WINTER WEATHER 2010 “ONCE IN A LIFETIME?”

>This has been such an auspicious fall and winter for meteorological mayhem, I thought I would record some of the goings on. And where better to get a snapshot of how things have been going, than to go on facebook and see what I have put on my wall there. As I type this, we are bracing for another 1-6 inches of snow tomorrow that just might put the Charlottesville area over the all time record snowfall for a winter. As I remember, mid fall seems to be the place to start. I have put the dates after each entry and most are quoted from facebook. They are the ones in italics. And with at least a few months of ‘winter’ left, who knows what I’ll be writing? All I know is that the azaleas, dogwoods and rhododendrons may be very sparse this spring. Here are my “El Nina” recollections. Enjoy.

After Hurricane Ida went through in November, I wrote “SUNSHINE!! Did you like my storm?? Still folks with no power near coast. We're supposed to have great weater for next few days, no rain all week. “ 2009-11-14

"outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, 'yoo, hoo'..... Rare for here. Snow supper tonight. 2009-12-05

Bracing for tonight's whatever! Forecast goes back and forth. John getting better after Dr and two prescriptions. I'm still dizzy, but that's nothing new. 2009-12-08

In a fog - inside and outside. Great time yesterday! Sunday School party, delicious dinner with international friends, then Lessons and Carols at church... beautiful music. Looking for my house today ... somewhere under the mess. 2009-12-14

Still snowing like crazy - my homemade ruler on the back porch is over 17 inches. Made it home from delivering Angel Tree 6:30 last evening- three inches. Ten at bedtime. All time records going down in drifts here. 2009-12-19

Gorgeous sunny morning - 21 inches total, and won't be above freezing much for the next week, so Virginians will have some white for Christmas. Praising the Lord we have heat! 2009-12-20

Brrrr. Baby, it's cold outside! Won't be much melting before the Christmas day rain. Roads look almost clear to Lynchburg, so off to love on some grandkids today. Cookies even got baked this year. Some sewing done, too. Cards after we get good pics of the babies! 2009-12-22

Ahh. Friday night. Even retired people can be thankful for Friday. Wish it were warmer... Brrr. No azaleas this year at this rate. 2010-01-08

Enjoying sunshine! Wishing it were warm. Even the computer is cold - - typing very slow. Reminded in church about the importance of honesty so I won't lie... sometimes I wish I were teaching full time again... and then I'm glad I'm not! 2010-01-10

My thermometer said 8 when I got up. Maybe no azaleas this year and dogwoods are shivering, too. John to doctor today. Has to get over this so he can go to NC this weekend to catch something else from grandkids. :) 2010-01-11

Woke up to a stunning orange glow in the sky. A brief glimpse of heaven's glory. How kind of God to share it! 2010-01-19

Just a note about the above… I had friends who thought it was the second coming or the end of the world as we know it. They were really freaked out!

Flooding in Charlottesville. Hope we can still go to the movies today! 2010-01-25

The above entry was after an inch or more of rain that melted much of the remaining snow pack from before Christmas.

Sunny but cold, but this is the day the LORD has made. Good time last night eating fondue with friends. 2010-01-27

Snow coming - around 6 inches. Weatherman said "moderate" last night, but last year it would have been a "five alarm fire" snow..... difference a 22" snowfall a month ago makes. 2010-01-29

Beautiful day... snow gently falling, quiet, nothing planned but dinner with the neighbor. Let's hope I get something done today! 2010-01-30

Just under a foot of snow yesterday, temps in single digits, and of course the power went off from 11 AM to 6 PM. Lots of solar gain, gas fireplace and gas stove so we really didn't suffer. And of course the sweat worked up shoveling! 2010-02-01

Busy day. Snow tonight... 'only 2-4 inches'. But this weekend's forecast if for maybe more snow than the 22" we had December 20. Aaaaaacccckkkkk! 2010-02-02

An inch of snow with ice on top. Brrr. Bracing for the weekend. Grocery store, here I come. 2010-02-03

Braced for the storm. May set the all time winter recorded snowfall record with this one- and then another Tuesday. Plans for the house guest and snow shovel!! Gotta love the Covenant Players!! 2010-02-05

Woo Hoo!! Power back on... and off.. and on... and off.. at least 6 times since 7:50 AM. Off over 11 hours. Freezing rain and sleet from 6PM last night to 7 AM. 2 inches worth. Have 2 more inches of snow since and going up. 9 inches of snow/ice/etc so far. Charging up everything I can in the house to save propane. 2010-02-06

Snow has stopped at 13 inches of accumulation... not counting the freezing rain that soaked into the rest of it. Power off again this afternoon for a couple hours. Fought the chill by shoveling. 2010-02-06

Brrr. Really cold (10) when I got up. High will be 35 today. Makes it hard to remove more ice. Happy folks here at the lake who had no power got it last night around 11 PM. More snow - 1-6 inches - tomorrow. Maybe we'll get our record broken yet! 2010-02-08

If you are wondering why I didn’t put anything up on Sunday the seventh, when we got done with the morning shoveling ALL the phones and cell phones AND internet went down for about nine hours. We were among the fortunate to have power and cable TV, so we could cook, watch the super bowl and be warm (but I can’t even imagine the electric bill this month!!) But we were into face to face communication.. No choice! This has certainly brought neighbors closer together. We went around in the afternoon to check on elderly friends who did not have power. Neighbors were together, some had fled to family homes, others were camping out in front of their propane fireplaces and no one wanted to move in with us. We Americans are not altogether the wimps we are cracked up to be. There were those who welcomed the adventure, and I do confess to enjoying a spurt of creativity trying to figure out what had to be done first, second and third to keep us warm and do any necessary cooking. When the power went back on Saturday morning, there was a scurry of plugging in chargers again, starting the crockpot, revving up the electric griddle all to be prepared and spare the propane tank just in case. John assures me we have plenty, but our last delivery was in June and I did the thanksgiving and Christmas baking since then as well as run the propane fireplace when we lost power in December. Hopefully the tank will be topped off by the end of the week.

For now, this is the ‘friz’ signing off to plug the chargers in again, and be sure we are still ready for the snow coming tomorrow!! Hope our rescheduled meetings are rescheduled far enough in advance!