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A Ridiculous Snow Day?
Friday, 8 February 2013 13:46No, Prudent
While the rest of the nation is watching the northeast as two storms merge to form Snurricane Nemo and New York to Boston is supposed to "get it", the northern part of Nemo came through Michigan last night.
The irony is that yesterday, Thursday, was the first morning commute in some three weeks that I was able to drive at full posted speeds the entire way. Roads clear. It was sunny in Kalamazoo. In Grand Rapids, though, the afternoon was already picking up half a foot or more of wet heavy snow. This wasn't the dry lake effect snows we've been getting. It was near freezing and there was a lot of water content, making for slushy, slidey road conditions, plus bands of freezing rain.
K-zoo was in the 3-5" snowfall range. Our house was just south of the one-foot plus range. Our neighbor plowed our driveway twice by 10pm -- probably a good move on his part since the heavy wet snow would be tough for his little plow to work on in large scale.
But even while the sun was shining in my office yesterday afternoon, I advised my department chair that it was possible I wouldn't be driving in today. I was expecting a very long commute and on Fridays we just do a quiz in class. So I arranged to have people cover the quizzes and emailed PDFs of the quizzes to the office last night.
I was right, of course. Traffic cameras showed slow driving. I've already pushed past 2½ hours on the drive in just this week due to icy conditions. Why drive in, risking life-limb-vehicle, just to be late to a quiz and give another?
Of course the sun came out this morning and it looked all white and pretty. But I know I made the right choice.
Pictures Or It Didn't Happen
The back deck was completely clear before Thursday afternoon. And because it was warm enough, I was able to open the sliding screen door and shoot. It may not look so bad now, but the roads early this morning were coated with a thick slurry of shit. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
This morning, the snow cap on top of the heat pump was at least a foot high. With the temps in the upper 20s and bright sunshine, it had been whittled down to 6-9" by 1pm. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Rather impressed myself with getting the Nikon D1 to deal with the overblown snow highlights, even while shooting through a window screen. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Icicles forming quickly from the roof melt. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Dr. Phil
While the rest of the nation is watching the northeast as two storms merge to form Snurricane Nemo and New York to Boston is supposed to "get it", the northern part of Nemo came through Michigan last night.
The irony is that yesterday, Thursday, was the first morning commute in some three weeks that I was able to drive at full posted speeds the entire way. Roads clear. It was sunny in Kalamazoo. In Grand Rapids, though, the afternoon was already picking up half a foot or more of wet heavy snow. This wasn't the dry lake effect snows we've been getting. It was near freezing and there was a lot of water content, making for slushy, slidey road conditions, plus bands of freezing rain.
K-zoo was in the 3-5" snowfall range. Our house was just south of the one-foot plus range. Our neighbor plowed our driveway twice by 10pm -- probably a good move on his part since the heavy wet snow would be tough for his little plow to work on in large scale.
But even while the sun was shining in my office yesterday afternoon, I advised my department chair that it was possible I wouldn't be driving in today. I was expecting a very long commute and on Fridays we just do a quiz in class. So I arranged to have people cover the quizzes and emailed PDFs of the quizzes to the office last night.
I was right, of course. Traffic cameras showed slow driving. I've already pushed past 2½ hours on the drive in just this week due to icy conditions. Why drive in, risking life-limb-vehicle, just to be late to a quiz and give another?
Of course the sun came out this morning and it looked all white and pretty. But I know I made the right choice.
Pictures Or It Didn't Happen
The back deck was completely clear before Thursday afternoon. And because it was warm enough, I was able to open the sliding screen door and shoot. It may not look so bad now, but the roads early this morning were coated with a thick slurry of shit. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
This morning, the snow cap on top of the heat pump was at least a foot high. With the temps in the upper 20s and bright sunshine, it had been whittled down to 6-9" by 1pm. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Rather impressed myself with getting the Nikon D1 to deal with the overblown snow highlights, even while shooting through a window screen. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Icicles forming quickly from the roof melt. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Dr. Phil
