I’ve written about the Children’s Blizzard today, but decided to put it into Reprint because of the focus on history.
I’m very glad that the blizzard we had over the weekend did not kill 250-500 people.
Historical Snowstorms and Blizzards
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Tag Archives: snow
Seven Things to Do During the Tropical Heat Wave
It can’t last.
We are Midwesterners, and we know this lovely heat wave that has temporarily turned our chilly tundra into a tropical paradise, with temperatures in the 30s and maybe even low 40s, can’t possibly last. It’s only mid-February, and we have the rest of this month and all of March to get through before we can really hope to experience spring-like conditions.
It can’t last. We all know this.
So if you’re like me, you’ve been taking advantage of the soaring temperatures and sunny skies and doing things Midwesterners do when the temperatures get into the mid-30s.
- Go outside without having a life-or-death reason.
- Roll the window down when you’re driving around in town, just for the fresh air. Fresh air which doesn’t cause actual pain when you inhale it.
- Skip the socks. It’s a little daring, and it’s probably still a little too damp out for sandals, but socks are optional when your skin would no longer instantaneously freeze just by being exposed to the air.
- Wash the car. It’s kind of a novelty now, because you probably haven’t been able to do it for a month or so. Apparently my car was supposed to be black all along; I thought it was supposed to be kind of a dusty gray. Oops.
- Walk around without mittens, scarves, ear muffs, hats and the hunched-over expression of suffering we all wear throughout January.
- Remember why we live here. There are very few earthquakes, almost no hurricanes and the snow is actually very attractive. No, seriously. Remember how we felt about it in November?
- Stand outdoors watching the snow melt and gloat. You can even try mocking it. “You pathetic excuse for snow, you thought you could conquer my spirits? Fool! I am Minnesotan/Iowan (circle whichever applies)! We are tough! You are pitiful and weak beneath the rays of the mighty sun! Hahaha!”
Melllllllting!
After what seemed like an eternity, some of our snow is finally melting.
Of course, this has its downside. It’s turned into snirt, the combination of dirt and snow that looks really unattractive and still manages to hide all the grass. But I don’t think anyone in Minnesota really objects anymore, simply because it’s so good to see the giant snow piles shrinking.
I’m sure it’s also improving safety, since you can actually see over the huge piles of snow at the end of your driveway and at intersections now, and the ice is melting from the slick slippery sidewalks too.
I rolled my window down on the way to Jackson today, just to get a bit of fresh air. This is a testament to how long this winter has felt, because I normally hate fresh air. It’s like sunshine. That stuff’ll kill you, man.
But after what felt like seventy years of winter, the sunshine and fresh air feel like heaven.
Sure hope it stays!
Too Much of a Good Thing: Yet More Snow
I for one welcome our snowy overlords! (Artist rendition at left)
Driving back to Worthington from Jackson yesterday was a bit of an adventure, but it wasn’t too bad. The gentleman or lady driving behind me in a Hummer was courteous and didn’t try to tailgate me or hurry me into going faster (which was good, because there were ten cars in front of me and the left lane was impassable for light cars), and I was grateful for that.
However, I had to dig out the end of my driveway when I got home, and got stuck in my driveway again this morning, ending up shoveling out my car while standing in snow up to my knees. If you heard cursing in the vicinity of Diagonal Road this morning, now you know who was to blame.
I love snow. I am a big proponent of snow. It’s picturesque and helps cover up the yucky dead grass and sad naked trees.
However, by the time February begins I’m always tired of it, and this year I think I started getting annoyed with the constant weather events in mid-January. Fer cryin’ out loud, is a day of nice (30+degree, no precipitation, no wind) weather really that much to ask for?
Argh.
The Glories of Living in a Small Town with Nice People In It
As Daily Globe readers may have already realized, I attended the Worthington City Council meeting last night.
When I left the Daily Globe’s office at about 6:45 p.m., the night air was cold and crisp and had that sort of biting feel that lets you know you shouldn’t really have any bare skin. It wasn’t snowing, though, so I decided to walk the two blocks to City Hall.
