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We had three snow storms over two feet the winter of 2009 to 2010.
The first storm was on 12/18/09 through 12/19/09. I had surgery on 12/18/09 and missed that entire storm. I never recorded a depth but was told it was 24 inches. I lamented that I missed our first big snow in years. I would live to regret those words.
The second storm which was border line blizzard (which just means winds over 30 mph with snow) occurred from 2/5/10 to 2/6/10 and dumped 28 inches on us!
The third storm, an official blizzard, was from 2/9/10 to 2/10/10 and dumped around 20 inches. The exact depth was impossible to measure due to the two feet already on the ground and extreme winds.
I did not get photos from the first storm but here are photos and videos from the second and third storms. Videos are noted as mpg files so you can avoid opening them if you do not want to watch them or cannot watch them. I tried to post the links in the order of the picture/video taking.
You can read more about the storms and their effect on my ponds in my February 2010 Pond Blog.
These photos were taken on 2/6/10.
Mr. Tiny and Harry - I brought the two outdoor rabbits indoors in preparation for deep snow. You can see Mr. Tiny in the front cage.
First photos taken from inside through the windows:
Front yard - looking out the window at the front of the house
The big pond - what pond? Looking towards the 1800 gallon pond from inside. You can see where I walked in hip waders out and cleared off the top of the lighted penguin and the area around the pond outlet. The pond is not really visible in two feet of snow!
Heat pump - the snow on top of the heat pump near the big pond
Waterfall - yep, that is the top of the waterfall which was still running. Nope, you cannot see it! This view shows some of the back yard and bird feeder too.
Back yard - view of the back yard and bird feeder through the glass.
Back yard - the 153 gallon pond (cannot see it), two swing sets, and a flat bird feeder are out there. I do not think my niece is going swinging anytime soon! Look at the snow depth on that flat bird feeder!
Cedar - the 32-year-old, 20 foot high cedar outside my bedroom window has been reduced to this? It collapsed under the snow in to three parts. While it did not break, it will not recover and will have to be cut down. Something similar (snow weight) happened to the other cedar on the other side of the house a few years ago. This photo was taken from the next door bedroom.
Cedar - the remnants of my cedar through my bedroom window. The first thing I realized the morning after was, when I opened my curtains, the tree was gone, and I could see out!
Then, I went outside for more photos:
My Prius - I swear, my car is under there! Actually, you can see part of it as my father had started digging it out.
Pickup - my father's Chevrolet pickup truck and the chicken pen behind that.
Road - there is actually a road through there! The trees just collapsed all down in it. White pine branches over the road and the cedar by my bedroom that collapsed can be seen. My father tried to plow the road with the riding mower; you can see how far he made it.
My Prius - from the front. I had put up the windshield wipers which you can barely see.
These photos were taken 2/7/10:
Heat pump - the other heat pump, taken through the laundry room window which is where most of the aquariums are.
My Prius - from the side, further dug out. I put a yard stick on the roof.
Chicken house door - I dug out the chickens' door.
Community road - looking at our mail box facing the way I have to go to get out. The neighbor dug the road out with a front end loader. I walked in hip waders down our ~1500 foot road to the community road. On my way out, the neighbor had started on our road.
Community road - looking towards the other neighbors (did not need to drive that way).
Our road - Rescue Ron (the neighbor) started using his front end loader on our driveway.
Community road - a view after I walked down the community road a little further.
Fence - the neighbor's horse fence and the edge of the plowed out road.
Community road - turning around and looking back at our mailbox and driveway.
Our road - Rescue Ron is digging us out!
Driveway - back at the garage and parking area watching the front end loader approach.
Driveway - here comes Rescue Ron!
Digging out - the front end loader cleaning out the parking area. Basketball anyone? There is snow in the hoop!
Digging out - more digging.
Later in the day, I put on my hip waders and waded out to fill up the bird feeders, check on the ponds, and take photos.
Hip waders - I turned the camera to show myself. Those are my hip waders and how high up the snow was walking through it. [As I am actually writing this five days later, I am amazed how shallow the snow was that day because, now, after another two feet of snow, it's not that shallow!]
The big pond - facing north. The waterfall was still running well at that time.
While standing there deep in the snow, I took these two videos:
Waterfall - 970 KB, mpg movie. A view of the pond while I stood in hip waders in the snow on the south side of the pond.
Pond in Snow - 2053 KB, mpg movie. While standing in the same position, I panned the camera from the front yard, past the house, and around to the pond and waterfall.
Pond and waterfall - facing north.
Waterfall - close up.
Penguin and outlet - I dug out the lighted penguin (which allows me to tell if the pond has power from inside the house with a glance) and outlet for the big pond.
Pond - facing southwest, looking down over the waterfall.
153 gallon pond - opening in the snow where the de-icer and air stone are.
153 gallon pond - the other opening in that pond (which would soon be gone).
153 gallon pond outlet - the electrical outlet for that pond. When the next storm came, I let that one go, and it was covered in four feet of snow. The Luft air pump is not seen in the photo but was just to the bottom of the photo.
