Archives

Hi All:

The Chicago Snowpocalypse has arrived. Took a drive with the dog in the AWD MDX with maybe 6" of new snow, 45 mph gusts and 1/4-mile visibility. It was not that bad in Gurnee, IL imho. It is getting worse as the evening wears on however…

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Golden_Snow_Dog.jpg
The Golden just has to ride with her head out of the window :)

Post pics if you gottem.

Wayne

I was worried about you with the storm that was heading your way. Take it easy we don't want to hear your in the cardiac unit for clearing the snow.

Well you can have the rest of what new york got today and coming tomorrow.

Wayne,

Get plenty of hot chocolate!

Funny thing happened today - an early morning thuderstorm made Dallas roads coated with treacherous unsanded ice. I was going to meet with Tony Sheaffer on a business trip from Chicago, and he sent me a message he would not want to drive down here. :eek:

Pix tomorrow maybe.

The way it's blowing it's hard to tell how much snow we've had--I observed depths between 3 inches and 3 feet about an hour ago when I walked out and offered overnight lodging to a gal whose car is stuck about 300 yards from our house.

She said she had somebody with 4WD coming to get her. I'll check on her again before I go to bed.

I made it to work and back during "round 1" which dropped about 5 inches. You can tell the snow-clearing budgets are getting tight because they didn't even try to plow until just before the evening commute. I cleared the drive in anticipation of another 12 to 20 inches depending on which weather-guesser you believe. The snow banks around my driveway are already ridiculous. I bet that will be picture-worthy by the end of the storm.

We just had a few inches in round 1. Round 2 is tomorrow and is expected to bring 7 to 11 inches. I'll be working from home so I expect to do some management during the day. My wife's son will be helping since he has a snow day tomorrow. My wife teaches in a different district and will probably have a snow day but her physical conditions rules her out of shoveling.

We had thundersnow a few minutes ago. My wife just took this picture of our deck. I hope I can still find the shovel in the morning. http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/snowdrift.jpg

After about 2 hours a lifted 4x4 came and pulled the stranded woman's car up the hill, so I don't have to worry about her any more. You could hear her car plowing snow along the way.

Hi All:

Just snow blowed the first run. 2-ft drifts and about 6" everywhere else so it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. What was bad was the wind. I stopped heading in one direction when blowing and simply ran up the same just cleared track and came back down plowing a new one out.

After I warm up a bit, maybe I will head out to take a pic but there is not much to see since it is close to a white out right now… There was ~ 3’ ft. of snow right on the hood of the Accord which looks goofy as all get out but I am not going to move the car back away from the garage to get that snow off until I absolutely have to.

Rich, you are getting hammered by the looks of it too!

Wayne

Hi All:

The next town over received 24" and that is about what I saw this morning...

My wife took the following snaps on her Canon IS…

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Out_the_Dining_Room_Front_Window.jpg
Out the Dining Room Front Window

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Finchs.jpg
Hungry Finch’s

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Dog_during_Snowblowing.jpg
Golden Retriever’s love snow :)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Snowblowing.jpg
I do the work and she snaps the pics :angel:

Wayne

Hi All:

First shots of the morning from my own Canon IS... The drive had anywhere from 1 to 3' of snow to be cleared and it was still blowing like hell when I first opened up the garage door.

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Snow_Over_the_Dogs_Head.jpg
Snow over the Golden's head...

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Accord_Under_This.jpg
My Accord is underneath this somewhere ;)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Looking_down_the_drive.jpg
Looking down the drive. What drive?

Wayne

Hi All:

As I was performing my first pass, a Landscape Plow driver drove his truck into the ditch across the street. I snowblowed a path all around the truck and we started hand shoveling snow from underneath to no avail. I offered to have him come in our home or at least stay in his truck and stay warm until I had my drive cleared so I could get the MDX out to help pull his truck from the ditch. He wanted to stay with his truck so I said no problem.

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Stuck_Snow_Plow.jpg
Snowblowed and hand shoveled around and underneath the stuck Snow Plow.

About 20-minutes later, one of the big County plows came through and pulled him out…

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Big_Plow_pulling_out_Small_Plow1.jpg
Big plow truck pulling out the small plow truck.

Wayne

Hi All:

With the drive about 7/8 complete, I am now widening the edges and I suck up a Chicago Tribune newspaper way up on top of the drive??? It is mangled and stuck in the second stage tight right now. I spent about 20-minutes in the drive pulling pieces out with an ice pick and screwdriver. I only got about half of it out with the rest bound up in their like concrete. My wife suggested I try and burn it out so I will try that after a few…

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Dog.jpg
Time for the Golden to come inside and warm up…

Wayne

Holy crap, thats a hell of a lot of snow, and I thought we had it bad last month! Bet the dog is loving it as much as my Red Setter does ;) You tell him to come in and he lays down in the snow and cries because he wants to keep playing.

