Let it Snow...Let it Snow....Let it Snow ( and other weather events )

[twocvbloke]

But it is spring, but where is the spring-time weather?

We had it in what was supposed to be our winter, with endless april showers through December and January...

[Contempra]

That sort of snow is why I want to live in canada, cos that is proper snow...

That sort of snow is why I want to live in canada, cos that is proper snow...

 talk for yourself hey !.. lololol... it's depend where you live in Canada, aroud the towns, forget that my friend barkkkk !... ...

[Mr. Bones]

Dave,

     I hope all is well in your household, and the plows are able to get through soon! Dam* glad you have maintained electrical power, as it looks like might be a while to restore, otherwise.

Best regards!

[DavePEI]

Dave,

     I hope all is well in your household, and the plows are able to get through soon! Dam* glad you have maintained electrical power, as it looks like might be a while to restore, otherwise.

Best regards!

The Maritime Electric linesmen were the real heros during this storm. At one point, there were 16,000 subscribers without power. The last I hears, all but 6000 are now back in service. At one point in the night due to the winds and visibility, crews were ordered to return to their base, and all but one crew made it with the help of plows. One crew on the Blueshank Road spent overnight in their truck when two plows failed to be able to get to them.

Maritime says:

"They had some water. We called in with them every hour to check in. Their spirits were great. They were just ecstatic that they were able to get 16,000 customers back on and feel successful even though they were stuck in the truck."

Though plows were taken off their routes yesterday evening due to bad visibility, they stayed on for emergency calls when needed.

There are many reports of stranded motorists being rescued by local snowmobilers, when plows failed to get through during the storm.

The clean-up goes on, and they say it will take all day tomorrow, and hopefully the temperatures will rise and the winds drop. It really was a good old fashioned storm! I remember lots like this when I was younger.

I have just heard on the scanner several roads in the Summerside area have been re-closed due to high winds and further drifting.

Dave

[Mr. Bones]

My, my...

     It certainly sounds like you are in need of a "Latitude Adjustment, Dave! All kidding aside, in the last week, we here at 39° N have had a couple of inches of vestigial snow, and then Severe Thunderstorms, and a Tornado Watch today. Ah, Spring is Ge-Sprunging!

Glad you're all okay, that's the important thing!

Best regards!

[DavePEI]

It certainly sounds like you are in need of a "Latitude Adjustment, Dave!

Actually, we are further south in lattitude than some states. Now, it we could get you guys just to keep your unwanted storms instead of sending them on to us, we'd be in great shape! The last ten years or so have been great - in a normal year, we'd be well into spring. Guess we will just have to blame it on Global Warming!

Dave

[Mr. Bones]

 

It certainly sounds like you are in need of a "Latitude Adjustment, Dave!

Actually, we are further south in lattitude than some states. Now, it we could get you guys just to keep your unwanted storms instead of sending them on to us, we'd be in great shape! The last ten years or so have been great - in a normal year, we'd be well into spring. Guess we will just have to blame it on Global Warming!

Dave

Let's us both send them to twocvbloke; he's been lamenting the lack of a 'proper winter' for some time, there in Ol' Blighty'!

Best regards!

[AE_Collector]

Glad you survived Dave!

Almost time to get your tools and climbing gear to start walking the "open wire" to attempt repairs to the toll lines!

Terry

[twocvbloke]

Actually, we are further south in lattitude than some states. Now, it we could get you guys just to keep your unwanted storms instead of sending them on to us, we'd be in great shape! The last ten years or so have been great - in a normal year, we'd be well into spring. Guess we will just have to blame it on Global Warming!

Dave

Let's us both send them to twocvbloke; he's been lamenting the lack of a 'proper winter' for some time, there in Ol' Blighty'!

Best regards!

Yep, send the snow this way, give us brits something proper to complain about cos we're never prepared for winter, especially around winter time, when winter generally happens... 

