I Have Enough Snow... It has buried an Adirondack Chair on Our Deck.

And nearly all the mailboxes in town have been excavated. Anybody who does not dig out their mailbox is risking that the snow plow will hit it... bend it over... crush it... knock it off its post … :(

I went for a beautiful 5 mile ski (on traditional cross country skis) yesterday. I stopped a couple times to listen to the silence in the absence of any wind in the pine needles. Then a woodpecker would rat-tat-a-tat in the distance, or a flock of black birds would break the silence overhead.

The little "belly button" in the snow is the top of an Adirondack Chair...
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OMG!!! How great that you can cross country ski and take advantage of the beauty!

Amazing picture of your Adirondack chair!

Reminds me of upstate NY. All the fire hydrants had 6+ foot sticks next to them so they could be found. The city had no road side mailboxes and people were required to shovel sidewalks and driveways.

We have had about 3 tiny snows this year and each one was followed by melting temperatures.

I'm tired of it. I normally don't mind the snowfall here. But almost all of the three feet we received this winter fell just in the past three weeks and right now I'm clearing four properties of snow (mine, rental property, neighbor recuperating from an operation, neighbor on extended vacation). It's already been one of the snowiest months in recorded history here and there's another week in this month to go. I'd be happy to have a day or two above freezing. Or a vacation somewhere warm.

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

I'm tired of it. I normally don't mind the snowfall here. But almost all of the three feet we received this winter fell just in the past three weeks and right now I'm clearing four properties of snow (mine, rental property, neighbor recuperating from an operation, neighbor on extended vacation). It's already been one of the snowiest months in recorded history here and there's another week in this month to go. I'd be happy to have a day or two above freezing. Or a vacation somewhere warm.

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Wow. I feel for you Midwesterners. You are so good to care for your neighbors in addition to all your other shoveling responsibilities!

I've felt down this whole winter, and NJ didn't even get much snow--maybe 3" total. DH has had some health issues, I'm in limbo with our house, our neighbors have cut down all the ash trees, and the weather has been grey and unhappy. I can't wait for spring.

Sorry, Dado, I had to laugh. When I saw 'buried an Adirondack', I thought, "How does one bury a mountain?" I completely missed about the chair so started laughing at my misunderstanding. Different ones of you have had snowfall this year for sure and it does get tiring doing the cleanup especially for more than once property. Last year was my turn but this year, the problem has been more of freezing rain and icy conditions which make walking a challenge.
I get my chuckle from talking to my sister who lives in NC who tells me what is in bloom at the moment and tell her what she is missing here.

Dado: that sounds lovely and serene. I definitely appreciate winter more if I make myself get out in it rather than hibernate.
Steve: there is a "too much" point and it sounds like you reached it. We had a winter like that a few years ago; I think it was 2014/2015 although I'm not positive. I used to work with a woman from MN. She said that at least in MN the streets were designed so that there is somewhere to put the snow. It becomes a real challenge here in the city when we have a lot of snow (less of an issue in the suburbs).
We haven't had much this year, but we still have to get through March.

That's a lot of snow!! I have really been enjoying winter; snow more than once every ten years is a new thing for me. I can see how it gets really old and why so many here flee to Arizona in the winter.

AZ isn't having that warm of a winter. There are other places that are warmer and nicer IMO.

Snow?

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

Steve: there is a "too much" point and it sounds like you reached it. We had a winter like that a few years ago; I think it was 2014/2015 although I'm not positive. I used to work with a woman from MN. She said that at least in MN the streets were designed so that there is somewhere to put the snow.

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Indeed. The three-feet-in-three-weeks bit has been the worst of it. In one stretch I was out for well more than two hours each day for six days out of seven, either clearing that day's snow or busting through the leavings from our city's hapless plow drivers (whose accuracy lends fresh meaning to the phrase "close enough for government service" :(). And while I have to think it's not so, it feels like the air temp hasn't been above freezing in weeks. At least I have a decent snowblower (bless DW for giving me the green light to not buy the cheapest one when our old one started getting troublesome) though shovel work still is necessary.

The big issue with clearing the streets in an urban setting is that many residents here don't have off-street parking of any kind. So the city has to structure parking so half of the streets can be cleared at one time or another. In St. Paul, some roads are plowed at night (don't park on them overnight) and the others are plowed the next day (move your car!). Cars in the wrong place get ticketed and, sometimes, towed. We're lucky enough to have a driveway and a garage -- but that means we have to clear a 60' strip of asphalt bordered hard by two houses. Unless some of this melts, I'll soon run out of places to put more snow.

