Monday, December 20, 2010

White Christmas

Living in Minnesota means living with snow. The first snow fall of the year typically is in November. Usually the first couple snow falls melt but by the time Thanksgiving rolls around the snow is usually on the ground to stay. The snow begins to melt in March but usually sticks around into April and sometimes even early May.
The snow can be quite beautiful. It certainly adds flavor especially for the holidays. Normal every day neighborhoods like this one in Prescott, WI can become a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. There are also a lot of winter activities that you can participate in if you do not mind the cold, such as skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, or winter birding.
Snow is also frequently a pain in the butt. On December 11th a snow storm dumped 18 to 23 inches of snow on us in a 24 hour period. This was the fifth highest recorded snowfall in a 24 hour period in Minnesota history, the largest recorded snowfall in a 24 hour period in Minnesota was 36 inches. The snow was so bad that it caused the roof of the Metrodome to tear and collapse. The snow storm also caused school closings on Monday and many traffic accidents. For me the storm meant shoveling out the back door at work because the snow removal company had problems with their Bobcat. Just for perspective the top of the door frame is about 10 feet tall. It was a very long morning.

10 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Oh, memories of my years in Montana, but I think Minnesota even beats Montana for the amount of snowfall. Amazing photos as always! And a lovely, snowy look at your world! Hope you have a wonderful week and a very Merry Christmas!

Sylvia

Martha Z said...

That is a lot of snow to shovel.

Penelope Notes said...

Oh … this is definitely a ton of flakes. Looks like there is no need to fear NOT having a white Christmas. Hope you have some help shoveling this mountain of snow!

Shirley said...

Ok, perhaps I should now stop complaining about the drifts of snow I've shovelled through, repeatedly, this week. White Christmas indeed! I am glad to have it; wouldn't have it any other way. Merry Christmas.

marcia@joyismygoal said...

brrr sorry we have 80 degrees today

Anonymous said...

Wow - that IS a lot of snow! We have masses here in Sweden too.

Lovely pics - enjoy your white Christmas.

Arija said...

That's a lot of shovelling! Unfortunately we all somehow have to come to terms with whatever extremes of weather are thrown at us.

Hope you don't have to do it again.

Coffeedoff said...

Wow and I thought my snow was deep! Mine looks much better now.

Susan Ellis said...

That's a LOT of snow to have to shovel!! We have snow from December til March too, but not (usually) quite that much of it. Merry Christmas!

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

Good grief - that's some pathway you guys have carved at the back door. Phew - I'm exhausted just looking at that poor little shovel balanced there! We have a snowy covering but nothing as daunting as your blanket.