My "Snow Gauge" reported 22".....
And I've never seen it pile up on the fence like this, most likely because we had very little wind last night.
It even stacked up on the tree trunk.
The neighbors front porch is over 24" AGL, and the snow is almost flush with it.
Thirty minutes of carefully shoveling cleared the front steps and down to the driveway.
I'll power up the snow blower after I warm up a bit. I'm taking it REEEEAL easy doing the shovel work. The snow is pretty dry and light, but it's 25* outside, and even mild exertion can cause Bad Things to happen to Olde Fartes like me who overdo it.
It's still coming down lightly, and the winds are expected to kick up, meaning it's gonna drift like crazy.
I would not want to be out East of here today. Getting stuck in a blizzard out on the Plains can have devastating consequences.....
**********UPDATE**********
The snow blower actually works OK on this dry, powdery snow! I have to take two bites at the path, though. One with the front of it picked up about 6", and then I let it back down on the skid shoes, and get the 6" left after the first pass.
I plowed a 24" wide swath down the driveway, and all the way to the corner. Then I backed it up, turned it 180*, and did a 24" swath across the driveway, and down the other section of "our" sidewalk. By this time (over 35 minutes of run time, and the batteries were warm) the batteries were almost depleted, so I parked it, put the batteries on the charger, went back and cleaned out the inlet and sprayed it down with silicone spray, and brewed a big mug of Joe.
After the batteries charge I'll go back out and widen the path.
I amazed I was able to get that much snow moved on one charge. If I hadn't had to lift it up and hit the same section twice, like with only 12" of snow, I think I could have finished on the first charge.
I'm still not real enamored of the thing for several reasons, but at least I'm not screaming at it today.....
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Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are supposed to deliver the big payload on us. I'm sure that you'll get more snow. And you're correct. Anything over 3' essentially maroons you until you can get a plow to it. I'm not saying that a competent 4x4 with chains can't tackle 3' but at some point the front of the rig is pushing a lot of snow.
ReplyDeleteElegant proof of Global Warming
ReplyDeleteOnly because we didn't pay the tax!
DeleteI'd rather plow four feet of snow than give those rat bastards a penny of my hard-earned money.....
The neighbor across the street has a boyfriend with a Nissan Pathfinder 4x4, and he was having trouble just coming up the street.
ReplyDeleteI know we have some very capable vehicles in the "Family Fleet", but this is just about where you fire up the snowmobiles if you absolutely must get someplace.
And that someplace might not be open.....
Wow... Interesting to get that much this early!
ReplyDeleteOur snowiest month is actually March, with 12". Our historic snowfall total for November runs around 8.5".
DeleteThis is the second largest snowfall in Fort Collins history. I think the all-time record is around 32".
Shortly after we moved to Alaska, there was a 28" snow dump overnight. My '98 Expedition behaved as if the snow wasn't even there. Alas, I don't have the beast anymore. That much snow would immobilize the little crossover I'm driving now.
ReplyDeleteI could probably get around town in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, but I'd need a really good reason to do it.
DeleteImpressive pile on that table and chair!
ReplyDeleteThis is where that saying, "same planet, different world" comes in. I try to imagine that much sand suddenly covering everything I can see and it boggles my mind.
Back in the 80s I had my mind blown with a day that didn't get over about 35 (IIRC). I couldn't imagine putting food outside and having it colder than in a refrigerator.
This is the second largest snowfall ever in Fort Collins. I think the record is North of 32", which happened in 1979, and our in-laws still talk about it.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of growing up in Illinois.
October 1998 we got hammered. Ended up with snow level on the bottom of the windows 42" off the ground.
ReplyDeleteCirca 1970-1973 based in SLC I had an International Travelall 4x4 with locking differentials.That beast never was stopped (except at gas stations).
Yeah, that's a LOT of snow.
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