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Originally Posted by frugal-one

AZ isn't having that warm of a winter. There are other places that are warmer and nicer IMO.

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You are right about that. I am heading out southwest US in later March to tour the area and as I have been watching the temperature out that way, it is often warmer in the north shore of Lake Erie. The next week looks a little better though.

We've had 16 inches of fresh snow in 24 hours. So far this season we're at 127 inches of snowfall. Because of all the plowing and piling, I couldn't say how much accumulation is sitting on the ground. Our cabin is surrounded by piles well over 12 feet both from our driveway and the road plowing. The great thing is...we hear no traffic whatsoever:cool:

Where I live the snow plows will "hit it... bend it over... crush it... knock it off its post …" even if you do shovel out your mailbox. It's very frustrating! It is a long stretch of rural road with few houses, so they plow the shoulder at high speed, and I think it's whenever there is a new driver on the route that mailboxes get hit directly and the posts broken off at ground level. The boxes themselves also sometimes get crushed or knocked off their posts just by chunks of snow and ice hitting them, which I guess is not the plow drivers' fault. I and most of my neighbors on this stretch of road have given up on screwing the boxes to the posts, and instead wrap bungee cords over them. This allows them to be knocked loose instead of crushed when an ice chunk hits them, so at least we can put the same box right back on.

When it comes to shoveling, I actually kind of enjoy it, which is good because I am usually the one to shovel our 700' long driveway. My arms sure get in their winter exercise doing that! When it is really deep though, like the few times that we've had over three feet of snow in a single storm, I have a neighbor plow it with a tractor even though that means they have to run my garden over to turn the tractor around. I figure most things can take an occasional running over when they are dormant.

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Originally Posted by Tea

I have a neighbor plow it with a tractor even though that means they have to run my garden over to turn the tractor around. I figure most things can take an occasional running over when they are dormant.

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Around here -- and likely where you live -- the frost line runs about three feet deep. So that tractor is running over deeply-frozen ground. It's not causing any harm at all.

And ... 700 feet -- with a shovel? :0! :0! :0!

Here in the Chicago area, we’ve gone a bit with more than a dusting. Very cold last night and today, which doesn’t bother me. At least we didn’t lose power with the high winds yesterday.

I am on a Caribbean cruise right now. 3 weeks ago I fell on the ice and broke my right wrist.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

I am on a Caribbean cruise right now. 3 weeks ago I fell on the ice and broke my right wrist.

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Good spot to be with a compromised wrist. Enjoy being spoiled and relaxed!

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

. . .that tractor is running over deeply-frozen ground. It's not causing any harm at all.

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You're right that it shouldn't effect roots or compact the soil or anything, but I'm more concerned about the plants that stick above ground. Things like yucca, the crowns of ferns, and some low crampbark bushes can take a bit of a beating from it, even though the snow offers them some protection. That's not the only reason I usually shovel by hand though - I really do enjoy the challenge!

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Originally Posted by dmc

Snow?

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We have bright sunshine and clear geound today. You didnt have to leave the Lou for that!

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Originally Posted by Tea

I'm more concerned about the plants that stick above ground. Things like yucca, the crowns of ferns, and some low crampbark bushes can take a bit of a beating from it, even though the snow offers them some protection. That's not the only reason I usually shovel by hand though - I really do enjoy the challenge!

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True on the above-ground parts, though my experience is that plants that have a root system and some path to sunlight will find a way regarless of how much is sticking up above the surface! :(

This morning I "enjoyed the challenge" of using a shovel to clear a driveway and two sidewalk cuts to the street which were clogged by what the plow left behind on the night-plow street. The wind chill here is in the minus-teens F at the moment so I "enjoyed" it for as brief a time as I could. I'll haul out the snowblower for the greater amount of work I'll have when the plow cuts through our street. Should be in the minus-single-digits by then...

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

True on the above-ground parts, though my experience is that plants that have a root system and some path to sunlight will find a way regarless of how much is sticking up above the surface! :(

This morning I "enjoyed the challenge" of using a shovel to clear a driveway and two sidewalk cuts to the street which were clogged by what the plow left behind on the night-plow street. The wind chill here is in the minus-teens F at the moment so I "enjoyed" it for as brief a time as I could. I'll haul out the snowblower for the greater amount of work I'll have when the plow cuts through our street. Should be in the minus-single-digits by then...

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The snowplow residue is so solidly packed that it is hard to move, isn't it? It has been an interesting winter for sure. We are wrestling with the strong winds that Tradd noted. Add a little snow to that and blinding snow is a problem when driving.