You're probably wasting your time getting rid of it just now, isn't it predicted to keep going on for at least the next day or so?

You're probably wasting your time getting rid of it just now, isn't it predicted to keep going on for at least the next day or so?

You might think so until you try clearing a drive that is stacked in drifts up over the top of your snowblower. At that point you are forced to take a shovel to the top to get it low enough that the blower can handle it.

Been there. Done that. Not doing it again. :p

Hi All:

Remember that Snow Plow driver I helped by snow blowing around his truck and helped him shovel underneath to try and free the vehicle?

While I was inside warming up and posting the previous stuff after the Tribune got caught in the second stage impeller, the knucklehead plows my neighbors snow right into my drive! He first cannot tell where the edge of the road is and then he cannot tell where my driveway is :confused:

CleanMPG member Jim Steagall of Washington DC sent the following pic and instructions to use a large pliers or channel locks ;) I eventually got it out with the screwdriver and tearing pieces away by hand but what a waste of 30-minutes :rolleyes:

Jim, thanks for the E-Mail and pic!

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Jim_Steagall_-_News_Paper_Jammed_the_Snowplow.jpg
Jim’s Snow Blower after running over probably the Washington Post :D

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Neighbors_snow_in_drive.jpg
About ¾ of this 5’ pile of snow is right in my driveway :mad:

I think this best describes the Chicago Snowpocalypse of 2011’s aftermath… Meet the Snow Door :)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Snow_Door.jpg

It took over an hour just to get the neighbor’s snow out of my drive and off the street as it was not only massive but it was compacted. It then took over two hours to clear the rest of my drive as the drifts were now taller than they were this morning!

The sun finally came out and the winds died down so we are almost good to go… Notice I said almost ;)

I finish up the drive, put the snow blower away, and clear the garage doors so they can be closed and this happens :rolleyes:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Just_Finish_up_and_the_Plow_comes_by.jpg

And of course I was supposed to be on Chicago Tonight at 07:00 PM but do not even know if the roads are clear enough to get into downtown Chicago by 06:30. Some days it is better to simply live in Miami or Phoenix or LA or just about anywhere else south of the Mason/Dixon line… Except for Chuck’s Ice storm in Dallas the other day. Ok, maybe we all need to live in Hawaii and drive Nissan LEAF’s powered by solar panels :D

Wayne

Ok, maybe we all need to live in Hawaii and drive Nissan LEAF’s powered by solar panels :D

That would be nice!

Anyone want to donate a lifetime supply of sun block for those of us with Irish skin that would burn to a crisp in about 5min at that latitude? :o

Hi All:

Final stretch - The back door clearing. The hat I am wearing is a dark red with black stripe Redskins logo'ed winter hat if you can believe it!

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Final_Stretch_-_The_back_door.jpg
Making a Fashion Statement while snow blowing 2’ of snow just doesn’t work.

There that pesky dog is again trying to get into the picture ;)

Wayne

Most North Texas schools will probably cancel four days this week.

Guess it's a strange way to greet the Steelers and Packers for the Super Bowl. :D

We don't have that much snow, but it's become ice and the road crews are nowhere like the ones in the Frostbelt.

My front yard slope is gentle, but still slip on the ice checking the snail mail. :o

We got 16+ inches in Joplin (tied for 2 highest snowfall in history here)
Backyard (dug out a place for the dogs)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/back_yard.jpg
Digging out yesterday (snow on the drive way was about 18" or so.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/digging_out.jpg
Neighbors cars
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/neighbors.jpg
Snowpile after shoveling for about 3 hours (was about 5.5 feet, that is a 7 foot lamp post)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/snow_pile.jpg
Thing 1 and Thing 2 enjoying the snow infront of the house
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/thing1and2.jpg

Wayne no snow plows in out neighborhood.:mad:

We had another foot here. Wife's son and I shoveled for about 3 hours. Some of that was moving snow back to make room for the extra snow. I think there's still some light snow, but it should stop overnight and I'll be out after a brush and scrape in the morning. Of course if the plow truck comes by again I'll have to shovel away some hard pack from the end of the driveway.

Hi Chuck:

I can bet Texas will move heaven and earth to make sure the Super Bowl is clear of any wintery debris even if that means the rest of the state shuts down :)

When down there for the Ford F-150 Launch, a lot of locales were talking up the new stadium and how this will be the best Super Bowl yet. I have no doubt it will be the case too.

Die2self, 16” in Joplin must have felt like Katrina hitting New Orleans! Well maybe I am exaggerating a bit but 16" is scary!

