2015 Blizzard

As promised, this storm hit and hit hard.  Long duration,heavy snow with 15+ hours of blizzard conditions, hurricane force wind gusts.  One REALLY good thing was that the storm was so intense it drew much colder air in which kept the snow fairly lightweight and easy to move, though after many hours of drifting and packing it is still a monumental effort to move the stuff.  This was also a major plus because the wind took most of the snow off of the trees, which meant they were not weighed down and could, for the most part, handle the winds.  We were very lucky and the power stayed on, though many in the region were not so lucky.

Along the coast there were massive losses of beaches and even homes from the storm surge and huge waves.  Barrier beaches were breached and millions of dollars worth of sand that were brought in to repair area beaches from previous storms is now gone, moved offshore or further down the coast.
When it was all said and done, we had at least two feet of snow, though I suspect it was much more.  It's hard to measure due to the winds.

Around the house and at work we had massive drifts which I will show in the pictures a bit further down.

I started moving the snow during the morning on Tuesday because I was scheduled for work and am considered 'essential personnel'.  I actually got most of the driveway in good shape (it's over 100 feet long), but left the parking area until the storms end.

Took this shot during the storm on Monday night though the slider in back of the house.

 The snowblower was ready and covered in a tarp next to the lawn tractor.  Past experience told me that the barn, with the wide open eves and loosely secured doors would get a lot of snow inside.  This storm was no different, if not worse than past storms.

The above image is the main entrance to the barn.  I had to enter the barn through a side stall door which was fairly clear, then force the front door open using a shovel to break the outside latch not thinking ahead enough to just leave it unlatched.  Lesson learned.

 This is what was Guapo's stall.  I can't express enough how happy I am that he is safely in Florida and away from this stuff.  It would have been awful for him.

 This is the drift that was blocking the main entrance to the barn.  Beyond the drift was a couple of feet of snow all the way out to the road, about 180 feet away.  The machine handled it well.  I had parked the cars side by side closer to the road in case something happened to the machine.  The town plows came through on time during Monday/Tuesday and left a giant pile of snow at the driveway apron.  I had to knock the snow down to manageable level for the snowblower, but after many passes I finally made it to the road, which was again snow covered and virtually impassable.  To the east of us is a horse farm that is wide open and quite deep which means that the snow piles up extra extra high when it hits the woods on the south side of the road.  We've seen such massive drifts in the past that the largest of our town plows get stuck and giant front-end loaders are needed to get them out and clear the snow off.

 Drift between the cars.  Most of the snow had blown off of the cars which was a plus.  Once I cleared the snow to the back of the cars, I backed the 4Runner into the clear area and went to work on the apron and getting the Subaru out.

Images of the front and side of the house with the drifts forming.


I needed to be at work at 4 pm, and having not seen a plow since the previous night and only a handful of trucks or SUVs I wasn't sure how well this was going to go.  I figured once I got the mile up the road to the larger road I'd be in good shape.  I was hesitant, but I took our new (new since May) Subaru Forester.  I immediately bottomed out when I got on the road, but kept going.  I probably should have taken my old 4Runner as it has a bit more ground clearance and is 12 years old.  But, too late.  I was committed.  Our road was one lane and some areas heavily drifted, but the Forester was doing well.  About a half mile in I had two town plows coming at me, so I nudged it a bit to the right and squeezed by.  When I hit the highway (which is a just a two lane road) I found it no better and more than terrifying.  The snow had intensified again and at times I could not see beyond the hood.

If I didn't know this road so well, I may have been in trouble.  I went no more than 22 mph and made it the 5 miles or so to work in about a half hour.

It continued t snow heavily throughout my shift and was still snowing when I left over 8 hours later.

 At work, the snow drift out side the lobby at the beginning of the shift.

 Drift at the end of the shift from inside the lobby.

Drift outside the main entrance and lobby at the end of the shift.  This was after midnight on Wednesday morning.

  I was not sure I could get home, but gave it a try.  I went home the same was I came in.  Our road was definitely worse as the plows had not come back through, but this turned out to be a good thing because I was able to push through the newly formed drift at the head of the driveway, though I did not make it in far.  Far enough though.

Wednesday morning the storm was finally out to sea.  We still had a lot of work ahead of us.  We were in no real hurry to get outside, but I did want to get the Subaru cleared and away from the road.  All of the following were taken on Wednesday morning.

 Cars stuck to the west. Road impassable to the east due to the drifts I mentioned earlier and cars stuck in them.

 The barn at the farm next door with massive drifts.

Mrs working to clear the parking area of our driveway.

I cleared an area inside the dog pen for them.

Our poor little tropical frog door knocker.

Uh-huh...

 Digging out the front porch.  Took a minute to sit and enjoy the day.


Mrs and I were able to get our snowshoes on and go exploring.  So great to be out on them and enjoying the snow.  We don't usually get to do that.  I had taken the night off for a meeting with the local land trust for volunteer stewards, but it was postponed due to the weather.  It was nice to not have to rush to get things done and go to work.

All in all we did very well.  After I upload this, I'll be heading out to clear the driveway apron again as the plows finally came by again this morning.  I'm hoping the snow slowly melts away, though it was zero degrees this morning, so maybe not so much today.  I dread a large rain storm coming in with this much snow on the ground, but I can't even think about that right now.  One thing at a time.