It started snowing on Friday, Feb 5th and snowed through Saturday evening -sometimes at a rate up to 3 inches per hour. I shoveled my driveway Friday night so I didn't have too much to shovel come Saturday. I don't have a large or long driveway, but it was snowing so hard that I wouldn't get halfway done and where I started was well covered. I shoveled two times, back to back and gave up. Beer.
By 8:00am Saturday morning we had well over a foot of snow, and it wasn't letting up. I was turned off at the thought of going out there to battle the never-ending snow. I knew it had to be done eventually and breaking it up in multiple shovelings makes it easier, so I headed out (no, I wasn't having "fun"):
At this point you can almost make out the curbs on the edges of the street, and a lot of evergreens in the area were lost. The temps stayed right under freezing, which made this a wet, heavy snow.
Here's shortly after one of my Saturday shovelings, the snow had almost stopped! Notice the R1150R sitting quietly in the garage, knowing that it wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon (as of today, it hasn't moved since the 5th):
The dogs liked this, and I took them out front to keep me company while I was doing my work.
While they tried, they couldn't really get too far:
Saturday night - anyone up for a cookout?
I love this time after a snowfall, before everyone gets back into their daily routine. Sunday brought the sun out - peaceful, serene, quiet. BRIGHT!
The neighbors slowly emerged, most offered help to others as needed. It was nice. I made my way around to help people on neighboring streets.
Monday came and the federal government decided to close in the area, so Washington could clear the streets before they got clogged up with tens-of-thousands of commuters. Probably a good idea. I got out shuttling the kids around- nice to have a break from the work routine.
The snow brings the idiots out (actually, they're always out there, sometimes snow makes it easier to identify them):
I heard the forecasters talking about a second major snowstorm heading towards us, expected to hit the area Tuesday night. All of the local road crews were working doubletime to get as much of the roads cleared before another foot of the white stuff hit. I think overall they did a good job (at least in my area) given the circumstances, but everyone still bitched about their "slow" response.
I figured the government would open on Tuesday to get a day of work in, knowing they would most likely be closed again come Wednesday. Nope - closed! Works for me - another unexpected holiday. Unfortunately as a federal contractor, I normally don't get to charge my contract if the government is closed. There's some savings for the U.S. taxpayer. Fortunately for the federal employees, they get paid without using any of their leave. That cancels the savings!
This second storm brought strong winds and much lower temps, so we were told to expect power failures and deep snow drifts. While I didn't lose power, many others did.
So Wednesday I wake up to...shovel some more.
The dogs liked it...some more:
This is looking at my way out of my street. It doesn't look too different right now, minus a little depth!
Eventually the snow stopped again, leaving me with an additional 12 inches on top of the previous 20+ inches (I never bothered measuring it - I didn't need a measruement to tell me it was an assload of snow). The federal government was closed again on Thursday.
The mayor of Washington caught hell, but the residents like to complain about EVERYTHING. While the mayor is only slightly corrupt, I think he did the best he could with the snow. Friday, the government opened with an "unscheduled leave" policy in effect, which allows the people that can't get to work, use their leave. I headed in to work - I needed to get out of the house. Since then, area schools slowly opened back up and the past week I commuted to work using free carpools (they call it "slugging" in this area - great way to reduce your commuting time by ridesharing). That was nice not having to deal with driving the commute, especially since I wasn't able to get the motorcycle out yet. There didn't seem to be a sign that this stuff would be melting snytime soon, although the main roads were clear. My neighborhood streets were the issue, and the local transportation departments are not responsible for clearing residential streets down to bare pavement. I'm ok with that, as I'm sure it would cost me many more tax dollars.
My family survived, but the streets in my neighborhood were still 3 inches of hard packed ice up until today. We've had a couple days now getting above freezing so it's slowly breaking up. I'm hoping to get back on the motorcycle Monday, Feb. 22nd, but now they are calling for another "wintry mix".
Will the winter ever end? I NEED to get back on two wheels or I'm going to go postal!
