After The Storm Has Passed

[GrtArtiste]

If you've ever spent a winter in northern climes you'll know what I'm sayin'. A fresh fall of snow...8 inches...more than we usually get all at once. It is utterly quiet outside. No wind, no traffic...nothing.
The sun shines brightly and the sky is completely clear of clouds.

I started at 5:30 am Sunday and it takes me almost 5 hours to shovel the walkway to my front door, clear the end of the driveway of the thick crud left by the county snow plow, and then use my snowblower to clear out the drifts.

I see no activity from the neighbors next door. A very nice family (Dad-Mom-two teenagers). That's strange says I to myself as Dad is usually the first one out there on a day like today. Maybe the family isn't home.

At about 11:00 I see Dad arriving in his SUV...he must've been at work. Of course he struggled to get into his own driveway as NOTHING had been done. As it turned out, Mom and the kids were home and Dad was ROYALLY _ _ _ _ _ _ that all were doing something other than tackling the snow. They hadn't even brushed the snow off of their own cars or used their own truck-with-a-plow.

Hey Dad! Ya know...on a day like today your voice carries farther. Normally I would've never been able to hear him as he usually isn't yelling. Maybe he didn't see me standing on my porch. Now he has the kids busy outside and then I hear the following for the very first time:

"WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER? TELL HER TO GET HER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"

Can't wait to see what happens after the next storm.

GrtArtiste

 

[JC1]

That's common. Most people don't want to go outside in weather like this


How big is your driveway to spend 5 hours cleaning it. What percentage hand shovelling versus snow blowing?

 

[CharBaby]

I was outside for ~2.5 hrs yesterday cleaning our driveway, walk, steps & hydrant close to our home.
My wife was in the kitchen!

 

[GrtArtiste]

Approx 160 ft long with a 25 X 50 parking area. I'm old and I work slowly, that's why I started early. The longest part is digging out the mailbox and clearing the approach on either side so the next arrival of the plow doesn't re-bury it. If I don't do it...maybe the mail won't get delivered. Overall...67% shoveling 33% blowing. Also I spend a lot of effort on the walkway to get it as clear and dry as I can get it without using chemicals. I'd hate for someone to take a dive on my walk because I didn't clean it properly. Even in cold temps, it cleans up quite well if I can get most of the snow off before the sun comes up.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I think a lot of my neighbors didn't bother to clean up yesterday because they didn't have work today (MLK day, not a holiday at my company) and the wind just started howling last night.
We me having to head to work today and knowing it was going to be around 0F early in this AM with blistering winds, I went out and cleaned up just before sundown yesterday. Had about 6" of snow/frozen sleet that was just about the consistency of granulated sugar with a crust on top...my snowblower just threw this stuff half a mile! I used the snowblower for the entire driveway (175' plus 30' circular turnaround/parking area), apron, and mailbox approach and then shoveled two walkways and the deck...the shoveling was grueling due to the crust, but my wife did help with that. Every time I got a shovel full, the crust on the top would slip off the front of the shovel just when I went to throw. It was aggravating as heck! The snowblowing probably only took half and hour with my new beast of a machine, a three stage Troy Bilt, and the shoveling was probably an hour. I love the power and width of the Troy Bilt, but the "joystick" chute control mechanism is wonky and the chute also doesn't go high enough...my old Yardman would go nearly vertical and that came in handy for the rock walls I have to clear out.
The storm was actually NBD after the big ice event that was predicted as of Saturday...I guess the upper atmosphere was quite warm, but it was maybe 15F near the ground and I think the rain froze before it could hit the ground. Lucky for us!

 

[opus1]

I had the pleasure of shoveling 3x. Mom's on Saturday, and since I pulled the snowthrower out I did her neighbor's property. Yesterday I got to shovel my place and then reshovel Mom's place.

My sister moved to a warmer climate but when she was here she used to love watching the snow fall. Never shoveled any of it though...

 

[Ifixyawata]

I enjoyed my first winter snow storm with the use of an 8hp snowblower. I do not enjoy cleaning ice and snow off of cars and having door latches stuck and frozen and having windows and door seals iced up.

 

[andyd]

I cleared the walk and the cars yesterday. I salted the icy walk an hour ago. The driveway has an inch of ice on it that will be gone before any more snow falls.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Seems that it was a really powdery snow. It just blew around after it stopped snowing hard. When I was snowblowing the driveway, I would go 10 feet, then engage the auger, then stop and go another 10 feet. Otherwise it was just making snow powder go everywhere . We have had steady lake effect after the snow and it's been frigid out. Too cold and dark for salt to work, roads aren't clear.

That seems to keep a lot of people away.

 

[eljefino]

Morning after, I have it cleared but not clean, if that makes sense to anyone. There was already a layer of ice on everything and that's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Shovelling this mostly-sleet mess was unusually frustrating, but plowing and blowing worked mint. My chonda with oversized main jet LOVES this cold air, sounds happy as can be.