Holy WINTER, Batman!

[Kyra's Mom]

More just a vent but crap, Calgon take me away.

I have lived here my entire life and have never experienced what we are right now. It is like we up and moved to mountains. Boise, is considered the "banana belt" of Idaho. Winters for the most part are daytime temps in the 30's and nighttime in the 20's. Of course we get some single digits and subzero but it seldom stays there for than 2 or 3 days. We do get snow...typically 2-4 inches and it is usually gone in 2 or 3 days as temps get back up above freezing.

This winter is just off the charts. We have had snow on the ground for over 4 weeks (I think we have had 2 days it managed 34F) and just keep getting more and more snow. We got dumped on Christmas Eve and Christmas day and the little storm on Wednesday gave us a record for the day and a record for total snow on the ground. I got stuck in the parking lot at work and pinned another car in, in the process of getting stuck. That was embarrassing but they weren't keeping up with clearing the parking lots. Currently the total is at 15 inches and highly likely to increase. Because a significant depth of snow is not usually an issue, our county highway department is not really equipped for this. They have been doing a good job on the main roads but are not doing the subdivisions and they are a mess with many people not able to get out. Or...they do them and trap people in with a big mound of snow in front of the driveways (my co-worker got stuck entering her driveway this morning because of said pile of snow). I have to shovel for two houses (mine and my parents). I pulled an abdominal muscle weeks ago. Needless to say, my poor belly is not getting much of a chance to heal up .

On the horizon for tomorrow...wind, very low wind chills and guess what...4-6 more inches of now followed by rain for a couple days. I am really concerned for my parents' storage garage and patio cover. Not really much I can do about it...but worry. The poor ponies are so over it too. I did make it out there this morning and they were eating well but did not look enthused at the circumstances. We are all over it for sure.

Thanks for letting me vent. I have liked living here...we heretofore have never had extreme weather and I don't like it

Susan

[Moutaineer]

I understand totally. I'm just down the road.

-23 this morning without windchill.

4 feet of snow in the last couple of weeks.

RAIN due on Sunday/Monday, followed by more frigid temps and more snow.

Eff it. I want to move to Hawaii.

[StraightForward]

Yes, rain on top of all this crap. Won't that be nice. And holy heck it's been cold; the dog doesn't even want to go outside. I can't blame him for peeing on the deck and hustling back in.

[PaulaO]

I hear ya. We had more snow in December than we had all last winter. The snow is mainly gone, but it's frigid. Today's high will be 16 with wind chills below zero. The horses haven't been out in 4 days. Fortunately Miss A. is now chill with being inside with her friends. Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 20. A heat wave....

[westisbest]

We were warned by the I guess Farmer's Almanac that it would be an unusually cold snowy winter here in S. Alberta and yep they were not kidding. November was still mild t-shirt weather here then the hammer fell in December. We have had one intensely cold spell couple of weeks ago now we are about to get hit again. night time lows of nearly -40C. We only have 4 horses inside and they all go out everyday they have shelters and round bales and all seem to enjoy the snow! Snow banks are getting as high as a small child in the suburbs. It is beautiful at my friends place where I keep my horse, we have an unobstructed view of the Rocky's I'm often there to see the sunrise as I help with AM chores... pure still winter beauty. It will pass, but now I'm worried about a muddy wet spring (scratches prone horse) with this much snow. And potential flooding with snow pack melting in the mountains.

[Canyon]

I hear you! I live in the banana belt of Colorado, and it's been below zero the last two mornings. Our snow from Christmas did melt before Thursday's storm - 1/2" predicted but 6" actual on the ground. Snow/rain mix predicted tonight through Monday. Ugh.

I'm glad my senior horse seems pretty happy with a blanket and Previcox. Otherwise, I would feel very guilty for putting him through this stretch of winter.

Hang in there everyone. Soon we'll be complaining about heat, bugs, and weeds. One can dream!

[Sue B]

So we did make it clear up to 0*F yesterday but then the wind came up. Lol. My mom just booked a flight to Hawaii, she leaves Jan 24. Meanwhile, despite our best efforts, she has been snowed in since late Wed and our neighbor is bringing the loader over to dig her out. Drifts and ice more than our little fergie can handle. Like Kyra's mom, we do not live in the mountains but on the high desert. We often get snow, our problem is that we can't get it to just sit in one place. Church is cancelled tomorrow due to the next storm that's supposed to move in and ds has only been to school one day since the end of Christmas vacation. I sure hope the weather guessers are wrong about the rain, we have enough ice as it is. I would rather have snow I think.

