Snowmageddon 2010

First, there was the 33 inches of snow we got Friday night through Saturday night (5-6 Feb). That wreaked all sorts of havoc on the DC area.

Between the snow on the ground, the local infrastructure's inability to quickly dig us out, and the prediction of more snow to come, the local schools just plain shut down for the week. No school until Tuesday (after the Monday President's Day holiday).

Tuesday night into Wednesday (9-10 Feb) we got a blizzard with another 8 inches of snow and white-out conditions that shut down the snow plows and power outage repair crews.

The DC area ended up getting the most snow in one winter since 1898.

Here are a few pictures from around our house from Snowmaggedon.

The aftermath

Our Street

It took a while for VDOT to get out to the secondary residential streets like ours, so we were snowed in for a bit.

You'd think I captured the beginning of a waterfall,
but no, it's frozen there just like that.

Defying Gravity

As the snow peeled away, you could see the brick pattern on the snow.

Bird tracks around the bowl of bird seed we set out.

Icicles weighing down branches in our back yard.

Ice or candle wax?

Loudoun County kept reminding everyone to dig out their fire hydrants and make sure their address is visible for police, firemen, and ambulances trying to respond to emergencies. The point was driven home for us, and I was glad I cleared the snow around our fire hydrant. The weight of the snow caused one of our neighbor's rain gutters to come crashing down off the side of the house, and it hit and broke the natural gas line going into their house. Next thing we knew, there were 6 fire trucks of various sizes on our street, and they immediately went to find the fire hydrant (just to be prepared for the worst if an explosion happened).

I came under attack when I got too close with my camera.

I'm thankful for this snow storm in some ways. For one, my boys actually look forward to and enjoy going out to play in the snow. If it had been a quick snowfall that sent us all back to school and work right away, then it would have maintained its status as a novelty. At first, the boys would spend more time getting suited up in their snow pants, jackets, mittens, hats, and snow boots than they would actually spend outside playing. The first little bit of snow that got in the top of one of their boots or touched their cheek from a glancing snowball would send them back inside whimpering.

The snowstorm lasted long enough that the boys went out to play many times. Each time they went out a little bit longer and a little bit farther from the house. Now, they actually enjoy and look forward to going out to play with the other neighborhood kids down the street, and I'm glad they've had that experience. They may come back in to get warmed up again, but they will go outside to play three or more times a day.

Traditional Blunoz self portrait.
See our pond in the background?

Meanwhile, back inside the house...
...no satellite dish reception.

I wish I took my camera with me when I waded out through the snow to dig our satellite dish out. It was buried in a mount of snow.

...and battles raged.

At a loss for words.

Shhhhh! Don't tell him he got to practice his math and spelling skills when we played UpWords. That would spoil his whole week off of school.