18 February 2017

AccuHunch Weather Strikes Again

For the last several days, AccuHunch has guessed that we'd get 1" to 3" of snow on Friday night. And so we did. There are three inches of snow under the additional five inches that fell on top of it.

But what the hey - eight is practically the same as three, right? Sigh ...

So, instead of a leisurely Saturday morning shopping run, I'll be running the snowblower instead. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

Fortunately, I did most of the shopping on the way home from work yesterday, before the bulk of the snow arrived. And then it all came down at once, around 20:00 (8 pm, for you civilians). It looked like the sky was throwing snowballs at us, for awhile, as the last three inches fell in about 20 minutes' time.

Reminded me of Adak, for a few minutes. It wasn't uncommon to get three feet of snow in an hour, out there.

* * * * *

So that's about all I have, for now. All y'all be careful out there, and thanks for stopping by.

10 comments:

ProudHillbilly said...

So I suppose you probably don't want to know that I'm sitting outside in 65 and sunny and drinking a beer?

Suz said...

Better yet, here in western MI it's sunny and 58! Which of course means it's mud season for the next week...

Aren't snowblowers the BEST invention?!?! I have had mine for 25 years. And it still works great.

Enjoy your snow...summer is coming.

Rev. Paul said...

PH, our relatives in the Midwest are in the 70s today. We're already hearing from them about it. And, just for the record, adult beverages work indoors, too. Heh. :)

Suz, I don't envy you the mud. Alaska doesn't get "springtime", per se. We get "break up", when the rivers & creeks thaw out, forming ice jams and flooding, and the snow melts slowly on the still-frozen soil, revealing dead grass and icy dirt. It's the only season in which I'm not thrilled with Alaska.

drjim said...

I suppose by this time next year I'll be well-versed in starting and running a snowblower in cold weather!

Is yours self-propelled?

Ed Bonderenka said...

69 degrees here in the middle of February!
Of course I was stuck in work.

Rev. Paul said...

No, Jim, but I guarantold you the next one will be - next winter! The bigger the tires, the better. And yes, that's bitter experience talking.

Ed, we got up to 33 today. For us, that's pretty warm. Sorry you didn't to go out & play.

drjim said...

Strangely enough, NONE of the local Big Box stores here has them in stock!

I've even seen a few on-line that have little caterpillar treads on them, but I doubt if I'll need one quite that big.

Looks like a nice 24" self-propelled one (with BIG tires, thanks) goes for around $1100, which my wife didn't blink at.

I've even seen some with heated hand grips.

We'll probably get a yard service for the mowing, but I can see a nice snow-blower in my future....

Rev. Paul said...

Jim, the one we bought for this place - and gee, it seemed so big & tough at the time - has its exhaust port directly above the left rear tire. In actual practice, the heat melts the pack-on snow into an ice ball which then immobilizes that wheel. And the 6" diameter wheels are just about useless in deep snow.

The opening ("mouth') needs to be as wide as you can find, and the exhaust chute should be steerable from the handlebar.

You don't want a capable machine which can just handle the snow; you want a snarling beast of a machine which will beat the snow into submission without breaking a sweat.

drjim said...

HAH!

Yeah.....that's kinda the type I'd buy. OK...I'll look at the 28" inlet ones, and watch where the muffler outlet is. I could always replumb it if I don't like where it exits. All the ones I looked at had a steerable discharge chute, which just flat-out "makes sense" to me.

I always wanted to get one back when I lived with my Dad in Illinois, but he wouldn't hear of it. My best buddy Joe had a plow on his CJ-5, and he'd always come by and do our driveway for us before he hit his "regular" customers. That plow paid for itself the first year he had it!

I think my snow-blower budget just went from around $1100 to more like $1300, but I'm too doggone old to be hand-shoveling snow at an elevation of 4700'!

Rev. Paul said...

Jim, now you're talkin'. And my use for the snow shovel is an occasional touch-up, rather than a heavy-duty snowmover. More power!