The Bomb Cyclone, Snowicane, Snowpacalypse, Snowmageddon of 2019

For the past week we've been hearing about the big blizzard of 2019.  It was supposed to happen on Wednesday, March 13th.  That morning Irv got a call that the base was closed so he got a "snow day".  Woohoo!

The only problem was that there was no snow.  The wind was blowing and it was raining.  No big deal, right?  I took the above video at about 10:30 a.m.  I almost suggested to Irv that we go into town to see a movie.  Thank goodness I had second thoughts about that notion.

Within a few minutes things changed.  The snow intensified, the winds picked up.  The blizzard of 2019 had arrived.

We were very fortunate that day because our electricity stayed on for the most part.  We had a few outages, but they lasted only a short time.  However, the internet was out for most of the day.  And to make it worse, Facebook had a major outage.  Talk about a double disaster!

Mid-afternoon we thought it might be a good idea to send Irv out to check on the horses.  They had free access to the barn for shelter, but we had not closed the stall doors.  Big mistake!  My wonderful husband made a couple trips out there to get them secured in the barn with water and plenty of hay. 

Irv's Facebook video of barn during blizzard

Above is a link to the video Irv took on his first trip to the barn (it's on his phone so I can't upload it to my YouTube channel).  Note to self:  Always put the horses in the barn, close the doors, and seal any openings that might allow snow to enter the barn on days when a blizzard warning has been issued.

We spent the day watching the news on TV.  A couple of the channels had their newscasters on the whole time to let people know what was happening.  I-25 between Monument and Denver had become a parking lot where people were stranded for hours.  At one point 1,100 people just in El Paso County were stuck on the roads and highways and were calling for assistance which of course was very slow in getting there because of the conditions.  Snowplows and school buses went out to rescue those they could.  Those folks abandoned their cars and were taken to shelters.  Others had to wait it out.

I took this video about mid-afternoon.  The winds were crazy.  The airport recorded the highest winds gusts ever for Colorado Springs at 97 mph.  They say the conditions were comparable to a level 2 hurricane.

Also about mid-afternoon we noticed the house was kind of cool.  The pilot light on the heater had gone out and we couldn't get it relighted (by "we" I mean Irv, I was just there to hold the flashlight).  Luckily our heater has some safety features to keep us safe.  Apparently the exhaust vent had iced over which caused the heater to go out.  Since we still had electricity we kept warm with electric blankets and space heaters.  The next morning our house was only 57 degrees, which is cold, but not unbearable.

The next morning we went out to inspect the damage.

Because of the wind we did not have deep snow, just lots of drifts.

The wind came from the north.  I think it's interesting how this tree provided a wind break and the snow drifted around it. 

You can't really tell from the pictures, but everything was glazed in a layer of ice.  Above is the sidewalk to our front door and it was a sheet of ice a couple inches thick.

Our biggest drifts were to the south of the house.   This drift is close to 5 feet deep.  (Luckily our DirectTV receiver didn't get covered.) 

You'll notice all these black squares throughout the yard.

In the garden. 

Outside the yard.

And even in the trees. 

Yep, those are the shingles off my new she-shed and our shed as well.  Luckily, my shed is still under warranty.  

Sitting next to my shed is our lawn tractor.  Can you see it?

There it is...half submerged in a drift. 

The most damage was to the pergola that my wonderful hubby built for me a few years ago.  The cover to my smoker and grill are also missing...probably in Kansas by now.  The furniture on the deck had blown all the way across the deck.

It's leaning precariously and will need to come down as soon as possible.  Irv's going to call our insurance company to see if it's covered because I will definitely want it replaced.

Our house and garage have metal roofs.  Best investment we ever made.  You can see the ice that formed along and underneath the eaves.  (The wood pile was not a victim of the storm.  Our neighbors have two big dogs that roam free and they came over one day to chase rabbits and totally wiped out our stack of wood.)  If you're wondering why we didn't build a fire when the heater went out, it's because the chimney was totally iced over and the smoke would have backed up into the house.

I thought the snow on the truck tires was cool.  We fared much better than our neighbors.  They all had 4-5 foot drifts in front of their garage doors.  We didn't have any.  

Later that morning one of my former 4-Hers who is now a member of our county's search and rescue team posted some photos of Highway 94 which is the road we take to get into town.

Cars were abandoned everywhere.

The road was solid ice and notice the power lines.

 

We owe a lot to those volunteer search and rescue teams.  They were out all night rescuing people.  They stop and look in every vehicle.  They dig through the snow to make sure the cars are empty.  (We were once rescued by search and rescue, but that it Irv's and mine little secret.)

Sadly, a man and woman were found by search and rescue last night in a pasture.  The woman had severe hypothermia and the man was deceased.  There aren't any details yet, but we presume they were stuck in their vehicle and may have decided to walk to safety and got disoriented.  Really sad.

So, my birthday got postponed by a day.  I haven't opened presents or anything yet because I wanted to wait for my birthday dinner and cake.  This year I get an extra day before getting a year older.

So there it is...the big snow storm of 2019.  Now springs is welcome to arrive.


If you enjoyed this post how about leaving me a comment?  That's the proper etiquette.  Being a creeper is not good manners.