Last Patch of Snow from Record Snowy Winter

Believe it or not, a few patches of snow remain here in Garrett County. I took this picture along our road (Pocahontas Road) this afternoon, April 6. Since I figured no one would believe me, well, here it is.

It's Official! A New Garrett County Record for Snow!

The county maintenance facility at Keyser's Ridge recently announced that the snowfall totals there passed 262 inches, a new record for Garrett County (which has a snowflake symbol on the county's flag - which certainly makes more sense than having a palm tree). This does not mean that we have received the same amount, as Keyser's Ridge is almost 300 feet higher in elevation than our home in Finzel, and that part of the county historically receives more snow.

Nonetheless, I believe we safely can say that our location has received more than 200 inches this winter, which has become the season we never will forget. The boys and I went X-C skiing at New Germany State Park yesterday, and the crowd of people from the D.C.-Baltimore area marveled at what they saw. For anyone who loves to be on skis, this has been the Winter from Heaven. For those who long for spring, it has been the winter from somewhere else.

Approaching New Snowfall Record in Garrett County

Forget the last Garrett County snowfall chart. We now are approaching 250 inches, and February is not over. I write this as a nice little blizzard with 40+ winds is going on outside. (The Anderson house is warm, thank you.)

Unfortunately for me, this is not X-C snow. The 2-3 feet we have outside has turned to near-concrete, not something fit for my skis. Now, if we can just get some snow to stay on top of that "base," we might have some more good skiing ahead of us.

I Stand Corrected! We Are Approaching 200 Inches!

I recently posted that we must be nearing 100 inches of snow here in Garrett County this winter. Well, it looks as though I was a bit off. According to this snowfall chart, we are nearing 200 inches of snow for the winter of 2009-2010. Yeah, and we even had a White Christmas! Don't forget that the groundhog saw his shadow so we are destine to have winter until near the end of March.

Ski at Last!

After a week, the snow has compacted to a point where I can do some reasonable X-C skiing on it. (The dogs had a much tougher time of it, as paws don't make for good snowshoes.)

Now, the trails and fields near my house still were not anything like the tracks and trails at Whitegrass or Backbone Farm, but nonetheless it was good to be out again and getting my workout in the snow!

More Pictures from "Snowmaggedon II"

We are on the back end of a blizzard, which added nearly a foot to our current totals, and have turned the first mile of Pocahontas Road into a pile of drifts and whiteouts. Here are some pictures that I took this morning.

#1: A view of the front of our house. Our fence has disappeared under the snow (Notice the lamp post and plant hanger to the right)

#2: Looking down Pocahontas Road

#3: The McKenzie Farm; taken from our deck

#4: Habtamu (one of my two sons) enjoys life in a snow cave!

#5: Looking to our side yard and lower woods

From what I can tell, the winter is not over yet. I don't know how many inches we have received here, but I would guess that including the pre-Thanksgiving snows, we are close to 100 inches or more. A True Garrett County Winter!

While I have no pictures of Pocahontas Road south of us, the wind has drifted piles of snow, coving the right lane altogether and creating horrendous whiteout conditions. This afternoon, we drove into three of them, and I can only say that I feel for those people who are trying to navigate it after dark!

Another Snowstorm is Here

We are being hit with more snow just a few days after receiving 30+ inches from Mother Nature. However, the worst of it will be to the east. I might post some new pictures, except I don't know if you will be able to tell them from the old ones!

My favorite story out of this is that while D.C. has been receiving record snowfall, a Senate committee had to postpone a hearing on...global warming. Yes, when over the past few years, D.C. had not received much snow, the pundits claimed that "global warming" was the culprit. Now that it is snowing, no doubt we soon will hear that the storms are due to "global warming." In other words, with the Greens, it always is "heads I win, tails you lose."

Update: Like Pavlov's dogs, the editors at the state-worshiping "news" magazine Time have reacted to the recent snow by declaring that, indeed, the record snowfall is the result of...global warming. So, if it does not snow in DC, that is due to global warming, and if it snows, that, too, happens because of global warming.

Waiting Out the Storm

It is snowing - and snowing - outside, and has been for most of the day. I suspect that before this storm has passed (sometime Saturday afternoon), we are going to see about two feet outside our place.

I do love living in mountain Maryland (our place is at about 2,600 feet, an elevation most people don't equate with this state), and I love to X-C ski in the snow. However, this storm is going to be a bit, well, inconvenient. The plow trucks are performing heroically, even if theirs is a losing cause.

We have plenty of wood, food, and time. And a Subaru.