This Weather Sucks!
I don't mind winter. A lot of the time I actually LIKE winter. I love the longer, cozy nights. I love the snow twinkling like diamonds, by the light of a full moon. I love the freshness of the air and the brilliant blue sky on a sunny day.
Today is NOT winter in northern MN!! We've had freezing, frigging rain since last night. We let the truck run for 20 minutes this morning and only managed to melt a small peep hole in the 1/2 inch of ice on the windshield. I had to slide out the passenger door at work so I could grab the building to hold my footing on the glare ice! I sprinkled 30 lbs of salt at work, and another 15 lbs at home.
Our local highway crews have done a valiant job. The main thoroughfares are relatively ice free, but watch out for the side streets, parking lots and your own driveway!
We now have an inch of ice covering EVERYTHING! I had to hack my way into our shed so I could get food out of the freezer.
It's been sleeting for the last hour. This is preferable to freezing rain. Walking on frozen pebbles is way easier than walking on a sheet of glare ice. In addition, the sleet bonds to the ice and roughens the surface.
To top it all off, we're supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow overnight! The snow will bond quite well to the ice on the metal roofs we northerners are so fond off. This is a BAD thing! This mixture doesn't slide off the roof, like it's supposed to. Unless we get a warm sunny day in the near future, we'll all be pulling the snow off our roofs with roof rakes. This is something you normally don't have to do with a metal roof. This will also make it difficult for L to clean off the truck at 5 a.m., so I can get to work.
We're praying that the wind won't pick up and snap the ice-heavy electrical lines!
I'll take 10 below ANY DAY over this!!
posted by tshsmom @ 5:10 PM
24 comments
24 Comments:
Thanks pal!
The boss closed early(no customers), so L is safely home too. I feel better having my family safe at home on nights like this!
That sounds awful! I'm with you, I'd take actual winter weather over freezing rain and ice. :-/
I hope you and yours stay safe.
I'M ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED FOR YOU!
We had an accident on an icy road a few years back and i've been a little, say, skittish around cold weather streets ever since.
I will take snow - feet and feet of it - over freezing rain and ice anyday!
We get freezing rain here in Philly - yuck. Sometimes it's just cold, windy and rain. It's just over the line so that it's not snow. Yuck. I miss my Denver snowstorms and then 70 degrees (Farenheit - of course.).
I'm rambling here. Sorry! Tuck in and stir up the fire and take a nice wintry warm rest. I hope that you won't have to rake your roof. Nasty job.
Well, at least your team won. My Packers have their first losing season in 13 years. I'll trade bad weather for a Packers win. ;)
Eeeks. No THANK you. Chicago winters are bad enough. We don't get many ice storms, but we do get a lot of freezing rain. I hate that because (as you pointed out) it creates sheets of ice you can't walk on, but also because it just cuts right through you and chills you to the core. The more I think about it, the less I like Winter. I like images of winter. I like pictures of pristine snow in the woods somewhere with a little cabin and a fireplace. But eventually you have to leave that cabin - and that's when it sucks...
Ice is the worst part of winter!! If it wasn't for ice and the fact that I fall on it more often than I walk on it, winter would be 100% okay with me.
Glad you agree, Notta!
You're right, Euro! You totally lose control on ice, and there's nothing you can do about it. I HATE that helpless feeling!
Agreed, Monica. 14 yrs ago, we got 52 inches of snow in a week. That mess was way easier to clean up.
ZS, I'm clueless on the Vikings record. I'm on a campaign to kick them out of MN. Let them find another state to build them a stadium!
Laura, my folks have a cabin in the woods. We actually welcome trips to the outhouse, because the barrel stove keeps it a toasty 90 degrees in the cabin.
What are you bitching about SME? You can get everywhere underground now!
It also helps if you wear boots and ZIP your jacket. ;)
Winters in Michigan are very gloomy. We don't often get that beautiful blue-skied morning. But we do, sometimes, get ice. You're right in saying that snow is better than ice. At least you can get a little traction in snow.
Squirl, I imagine living on the west side of the lake would explain why we get less gloom. The down side is that we get colder temps along with our blue skies. :(
Hmmm, peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate sounds pretty good.
We got 8 inches of snow last night and the wind stayed down. It took 30 min to defrost the truck this morning.
