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Post by marveltone on Dec 26, 2016 15:41:20 GMT
Well, here we go. A huge winter storm came blowing across North Dakota and Minnesota. The whole northern half of the state is shut down. Fortunately, today to a a paid holiday, so we're having a lazy morning at home. I'll fire up the tractor later today to return some semblance of order to the farm. Meanwhile, enjoy this highway map of our winter wonderland. The purple means no travel. The pink means everything is completely covered, so travel at your own risk. I'm the blue dot at the top of the state on the Canadian border. I'll post some actual photos once I'm done with my morning coffee and get off my lazy butt.
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Post by marveltone on Dec 26, 2016 22:00:06 GMT
Our rock garden bench bears the weight of our latest snowfall. Got the driveway cleared. I see the neighbors have made it up and down the hill. No plows from town yet. This is why we all have 4WD.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Dec 26, 2016 22:21:22 GMT
Not a mention of it over here on the news. Mind you, if it moves out into the Atlantic, there'd be panic here!!
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Post by marveltone on Dec 26, 2016 22:45:14 GMT
It pretty much shut down all of North Dakota and Minnesota. Ice and sleet preceded the snow. Winds were anywhere from 15 to 35 mph, causing whiteouts and heavy drifting in places. Law enforcement said it was too dangerous to be out, so they'd ticket anyone they saw on the roads. Parts of North Dakota got 25" of snow. We got off easy with a paltry 7".
Hopefully I can punch through my 8 miles of drifted, unplowed gravel and make it to the paved roads for the work commute tomorrow morning. As long as I can see the ditches, I should be fine.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 11:59:09 GMT
Be safe mate. I do like that kind of weather though, just as long as I don't have to actually do physical work in it. I'm guessing it's also very cold. Or brassic, as we like to say at home? None of that down here in the south of France. It's been pretty balmy actually, with daytime temps around 13C. It's also been blue skies for the last 9 days and is set to continue well into the new year.
Sorry.
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Post by marveltone on Dec 27, 2016 17:18:39 GMT
Cold is relative, I suppose. It's currently a balmy 3f/-16c, which, for northern Minnesota in December is pretty decent. It could be much worse. It's the wind that sucks the warmth out. Think of Minnesota as Norway without the mountains or class! 😁
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 18:33:41 GMT
Cold is relative, I suppose. It's currently a balmy 3f/-16c, which, for northern Minnesota in December is pretty decent. It could be much worse. It's the wind that sucks the warmth out. Think of Minnesota as Norway without the mountains or class! 😁 I did already mate, yourself excepted.
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Post by marveltone on Jan 3, 2017 11:48:41 GMT
Oops! Got sucked in this time. Somewhere between 12"-15" of fresh, drifted blankets of joy, making it almost impossible to even tell where the road is. This is about 6 miles from home (another 8 miles to the nearest town). It's like driving on the Siberian plains, but with hidden ditches. My wife came and got me. We'll pull the truck out of the ditch after sunrise. Another snow day.
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Post by marveltone on Jan 3, 2017 20:47:52 GMT
Hoth. Well, close enough. I made it three miles past this point. The tow trucks are afraid to come out. Even one of the county plows went in the ditch.
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Post by marveltone on Jan 3, 2017 20:56:54 GMT
What looks like a wide road in the above picture is really a narrow, barely two lane gravel path with very deep ditches on either side. I found out that the snow has kept the ditch water from freezing solid. It's a wet mass of watery slurry at the bottom.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2017 21:47:00 GMT
That all looks horrendous mate. Be safe.
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Post by marveltone on Jan 4, 2017 1:07:31 GMT
That all looks horrendous mate. Be safe. Will do! We finally got out. A neighbor had a big tractor that was up to the job. Good thing too, because none of the tow trucks would dare venture out here for fear of getting stuck. Once we got the truck back, I spent the rest of the evening clearing the driveway and various farm paths. I'm beat!
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