And I can see the kids were having a heck of a good time. Good for them as I grew up in the Snow Belt and would miss the variety of weather including the occasional blizzard level of snowfall. Take lots of pics of the kids in the snow as they will remember this for the rest of their lives with those pics backing up what actually fell down your way.

Regarding not having a snow blower, over 4 to 5” and I am getting nervous about not having one. With the wind blown drifts of this monster, I have no idea how you survived down there as up here, I would still be hand shoveling and probably only be 1/3 to ½ done!

This is my normal routine (3 + Inches of Snow, 2500 Sq.-ft. Of Drive Cleared and Not a Single Drop Consumed (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36667)) but not for this 2’ of snow and 50 + mph wind drifting monster!

INATM, man be careful out there. This heart attack thing is the real deal. Plenty of fluids and lots of breaks if you are hand shoveling that amount of snow.

Our friend Scott Burgess of the Detroit News (@AutoCritic on twitter) and one of the best auto writers in the business asked if I hypermiled the snow blower this afternoon. I tweeted “Of course, I hypermile everything” ;)

Keeping the snow blower loaded up at ~ 7/8 throttle allowed me to clear the drive last night time with ~ 6” of snow and 1’ drifts, two times today with the 1 to 2’ of snow and 3’ drifts, the neighbor’s driveway of snow that was pushed into the end of my driveway (that still ticks me off :rolleyes:) and a final time this evening to finish off the last of the drifting and the end of the drive from the county plows on 1.75 gallons of liquid gold. About enough to drive the Accord from the IL/WI border to Madison on a warm sunny day. Or the Indiana border when its below 10 degrees F. Or if I was on Chicago’s infamous Lake Shore Drive , about 6-blocks before abandoning it like 400 other people supposedly did last night during the early stages of the Chicago Snowpocalypse of 2011 :D

Feb 1 and 2, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Final_Clearing.jpg
It is Finished as of ~ 11:30 PM CST!

I hope we get some melting before we get his again. Any more snow like we just had and IL will begin to look like some of the Midwest Ice Age scenes from “The Day After Tomorrow”!

Wayne

Morning after the front rolled through, confirmed that we received a little over 1/3 inch of rain and some nice 15-20mph gusts... Man the backyard is a mess!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/medium/IMG_0355.JPG

A lot more leaves and branches than usual! Took a little while to clean off the driveway, but the wind brought some of it back...don't think it requires any work from me though...

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/medium/IMG_0359.JPG

It's a balmy 52 right now, maybe some showers tonight...

Haters gonna hate? :D

Hahaha! :biglol:

Wayne, that's starting to look like my yard and driveway.

4 years ago I ended up with about 3' of snow on the driveway (that was average depth, by the way) and cleared one car width through it by hand. That was before I had a snow-blower. It wasn't fun.

We are better equipped to handle that much snow here than in many places but we didn't receive that much in this area when the storm passed through. My snow pack is just cumulative -- but I still don't appreciate the 2-4' ice dams those snow plows put at the end of my driveway!

We ended up with maybe a foot here...not near the totals that were originally predicted. I'm grateful! We have at least a couple of feet on the ground right now and the snow banks are taller than the poles I used to mark the driveway.

One problem: We're supposed to get another 6-10" starting Friday night. (That's weatherman speak for "between a dusting and three feet.") And then who knows about the system that's supposed to get here mid-week. Can this be over soon please?

On the bright side, the little Honda snowblower has been running like a champ. I cleared the drive twice (about six inches on the ground each time) on about a quart of gas. It isn't a match for the packed end-of-driveway pile, being a single-stage, but the technique of busting it apart with a shovel and then blowing it still seems like the winning strategy.

Hi All:

First shots of the morning from my own Canon IS... The drive had anywhere from 1 to 3' of snow to be cleared and it was still blowing like hell when I first opened up the garage door.

Feb 1, 2011 - Chicago Snowpocalypse

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Snow_Over_the_Dogs_Head.jpg
Snow over the Golden's head...

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Accord_Under_This.jpg
My Accord is underneath this somewhere ;)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Looking_down_the_drive.jpg
Looking down the drive. What drive?

Wayne

That picture of Accord being covered :eek:

Those are some heavy duty mountains of fluffy there. I live in western suburbs but am currently in Caribbean for educational purpose. Glad I wasn't there to experience the terror, but unfortunately, my parents were there.

When I called home, I was told that it took them 4 hours just to clean the driveway. :eek::(

INATM, man be careful out there. This heart attack thing is the real deal. Plenty of fluids and lots of breaks if you are hand shoveling that amount of snow.

It's OK. A lot of it is just pushing snow along the driveway so I can take breaks. Plus our driveway is probably "only" 80 feet long and is only 1 car width most of the way. Having two of us going at it makes things much easier. Still 2 to 3 hours of effort for a foot of snow of course.