Snow storm?

brj · « **on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:09 am »

You guys all safely packed away in your homes with the fires burning brightly and the snow shovels at the ready?

I was talking to a friend up there that said their entire (large) company was sent home at 1:00 PM, which is not something that company does lightly.

Hope all is well!

Canyoneagle · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:26 am »

Yeah. Tell me about it.
I was scheduled to fly from Calgary (dry and warm) to Denver on Thursday to visit the in-laws in Silverthorne.
Now rescheduled to friday, but who knows?

Stay cozy.

Warmly,
Michael

Wayne1 · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 02:40 pm »

Don't count on getting into or out of Denver anytime soon.

Governor declared a state of emergency yesterday. The major highways north, south, east and west are all closed.

United canceled all their flights. Frontier followed close behind.

There is about a foot and a half of snow at DIA. I have about 2 1/2 feet out here in the SW burbs.

I had to pick up my wife about 5:00pm yesterday from the hospital, where she works. It is about 10 miles from home.

I have a 4 wheel drive Cherokee. The best thing was by that time most folks were off the street. I only saw a few FWD vehicles out.

Driving back, lots of blowing snow causing intermittent white-out conditions.

The snow is supposed to stop around noon today, after about another 6" accumulation. That will give us a little time to dig out before the next storm moves in on Friday.

I think I can state with certainty that Colorado will have a White Christmas

mgalusha · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 02:45 pm »

This has been a truly bad storm. They closed I-25 from border to border, which is unprecedented in my memory and I've lived here all of my 46 years. Not so much for amount of snow, though that has been substantial, but for the wind, which has finally slowed after blowing from 35-45 mph for the last 24 hours.

Visibility was near zero in many places. I live southeast of Denver at the beginning of the plains and the drifts we have are foul. Half of my driveway is bare and other parts are over 3ft deep, such was the wind. As a special treat I took some trash to the garage last night and found a snow drift inside my garage! WTF? The garage has no attic and the wind was so bad and the snow so light that it blew in through the roof vents. I have a drift about a foot deep and three feet across in my garage.

Thankfully my wife and I are both on vacation this week, so we are just looking out through the windows and shaking our heads. Lots of time to listen to music tho. aa

BTW Brian, don't let this keep you away. We don't often get storms like this one.

Michael - the airport is supposed to be open no later than 7:00pm tonight but if the snow stops in early afternoon as predicted it may be sooner. I'd guess you will be able to fly in tomorrow. Watching the news earlier they said 4800 people were stranded at DIA last night. Yuck.

Mike

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 03:04 pm »

Sounds like you guys got a real New England Nor'easter. Hope your snowblowers and backs are up to the task.
d.b.

Carlman · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 03:08 pm »

Why can't they let the planes land in the snow? I'd think it'd be fun to just slide through a couple feet of snow... weeeeeeee!

I hope to one day convince my wife to move to Denver/Bolder/somewhere Colorado... If she hears about this it'll be a little tougher... She'll say 'see!' and I'll be like 'yeah, see!' I love big snows... Having lived in the Southeast most of my youth, it wasn't unheard of to wear shorts near Christmas. This past weekend I did... it was in the 70's and sunny in SC... so why not? I loved Boston, Philly, and DC for snow. A foot or so was pleasant but I would've loved to have more. Nothing worse than ice, though. NC is good at getting an ice storm of some sort every other year it seems. No snow or very little...

Anyway, hope you guys weather the storm ok.. I know you will. It's Colorado, go snow-shoeing! Come back in and drink some hot cocoa... do a little shoveling... play with your kids... be a kid... let it snow!

mgalusha · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 03:19 pm »

Carl,

People here wear shorts in this weather... Even saw some moron on the news last night pushing a shopping cart in shorts and a t-shirt. Hmm nothing like shorts and a 3* wind chill.

Dan, yeah it's a lot like that except ours melt off quick and don't stay all winter.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 03:24 pm »

Quote from: mgalusha on 21 Dec 2006, 03:19 pm

Carl,

People here wear shorts in this weather... Even saw some moron on the news last night pushing a shopping cart in shorts and a t-shirt. Hmm nothing like shorts and a 3* wind chill.

Dan, yeah it's a lot like that except ours melt off quick and don't stay all winter.

Than I guess you miss out on the spring thaw and the mud season that goes with it.
You folks out to move east, think of the fun you would have.

d.b.

brj · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 03:28 pm »

Quote from: mgalusha

BTW Brian, don't let this keep you away. We don't often get storms like this one.

Did I mention that I grew up in Wisconsin?

Glad to hear you guys are all doing well so far!

