First Snow

first snow - 2012We had our first snowfall of the year yesterday.  It didn’t amount to much, but in this area it doesn’t take much snow to wreak havoc with the normal flow of things.

 

Many people here in the Washington, DC Metro area are originally from parts of the country that typically have substantial snowfalls each year.  However, it seems that once they arrive here, they immediately lose their ability to drive when snow is falling, no matter how sparse the resulting ground cover may be.

Snow Daze, the Threequel

I think I’m stuck in a time loop similar to that of the character Phil Connors in the movie Groundhog Day. Recently, each new day is a replay of the previous day:

It snows, I shovel; It snows, I shovel; It snows, I shovel; It snows, I shovel…

Snow Daze III We are now in the middle of the third significant snowstorm  of the season.  And, unlike the previous two, this one  is accompanied by wind gusts of up to 50 mph.   Not a good thing as neighborhoods here have lots of mature trees and aerial rather than underground  power, phone and cable feeds.  I hope I can get this written and posted before the power starts bouncing up and down, or worst case, goes out completely.

Snow Daze, the Sequel

I assumed our big snow for this winter occurred back in December.  Boy was I wrong.  We got hit with another Nor’easter that made the one that hit in December look like a preview of coming attractions.  As I sit here writing there is 23.5 inches (59.7 cm) or so of the white stuff covering our backyard.  It started snowing here on Friday afternoon and finally stopped on Saturday around 5 PM.

Click on the thumbnails to see full size pictures.

Snow Daze

We get maybe one “real” snow storm here (38.8905, -77.2702) per year and it usually happens in January.  And it is typically the result of a Nor’easter rather than storms coming from the West.  This year the Nor’easter came early!
snow09121901 The first substantial snowfall of this fall/winter season started around 9:00 PM last night and is still going strong.  There was about eight inches of snow when this picture was taken today at 9:57 AM.  The snow is expected to continue falling throughout the day with a total accumulation of 20 or more inches predicted.
snow09121903 This picture was taken today at 3:14 PM.  At that time, there was about 18 inches of snow on the ground.  And the snow was still falling at a pretty good clip.  The snow finally stopped falling around 11:30 PM.  At that time, there was about two feet (24 inches) on the ground in the immediate area. 
snow09121906 I took this picture during one of my numerous shoveling attempts to keep the driveway and front walk passable.  I finally gave up after a while and decided to wait until it stopped snowing.
snow09121905Gunston is exploring a path I dug to get  from  back yard to the front of the house.  He’s probably deciding where to make “yellow snow.”
snow09121907The big pile of snow is from a path I cleared on the deck so the dogs could get in and out of their doggie door. 

In Like a Lion

snow090301It started snowing here last night and it is still coming down at a pretty good rate.  There is about six inches of snow on the ground right now with the local weather forecasters saying that about two more inches can be expected before it tapers off.

Six to eight inches of snow may not sound like much to those who live in more northern climes, but here in the Washington, DC area, it is enough to bring just about all activities that require travel by Planes, Trains & Automobiles to a screeching halt.

It’s been 10 years since we’ve had a snowfall of any significance in March.