful, I must say. As much as snow is pain in you know where, it makes the world look so serene. Surely even you will admit it. :)
I keep saying that I hate snow (because in general I do, along with the cold, etc.), but then I look at the pics like the ones you posted and go aahhh...
Oh yes, Elizabeth, the pictures ARE serene. But being out in it for three days plowing, shoveling, and chopping ice off of driveways so folks won't slip all while dealing with numb fingers and toes?... It was ME that wasn't serene!
;-)
And you do remind me that I think of snow just like I do Christmas these days... it's just so much more enjoyable for kids (or for adults who have young ones around).
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