Blizzard Aftermath
The much ballyhooed blizzard of 2011 came and went here, and although we had loud, blustering winds mixed with sleet and a significant amount of snowfall, it left us no worse for wear when all was said and done.
First is a picture from before the blizzard. My son had some leftover french fries that he put outside on the snow on the ground thinking that a squirrel might come to eat them before the storm hit. He was right, and we had fun watching it sit and gnaw on the frozen potato sticks.
Some parts of Ohio had large amounts of ice and freezing rain. I heard that one Columbus hospital reported having more than 300 people come in to be treated for injuries that occurred as a result of falls on the ice yesterday. We had snow first and then freezing rain and then more snow, so we didn't have problems with things icing up the way those farther south of us did. I tried to get a picture of some of the freezing rain that we did get as it was coming down.
We had lots of snow when we awoke this morning, but fortunately we didn't lose our power at any time the way so many others did. You can see how deep the snow is on top of the van and around the tire.
When I first got up and went downstairs to let Max the poodle outside, I had a great deal of trouble getting the front door open because there was so much snow in front of it. After much pushing, I finally got it open this wide so that he could get outside.
Max the poodle did NOT care for the snow that had filled up the yard (HIS YARD!) overnight.
Under all that snow is our driveway somewhere.
While I was still eating breakfast, I heard a roar outside. I looked out the window to see our neighbor from across the street clearing our driveway of snow with his Bobcat. The man has a heart of gold. He cleared the driveways of everybody on our street!!
He found the driveway for us with his Bobcat.
Can you see the big piles of snow that he pushed back for us in order to clear the drive?
My husband used our snowblower and a shovel to finish the job, clearing the snow from the sidewalks and porch steps.
You can see our neighbor across the street finishing the hand work for the walks and steps at his house too.
Before the blizzard came through, we still had many icicles hanging from the gutter.
The wind from the blizzard knocked most of them down,
but some of the ones that remained grew larger.
As you can see, the sun came out for a brief time, and a little bit of blue sky peeked through for us this afternoon. You can see the piles of snow where my neighbor cleared everyone's driveways up and down our street.
We got a little more snow during the day today, but it didn't amount to much. They were big fluffy flakes and were pretty coming down.
Although we had a lot of drifts from the blowing snow which may have made my measurement inaccurate, I attempted to measure our snowfall amount. It looked to me like we got about nine inches of the white stuff in all. This was a significant amount, but I've seen worse.
Schools and quite a few businesses here in town (including the library) were closed today. The schools have already announced that they are starting with a two hour delay tomorrow morning too. If the winds kick up again, there will be more drifting of the county roads which will make it difficult for the school buses to get through. If that happens, they may end up closing again tomorrow.
I am hoping that by Saturday, road conditions will have improved considerably so that we will be able to travel.
Thanks so much to all of you who read this blog who have expressed your concern and condolences, said a prayer for us, and let us know you care by thinking of us at my mother's passing. I am touched by your kindness and deeply grateful for your friendship.
First is a picture from before the blizzard. My son had some leftover french fries that he put outside on the snow on the ground thinking that a squirrel might come to eat them before the storm hit. He was right, and we had fun watching it sit and gnaw on the frozen potato sticks.
Some parts of Ohio had large amounts of ice and freezing rain. I heard that one Columbus hospital reported having more than 300 people come in to be treated for injuries that occurred as a result of falls on the ice yesterday. We had snow first and then freezing rain and then more snow, so we didn't have problems with things icing up the way those farther south of us did. I tried to get a picture of some of the freezing rain that we did get as it was coming down.
We had lots of snow when we awoke this morning, but fortunately we didn't lose our power at any time the way so many others did. You can see how deep the snow is on top of the van and around the tire.
When I first got up and went downstairs to let Max the poodle outside, I had a great deal of trouble getting the front door open because there was so much snow in front of it. After much pushing, I finally got it open this wide so that he could get outside.
Max the poodle did NOT care for the snow that had filled up the yard (HIS YARD!) overnight.
Under all that snow is our driveway somewhere.
While I was still eating breakfast, I heard a roar outside. I looked out the window to see our neighbor from across the street clearing our driveway of snow with his Bobcat. The man has a heart of gold. He cleared the driveways of everybody on our street!!
He found the driveway for us with his Bobcat.
Can you see the big piles of snow that he pushed back for us in order to clear the drive?
My husband used our snowblower and a shovel to finish the job, clearing the snow from the sidewalks and porch steps.
You can see our neighbor across the street finishing the hand work for the walks and steps at his house too.
Before the blizzard came through, we still had many icicles hanging from the gutter.
The wind from the blizzard knocked most of them down,
but some of the ones that remained grew larger.
As you can see, the sun came out for a brief time, and a little bit of blue sky peeked through for us this afternoon. You can see the piles of snow where my neighbor cleared everyone's driveways up and down our street.
We got a little more snow during the day today, but it didn't amount to much. They were big fluffy flakes and were pretty coming down.
Although we had a lot of drifts from the blowing snow which may have made my measurement inaccurate, I attempted to measure our snowfall amount. It looked to me like we got about nine inches of the white stuff in all. This was a significant amount, but I've seen worse.
Schools and quite a few businesses here in town (including the library) were closed today. The schools have already announced that they are starting with a two hour delay tomorrow morning too. If the winds kick up again, there will be more drifting of the county roads which will make it difficult for the school buses to get through. If that happens, they may end up closing again tomorrow.
I am hoping that by Saturday, road conditions will have improved considerably so that we will be able to travel.
Thanks so much to all of you who read this blog who have expressed your concern and condolences, said a prayer for us, and let us know you care by thinking of us at my mother's passing. I am touched by your kindness and deeply grateful for your friendship.
