2022-12-26 42 -78

Location

Edge of Town Hall Plaza in Hamburg just south of the Erie County Fairgrounds

Non-Participants

Pedalpusher

Expedition

What. a. wild. weekend.

With Xmas landing on a Sunday, we have Monday off and I was staying at my Girlfriend's place near my parents so we could have an easier time gathering for the holiday after this storm rages across North America. I figured I could stop at home after the weekend to check on the house after the storm had passed and catch this Hash on the way. After making it through, no one is going anywhere today and we are getting even more snow.

Let me narrate the weekend for you but first, I just want to say I'm EXTREMELY thankful we never lost power or this would have gone from mind-blowing and interesting to dangerous real fast. I'm also real sorry to hear about all the deaths that occurred during this event and we have been checking on our older neighbor next door and helped her dig out.

This storm system pretty much swept across the Northern half of the US from Washington to Maine. Due to the Great Lakes, we got it extra bad here in Western NY because the winds have a chance to strengthen and have nothing to block them over the lake and then they get channeled up the lake and hit Buffalo directly. It started here on Friday morning when the temps were in the 40s F/~5 C with heavy rain. About 10:00 and over the next couple hours, the temps dropped to around 10 F/-12 C where the rain turned to Snow and all the slush turned to ice. Then, around noon, the winds really picked up and I think sustained over 40 MPH/65 KPH with gusts to 70/112. A true Blizzard. When I say white-out conditions, with the snow going sideways, I mean I literally couldn't see the houses across the street at times. It was like that for the next 36+ hours. The City and most suburbs couldn't even get emergency crews out and even they were getting stuck. Knowing this was on the way, they closed all the major highways and instituted driving bans before the worst of it even hit.

We were finally able to get outside and start digging out on Sunday morning and the size of some of the snow drifts is almost incomprehensible. On top of that, these drifts are sitting right next to bare grass which really gives you a juxtaposition. We did have a plow come down all the streets in our neighborhood to just put one open lane down but didn't do much else. Pretty sure they were just opening up the roads for emergency crews if needed first.

If you are lucky, your house is facing West where the winds swept in from so you have little to dig out and all the drifts are in your backyard. If you aren't so lucky, those across the street, need to dig through drifts as tall as they are. We got extra lucky as J's house is on a corner lot with our main doors on the wind side, and with the street open, there was nothing to trap the snow by the side of the house. There is a church on the other corner and next to the main road and they have a driveway in the back. Their drifts are over 2 meters high and well over my head. I should also mention that the snow in these drifts are really packed snow. Listening to meteorologists, winds this strong actually tear apart the snow crystals and they just become single little pins and needles, which when driven into the drifts, they just pack in real tight.

After digging out our short driveway and the sidewalk around back, we did some snowshoeing around the neighborhood to see what was going on. Most people never left the house, but there were a few people out shoveling and checking on neighbors. Sunday was still pretty windy, but it was at least not snowing any longer. We spent the rest of the day frosting cookies, doing a puzzle and baking.

Monday started with plows at 02:00 clearing the rest of the street so it was a rough night, but at least the streets are mostly open where we are now. However, our sidewalk on the one side is real close to the street so we had extra hard snow to shovel in the morning. Getting that done, we checked on our neighbor again and then snowshoed over to my uncle's in the next neighborhood. He's doing ok, but my parents, about 2 miles/ 3 km away in the city still haven't seen a plow yet as of 16:00 and they don't expect to until at least tomorrow. And they can't even really plow it because it's so packed. They need front loaders to dig it all out. They are ok too (never lost power), but they just can't go anywhere.

Travel bans are still mostly in place so needless to say, I'm not getting to Hamburg today for the Geohash. If we are still stuck tomorrow, I might snowshoe over to my parents' house just for a visit.

Oh, and it's supposed to be 50 F/10 C again at the end of the week.

Photos

Saturday, J wanted to go play outside for a few minutes...
...we're about halfway through the storm: J's Backyard.
After jumping in one of the snow drifts.
The wind is still strong, but the snow stopped for a few minutes.
Checking out the snow drifts behind the church, the snow picks up again.
Simon doesn't care, and while cold, is still having a blast. (We had to make him go inside, even while he was shivering)
Meanwhile, Myka wants nothing to do with outside.
Digging out on Sunday, J is on sloped ground, but still the neighbor's porch is nearly buried.
My parents cleared their driveway, but there's still over half a meter of snow in the road.
My Sister's backyard with the lower porch almost fully buried in a drift.
This morning, the drifts in the Church driveway are nearly up to the second floor windows.