So last winter was crazy mild, both with regards to temperature and precipitation…but this winter is out of control. As of Tuesday, Toledo has had the second snowiest winter ever (or, since records have been kept):
The reading of 72.7 inches of snow was taken at 7 a.m. today at Toledo Express Airport. The record is 73.1 inches, according to the weather service.
These are pics from the 6th, so this is after the storm I mentioned in my last post:
(For the vulnerability and occasional beating of my mailbox in the warmer months, it has been much safer from plows than most people’s mailboxes, given the FEET of snow that have been protecting it:)
I went to Kroger after that storm…here are some pictures to show how crazy the piles of snow are in local parking lots:
I think I included a picture of the older-style Kroger with the danger-snow in a previous post, but I enjoy this latest method of keeping people from walking in the falling snow/ice zone:
This is crazy:
One day after another snow/cold snap, the sky was really pretty blue and I should have taken more pictures of how ridiculous our snow situation is:
Let’s try to remember this when it’s 100 degrees this summer:
We have not braved the snow in the backyard to give the squirrels more corn cobs, but we’ve thrown a few ears out when the squirrels begged. They’ve gotten a little braver and have been coming up into cat-taunting territory for corn. They generally travel via snow tunnels, which has been fun to watch. These look like footprints/paths, but what you see is their tunnel system. The tunnels cave in and they poke their heads up like meerkats occasionally, and it is the best (but impossible to get a picture of):
Monday night of this past week, we got what was hopefully our last big snow…it snowed heavy snow all evening, and we shoveled before we went to bed. Again, heaving the heavy snow over the 4 foot piles is what sucks:
From Tuesday afternoon on, it’s been warmer during the day (it even rained one day!), which caused the start of the thaw. Rocky El Blanco Gnomo is finally peeking out:
A few more weather-related notes:
1. The ice-dams in the gutters have been ridiculous. I think the ice is pretty much melted, and we’ve been lucky so far as the threat of water damage goes. The Big Melt is coming. Hopefully my sandy soil does its superior draining.
2. I made Inky sad one day because apparently he thought he was going to be able to sell me his snowblower. There’s been a lot of talk about 1, 2, and 3 stage snowblowers (whatever that crap means), and he wants to upgrade because he is a tiny, Napoleon-like man. I do not wish to own a snowblower.
3. I don’t understand this voodoo of the children’s snow days not counting against them. Why would they not? I am a curmudgeon, but the 5 day thing is there to make sure they go to school enough. Beyond 5 days, they should make the days up, not get them magically erased. So weird and stupid.
4. I am tired of moving buckets around to catch the roof leaks at work. UGH.
5. It’s 71 on Sanibel right now.