Ice Storm 2011

The drama! The excitement! The craziness that is... Ice Storm 2011!!

If you remember from my last blog, I wasn't too worried... merely because more often than not, the forecasts rare WRONG! They'll have something off... the timing, the amount, the type of precipitation... I just don't trust the forecast until it's upon us. Though they weren't dead on, they were at least close this time. We definitely got ice! It started on with the freezing rain and on Tuesday morning, we woke up to about a 1/2" of ice over everything! My poor Baby Bleu is not used to this - she's always been in a garage. So she had this coating of ice all over her, and it took a about 45 minutes of her running with the defroster on high blast and me chipping away on the outside to get the windshield mostly clear. Oh, and did I mention the front doors were frozen shut, so I had to climb in through the back seat? Yeah... good times.

Shortly after I was done with this, it started sleeting. It sleeted for a few hours and added a couple inched of slush on top of the sheet of ice that was the ground. Which actually made it easier to get around for the time being.

So last night, in an effort to not be brought down by Mother Nature, our neighbors, Dave and Amber, hosted a chili night at their place for some of the neighbors. There were seven of us, and after the chili, some of the group were feeling a little cabin fever and suggested we walk the half mile up Virginia Ave. to Mo's Steakhouse and grab some drinks. We weren't sure at first, but after a check outside, we realized the sleeting was done and the wind had died down, so why not. We all donned our winter gear for the trek over.

It turned out to be quite a good time! In fact, I have no idea what time it was when we decided to make the trek home. We started our way down the street and realized some more freezing rain must have fallen, because there was now a slick sheet of ice adorning the top of the sleet piles. Uh oh... this wasn't going to be a fun walk. Right about then, a cab came up behind us and Eric flags it down - we decided it was worth the $8 to get home without busting our asses!

So the next morning, after a long night of very noisy wind and more sleet and freezing rain hitting the window, we woke up this morning the a shimmering sheet of ice over EVERYTHING, even more than the morning before, thanks to the sleet!! So I went at it again on my windshield, this time a sheet of ice over a mound of sleet, which covered the wiper bases so they were useless. Took a little more creativity to clear it this time. But I wasn't done.

Yesterday, I could still see the black of the asphalt below my car. Today, between the wind and the plow spray, my tires were buried up to the rim and there was no black to be seen anywhere. Unlike yesterday, where I could freely move my vehicle, I was hard stuck in ice today. Not good. I waited until Eric came home and we went to dig (actually, chip) it out. Again, some creativity was needed (like a pick axe), but eventually, with the help of a neighbor, my Xterra was pushed out. And then we proceeded to do the same for the neighbor.

By this time, it was 9pm. Thankfully we ate before we shoveled!! But we moved the cars to an area the plow actually got to, in hopes that they will plow out front tomorrow. I can honestly say, I've never experienced anything like this! This was insane weather! The City has been mostly shut down since 3pm on Tuesday, and many places are still planning to be closed tomorrow. Not because of more weather coming through, but because anyplace that has a parking lot actually has a skating rink instead. And if you're not on a main road, your street is the same!

Tomorrow, I may be brave and head out to take some icy pictures before it melts away - it can be pretty. But tomorrow is also supposed to be frigid... so we'll see. If I do, I'm sure I'll post some more pictures. If I don't post pictures, then you'll know I stayed huddled under a blanket, instead.