Hope you folks in the South are doing okay, I heard y'all are getting a taste of our last storm. Stay warm!

[piedmontfields]

Yes, we are freezing here in E TN (high in the 20sand windy) but it is truly nothing compared to what folks have out west! My old home in NC got a goodly amount of snow with this last storm, though. We just had a dusting of snow in the Tennessee valley.

To give you more painful perspective on southern living, we don't even own a snow shovel.Our mantra is "let it melt"! Occasionally we've used the tractor blade to ease snow from our 1/4 mile driveway, but that's more for entertainment than necessity.

[Canyon]

After a low of 18 last night, it is now raining; lovely - freezing rain! It's not too bad yet on top of the snow, but concrete surfaces and roads are ice skating rinks.

[galopp]

(One lady's indoor there already collapsed!)

[Moutaineer]

Yup, working from home today. I have no desire to be part of the CF that is going on out on our roads.

[Canyon]

Local law enforcement now is telling people to stay home and off the roads. The school district decided on a two-hour delayed start, and then decided Whoopsie, we're sending students home early at 1:50. We usually don't get ice storms here.

[PaulaO]

Freezing rain is the worst.

[Moutaineer]

I kid you not it is now hailing so hard I can't see across my driveway, accompanied by a violent thunderstorm. (My husband has just walked past and said "just think, you could be paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of sitting on a ski lift in this!")

[Fatcat]

Yes, all that mess came through oregon earlier last week. We've had sleet, snow, freezing rain and now just buckets of rain on top of that mess. I'm sick of slogging through a slushy flooded mess. My stalls are flooded and the horses are sick of being in, but they'd need snorkels to be turned out.

The only one liking it is our collie,Finn.

image.jpeg (100.33 KiB) Viewed 19953 times

[PaulaO]

Finn should be on a calendar. Handsome boy.

[Flight]

What a great pic Fatcat! He looks like he's loving it.

It's hot here, this week getting to 41 C (105 F?) so I'll take some of your cold weather off you for sure!

[Moutaineer]

I see you guys in Idaho are getting the ice today. Yuck.

Yesterday evening I went out to feed at around 7pm. The wind was still howling and the snow was blowing, but not as bad as it had been an hour earlier. It had been a weird day altogether with highs earlier getting up into the 40's.

My little barn had 6" of snow melt in it, hemmed in by a rim about 10ft wide of 8" thick solid ice, with several inches of snow over it. I hewed my way through with a pickaxe and shovel in order to drain out the barn... Took me about an hour and a half, in the snow and wind and hail. We WILL be doing some drainage work this summer, even if it means dismantling the barn. I'm getting WAY too old for this stuff.

However, I'm certainly fitter than I have been and have far better core strength for wielding a pick. This would have killed me last winter, whereas I don't even hurt today.

[Sue B]

I shovelled my mom's driveway for a couple hours Sunday to make it easier for dh to move snow with his little tractor because neighbor who had promised to be there Saturday with his loader had more pressing issues to deal with. When I started, there was some freezing rain and 20mph breeze, when we finished it was snowing heavily sideways. I am happy though because my core got a great work out. Neighbor came by that evening and moved more snow for us so she can now get out easily. Her driveway is 150yds long then right angle turn, 80yds to road. Long part was under 3-4 foot deep snow drifts the whole length. I moved 15yds by 8 yds...how many cubic yards is that?

Now it is still alternating between heavy snow and driving rain. Folks are beginning to get annoyed.

[Moutaineer]

Good grief. We have had at least another 30" in the past 24 hours and it's still coming down. Needs to stop for a bit so we can clean out! Roads and driveways are getting very narrow and deep on this mountain. I need to dig my way out to the barn in a few.

[Tarlo Farm]

We had a similar winter five years ago. I don't envy you. We got the frigid cold, followed by a 40 degree day, followed by the rain, then cold, now sleet. Icy!!
Tomorrow will have two more minutes of daylight than today. Hang in there!

[Flight]

Snow pics please!!

[Kyra's Mom]

Yes Flight...if I wasn't so damned busy shoveling the snow, I could take a picture .