RoadTripper · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 04:15 pm »

Hey you Colorado guys, I was planning a visit to Denver (Aurora, actually) the day after Christmas. I was going to be driving from San Diego up through New Mexico and on into Denver via I25.

Do you think the situation will be back to normal by next Tuesday or Wednesday? I am very close to bailing on this trip.

bpape · « **Reply #10 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 04:25 pm »

You guys take care out there. Sounds like a good time for a nice adult beverage or two and some serious music listening time.

I grew up in the upper midwest and we had a lot of snow. I can remember drifts up over the roof of the house when I was a kid. But, I've never heard of a drift IN the garage!

Bryan

mgalusha · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 04:30 pm »

Oh it keeps getting better. Just found snow in my basement as well. I'll post some pics in a little while, right after I get done leaving a voice mail to the builder. IMO this qualifies as a structural problem.

mgalusha · « **Reply #12 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 04:57 pm »

Snow in the basement photos...

www.mikegalusha.com/blizzard

A sample...

mgalusha · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 04:59 pm »

Quote from: Seminarian on 21 Dec 2006, 04:15 pm

Hey you Colorado guys, I was planning a visit to Denver (Aurora, actually) the day after Christmas. I was going to be driving from San Diego up through New Mexico and on into Denver via I25.

Do you think the situation will be back to normal by next Tuesday or Wednesday? I am very close to bailing on this trip.

It should be fine. We are supposed to have pretty mild weather once we get through today. Sunny tomorrow, so that will give the road crews a big help in getting things cleaned up.

Mike

bpape · « **Reply #14 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:22 pm »

Yeah - that's pretty bad. You'd think that insulation would be fine as an external surface for the house

Bryan

PeteG · « **Reply #15 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:32 pm »

Been shoveling my ass off since yesterday

. But we needed it, just not in one day.

finsup · « **Reply #16 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:35 pm »

My family and I should be lining up on the runway in a Frontier Airbus 319 out of San Diego to Denver right this minute to visit my dad and sister. The best Frontier could do for me is to get me on a 5 PM flight on Christmas Eve. Based on the current forecasts, we should be good-to-go for that. Figuring on an on-time arrival, luggage, and car pick-up by 9:30 PM, I'll then have to decide whether I want to make the 200 mile drive to Lamar or spend the night in some motel.

I do want to thank Frontier and Enterprise for working this out for me without any hassles. Especially Enterprise since, with the change in reservation, they worked with me on the price.

Tip: It is usually better to call the local office than to go through corporate 800 numbers when dealing with problems.

Well, I did want a white Christmas. An inch would have sufficed, though. (Pete -- looks like an inch (of snow) would have sufficied for you too).
--Michael

mgalusha · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:36 pm »

Ouch, that looks painful. Since the wind was blowing so bad out here, I have bare spots. Now that the wind has died, we're actually getting some accumulation. The bare spots on my driveway are now being covered, right next to the waist high drifts against the door. I've decided I'm not going to shovel squat until either late this afternoon or tomorrow morning. We don't have to go anywhere, so I'm only going to fight this battle once, though I did just get done using the shop vac to remove the snow from the basement.

mgalusha · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 05:41 pm »

Quote from: finsup on 21 Dec 2006, 05:35 pm

Based on the current forecasts, we should be good-to-go for that. Figuring on an on-time arrival, luggage, and car pick-up by 9:30 PM, I'll then have to decide whether I want to make the 200 mile drive to Lamar or spend the night in some motel.

You can check the road conditions at http://www.cotrip.org - this is run by the Colorado Department Of Transportation. 200 miles to Lamar starting at 9:30 is a long drive at night in the winter, at least I wouldn't enjoy it. I'd vote for a hotel somewhere.

Canyoneagle · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Dec 2006, 06:18 pm »

Than I guess you miss out on the spring thaw and the mud season that goes with it.
You folks out to move east, think of the fun you would have.
d.b.

Yep, Dan. Know whatchya mean.
I lived in the Catskills last year, and got to enjoy the snow/thaw/ice/snow/thaw/ice cycle until April.
In Colorado, the front range cities (Denver, Colo. Springs) are at lower altitude so the warm Chinooks melt everything off in a few days.

We lived in Colorado for several years in the little town of Alma (10,600 feet - pant pant gasp), and the snow stuck around till June. Summer was pretty quick there.

My flight was cancelled today, and I'm hoping to get in tomorrow. Yikes!

Meanwhile, it's a balmy 35 F and sunny here in Calgary. I'm off work today, so just chillin at home with the dogs.

Good luck with shovelling/plowing!
Warmly,
Michael