SnOMG

According to the weather forecasters, worst-case scenario, we were supposed to get more than 24” of snow in less than 18 hours time. 

So, I decided to do my weekly grocery run a little early, on Monday afternoon.  The store still had plenty of stock, but was starting to thin out.  People were buzzing and loading up their carts (some even had more than 1 cart) with what they considered the essentials, as if they weren’t going to be able to go shopping for several weeks time.  Brian had to go to 4 different stores before he was able to find salt to melt the ice still on our walks and driveway from the previous storm.  By Monday night, we were completely prepared to hunker down for a few days.

The storm came roaring in by mid-afternoon on Tuesday.  Snow was falling sideways and only getting more intense.  At times, we couldn’t see the neighbors’ houses across the street.  The wind howled nearly all night long.  And there was even thundersnow. 

The next morning, at first glance, it really didn’t look all that bad.  The snow had definitely drifted, so it was hard to tell exactly how much had fallen.

By Wednesday morning, the snow is still coming down!  It finally let up by mid-morning.

Check out those drifts!  You can’t make out hardly any of our back patio and landscaping, and the neighbor’s pool looks like it was turned into a below-ground one overnight.  We were even surprised to see that a fair amount of snow had blown into the closed garage.  (Snow-covered brooms and shoes by the door to the house, and a little mound inside the garage door.)

I carefully opened the front door to see its imprint pressed into the drift.  Connor was freaked out for some reason, and ran away screaming.  All of the windows held mini-drifts in the corners... even the transom window snowman looked like he was sitting on a snow bank, instead of floating like usual.  The sun stayed blocked by snow clouds for most of the morning – no shadow for Punxsutawney Phil!

And, last but not least, our tireless snow warrior, who trekked out 3 times to clear the driveway and front walk of snow.  Our snow blower could barely handle the load - even though it’s small, we’re so grateful to have it!  Check out that snow bank compared to Brian and the mailbox… yikes!  With the curve of the street and the position of the house next door, the drifts are about that deep all the way to their driveway, too.  We might not see that part of the sidewalk until Spring!

Connor and I popped outside periodically while Brian was clearing snow, but he showed no interest in getting near it.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  Most of these drifts are taller than he is!

All in all, we received about 18-20” of snow.  Aside from spending time in the Utah and Colorado mountains, this is the most I’ve ever seen. 

Schools were closed today, and most businesses as well.  We didn’t see a plow on our street until late afternoon, and no one really ventured down it all day.

They’ve declared a snow day for Thursday, too (technically, Brian will still be working from home as usual), but we’ll take the excuse to stay in.  :)

Bet that all y’all want to live in Chicago now!  Yeah?  Neither do we.  :S