Snow Day

8:30 am January 9, 2024 dwm photos

 It was a week ago that meteorologists noticed a storm system in southeast Asia they expected to bring a lot of snow to south Wisconsin.

 As the front moved north and south, the forecast moved from close to a foot to as little as 2 to 4 inches.

 By Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours ahead of the storm front's arrival, TV stations were running tickers across the bottom of the screen with news of a Winter Storm Watch and the dangers it might bring.

9:42 am 1/9/24 dwm

Winter weather is serious business, no doubt.  However, living in Wisconsin should mean you are prepared and ready to take appropriate action when weather arrives.  On Monday, an event at work planned for Tuesday was cancelled because of the forecast storm.  The event was to be on Oakwood's east campus, roughly a 40-mile round trip from where I live.

When I saw the cancellation, I changed my plans, and erring on the side of caution decided to use a vacation day to stay home and enjoy the snow show.

Snow started late Monday night.  When I got up around 5:30 there was two inches on the ground and on my car.  I cleaned it for the trip to the gym. The main streets were plowed so I had no trouble making the trip. I covered the windshield when I got home car to make it easier to clear the windshield if we got the expected 6-inches or more of snow.

Light snow started falling after 9.  The weather guys said the heavy stuff and wind would arrive in early afternoon.

11:04 Taking cover. 1/9/24 dwm

 The morning passed quietly with reading the news and sports online, writing emails, and taking pictures of the winter wonderland outside.

 

 I saw the mourning dove through a window as well as songbirds and squirrels keeping busy around the neighbor's bird feeder.  The unexpected day-off was a perfect time to put three framed pictures on office walls. 

By mid-afternoon the wind had picked up and snow was coming down faster.  At 4 o'clock we had 6 inches on the ground.  City crews and private snow removal companies were starting to clear streets around the neighborhood.

A few leaves still hanging-on. 2:45 pm  1/9/24

As the day darkened around 4:15, I headed out to shovel around my car.  While the condo drive is plowed, the drivers stay away from cars.  

 

By going out early to clear snow around the car it is easier to get out of the space whether plows have done their cleaning or not.

It was a heavy, wet snow.  So much was water that it didn't measure to eight inches but we easily got that much in moisture.

 

Anyone who grew up with snow probably has some good memories of snow days.  Once the radio station announced schools were closed, I'd call my friend after breakfast to see if he could go sledding.  We'd head to a hill near my house where we could go down then walk up the hill until we were tired, wet, and hungry. Then we'd walk back home where mom would have hot chocolate ready.

 

We're fortunate to live on a main road, so if we can get out of the drive, we're free and clear to get where we want.  

Schools were closed, businesses too, and a lot of places worked short-handed as parents stayed home with their kids who couldn't go to school or day care.  I enjoyed my snow day and was ready to go back to work.

4:35 pm, my spot is clear, for now.