Yesterday started out with 3 MORE inches of very wet HEAVY snow. By mid-morning it had turned to rain. We had 1 inch plus of precip yesterday. Our YEARLY average is only 12 inches. Many streets and intersections were ponds, lakes or rivers because the snow is obstructing the storm drains. Many roofs and carports have bit the dust with the added weight of the rain on 15 inches of snow. Ice dams have left many with leaky roofs. Truly a mess. Today was still above freezing but that is over. It is supposed to be back down in the 20's during the day and teens (F) at night. I am concerned with the horses having to navigate the deeper frozen snow as the rain took a lot of the snow but not nearly all of it. I will be checking feet and legs very closely.

With the colder weather we are at least supposed to get a break in the snow. It will be nice not to have to shovel multiple times/day.

I have a nice snow pic of my house on my phone but for some reason, photobucket won't upload for me . The snow now, because of all the rain is yucky gray...not very picturesque.

Susan

[Kyra's Mom]

Well, CRAP. Went out to the barn to meet the trimmer this morning. She was working on my horse when we looked up and , 3 of the 5 beams holding the roof up over the aisle were broken clear through and the roof was sagging! The sun was just warming up the roof and the water was starting to drip. Man did we move pronto. I called the barn owner and now the barn (and indoor arena) are closed. At least no horses live in those stalls but so much for doing any work. Whole landscape is an ice field . As I said before...Calgon, take me away.

Susan

[Fatcat]

It's been a nightmare here in Oregon too. Portland is still a frozen mess. We're just dealing with lots of frozen ground here in the Willamette valley, and flooding because there's no where for the melting snow to go. We've got 5 days of cold and sunny days to get drained down I hope.

[Kyra's Mom]

Sorry...I can't quit whining. If I wanted to live through winters like this, I would live somewhere that has 30 inches of snow on the ground for weeks/months at a time. Of course the local news is calling it Snowmageddon.

We have had a short reprieve with no measurable precip for like 5 days but the forecast for Wednesday/Thursday--up to 10 inches of snow . On top of the 10 inches of ice left from above 30 inches getting 1 inch of rain on it. Just astounds me. I have never ever in my 61 years seen anything like it around here. I can't wait to get my gas and electric bills for the month. Other than the day and a half it rained, highs have been at best the low 20's and lows in the single digits. Seems like the poor furnace is running about every 5 minutes...maybe because it is . I just keep hoping it doesn't crap out and quit like it did a couple years ago.

The horses seem to be weathering it all fine. Both my horse and my friend's horse went splat at the beginning of all this but seemed fine and have developed a healthy respect for the conditions. We made a good call though and for cleaning bought a couple of those little plastic sleds. We have some muck buckets and a couple totes and load them up on the sled and pull it to the muck pile. We wouldn't have gotten the wheelbarrow through this stuff for anything. I was hoping when I bought the second one a little over a week ago, it would make this weather go away. No such luck .

Susan

[Tarlo Farm]

Holy crap Susan, I haven't checked this for a while. Living with that kind of snow on a regular basis I didn't think to give you the tips of the sleds and muck buckets to slide through the snow, and I ONLY use a single wheel wheelbarrow in the winter. Once you get a track set (and don't walk in it) they work fine.

But the roof!! The roof!! Do you know what the pitch is of the roof? Spacing of the rafters? Is the surface shingled? (another reason to use steel on those big surfaces, so the snow slides off. Here in MI where we usually get lots of snow building codes demand enough pitch to keep roofs from caving in.

[piedmontfields]

What a horrible winter for you all. The combo of snow and ice is the worst. Stay safe!!!

[Kyra's Mom]

Well..they are moderating the forecast a bit? 2-6 inches on Wed AND Thurs. Hopefully the 2 inches is the actual amount. For crying out loud, yesterday morning they said 1-2 inches then by afternoon it was 10 inches. I know weather forecasting is inexact but yikes.

Yes, Tarlo Farm, the sled is a back saver. Our wheelbarrow is a smaller 2 wheeled Rubbermaid cart and just does not go through snow this deep...it would probably work now on the ice . Of course we had someone cleaning for us and they quit. They took the job in October...I guess they didn't factor in how much longer it takes in the winter. Oh well, my friend is retired so between the two of us, we can mostly keep up. Our horses are in pens about 50 x 90. I have a problem with my horse standing in crap. Most other boarders and the help think we are nutty. No, just particular. The pens are self care as far as cleaning. The option is finding someone to clean (and that hasn't worked well at all), doing it ourselves or not doing it. Ain't boarding grand

The indoor is a steel building but the snow slides off the roof of the indoor onto the aisle roof. Yes, it could have more slope. The beams are pretty aged and very dry so they broke with the load. I'm sure it was built to specs 30+ years ago. What was the killer was the one inch of rain on top of the snow then a hard freeze. All that stuff got very heavy and frozen in place. So far a once in a lifetime event. Hopefully they can get it repaired by tomorrow and no horses live in that building so no critters in danger.

I feel bad for my parents. Both are 87 and handicapped with arthritis and have been housebound since this started. My Dad has dementia and my mother doesn't cope with him very well at times but so far, they haven't killed each other. But, I'm all over my mother that NOTHING outside is worth a broken hip. I work at the local trauma center and we have had so many elderly with broken bones...nope, nothing is worth that. I can get to the store for them.

Oh and I got my gas bill. Only $68 . I find that hard to believe. I have been running a couple small electric space heaters in my big great room to take off the chill (only when I am home). That room (living, dining and kitchen) has 10 windows. I love the windows and light BUT...not when it is 20's and below outside. We are going on 6 weeks of very cold temps with the exception of the day and a half it rained. I guess space heaters do give the furnace a little break. I know my electric bill will be larger but that is OK. I can stay comfortable between the two.

All this will pass...sometime. Then it will be 100 degrees in March and I can bitch some more .
Susan

[khall]

Ah geeze! I am so sorry some of you are having winter from hell! I live in GA, won't tell you what we are dealing with, but not much winter at this point for sure.

Stay safe and I hope somewhat warm.

[Sue B]

My 85 year old mom lost her car in the WalMart parking lot yesterday afternoon and wandered around quite a bit before going back in and asking for help. While she did have a winter jacket on, it was 15F with a 10mph breeze. House cleaner called last night to report mom came home with hypothermia. Aaaargh, I live next door, we live in a rural community, why didn't she (mom) CALL?? Luckily, she is headed for Hawaii in a couple days (I have to drive her to Boise during the next storm) and I won't have to worry as much, at least she won't freeze to death there!

[StraightForward]

Sue, I hope your mom is OK after that!

So glad I cleared snow from the greenhouse before I split town. My dad and I had this conversation when we built, it is not designed for snow load!

[Moutaineer]

Aaand... our area plow fund is out of cash. You can imagine the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth and blaming and shaming that has caused. Am I going to the meeting about it? Er, no... I can't get to the house it is being held at. (And I'd rather poke myself repeatedly in the eye with a sharp stick. Just send me a bill, guys.)

I just can't imagine the mud we are going to have when this lot melts.

Waah. I'm going to CA on a business trip on Thursday. And it looks like its going to bloody rain the whole time I'm there too.

[Tarlo Farm]

Climate Change anyone?

[Kyra's Mom]

Well, the 10 inches of snow ended up 2...but rain on top of that for several hours. Sidewalks and driveways were a ~#?**! sheet of ice this morning. It is supposed to be above freezing today but will it get rid of a 1/4 - 1/2 inch of ice? I'm just over it .

Mountaineer...we keep thinking of the mud...that will be even more fun...NOT. We have probably gotten 1/3 of our yearly precipitation in the last month. It isn't going to be pretty.

Susan

[Canyon]

Susan, everything was looking really grim after our ice storm last week. Then, unexpectedly, a warm wind broke our temperature inversion, and all the snow and ice melted away pronto! I hope you guys get a similar break in the weather soon. Ice is so scary for man and beast.

[LeoApp]

I really really really hate when it snows and then it rains and then the temps don't get above freezing. So far over here on the East Coast we have had a warm January but Feb is supposed to be colder than normal and snowy.

[heddylamar]

If it were possible, I would take all of your winter. It's been unseasonably mild in MD this year. I haven't needed the heavy winter coat even once, and all of the other warm/seriously warm outdoor gear is still packed away.

[Moutaineer]

Snowing again here. And Sundance starts today. Glad I am leaving town for a couple of days, even if it is to the rain, and that my pet carer has a snowplow on her truck!