It's the Mofoing Snowpocalypse
I just had to post about this because it's bloody nuts. As many probably know, eastern Canada and a decent chunk of the US has been getting facepounded by a massive blizzard. It's been slamming Ottawa since last night, is continuing now and is expected to continue throughout the night. We have already received about 20cm or snow and are expected to get another 30cm by the time this is finished. Ottawa has now broken a record for the most snow received in a single winter -- in recorded history. There is so much snow already piled up around the city that the local government is in a real crunch on how to handle this. We live in a small townhouse with barely a small strip of grass between us and our neighbours. Here's a few quick shots I took of what it's like.
Just for some perspective, when standing next to the tree in the first picture, I barely touch the branches and I'm 6' 4". That pile is the only place we can shovel snow from the driveway. And there will be 30cm more of it tomorrow morning. The car in the other pictures is the one we've been working on for the last two weekends. It's parked halfway in the garage so we can get at the engine compartment. We aren't even bothering to clean it off right now. This afternoon, Stylez and I had to drive to another part of town in this storm to return something. It's the only time I've seen whiteouts in heavy urban areas. Driving his little Aveo in this was an interesting time to be sure. My girlfriend is also out of town and was supposed to drive back tomorrow afternoon but I don't know if that's going to happen now. Needless to say, this is a crazy weekend. Stylez is staying here the night and my tenant is here as well. I suspect the 3 of us will be shoveling most of tomorrow afternoon.
So for those of you who live somewhere warm, think about this next time you complain about the weather! 
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
You know what you should do Parallax? You should go on top of the roof and have some fun diving into that huge mount of snow! Might as well have some fun right?
We didn't get nearly as much snow as you did here in Rochester NY, but unfortunately for me that means that no one is plowing the sidewalk... I really should invest in a pair of boots one of these days...
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LobsterMobster wrote:
I've been saying the same thing. I haven't had a pair of winter boots since high school and every year I complain that I need to buy some. Seriously, if my roof didn't have a thick layer of ice under all the snow, I'd probably be diving right now.
The other thing that's scaring me a bit is there's so much ice buildup in the gutters that water's coming down (and icicles forming) in the soffet (sp?) above our little front stoop. So if you're standing there, you're getting dripped on. As far as I know, there isn't supposed to be water up there.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
And I was uncomfortable because I had to wear pants in my house today... It's a little cold, yes, but I can't imagine how cold it must be where you live.
I've never seen snow in my life, actually, that picture looks really fun. If the snow is as fluffy as it looks, I'd so jump from the roof into it.
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No kidding, man! Have so seen all the snow we're getting down here in Texas?
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Sorry to hear about the pounding you are taking Parallax. I hope Ottawa can dig itself out soon.
In Newfoundland, we are known for getting consistently buried under piles of snow on a regular basis. Back in 2001, we set a record by having the largest accumulated snow fall in recorded history for our city: 698cm (about 28 feet for our American friends). The snow was piled so high that houses started to disappear behind the banks on the front lawns. It got so bad that people had to hire front end loaders and dump trucks to take snow off their front lawn, just so people could shovel snow from their driveways back onto the lawn.
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I live above a diner in an industrial area, and the stairs to get there are right beside the main parking area for it. The snow plow came early this morning and shoved it all against the wall. It took me about half an hour to shovel all the way down the steps, and then another half an hour just to move enough snow so I can leave.
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So, the morning after the Snowpocalypse I look out my front door:
Then I look out my garage (note the hockey stick for reference):
My driveway is the stuff of nightmares:
After just enough shovelling to break my spirit
Redemption!
)
(I paid him $40; best $40 I've spent all year.
Even nightmares sometimes have happy endings:
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Ah, lovely climate change. The hots get hotter, the colds get colder, but the overall average temperature steadily goes up.
(The reason things get more intense is because there's more energy in the atmosphere, so the air moves around more.)
I have always had sympathy for Newfoundlanders in winter time. You guys get slammed almost every year. I think this year we got a small taste of that. I believe it has now been confirmed that this is a recorded history record for Ottawa. My driveway looks very similar to Chumpy's right now. Stylez and my tenant both had their cars parked in it last night (plus my Bonneville that's half out of the garage) so at least there won't be as much snow underneath them. But between the back of my tenant's car and the front door, there's a huge-ass drift built up because the wind was so fierce last night and all the snow was getting channeled between the parked cars. The three of us are going to shovel this afternoon and I'm guessing it'll take us an hour or so. Plus another hour I'll have to do when the city plow comes by later and drifts in the end of the driveway. Please oh please let this be the last storm.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
We had a similar kind of storm last year. It was kind fun until I realized they were going to make us stay at the university overnight.