We've got everything pretty well cleaned up now. Except for the sheets of ice on our buildings and vehicles. Salt won't work on vertical surfaces. ;) Tomorrow I need to get out the heat gun and thaw my mirrors and back windows, so I can see to back up.
Snow? What is this "snow" you speak of?
Hee hee.
Let's see Robin; terms you can understand. I know; it's a cold, slow hurricane. Except we don't have to evacuate. We just stay in our igloos and clean up the mess when it's done. hehe
I'm with you Bridg! Too bad I gotta pay those nasty bills! ;)
Ah, the joys of freezing rain. Had more than enough of that in Ottawa. Minnesota was on the news last night from Vancouver. The story was about the crappy winter weather and all the havoc it's caused.
The wet coast is looking better and better...
The Dakotas got it worse than we did, WC. They still have 10,000 homes without power. They say it may take a week to get them back online. What a mess!
Just be thankful you aren't losing trees and powerlines with all that ice.
I was just over at Squirl's site, and discovered that you HATE hockey! And you being from the so called State of Hockey and all! Isn't that considered, like, unpatriotic or something?
This SO explains why you never post comments on HOCKEY FRIDAY!
It also explains why you didn't rub my face in the fact that the Gophers demolished my beloved Wolerines last week!
Yeah, it can get pretty dicy being me in "Hockeyland", GWB.
I've seen the horrors of hockey addiction, and it's usually the parents who are addicted.
Hockey in our town gives the little jocks a sense of entitlement, especially in school. Absences don't count for hockey players. You can be a bully if you're a hockey player (as long as the victim isn't a fellow player). Until recently, bad grades didn't count against hockey players. Regular skaters are kicked off our public outdoor rinks when the outdoor hockey rinks are being flooded or painted.
I've known parents who have bullied doctors into removing casts from broken bones early, so there child can play in the "big" game. Is this really worth the risk of crippling your kid for the rest of his life?
I know 5 yr olds that have practices at midnight and 4 a.m.! They're BABIES; they belong in BED!
I see a school district that doesn't have enough money for textbooks for every student, yet they put new boards and roofs on 2 hockey arenas EVERY YEAR! The school district buys a new Zamboni at least every two years.
I've comforted teens who were afraid to tell their parents that they didn't want to play anymore. They wanted to have a REAL life instead.
I've also seen teens who think their life is over when they don't make the high school team. Many of them turn to drugs and alcohol because they don't know how to fill the void in their lives. Several have committed suicide.
I've seen families leave town to find a town with a better hockey program. WTF?!
I know a grandfather that will wear a rod in his neck for the rest of his life because he had a near fatal car accident taking his 10 yr old grandson to an out of town hockey game on ice-covered roads. His daughter was taking her other son to another city, for a game, at the same time.
Grade school hockey parents travel at least 300 miles EVERY WEEKEND!
Hockey is an elitest sport in our town. It's $500 just to join the youth hockey program. Then you have at least $1000 in equipment. Then you have distant, out-of-town games EVERY weekend. Parents spend an average $500/weekend in gas, food, and lodging. If you want your kid to get on the "right" team you MUST buy extra ice time, summer hockey school, and hockey camp.
When people ask me why Z doesn't play hockey, I say: "No thanks, we already have a religion".
Holy cow! No wonder you HATE hockey. Those are terrible stories. Does everyone think his/her little darling is going to make a career out of it? And how is that career going to happen if a cast is taken off early and the child never heals properly. Sheesh!
But, it's the BIG GAME, Squirl!
Yes, they do think their darling will be a pro. We've had several pro players and coaches who grew up here. But it's about the same odds as becoming an actor in LA or NYC.
In my opinion, sports should be a hobby, not a lifestyle.
Thats how it is with basketball and soccer here!
GWB, unfortunately every region seems to have a fanatic sport.
I think kids deserve a well balanced life.
Hello nice lady, I remember snow and ice in Britain, but surely you must really cop it there in MN.
On our first day of summer 1st Dec, NSW AUS temp was 31 cel 84 fah in the middle afternoon when we were pelted with golf ball size hail stones, yesterday 35 cel, all overhead fans plus A/C flat out, 6-15 am now temp 28 cel.
We do have snow here occasionaly on high ground and in the Snowy Mountains in Victoria and New South Wales, A nice place to visit during the summer.
Being British by birth I do feel that there is something missing when sitting on the beach on Christmas day.
Vest, you're on the wrong side of the equator for snow at Christmas!
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