Two to Travel: Blizzard of 2009

20 December

Snowzilla ... Snownami ... Capital Crippler ... Snowmageddon ... Shopper Stopper ... Goreaster ... Snobama ... no matter what the name, the Blizzard of 2009 was a doozy that dumped many inches of snow in a 24-hour period. In our neighborhood, we topped off at 19 inches (~47½ cm).

According to the weather guys, we beat out the 1932 record for most snowfall in December - 11½ inches (~29 cm). What's even more noteworthy is that the 1932 accumulation was for the entire month of December. We got all of ours in one day.

For me, the record to beat was January 1996. During that blizzard, we got 17.3 inches (~43 cm). As Mui was out of the country for that one, I had to do all the shoveling. This time — he was here to do the work ... with the help of a snowblower! Not fair I say!

The snow is now over and everyone in the neighborhood is shoveling-out driveways. Mui took care of clearing the overnight accumulation earlier this morning. The sun is out; the sky is blue. Although it's tempting to go out and find some scenic spots to photograph, we're going to stay home and let the snowplows do their job of clearing the roads around the area. Besides, all those people who were planning to do their Christmas shopping or start their Christmas road trips yesterday are probably already out there. No need to add to the congestion.

Here's our story:

The snow started around 9:00pm on the 18th. Twelve hours and 8 inches (~20 cm) later this is what the deck looked like.

At 9:00a on the 19th, this was the view from my home office.

By 1:30p, my 12-inch (~30 cm) ruler was just barely peeking out; Mui put in a longer ruler.

At 2:00p; snow still falling. Mui’s morning shoveling of the driveway was in vain. Bundled up in our winter gear, we decided to brave the elements and go for a walk.

At 4:15p, we're at 15½ inches (~39 cm); snow still falling steadily.

At 4:30p, Mui decided it was time to go out for a second round of snow clearing.

Our thanks to whoever invented the snowblower!

At 5:00p, Mui was still hard at work.

At 8:00p, the 18-inch ruler was topped out. Mui put out the yardstick to find out that there was 18½ inches (~46 cm) of accumulation.

A new day has dawned. There’s a bit of drift against the yardstick, but at 9:00a on the 20th, I’m calling the snow over, kaput, finished with 19 inches (~47.5 cm) of accumulation.