[DavePEI]

Ahhhhhh! It is finally over - Winds have dropped, and today is forecast to be a nice day, finally. The clean-up should get finished today, and temperatures look as though we may get some melting. Today is forecast to go up to 37.4 f., and tonight then up to 41 f.,, and then rain over the weekend.

Go away, winter!

Dave

[DavePEI]

How much difference a day or two makes. Tonight it is 5 degrees c., (41 f.) and it is supposed to pour rain. Temperatures may go up to 10 or 15 degrees, they say, inland. That should cut down the snow banks!

However, this may cause flooding in areas, as snow filled ditches block the normal flow of water. Our basement is already showing some signs of infiltrating water...

I am not complaining. At least you don't have to shovel rain!

We were out driving today, and saw the Queen's Road heading to Montague, where plow drivers reportedly couldn't open it more than a cow-path. By the time we went through, it had been opened up to most of its width but very slushy, and snow blowers were busy clearing it, and by the time we came home, the road was by then mostly clear.

Below: a rather startling photo taken after the storm! Remember, before Wednesday, the snow was almost all gone!

Dave

[twocvbloke]

Now that's an impressive drift...

[DavePEI]

Now that's an impressive drift...

It is, kind of. There were many drifts like this along PEI's roads after the storm. It is easy to understand why the plows were unable to break though these areas during the storm. Glad I don't have to shovel through that to get into the museum. On the west of our property, we have some drifts that are about half that height, all from the one storm. Now, today, we are getting heavy rain which will hopefully cut the drifts considerably.

Our main part of the driveway had a good level 4 feet of snow along its length - thank goodness we had out next door neighbour's huge 4WD tractor and blower to clear that! Even so, he had a struggle.

I do remember some years back (1980'ish) during a major storm when a huge drift formed on the west side of the house we were living in at the time (now, the museum). It went from the ground to halfway up the roof, blocking all wind and ran the length of the house. All of a sudden, the furnace which had been running pretty well constantly practically stopped running. The drift  must have been a good 15 feet tall. The silence was almost spooky. Great insulation from the wind and from the sound of the storm. Over the night, the winds changed direction again, and in the morning, it was completely gone, moved elsewhere,  and the furnace again got a work-out!

I also remember one storm years ago (also post-1980) when a drift formed on the front of the house when we had to climb out the second floor window to shovel out the doors, but that was in the dead of winter, and not in the spring. Linda and I were relatively young then, and we had a ball climbing out the window to slide down the drift to the level! Not so much fun, though, finding the doors and shoveling ourselves back in..

To make this more on-topic in the days of open wire lines, it wasn't uncommon to be able to stand on a drift and to be able to touch the line. Admittedly, the poles weren't as tall as those we use these days.

I remember back in 1980 I wrote my parents during a storm like this, and ended the letter with, "I must cut this letter short. The Samoyeds are baying by the sled outside and I must throw them a piece of fresh-cut blubber to hold them through the night."

I hope to be able to report in a week that it is all gone. I can't remember a time where we got so much snow so late in the winter/spring.

Dave

[twocvbloke]

The most snow I've seen for a long time was last January, when we had what us brits consider a "large volume" of snow land on us, it was pretty sticky stuff too, so really built up everywhere, but in comparison, what we got was a light dusting compared to what you got the other night...

Just found some photos of it, in the order below they're;

The back street (we used to be on the left side, we're now on the right side)
The main road towards Stanley & Durham by bus
The main road towards Consett & Newcastle by bus
The street at the top of our back street (and yes I was walking in the tyre tracks!!)
The front garden looking west
and again looking east (though that was next door's garden, their bird bath was under a 1ft snow dome!!)

[twocvbloke]

I even had to sweep my satellite dish off in order to get my Freesat channels working again...

(though I later found the dish had loosened with the cold weather making the metal shrink, cos that kind of snow shouldn't have been a problem for a 60cm Minidish)