I'm just grateful that we have had thaws in between the snowstorms this year. In past years, we haven't, and the mounds of plowed/shoveled snow in my very small, typical, old New England front yard were over 6 feet high. Shoveling is just that much harder when you have to either walk 20 feet to fling the snow into an area that doesn't already have several feet of snow on it, or you have to throw it over your head to get the snow on top of a huge mound of packed snow. There's probably about 3 feet of snow in the front yard, most of it plowed there. The rest of the yard has about 2-3 inches. Three or four winters a ago, there were no thaws and a lot of snow. Our first floor windows on the front of the house looked out onto 8 foot high snow banks for months.

All the parking lots at shopping centers and such have huge mountains of snow, making it challenging to enter and exit aisles of parking spaces. But it is fun to watch the snow mountains melt come April or May, and see what emerges from them. Shopping carts, trash barrels, umbrellas, once I even saw a desk--how that got into a parking lot to be plowed up, I have no idea.

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Originally Posted by razz

The snowplow residue is so solidly packed that it is hard to move, isn't it?

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I just got back in from tackling the stuff the city plow left. It was not as bad as I thought. This snow was so much warmer (!) than the previous two feet or so that it was dense to start with and then the humidity went down and the winds picked up and apparently a fair amount of moisture was carried away. Still, just about what a single-stage snowblower can handle, but a two-stage is so unnecessary so much of the time and a real bear to handle, so we just work a little longer.

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Originally Posted by Miss Cellaneous

All the parking lots at shopping centers and such have huge mountains of snow, making it challenging to enter and exit aisles of parking spaces.

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Not that it's a competition :), but we have those, too, except that in colder springs the very end of them lasts well into June. It's fun to watch visitors from elsewhere (especially warmer climates) watch plow crews in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul load dump trucks full of snow that is then driven to points unknown to be emptied. There's just nowhere to put it downtown. You adapt here (as do others with heavy snow levels).

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Originally Posted by Miss Cellaneous

But it is fun to watch the snow mountains melt come April or May, and see what emerges from them. Shopping carts, trash barrels, umbrellas, once I even saw a desk--how that got into a parking lot to be plowed up, I have no idea.

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Lots of garbage in those piles for sure. MNDOT usually has an promotional exhibit of the equipment they use at the State Fair; usually they have a fully-outfitted plow truck into which you can climb. Those things are huge and it's hard to see what's around you despite how high up you are. I can see where good-sized plow trucks would not be able to skirt the random shopping cart or road debris and would sweep it into the big pile.

For everyone's viewing pleasure (can't find the original MNDOT video so let's see if the Facebook link works). This is traffic video of a snowplow convoy clearing I-94 near the Twin Cities.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSMinnesot...7844430034762/

You people up there in the tundra, my hat off to you for surviving around there. You are all North of The Wall. Winter is coming.

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

I just got back in from tackling the stuff the city plow left. It was not as bad as I thought. This snow was so much warmer (!) than the previous two feet or so that it was dense to start with and then the humidity went down and the winds picked up and apparently a fair amount of moisture was carried away. Still, just about what a single-stage snowblower can handle, but a two-stage is so unnecessary so much of the time and a real bear to handle, so we just work a little longer.


Not that it's a competition :), but we have those, too, except that in colder springs the very end of them lasts well into June. It's fun to watch visitors from elsewhere (especially warmer climates) watch plow crews in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul load dump trucks full of snow that is then driven to points unknown to be emptied. There's just nowhere to put it downtown. You adapt here (as do others with heavy snow levels).


Lots of garbage in those piles for sure. MNDOT usually has an promotional exhibit of the equipment they use at the State Fair; usually they have a fully-outfitted plow truck into which you can climb. Those things are huge and it's hard to see what's around you despite how high up you are. I can see where good-sized plow trucks would not be able to skirt the random shopping cart or road debris and would sweep it into the big pile.

For everyone's viewing pleasure (can't find the original MNDOT video so let's see if the Facebook link works). This is traffic video of a snowplow convoy clearing I-94 near the Twin Cities.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSMinnesota/videos/537844430034762/

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Our parking lot snow mountains usually disappear by the end of May, those last few weeks they are just small mounds of snow and ice that refuse to melt.

My dad worked for the state Department of Transportation for a while. He MC'd the yearly snow plow rally that was held every summer. Things like driving a plow through an obstacle course, pushing a traffic cone in to a specific spot, fixing a "broken" plow that had been disabled. I think there are regional and national plow rallies as well.

Just WOW! You are a hardy bunch.