The May Snowstorm Of 2013

  I've been meaning to blog about our May snowstorm. Today, with temperatures in the upper 70's, it is hard to believe that six days ago it snowed.
   We of the Northland have been anxiously and impatiently waiting for weeks for Spring. Every time we got a snowstorm we would say, "Surely this is the last one." We watched as four inch snowstorms and seven inch snowstorms developed on the radar and dumped on us. And we kept hoping that THIS one was the last.
   Finally, finally, temperatures were warmer. We rejoiced as the thermometer reached 60 and 70 degrees. We worked outside, took walks, planned summer work, and had a cookout. We even "went outside with toes", Benny's definition of barefoot. And then, the last day of April, weather forecasts were talking about 4 inches of snow. By evening we were under a Winter Storm Watch, with amounts of 6-8 inches predicted. By the next morning there was a Warning, with 6-12 inches predicted, "with locally higher amounts possible, we just don't know where at this time." Huh? This was May, for crying out loud. It's not supposed to snow in May! A few flurries maybe, but not a full-blown snowstorm.
   On the evening of May 1, rain turned to snow.

 

   In the middle of the night, when I was up with the baby,  I heard a soft crack and a falling noise. Clark looked out the windows but didn't see anything. "With this snow, it's likely branches falling." At 5:30 am, there were bright flashing lights outside our window. "Do we still have electricity?" Clark asked. Yup we did. Right then, there was a bright flash and a loud popping sound, and no electric. Clark said he saw bright lights up the the tree before the electricity went out. Of course the lights and chainsaw noise woke both babies. Later we discovered that the branch they cut down was quite charred.  The electricity soon came back on, but went off twice more before the day was over.

  So we resigned ourselves to a snow day, again! If we could have forgotten about the calendar, it would have been easier to enjoy.  I tried to bake lemon cookies, but they were kind of a failure. We watched the snow fall, listened to branches break, and wondered what to do if the electric went of for a longer time then we could keep the house warm. And the snow piled higher. There were seven inches on the ground at 6 am. By 8:30 there were three more inches. 

The snow was about as deep as it had been all winter. At least it looked that way.

This was a huge limb that fell. 8-10 inches diameter.

Our poor pine trees. This picture doesn't do justice to the way it really looked. It was bad, trust me. The pine tree to the right is going to have to go some day. 

We measured the snow  throughout the day. Not sure how much we actually had here. For a time, a portion of roads in the area were labeled as "Impossible to Drive." It was a wet heavy snow that compacted like concrete.

   But by the end of the day it was over. And we had survived. It took a few days for it to melt off though. All the poor tourists that came for the first day of fishing season went wandering about town instead. 

   On the 30'th of May, if it should snow that day, everything at our local Salvation Army store will be priced 1/2 off, just so you know. If it does snow that day, believe you me, I'm gonna go shop there. 

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    So I started the above several days ago and just got it finished tonight (two days later). I thought I would add pictures of storm clean up. 

 Clark logging the yard. He wanted make the cutting and clean up easier. He said this picture is for his mom, it brought back memories of clearing out the yard at the Stone House years ago. He had fun today. 

"It feels like logging"

Benny's vantage point. 

This is the total mess of storm damage. 

And this is the amount of wood we got from the storm damage. Clark thought this would be a short work project, but he discovered "there's a lot of wood there!" But we're looking forward to using this for summer campfires.

Branch mess to be hauled into the woods for decomposing. 

On another note, this kiddo is all sweet and happy. And crawling, much to big brothers dismay. Territorial disputes have begun. Asher can certainly let the world know when he's been wronged. 

AND just for the record....there were snow showers today.....