Over 50 inches of snow in 5 days!?! (Blizzard #3)

So now we've had over 80 inches of snow this winter (our average is 18 inches) with 50 inches in the last five days! This last blizzard (#3) was during the week so we didn't get to stay snuggled in at home like over that last couple of storms. Luckily there are major roads most of the way to my hospital so I didn't get stuck there overnight (although the threat was definitely there). Here are more pictures of the latest "Snowmageddon."

The days after Blizzard #2:

During Blizzard #3: 50 mile an hour winds blowing the 20 inches of snow we got all over the place. The snow is half way up the garage doors now.

After Blizzard #3:

Notice the road is still not plowed - since last Friday. We had to park at a neighbors house on the main street and hike back home so I could get to work.

I even spent some time shoveling - notice the pile of snow on the left is taller than I am.

One of the best and worst things about all the snow are the icicles. They are so beautiful to look at but have reeked havoc on our upper gutters.

We've basically kissed all the upper level gutters goodbye - you can see the gutter bending from the weight of all the snow and icicles on the roof.

That's our overhang at the top of the picture and our gutter almost a foot below it.

Here's a close up of the "evil" icicles as Tom calls them.

So minus the ruined gutters and missing our normal parking spot we enjoyed the many days of unexpected time to stay at home, relax, watch movies, and bake. I've never enjoyed the snow that much, but when an unimaginable amount of snow falls it makes it something special, unusual and a lot of fun. Is this what it's like living in Alaska?

Blizzard #2!

We had the second blizzard in about six weeks yesterday. Poor Baltimore is trying to keep up with all the snow. We usually get 18 inches all winter long. Saturday alone we got almost 30 inches and the blizzard back in December we got 21 inches of snow in just over a day. Yesterday's snow is competing for the biggest storm since they started keeping records in the 1870's and this winter will definitely surpass all the area records for the most snow in one season. I'd like all the experts screaming about the dangers of global warming to explain this phenomenon. The ice burgs may be melting in the North Pole, but I'm pretty sure they may start forming around here soon. Following are some pictures for your viewing pleasure to remind you why you live where you do (for those of you in warmer climates) and to make others laugh at our wimpyness (for those of you living in the Great Lakes and North East Regions).

Tom started digging early in the morning in the middle of the storm but it was heavy snow so it was slow going with his lone bright orange shovel. (Like I said we usually only get a couple of inches at a time and have never needed a snow blower)

After several hours Tom made it to the end of the driveway (one shovel width). Look how far away the RAV looks from the end of the driveway! I can promise you never know how long your driveway is until you have to shovel it by hand (Tom has become all too familiar with every inch of our 150 foot long driveway)

Tom has always been our official shoveler in hopes of keeping me quieter about my hatred of the cold and snow. It also helps that he loves all things snow related. He got a once in lifetime offer for me to help him shovel yesterday - whether he was being nice or honest I don't know - but he told me he only had one shovel that would work with the amount of snow we had. So while Tom was busy shoveling I trudged through the snow to take some pictures of our local Antarctica.

Here's our house covered in snow -

our porch is not short yet the steps are completely covered in snow.

Here's the backyard - with all the work that's being done on the kitchen it's hard to remember what's out in the yard right now. I think one of those lumps is the old oven, another a 36 inch old kitchen cabinet, another is an old grill we found hidden in the jungle of our back yard, one of them is definitely the trash can, and the rest is wood from the 110 foot oak tree we had cut down last fall.

Our street is under there somewhere...

Here's the bottom end of our street.

Here's the snow totals in our yard:

Okay so the one above is really the snow pile after Tom finished shoveling the driveway, but still impressive. The real total was just under 30 inches:

A close up of the proof:

Luckily these big storms have been happening on the weekend this year so we've been able to hunker down and enjoy the quiet time and how beautiful the snow makes everything in the dead of winter.

Here's our Winter Wonderland:

After the storm the skies cleared quickly and the sun came out making things even more beautiful.

We're happy to report we're safe and sound and everything seems intact. It's Sunday night now and I was about to report that our street still hasn't been plowed, but a lone little bobcat with a plow on the front just came rambling down our street. Since it's taken this long I think that single pass from the little bobcat is the most we can hope for... hope this finds you all well, happy, and warm!