BIG Winter Storm Predicted

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Looks like Spring is coming here.
I'm thinking about turning on my outside water.


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Saturday morning, snow was predicted to start around 11 last night, but no snow yet. It is raining and 37 degrees out. It is not supposed to (according to National Weather Service app) get down to freezing until 11 tonight.

I had a job this weekend that would have started yesterday, a drop in, walk the dog and feed her and check on the cats. They had asked more than a week ago about this job. I agreed to it, knowing that this BIG storm was predicted. They left yesterday to go to the mountains and took the dog. I will go and check the cats this morning and depending on the snow levels tomorrow, as suggested by the owners. The cats being left home alone is much easier because their food normally has to be put up so that the dog doesn't eat it.

The totals keep changing. I went to the store to get another carton of milk, eggs, and a bag of avocados. Stores were noticeably lower on food. No worries here on food though, just topping off the fresh food.
 
I turned on the television to see what is going on. Some places have been reported to have 10 to 12 inches of snow with 4 to 8 inches predicted. The current temperature according to Fox is 31 degrees. We are still being advised to stay home. "Please stay home." Some places have much more snow have than others. Fort Collins has more than a foot. The snow here is wet and seemed about 6 inches deep.

Denver Zoo is closed, which is unusual. It is usually open every day of the year. Museum of Nature and Science is closed. Several vaccination sites are closed. Some churches are closed. Flights are being canceled at DIA. Some schools are already declaring they will be closed tomorrow. Some colleges are closed today. Some roads are closed.

I went out and shoveled. It has been very wet and had not previously been that cold. The snow is very wet. I wanted to get the wet bottom layer off before it became a sheet of ice. While I was shoveling a tree branch above me dumped a load of snow on me. LOL!

Some are saying that they expected the storm to be worse, and we have seen worse, but it is better to over predict conditions and have people be more prepared than to under predict and have many people out running around. Of course, there are people who will go out and run around because they thrive on the excitement of it, like ambulance chasers.
 
@Haertig, I know you have emergency alerts turned off. I know that you are well aware of the current conditions so this would just be a moot point for you.

Emergency Alert received. Blizzard in effect until midnight. Stay off the roads unless an emergency.

I cannot tell where I shoveled this morning. It is all blended together now.
 
Weedygarden said:
I cannot tell where I shoveled this morning. It is all blended together now.
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This is our back deck right now. Mind you, we have shoveled it four times already. And we still have this. With an additional 6-8" predicted before the storm is over. I'd estimate we have about 16" of raw snow, but the wind is blowing that into two to three foot high drifts. We will not be getting out of our driveway without some serious work, even with the 4x4 truck. My wife has to be at work at the hospital tomorrow morning, so we don't really have an option other than to get up really early and shovel like heck.

Makes you want to hop right out there and fire up the grill for a few burgers, doesn't it? 😕

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Haertig said:
This is our back deck right now. Mind you, we have shoveled it four times already. And we still have this. With an additional 6-8" predicted before the storm is over. I'd estimate we have about 16" of raw snow, but the wind is blowing that into two to three foot high drifts. We will not be getting out of our driveway without some serious work, even with the 4x4 truck. My wife has to be at work at the hospital tomorrow morning, so we don't really have an option other than to get up really early and shovel like heck.

Makes you want to hop right out there and fire up the grill for a few burgers, doesn't it? 😕

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When these storms happen, I often see crazy people out driving because I know some people cannot stand to be still. It is the essential workers that I know have to be out, such as hospital workers.
Our pastor was new last August, from Texas, and previously on a mission in Belize. He may have never seen snow before, but maybe he has. He went to church this morning to run a Zoom meeting for church. He could have run it from home, but thought it was okay to go out. Going home was the challenge, two or more hours after heading out to church this morning. He got stuck on his way home, on a side street and had to shovel out a parking spot, two blocks from home. Then he walked home. Gearing up for weather like this can take time and be an expense for a family of 6. I have no idea how well equipped he was, but I am sure he now has experience with this kind of weather.
 
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We now have a drift in our backyard at least 5 feet high running the length of the yard. A snowplow came and made a second loop around our cul-de-sac several hours ago, this time piling the snow in the center. That pile is 6 to 7 feet high.

The problem with snow like this is not 4-wheel drive or aggressive tires. We've got that. It is ground clearance. We have 18" rims I think they are, so quite large tires compared to normal passenger vehicles, but even with that we can't bust snow drifts that are over the top of the hood. I imagine once you get out of our wind funnel drift producing cul-de-sac, the roads could be better. But you gotta get out to those roads in the first place! I told the wife to just cancel her patient's appointments for tomorrow. If she can't get there in our truck, there's no way a 90 year old with their walker is gonna make it in their Buick.

On the bright side ... we still have power! Only one brief flicker a few hours ago. It's not that cold either - mid 20's. Just lots of heavy wet snow. You have to shovel in layers. And each "bite" is only a few inches long. I hate shoveling this type of snow.
 
Haertig said:
We now have a drift in our backyard at least 5 feet high running the length of the yard. A snowplow came and made a second loop around our cul-de-sac several hours ago, this time piling the snow in the center. That pile is 6 to 7 feet high.

The problem with snow like this is not 4-wheel drive or aggressive tires. We've got that. It is ground clearance. We have 18" rims I think they are, so quite large tires compared to normal passenger vehicles, but even with that we can't bust snow drifts that are over the top of the hood. I imagine once you get out of our wind funnel drift producing cul-de-sac, the roads could be better. But you gotta get out to those roads in the first place! I told the wife to just cancel her patient's appointments for tomorrow. If she can't get there in our truck, there's no way a 90 year old with their walker is gonna make it in their Buick.

