Saturday, February 06, 2010

Saturday afternoon ... it's still snowing

Sledding in the back yard.

A winter scene....

Refuge for birds.

Buried shrubbery.

Fence line....

Beyond the fence ... more winter wonderland.

Cedar sags under heavy snow.

We'll remember this scene on hot summer days.

Garden bench is almost buried.

It's almost 3:00 Saturday afternoon and the snow is still falling with gusting winds. I think we're now getting the wrap-around the weatherman was talking about, and we remain under a winter storm warning until 10:00 pm. The daytime high has been in the upper 20s and overnight is supposed to drop into the single digits.

The electricity glitched Friday night and again on Saturday morning but came back on. We're hoping the heavy snow weighing down on tree branches won't pitch us into darkness.

It is absolutely gorgeous outside ... snow-covered trees and shrubbery and fences look like Christmas cards in February. It's difficult to measure because there was already plenty of snow on the ground, and blowing conditions are causing drifts, but new snowfall appears to be approaching 20" so far.

I cannot remember a winter in my lifetime when we had two snowstorms that put down such huge amounts of snow. We've had the historic nor'easters in the past ... but I cannot remember two in one season, although I could be wrong.

The Staunton News Leader wrote that the historic storm smothered the area for the second time this winter while the Waynesboro News Virginian said we got walloped again while noting state records for snowfall:
The state record for single-day snowfall is 33.5 inches, set March 3, 1994, in Luray, and for two days, 48 inches, ending Jan. 7, 1996, in Big Meadows, south of Luray, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The News Leader notes the Top 5 storms in the SWAC area over the years:
March 6, 1962 -- 22 inches
Dec. 19, 2009 -- 20.4 inches
Feb. 26, 1908 -- 18.4 inches
New Year's Day, 1971 -- 18 inches
Feb. 13, 1899 -- 18 inches
Lunch today was cooked on the woodstove ... chili is bubbling in the pot for dinner ... the kids are baking blonde brownies in the kitchen. SWAC Husband is shoveling again and I'm heading back outside, too.

Winter continues in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia....

Photos by SWAC Daughter
6 February 2010

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