Be Careful What You Ask For

We had a weather advisory this morning, for a few inches of blowing/drifting snow. Would have made the morning drive a bit, er, problematic.

We had eight inches as of 0630, which made the drive downright dramatic. No big deal driving in 8" of dry snow: it's powdery, and swirls, drifts, and floats. Give it a few seconds, and it all falls to earth again. Take your time, and all will be well.

But we didn't get eight inches of powder; now, as of 1407, there are some 13" on the ground, and it's supposed to snow for another couple of hours.

It's I-can't-see-where-I'm-going weather. The knowledge that I'll have to park on the street when we get home, and walk up the hill to get the snowblower, isn't helping. The private contractors with whom our town contracts the residential plowing will have closed both ends of our C-shaped driveway. It typically takes 15 to 20 minutes of work just to open the entrance.

Grumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumble ...

Oh, well ... I wanted a big house in the mountains. The 270' foot driveway is a bonus, right?  :)

Another Job Well Done

(Note: we've had precious little snow this season, as it's all gone southeast into the Lower 48. Darn it.)

Once in awhile, the weather cooperates with my randomized work schedule. Today is such a day.

We got a few inches of snow yesterday morning, while I was at work. During the day, temps rose to 37°, so the snow shrank and turned slushy.

Last night, as temps dropped below freezing again, we got more snow. So this morning, a non-workday, I was able to attack the snowfall while it's still relatively fresh, with only a few tire tracks in it.

From top to bottom, you can see much of the 270' of driveway. This snow still has a lot of moisture in it, and was rather ... well, chunky. It required a bit more effort on my part than is usual, as the snowblower kept veering to the sides.

But the machine and I managed.

Brushed off and put away. Still a bit wet, but I draw the line at rubbing it with a towel.  :)

Strange Weather

This is going to be a week of strange weather, up here. 29° and raining lightly, going up to 35 today.
Temps in the mid-30s all week, or so AccuHunch predicts, and Weather Underground is calling for 10+ inches of snow on Wednesday.

Good thing we got that new snowblower; 10" of wet snow will give it a workout.

I'm looking forward to it (insert evil grin, here).

Okay, NOW We're Tired

My wife and I both worked full days today, then came home and tackled the snow in the driveway. The long winter season, the amount of snow we've gotten this time 'round (above average), and the comings and goings of four vehicles, have contributed to quite a series of ridges and hollows for the length of the drive. All 275' of it.

Consequently, it's getting more difficult to wrestle the snowblower back and forth.

The snowplow (i.e., a large dump truck with a humongous blade) had already plowed both ends of the driveway closed. These new berms were 16" to 18" high, and four feet wide. That "adequate" snowblower I described in previous posts, almost wasn't.

If we weren't trying to pay off our upcoming hotel vacation stays in advance - a sizable chunk - I'd have ordered the new snow-beast already.

I'm pretty sure my nonstop narrative about the snow is less-than-fascinating for most of you, if not all. Sorry 'bout that. That topic pretty much dominates our lives during the heavy snowfall season.

And if all the above weren't enough, it seems there's a short in the 120-volt circuit for my truck's block heater. I've tried different extension cords, but the GFCI receptacle continues to trip no matter which one I use. Younger Daughter's works just fine, for the record, so that only leaves mine. And it's supposed to be -7 tonight. Oh well, at least the auto-start still works. :)


Thanks for stopping by, friends.

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.

What Alaskans Do on a Day Off

This is the short section of the 275' driveway.

We take turns so that no one works up a sweat. That can be deadly in really cold temps. Fortunately, it's only 19° today.

Now we fire up the grill and make some wonderful burgers seasoned with Kenai Premier sauce, and some others with Moosetard's Alder-smoked mustard. Those are Alaskan brands made in Kenai and Fairbanks respectively, which are roughly 500 miles apart. But luckily for us, also sold locally.

As I said yesterday, our New Year's Eve will be a quiet evening at home.

So all y'all take care out there, and have a great evening, however you choose to celebrate it.

Winter Storm #1: the Aftermath

So our new town has apparently decided to "celebrate" the State's fiscal shortfall by failing to fully plow the roads. Our main drag between our side of town and the highway only had one lane partially cleared, and the other was the worst example of partially-frozen slush, potholes, ruts, ridges, and rough ice that I can recall seeing since my childhood. It's very nearly impassible.

Our street had been plowed ... sort of ... but went from sheet ice to wet spots back to ice. I got out at the community mailbox, only a few feet from our driveway, thank goodness, and discovered it was like trying to walk on a skating rink.

Both ends of our circle drive were plowed shut, and it turns out we got 8+ inches, total. So my wife and I took turns with the new snowthrower.

It works great, but still took some time to clear the drive. Let's see ... 275' long X 16' average width ...

But that's all done. Everything's put away, and we're in with a fresh pizza and cold drinks.