Saturday, February 16, 2013

The Blizzard of 2013

The timing of this storm was perfect with respect to my work schedule.  I'm still working an 80% schedule (which sometimes is more than 32 hours a week, unfortunately) and my day off last week was Friday, the day the storm was to begin.  On Thursday, it was announced that my co-workers would be able to work from home on Friday.  I was happy to hear this as I don't think anyone should have to stress out over commuting in dangerous weather conditions.  Later on Thursday, the MBTA announced that public transportation (trains, subway and buses) would shut down at 3:30 on Friday.  And then a driving ban was to take effect at 4:00 Friday.  The state was forcing everyone to stay at home.

School and all activities were canceled for Friday.  Snow had started to fall around 8:30 that morning but by 4:00 not much had accumulated.

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I'm glad I took pictures of the trees when I had the chance.  By morning, the strong winds had blown all the snow off of the branches.

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We live in an area that very rarely loses power for an extended period of time.  I was more concerned with my parents who live on the coast.  They are on a hill so flooding wouldn't directly impact them but if they lose power, which is usually a given, there's a possibility that their narrow street won't be plowed or that surrounding areas will be flooded and impassable.  My fear was that they would be without power in the cold and stuck there.  Thankfully, the longest stretch of time they were without power was four hours.  Others were not so lucky.  There was also significant damage to homes and the shoreline.

Saturday...

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Our official snowfall total was 30 inches.  Originally, I thought I had read 2 feet but I checked the other night and our town declared 30 inches.  I believe it.  We had snow drifts at least 4 feet deep as well.

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I'm ready for spring!

16 comments:

Kristin said...

I'm in MA too. We got about 2 feet I think. A good friend of mine lives on the South Shore. She gave birth at home, in the dark. Paramedics got there with 7 minutes to spare! Crazy!!

JEN said...

In grew up in N. Mich with that kind of snow. Wow! Great pics!

Lily said...

Omg! I am a little jealous of how cute those snow suits are! I have brothers so the only colors in my house were grey and navy and green :(
I can't believe how much snow you got!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos! I live in Buffalo and grew up with huge snowfalls like that. We haven't gotten nearly as much lately. I miss it! Hopefully we get a few big storms like that in the next few years so my girls can experience the magic. :)
Oh - and those little bunny mittens are so cute! I'd wear them myself. haha

Michaela said...

We lost our home in this blizzard in Wilmington ma - so these pics were hard to look at. We were in the apartment building that burnt Down.

Anonymous said...

Love you pictures of the snow, as we here in Western NY only received a few inches.
Your blog is my #1 fav and is the only one that I check every day. Great job, and Adorable Funny Girls.

Sarah said...

Michaela - I am so very sorry. I didn't remember seeing that in the news so I just looked it up. How terrible! Amazing that no one was injured.

Kristin - Sounds like your friend and baby are okay. My aunt's sister had a baby during the blizzard of '78. It was crazy.


Sophie Slim said...

wow! Incredible! I'm from NZ and have never seen anything like it!!

Hope's Mama said...

As an Australian, these photos are absolutely phenomenal! I can't even imagine. I love them, though I'm sure the novelty would soon wear off if I lived there!

M+W said...

These photos are beautiful! I'm in Texas and we don't get this kind of snow here. I've only really seen it snow 3 times here in my lifetime and it usually melts within a few hours :(

Anonymous said...

This if the first time I've commented but I read your blog all the . My best friends child had SB so I found your blog from her blog and quickly got hooked looking at your adorable girls! I'm from SC and we live at the beach....I was amazed at your snow pictures, they are gorgeous! I would love to play in it for about 5 minutes and then I would want the sun and ocean back please! Keep writing because so many love to read!

Sarah said...

Thank you all for the photo (and other) compliments!

Cassidy said...

On a completely separate note, I was just watching Friday's episode of Ellen and she's is having a Covergirl contest on her show. A mom nominated her daughter whose name is Anna, she's 20 and she has spina-bifida, she was also told she would never walk, but does-thought the similarities where crazy, so I thought I would share.

Courtney said...

So glad you and your parents didn't lose power! My parents had power throughout the whole storm (Providence) but apparently Newport lost power for 2 days. Obviously, we are in Ukraine right now (which is positively balmy compared to home!) but our dogsitter said the house was down to 55 degrees. Your photos make the storm look like a winter wonderland, which I hear it was not for many people. Hope the kiddos had fun!

Sarah said...

Cassidy - thanks for sharing. I hope she wins!

Courtney - It's amazing that something so beautiful can also be so destructive.

Emmy said...

I stumbled across your blog while searching for information about the Art of Animation; we're staying there in October for our first Disney trip. I have 2 boys (5 and 1), so reading about your disney experiences was great, thanks for sharing!