I quickly found out that I should have done what I usually do in the winter (which is wimp out and drive), because the sidewalks were slippery, and that biting feeling quickly latched onto my eyebrows and wouldn’t let go. (I don’t know why my eyebrows get cold before the rest of my face. They have hair; shouldn’t they get cold last?)
But it wasn’t a big deal, either, so I just hurried up a bit and got to the council meeting just fine.
By the time the meeting ended, it was snowing like it does in that scene at the end of White Christmas, and it had gotten even colder.
"Oh shoot," I said, dreading those two blocks of snow-slick sidewalks. "I walked here."
And the mayor and his wife kindly offered me a ride to the newspaper office.
Instead of spending 15 minutes trudging through snow and dodging ice patches while wondering if it is possible for eyebrows to fall off from cold, and maybe even slipping and falling on my head (I’m ungraceful at the best of times), I got to sit in a big truck for just a couple minutes and slip into the Globe office with barely a snowflake on my hat.
It’s nice to live in a small town with nice people.
Seriously, Don’t Drive! Really, We Mean It!
Some people believe the press catastrophizes storms in an attempt to scare people into reading the news. Mostly we just pass on what the National Weather Service says, which is often, in fact, scary.
In this case, visibility has dropped to zero in some places, there’s people in the ditch all over the place, and MN/DoT and the National Weather Service are both telling people to get the heck off the roads (and I paraphrase).
Please do not drive out there, people. For reference, we are under a blizzard warning. Most of the previous storms (including, in our part of the state, the Christmas Blizzard) have not qualified, technically, as blizzards.
(That’s not to say they weren’t, in common parlance, blizzards–winter storms that drop a lot of snow and have some wind and ice associated.)
This one is an actual technical blizzard, and it is very dangerous out there right now.
If you travel, you put yourself at risk, but you also put at risk all the emergency personnel who will have to rescue you. They can’t see any better than you can out there. Unless there is some emergency, by which I mean someone is bleeding or dying, please do not drive!
Driving Conditions Treacherous, Even in Town
The visibility in the country and fringes of town is absolutely horrible, and despite our small army of plows and sand/salt tossing folks, the roads are slippier than a greased monkey.
(Go ahead, you try holding onto a greased monkey some time.)
I ended up actually running a stoplight today when the light turned yellow, I braked, and my car decided to just keep going. Fortunately I was going very slow, and the cars on the other sides of the intersection had plenty of time to see that the car was not in the stopping vein today. My vehicle slowly slid through the intersection, I gripped the steering wheel like it was my hope of heaven and it was pretty much fine, thanks to the other drivers.
By driving very slow, I also managed to avoid smashing into a van that had taken a turn a little too fast ahead of me and ended up pointing the wrong way on a one-way lane. I waved at the driver and smiled reassuringly. He smiled back, and turned off the street.
Frankly, today is a good day to not drive, because all that fluffy light snow that fell yesterday is blowing all over kingdom come, and the roads are slick to boot.
Too Darn Much Snow
I took this photo when I realized you could tell how long a car had been in the parking lot by how much snow it had accrued.
And that’s the other direction: Minnesota West Community and Technical College in the snow.
On the bright side, I’m happy to report that this snow is light, dry and quite fluffy, and hopefully, will be easier to move around for those of us who have to shovel.
Snowstorm Approaching
I’m about to get into my car and attempt to drive, which may not be the wisest idea I’ve ever had. I’m hearing a lot of accidents on the scanner, most of which don’t sound serious, but many of which could have been.
At least one vehicle rolled over, but the people in the car reported no one was injured.
It is time for the hatch-battening.
I’ll see if I can take a picture while I’m out and about.
Driving Conditions Still Pretty Yucky
The plowing is continuing today, but because there are so many more people on the road, there have been a lot more accidents than there were over the weekend and Christmas Day.
It is not pleasant to drive out there. Even in places where most of the snow is gone, it’s still pretty slippery, because the remaining snow is packed into a nasty layer of ice. And it’s also very, very cold out there in comparison to the weekend.
I’ve been listening to collisions occurring all day today, with emergency workers going to and fro helping people. Please, please drive carefully if you are driving today, and heed the warning of the good Sgt. Bolt and be patient!
