Our Big 2013-2014 Winter Snowstorm!

As with most of the USA this winter, we’ve had a tough one.  It’s been especially cold and we’ve really been burning the propane in our dual fuel AC/HC unit!  But until a couple of weeks ago, we hadn’t had hardly any snow…not that we wanted any!  But finally, it happened with the skies opening up one evening…

It was close to dusk when the snow started… In this neck of the woods, everything closes down whenever we have any significant accumulation of snow or even the prediction of any possibly significant snowfall!  Government, schools, businesses…everything closes.  The area has lots of hills, narrow roads and a minimum of ice and snow handling equipment. 

This is how one of our magnolia trees looked when we went out on our front porch around 9 pm.   It was sagging badly with a covering of ice and snow…

This is the same magnolia tree on the morning after…and after I’d knocked the snow off it 3 times the previous night!

Of course even this winter can’t compare with the winters I or we have experienced in other cities where we have lived…or for that matter, with the winters where our family lives now.  Through the 18^th of February, Detroit MI had recorded 79.3” of snow vs. an average of 33.2”. The Cleveland OH area, where our son and his family reside, had seen 68.7” vs. a norm of 51.2”.  Boston, near where Laurie and I lived one winter, has recorded 56.0” inches of snow vs. an average of 33.4”.

Here’s a morning view looking up our street before both our and village snow removal efforts…

Our other magnolia tree took a beating in the storm despite my efforts to minimize the damage by knocking the snow off it the previous night.  We’ve had to tie a couple of the primary branches together to try to recapture its previous beauty.

This is a view from the porch across the top of our shrubs looking down the street in front of our house.  Our usual flock of turkey and herd of deer were nowhere to be seen! (Actually, the proper term for a ‘flock’ of turkey is a ‘brood’)

This is a view of the woods on the south side of our house.  It was pretty…even though we would have been much happier if the snow had skipped over us. 

As per Laurie's measurements, our deck and grill were covered with 5.5 to 6.0 inches of snow.  The good news is that this is only the second measurable snowfall this winter…and the first one measured no more than a half inch…and it was gone by 11 AM on the day it fell!

As I’ve mentioned previously, we moved to East Tennessee from Chicago after I retired.  By way of comparison, as of 2/26/14, Chicago had recorded 68.3” of snow, (that’s 5 feet and 8.3 inches), vs. its average of 28.8 inches. (That’s 39.5” above Chicago’s average!) At our house we’ve only had about 6.5” all winter!

Laurie took this photo of me as I took my turn with our only snow shovel.  It’s only the second time we’ve had to shovel any snow in the 5 winters we’ve lived in East Tennessee!

Our temperatures have dipped down into the single digits a couple of times this winter…but our average high in January is 47 degrees and our average low is 30 degrees.  If my calculations are correct, that would make 39.5 degrees our average temperature in January. Still, this has been a relatively cold winter for us...the coldest January since we've been here.  

Through February 26^th, Chicago’s average temperature this winter has been 15.7 degrees, that’s 8.1 degrees below their already frigid average!

As we were shoveling the lower end of the driveway, the sun came out and it highlighted the beauty of the snow in the woods across the street.

We were almost done shoveling the driveway when the melting began…  FYI…our snow was almost totally melted within 2 days after the storm!

This is a sunny view of our street looking up the road south of the house.  The local snow removal folks did a great job in our neighborhood!

Fellow blogger Pam, who can be found at https://www.blogger.com/profile/02158336083462589188, lives in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago.  She recently commented about her weather on my blog.  To quote...“There aren’t enough words to express what this winter has been like here… And so cold…it’s up to all of 2 degrees now.  And I just heard that we should expect up to 20” of new snow starting Friday (2.28) through Monday.  I’m speechless…”

She pretty well summed up the winter in Chicago to date…and we’re very happy to have headed to the mid-south for retirement!

Just click on any of Laurie’s photos of our major snow event to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave