Twin Blizzards of 05-11 February, 2010: The Final Chapter?
 
February 14, 2010: This Just In—Meteorologists say that three of the 10 biggest snows ever recorded
in Maryland have taken place this winter, and in a period of just 56 days, beginning here.
 

The Great Blizzard of 2010 has been referred to by meteorologists as a millennial snow storm;
such a storm is excpected to strike Eastern Maryland every 1,000 years or so. We had 79 in.
(201 cm) of snow from 5-10 February. That would be about one inch (2.5 cm.) over the head
of the average American professional basketball player in the 2007-2008 season. As of this
writing on Sunday, 14 February, many four-lane streets are still limited to one open traffic
lane in each direction. Plows and front-loaders are working 24 hours per day to open streets
and clear the shoulders of roads where traffic lanes are already open. There are still a few
thousand homes in the Baltimore-Washington area without electricity. I am attempting to hire
someone with a front-loader to move the snow from the bottom of my driveway to my front
yard, as the parking and backing-up area at the bottom of the driveway is blocked (top photo
below). If I don’t get the snow moved, and if there were to be another heavy snow within the
next several weeks it is doubtful that we could have the driveway plowed; there simply
isn’t room for more snow. I have learned from a telephone consultation with my friend Sam,
who lives in Chardon, Ohio, that the problem with my snow blower is probably a burned valve.
I had suspected something like that after I completely disassembled the carburetor for the third
time and cleaned every valve and orifice and the machine still did not produce full power.
Tomorrow morning I’ll begin looking for someone to repair it.
 

This is a two-photo panorama of about 160 degrees at the bottom of our driveway. The deepest pile is to the left of the shed. It reaches nine feet (274 cm.) from the grass on which it rests.
 

Our deck on February 13 as seen from the breakfast area through a wide-angle lens. The snow has settled a bit, but it will be slow to melt
because it receives direct sun only in the early morning when the temperature is low.
 

Daisy on February 12. Daisy came out of her racing career with post-traumatic stress syndrome. She is largely over it, but she
still does not enjoy being outside; she won’t even play with us outside, but typically completes her necessaries and then runs
back to the house as soon as possible. She will, however, sometimes romp a bit in the snow before coming in, as seen above.
In that photo she is on top of nearly four feet of packed snow, her legs sinking in only slightly.
 

And then she was ready to get back to her warm bed.
 

Clearing the Zerbat’ry wasn’t my highest priority (pun unintentional), but I was glad to finally get a chance to do it.
 

The Zerbat’ry is open and ready for business on the first clear night. It has been slightly hazy,
as seen in this photo. That’s our neighbor’s snow blower in the foreground.

 

Meanwhile, up at Leona’s family farm (some three miles north of us) the snow in the front yard
dwarfs a car traveling south on New Cut Road.
 

The Farm Workshop: Everywhere there has been a snow plow there has inevitably been damage to the landscape.
 
The Great Blizzard of February 5-6
Photos from February 8: The Cleanup
First Video of the Blizzard
Second Video of the Blizzard
Photos from the Second Blizzard, that of February 10-11
Cleaning up from the Second Blizzard
Blizzard of February 2010: End of Story??
 
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• Home   • A Modest Photo Gallery   • A Severe Thunderstorm on May 29, 2009
• Astrophotography: Primordial Light   • Who is "daoud?"   • Spring, 2009 Flowers Under Calmer Skies
• A Bookcase Conversion   • Where Do All the Dots Come From?  
• 1992 Mazda Miata, 2009 Update   • How I Make This Web Site   • The Blizzard of February, 2010. Part 1
• Arizona Nature Photos   • 2006 Toyota Prius   • The Blizzard of February, 2010, Part 2
• Astronomical Observatory 08/27/08   • Macintosh Computers in Amateur Astronomy   • A Video from the Great Blizzard of 2010
• Daisy Landstacker   • Perryopolis, Pennsylvania   • Another Video from the Great Blizzard of 2010
• Flowers   • Computer Desk Rehab   • The Second Blizzard of February, 2010, Part 1
• Northeast Astronomy Forum   • Slideshow: Bookshelf & Crab Deck  

• The Second Blizzard of February, 2010, Part 2
• Black Raspberries   • Apple 23" Cinema Display (old stuff)   • The Blizzard of February, 2010: Final??