On the bright side ... we still have power! Only one brief flicker a few hours ago. It's not that cold either - mid 20's. Just lots of heavy wet snow. You have to shovel in layers. And each "bite" is only a few inches long. I hate shoveling this type of snow.
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2 words

Snow blower

Ben
 
Weedygarden said:
When I went and shoveled an hour or so ago, I had the realization that this snow is too wet for a snow blower. It is the kind of snow that would plug up a snow blower. Do you know that one casualty of snow blowers is that people lose a finger or finger tip from unplugging snow blowers?
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Yes I know that.

The fine print in the manuals make that clear. Very dangerous.

Not to make light of that danger it does remind me of a tradtion that I established first with my son and has passed down to the girls.

The eldest granddaughter reported to her mother that she had her hand on her head as she did something stupid and smashed her finger. Her mother said"what would your father tell you?". Soon after the girl reported to my son who replied "What would Grampa say?" Olivia replied;

"Don't do that."

Snow blowers are tools that multiply our abilities giving us more power. With power comes responsibility both for ourselves and those around us.

The cautions documented in user manuals illustrate just how silly people can be.

Snow blowers are not intended to be used to remove snow from roofs. Lanyards (aka shoe laise to hold id badges around ones neck) are not recomended for people under the age of 14, lawn tractors should not be operated by people over 60... are a few examples that come to mind.

Levity aside...

A snow blower and or a heated driveway are a good investment if one lives in harms way.

The latter is on my wishlist because there is a limit to how long this old man will be able to shovel.

:peace:

Ben
 
Neb said:
Yes I know that.

The fine print in the manuals make that clear. Very dangerous.

Not to make light of that danger it does remind me of a tradtion that I established first with my son and has passed down to the girls.

The eldest granddaughter reported to her mother that she had her hand on her head as she did something stupid and smashed her finger. Her mother said"what would your father tell you?". Soon after the girl reported to my son who replied "What would Grampa say?" Olivia replied;

"Don't do that."

Snow blowers are tools that multiply our abilities giving us more power. With power comes responsibility both for ourselves and those around us.

The cautions documented in user manuals illustrate just how silly people can be.

Snow blowers are not intended to be used to remove snow from roofs. Lanyards (aka shoe laise to hold id badges around ones neck) are not recomended for people under the age of 14, lawn tractors should not be operated by people over 60... are a few examples that come to mind.

Levity aside...

A snow blower and or a heated driveway are a good investment if one lives in harms way.

The latter is on my wishlist because there is a limit to how long this old man will be able to shovel.

:peace:

Ben
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If a person lives where there is considerable amount of snow or ice, a heated driveway would be worth the investment.
I knew a doctor in Kansas City who had a heated driveway. They only had to flip a switch to clear it, and time of course.
 
It's always fun to open your garage door to get the snow blower, which is behind the lawn mower, which is behind the generator, which is behind a set of snow tires ... only to face a eyebrow-high wall of snow precariously perched where your garage door used to be. Then you have a heart attack yanking repeatedly on the backup cord to get the engine started, because the battery is dead - before you realize that you forgot to turn the key to the "on" position, and subsequently flooded the engine. Yep ... fun times! Love those snow blowers!
 
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Weedygarden said:
If a person lives where there is considerable amount of snow or ice, a heated driveway would be worth the investment.
I knew a doctor in Kansas City who had a heated driveway. They only had to flip a switch to clear it, and time of course.
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My walks are flagstone. They retain heat and heat up and clear fairly easily. The snow is melting to them and that is one reason I want to keep them clear. Last time I shoveled today, the bottom was fairly densely melting snow, turning to ice, given enough time. But when the sun shines, they also clear fairly quickly.
 
We have a blade on the tractor. Unfortunately, we are having tractor problems 🙄 We had a snow-blower but it wasn't enough HP like Weedy was saying so sold it and went with the blade.
We were still able to get out of the drive and the plows had been on the roads so were in okay shape. Today was another gorgeous day though slightly cooler than yesterday and tomorrow is supposed to be about 10* cooler yet. @Haertig, hope wife stays safely at home or makes it safely to work. @Weedygarden glad it's no worse for you.
 
Haertig said:
This is our back deck right now.
Makes you want to hop right out there and fire up the grill for a few burgers, doesn't it? 😕
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Whair's da hot tub!? I thought it was on the back porch?
Should be really handy about now!
 
You know, in places where they get lots of wet snow they use explosives to move the snow down the mountain.
Why use two words when one makes the job easier and more fun?
EXPLOSIVES!
better living through chemistry...
 
There is no problem so big or small that cannot be solved with the correct amount of high explosives.

I'm sure somebody famous said that...;)
 
They would be stuck in the snow somewhere else!:cool::coffee:
 
Haertig said:
This is our back deck right now. Mind you, we have shoveled it four times already. And we still have this. With an additional 6-8" predicted before the storm is over. I'd estimate we have about 16" of raw snow, but the wind is blowing that into two to three foot high drifts. We will not be getting out of our driveway without some serious work, even with the 4x4 truck. My wife has to be at work at the hospital tomorrow morning, so we don't really have an option other than to get up really early and shovel like heck.

Makes you want to hop right out there and fire up the grill for a few burgers, doesn't it? 😕

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My brother, In Elizabeth CO, has a back porch that looks like that too. That's a good bit of snow for this time of year, but good for the water table.

My oldest was born during a snow storm. May 8th, so you may still get more.
 
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