SNOWMAGEDDON!

[rachelmanija]

We were supposed to get 8-12 inches of snow. We got over 4 feet.

Snow is up past my windows. There are 5' drifts. No one can get anywhere as either the roads are under 4' of snow or the roads got plowed and all cars are blocked by 5' ice berms.

I'm about to swim out to my chickens and then commence shoveling to keep my deck from collapsing. Here are some pics while I drink coffee and procrastinate.



My deck, seen through living room window.



Backyard seen through bedroom window. There is normally a wall off to the left.



Front door, looking left. That's about 4' of snow.



Front door, looking straight ahead. The house is raised so that's a snow drift of over 5'.



Front door, looking left toward deck and stairs. You can see the stepladder I used to get onto the deck.





Neighbor's house. Note depth of snow in crook of roof!



Another view of neighbor's house.

I'm worried about both the deck and the chicken run roofs collapsing, especially as we're getting snow on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There's no good way to shovel the coop roof as it's high and also surrounded by 5' of snow.

Comments

[musesfool]

That is too much snow! I hope everything holds up!

[davidgillon]

Wow, that is a lot of snow!

[mildred_of_midgard]

Wooowww! When I said you should read Far North this week, I didn't mean you should live it!

[shati]

So pretty, so inconvenient. Hopefully not so destructive, good luck to your deck and chicken run!

[minoanmiss]

Please let us know when you get back from the chicken run

[rachelmanija]

I'm back.

[minoanmiss]

undefeated by the snow! cheers

[rachelmanija]

The chicken coop is completely walled in by snow except where I dug a 5' hole to squeeze into the door.

Got four eggs today! They're mad but they're productive.

[minim_calibre]

Holy crudnuggets! That's a dangerous amount of snow.

[graydon]

Fresh, fluffy snow is about 50 kilogrammes per cubic metre. That stuff looks like it might be about 100 kg per cubic metre; it's hard to tell if it's fluffy or wet or what the proportion was as it fell.

The point here is not to talk about roof loading, but to note that shifting snow is a significant amount of work and to take breaks and not hurt yourself.

[thomasyan]

Do you have rope? I'm wondering if throwing a loop onto the coop roof and pulling would work okay. Just don't bury yourself in an avalanche.

[rachelmanija]

It's way too heavy for that. That would basically be like sliding a knife through it.

[goss]

SO MUCH SNOW! /o\

[movingfinger]

A garden rake with a piece of wood securely fastened to the outer tines can be used to pull some snow from the eaves, if you can reach up to them. This does dump the snow right where you're standing, so plan your activities accordingly. You have sloped roof so if there's a little mild weather maybe there'll be some slump and drop. Fingers crossed!

For the deck, I'd start closer to the house and shovel along the walls, so there's at least a pathway you can move around the house on. With deep snow you need to toss for distance on the first rounds so you can dump later shovelfuls somewhere.

I've shoveled that much snow, most recently in back-to-back storms in 2015, and it's not fun and it's annoying as hell when more snow falls. (*It's also why I don't go to blizzard-prone places in winter any more!)

Yay that you still have power and internet! That is AMAZING. Absolutely astounding. Well done local utilities!!!

[ratcreature]

I hope all important structures continue to hold up.

[james]

That seems like too much snow. Maybe put some back.

[sheron]

Too much snow!

Hopefully when it melts it won't cause a problem with all that water running down.

[rachelmanija]

I doubt it. It'll melt pretty slowly.

[wateroverstone]

That's an amazing amount of snow. So pretty but a tad worrying in quantity. I only know the rake or slat tied to a rope method of getting snow from a roof, too. Good luck shovelling a path.

[sartorias]

WOW!!!

The trees are so beautiful!

[mific]

Incredible snowpocalypse! It is usually this deep or is this winter worse?

[rachelmanija]

This is an unprecedented blizzard. It's five times more snow than we normally get.

[naomikritzer]

That is a legit snowpocalypse. The Great Halloween Blizzard of 1991, which was one of the most impressive storms the Twin Cities has ever seen, got 28.4 inches of snow.

[rachelmanija]

We normally get two feet MAX. I spent the entire day shoveling. Fuck this snowpocalypse with a snow shovel.

[lilacsigil]

Wow, that is an astounding amount of snow!

[sheliak]

Wow! And condolences, but also wow.

My best wishes for your deck and your chicken run.

[vass]

...Wow. Good luck.

[cefyr]

Oh dear, that's A Lot. Very pretty pictures to look at though!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and the chickens. At least you've got power, internet, eggs, and brandy?

[kate_nepveu]

that is a ridiculous amount of snow, even for a New Englander.