Diary of a reformed snow shoveller.

[dwfreck]

December 22, 23... ?

What little snow remains (just the gray-brown shovelled/plowed-up piles at the corners of driveways and parking lots) is rapidly disappearing in the face of increasing temperatures and non-stop rain. December 23rd's forcast, highs in the 50s, mostly (read completely) cloudy, chance (read certainty) of rain. They're still teasing about white Christmas, but...

If the rain doesn't let up I may get the chance to see how well Joan works in the basement as a water thrower...

 

[tommy]

Dale,

My grandfather's last act was to catch an eternal nap after shoveling snow in Pittsburgh (43 years ago). Who cares what the neighbors think. What would they say iif you keeled over like my grandpa (you wouldn't care what they think then either).

PS.......the ear plugs are a great idea. I use them with he lawnmover, edger and trimmer......yes we get a lot of grass growing, but not much snow here.

 

[dwfreck]

December 24, 25, 26.

The promised "snow" arrived in the late evening on December 24th; just enough flurries to "tint" the grass a little white Christmas morning. Not quite a complete "white Christmas" but nice to look at anyway. The uncharacteristicly clear skies Christmas day meant birght sunshine which quickly melted the snow, though, so it's back to gray-green, dead grass. The extended forecast calls for continued clear skies and "unseasonably warm" weather. From one perspective, the lack of precipitation is a good thing, since we've been driving around town quite a lot visiting, and we're due to drive to Louisville, KY for an extended weekend. Then again, I've got a new power tool sitting idle in the garage...

 

[dwfreck]

December 27 - January 2.

Two words: "unseasonably warm"

We actually had a thurderstorm last night (Jan 1). Normally, I'd be shaking my head at the mild weather and waiting for Mother Nature's retribution, but not this year! This year I've got my nifty little snowthrower ready and waiting. So, of course, I'm expecting "unseasonably warm" for the rest of the Winter.

 

[tlhudson]

I have the same snowblower. You'll find it's fun and easier on the back.
Rained here yesterday. However, the bottom is suppose to drop out today with snow/rain mix the next three days.

 

[Birky]

weather

weather

Here we are into January and in the middle of Ilinois it is the 50's. It is no wonder there is so much flu in this area. They are predicting very cold weather this weekend and maybe some snow. We really need some cold weather to knock out some of these bugs. It seems that we are getting a mild winter but you could never guess that by the gas bills. Outrageous in our area. I understand they are going up another 11% this month. We have a new furnace and still the bills are more than last year. I refuse to sit around and be cold to save a few dollars but this is ridiculous.

 

[hensylee]

Dale - you may be in luck next weekend - they say we're ALL gonna get it!

 

[Nancy]

Dale-

Not to worry. The winter is still young. We've got the rest of Jan., Feb and Mar. Lots and lots of time for SNOW.

 

[dwfreck]

January 3 - 5.

Three words: "Flash Flood Warning".

At this point, I'm sort of glad we've had "unseasonably warm" weather, because the amount of rain that fell this past weekend would have been feet of snow (or so I've heard) if temperatures had been colder. That would have been great for my snowthrower, but not for the metro area at large, which leans toward hysteria when more than three inches of snow falls at once.

However, tempratures have been steadily falling from a high of 67 on January 3 to forecasted highs in the low 30s January 5 (today) and lows in the single digits by January 7 and snow expected January 8. If I don't get my basement dried out, I may have to open a skating rink!

 

[dwfreck]

January 6 & 7.

Cold but dry (if you don't count groundwater) weather. Clear skies, no precipitation. The forecasters say snow tomorrow, but I think they're lying; they just want to make sure I can't cash in my 30-day full-satisfaction-or-your-money-back guarantee.

I've got a road trip to Cleveland planned this weekend; maybe I'll take the 'blower with me and see if we can't hunt down some of that "lake effect snow" I keep hearing about.

 

[hensylee]

Maybe you could stop by Ross' house. I think that's where it is.

 

[dwfreck]

January 8.

A half inch of snow by 4:00 pm. I could have just pushed it all down the driveway with the shovel, but, then again, I need to get a decent return on my investment in the snowthrower, so...

I did notice that the thrower didn't throw the half inch covering as effectively (or as far) as it did the inch-plus we had earlier in the season. Maybe it's a mass-and-inertia thing?

 

[dwfreck]

January 9-11.

Cold weather, but no snow. My road trip to "Cleveland" was actually to Lorain, OH (I wasn't given exact directions until the day of the trip), and they were colder and had a little fresh snow on the ground, but they hardly seemed to notice it and it wasn't anywhere near "lake effect" accumulation. The road trip resulted in a truck full of ~1200 organ pipes and a organ blower motor, so I spent Sunday building packing crates for the pipes (with help, of course). Now the snow thrower is behind the stack of crates, so it had better not snow in the next few days.

 

[dwfreck]

January 12 & 13.

Temperatures into the lower forties have melted what little snow remained. Now, in addition to the organ pipe packing crates, I've got organ pipes spread all over the garage floor and we've been packing them out on the driveway. I wonder if I can use the organ pipes to "blow" the snow? Or, better yet, maybe the organ blower?

 

[hensylee]

Maybe you could take it out and ride it up and down the street, just to keep it in shape...

 

[JimL]

If you'd care to bring your snowthrower to Michigan, I think it could be put to use. I've shoveled twice today, and it's still coming down.

 

[bvdr]

Hi Jim,

Michigan is a beautiful state but I sure don't envy your winters. That snowblower would probably get plenty of use up by you!
Be careful with the shoveling!

 

[JimL]

I think we're at 6-9 inches already, and it's still coming. Here we usually get one big snow a winter, so this is it. The rest of the winter will be easy.

 

[Nancy]

Took all the ice and snow off the driveway yesterday by hand, 2 inches of ice in some areas where the plow threw up the snow and where the car has been driving on it. It's just asphalt now. It makes me think of Spring, except it was -16 early this morning, and -7 at noontime. Tomorrow is supposed to be much worse.

Let's see, one more month or so and I'll start my seedlings in the cellar under lights. That's a lot of fun. There's always something new every day when I turn on the lights.

 

[Granbonny]

nancy

nancy

You are one tough Lady How do yall keep your pipes from freezing in the house when it is that cold. You must have a warm house.In the south..if we get down in the low teens..they tell us to keep our faucets dripping Hope you don't keep the Baby out to long to wee-wee.. Yesterday, my birdbath thawed out. Enjoyed watching the Chickadees give themselves a bath...drinking a lot. They don't even mine Rufus laying on front porch watching them...We don't have creeks up here on top of mountain. They would have to fly down about 2 miles to lake to drink water.. Went to Dollar Store and bought bags of birdfeed for a $1.00 a bag. Just throw it on ground for them and squirrels to eat. I think we will have more cold air by weekend..Bonnie