Snow path - my hip waded path from the house to the 153 gallon pond. The pond gloves were used for hand digging. The cat litter bucket was carrying the bird seed.
House - standing near the bird feeder, looking at the back of our house.
Blizzard - 5020 KB, mpg movie. View of the 1800 gallon pond and side yard, 2/10/10.
Blizzard - 5366 KB, mpg movie. View of the back yard, 2/10/10.
The first 21 photos are from 2/10/10, late in the day while the snow was coming to an end.
My father took these photos as I went outside so he could chronicle how I was tending to the ponds in four feet of snow. My goals were to find the two pond outlets, free the lighted penguin by the 1800 gallon pond, free the air pump running in the 153 gallon pond, and to check on both ponds to see that they were open, and the waterfall and aerator were functioning.
Back porch - a view of the icicles hanging off the back porch and the back yard
Pond - looking out from inside the house towards the north end of the big pond. You can see a foot path from the pond outlet and penguin (who are covered in snow) to the heat pump.
Pond - same as the last photo but you can see the penguin barely (his little red hat). Remember the penguin is about a foot high and was dug out from the previous blizzard and also the morning of this photo.
Back porch - there is a four foot wall of snow off the back porch.
Pond - similar view to the photos two and three photos back.
Pond - me hip wading out to the pond. I had to use pond gloves to clear off about a foot of snow to lower the depth enough to be able to walk through the four feet of snow.
Pond - similar photo to the last.
Pond - similar photo to the last. Note how the snow depth is to my waist.
Pond - really, it is in there! This is the standard out of the window view.
Pond - me still walking. It sure is taking a long time!
Pond - I am getting there!
Pond - digging the trail
Pond - digging out the penguin and big pond's outlet.
Pond - still digging.
Back porch - icicles and snow.
Back yard - I am now digging a hip wading trail out to the 153 gallon pond in the back yard.
Back yard - I am arriving to the 153 gallon pond.
Back yard - I finally got there.
Back yard - Where did I go?
This ends the too many photos that my father took.
I took these photos on 2/11/10. Take a walk with me around the property.
Back porch - the 3' yard stick stuck in to the snow off the back porch.
Paths - the foot paths I made in the snow to the ponds. Straight goes off the porch. To the left is the 1800 gallon pond. To the right is the 153 gallon pond in the back yard. There is about a foot of hard packed snow under the path so the snow depth is more than you think. Even with the path packed down, hip waders were required to navigate the path.
Top of waterfall - the yard stick is stuck in the snow where the biofilter is. It is more than three feet under there!
Outlet and penguin - standing from the same position as the last photo, looking down the hill to the dug out outlet and lighted penguin.
Pond and waterfall - at this point, the waterfall was still running, almost completely under snow.
Blizzard - 1834 KB, mpg movie. View of the 1800 gallon pond's open area and waterfall while standing out its outlet, 2/11/10. Listen to the wind howl.
Pond - facing west.
Pond outlet - the yard stick stuck in the snow behind the pond outlet.
Path - path to the 153 gallon pond.
Blizzard - 1625 KB, mpg movie. Paths to the ponds and the back of the house, 2/11/10.
Aerator - the black box over the Luft aerator by the 153 gallon pond.
153 gallon pond - all that was left of the opening to the 153 gallon pond, a tiny hole!
Aerator - with the yard stick next to it. Due to over three feet of snow there, I did not dig out the outlet there on this day.
Blizzard - 3904 KB, mpg movie.. While standing at the 153 gallon pond, I panned the back yard, back of the house, aerator with yard stick, and ended up with the camera down the hole to the pond.
Path - from the driveway to the chicken pen you can see on the right.
Driveway - looking back at my car.
House - front of the house.
House - front of the house from farther down the road.
Our Road - view about half way down the road to my car.
Blizzard - 1250 KB, mpg movie. Out front, standing in the driveway, 2/11/10.
Community Road - the path to freedom (and work the next day).
Wall of snow - by the edge of the community road.
Our road - view from the mail box down our road.
This photo was from 2/13/10.
Massive icicle - the biggest icicle I think we have had off the northeast corner of the house. My father took this photo before knocking it down out the window.
These photos were from 2/14/10 after I had set up the de-icer and aerator in the 1800 gallon pond. My clearing off the electrical outlet there had led either I or the deer to accidently step on it and turn off the waterfall pump resulting in a non-functioning waterfall/filter system. The de- icer and aerator had to be used instead until the snow melted.
Pond - showing the open area where the waterfall should have been falling. Instead, the de-icer and air bubbler were there.
Pond - a similar photo to the last.
Biofilter - the green lid on the biofilter which I dug out of the snow. Under that green thing is the biofilter which is the top of the waterfalls.
Waterfall and pond - this is a view standing at the biofilter looking down to the pond. The waterfall is completely lost in three feet of snow and was off for the first time in almost 13 years.
And so, the melting began and the memories began to fade.
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