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The second I saw this thread on the left nav, I knew it was an Ottawa goodjer. I spent about 3 hours shoveling today. It is pretty though.
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Just hit up Waterloo and Toronto area, I was stranded in London because of it yesterday. Got back this morning and the highways are littered with car wrecks, it must have been hell to get into an accident in that weather.
Mr.Green wrote:
You know what we call a foot of snow in Syracuse? A dusting.
Stop your crying and start digging
So do we. But this is like the 20th foot this year.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
This is what happens when Canadian politicians cause Obama to lose primaries. He responds with his giant snow making machine and brings cold and inconvenience down upon Canadian voters.
So it took 3 of us about 2 insane hours but we got the driveway cleared and we were able to get Stylez and Jay's cars out. Thankfully we went to Perkins for breakfast first so I got to burn most of that off.
I took a few more pictures to show how crazy it is here. The ones of the long street are actually the street around the corner from us. The city came by once this year and cut back the snowbanks on our street (which have promptly been filled in again) but for some reason, they never touched this other street. I feel so bad for these people as you can barely get a car down it now and while our snowbank is tall (as you can see in the picture comparing it to my 6'4" height), their snowbanks are at least a foot taller all around. I'm really thankful I have such great friends who were here to help me out. When my girlfriend gets back tomorrow, she doesn't get to complain about housework I haven't done for at least two weeks since she got to dodge all this insanity by taking off to her hometown for the weekend on Friday. 
And tonight I play a ton of CoD4 and World In Conflict to reward myself. The last picture is of my Bonneville that's still in the garage having its engine changed. Since the drive wheels are actually inside where it's dry, we're thinking after we start it up, just dropping it in reverse and watching the snow fly. 
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
Toronto and surrounding environs got 20+ last night. Fun for hours this morning.
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You haven't lived till you've risked death to shovel your roof.
We're actually a bit behind with only 103 inches so far this year. Unfortunately they measure at the airport which is about 20 minutes south of where the real fun begins.
Stay safe!
How much sand do you have to put in the trunk of an Aveo to keep it from becoming a $12K hockey puck? Also, what does that do to mileage?
We thought it was bad here in Chi-town when we got 60 inches total... Get a snorkel and a transponder next time you go to the store, Abs.
wordsmythe wrote:
Crouton wrote:
OMG! I think I'll go outside in the 70 degree sunshine and kiss the grass. That's just crazy! It'll be August before all that melts!
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I've done that before at my Mom's house. Trust me, I've done all the life-threatening winter maintenance activities.
Funny enough, Stylez' Aveo is remarkably good in the snow. Though this morning, we had to push it up to the end of our unplowed street simply because the snow was so deep, that the undercarriage of the car was dragging on it. When we left to return the engine hoist yesterday, there was a couple hundred pounds in the trunk but the experience of driving there and back was more or less the same. Now my friend Jay's 1996 Corolla, that's a different story...
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
Drifts come and go, pickups roll in to the ditches and Transpo busses jacknife and split.
The Aveo remains.
You can't do this!
Of course I can, I'm Will Wright, bitch! - The Simpsons Game
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I'm in Barrie Ontario. (Hour north of Toronto). Normally this doesn't affect me as we're in skiing country and it snows like that all the time. But when the snowblower runs out of gas life become far more stressful.
And guess what happened this morning?
The voices say hello.
I'm getting tired of this. I've now gotten a second parking ticket for parking on the street overnight. If I was blocking a plow, this wouldn't bother me, but they have their parking nazis out in full force despite knowing the plow is not going to reach anywhere near my place for at least another day or so. The City is asking people to stay home today. I bet it's so they can hand out more $55 tickets!
You can't do this!
Of course I can, I'm Will Wright, bitch! - The Simpsons Game
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Ice damming can really destroy your house when the thaw comes, if you're not careful. It can back up into your ceiling and into ducts and electrical work, which is bad mojo for things like ceiling fans.
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I remember that crazy winter. Thankfully I was on the west coast of the island during that record breaker, although I lived in St. John's a few years ago when we had our share of 60cm weekend snowfalls.
Here on the west coast it just snows constantly so there are less extreme days, which unfortunately means that it's just generally hellish, instead of randomly hellish which might warranty more snow days.
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