Subaru -- the joys of all-wheel drive

[jhetley]

Can't tell you how much snow we got overnight -- too much wind and drifting for reliable measurement. Best guess would be somewhere 12-24 inches. And stuff is still coming down.

Ran snowblower for about an hour this morning, necessary prelude to putting out the trash and going for the newspaper. I anticipate further efforts later -- like there's this 5' drift blocking our back door, and that will be manual labor because I can't run the snowblower up the path. Meanwhile, Wife says that the garage door will do just fine until April or May....

Somewhere out there is a snowplow muttering "I'll be back" in a perfect Austrian accent.

Drove to get the newspaper this morning, hence the update title. The sidewalks are blocked, and if I'm going to share the road with cars, I prefer to be in one myself.

Skiing should be possible again.

Comments

[pernishus.livejournal.com]

We got your little present, but in the form of rain here in Halifax. That's what usually happens this time of year, actually -- rain, pent in by the enormous snowbanks along the sidewalks, so that one is wading hip-deep at times through ice water...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

After posting yesterday's warning to you, I checked the weather radar and guessed you'd get rain by the projected storm track. Looks like the low has stalled out right over Halifax, judging by recent updates. The outlier snow keeps swirling back to us.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Our plow guy came by yesterday, and then vry early this morning, too early to get out of bed...

I had to use the "shove two inches at a time" method to get the door to the deck open enough that I could squeeze out -- the snow from the peak of the roof was piled directly in front of the door, about 5 feet of it. So, I inched out (good thing I lost those 30 lbs!) and worked from there, first clearing a straingt line out to the edge of the deck, then to the bottom of the stairs...
at which point I came in for a warm-up. My boots, alas, are apparently no longer quite waterproof. Then we both went out -- I got the tuck to move and then the car was reachable. When the plow guy comes it'll only take us a few minutes... although it is still snowing. I'm looking at about 22 inches...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear from you guys -- TV said CMP was having a few little problems delivering power.

[madshutterbug.livejournal.com]

Which Subaru? We've got an Outback, and what a difference it made. Don't often get snow here, but with rain (and a lot of that back August/September) and the unpaved roads turn to muck... no worries!

I'll keep an eye out for that snowplow. May have wandered down here.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

We have a couple of Legacy wagons -- don't need the extra ground clearance or capacity of the Outback or Forester. But that AWD and ABS combination can be a literal life-saver in Maine winter.

Snowplow drivers are on a law-mandated break right now, too many hours in the saddle. They'll probably swing by and block us in again sometime around midnight....

I think our official total is nudging 20" at this point, with more still pending.

[madshutterbug.livejournal.com]

AND very good that your total is that, and our total is not. *G*

We find we use that ground clearance a bit; after all, we are running a small ranch and our Outback (nicknamed "Sydney") really does go off road (and looks like it at times). SWMBO figures she can fit seven bales of hay in, eight if she puts one in the front passenger seat. Presuming, of course, the pickup isn't available.