082 THE LONGEST WINTER

This has literally been the longest winter that I can recall.  It started getting cold in the last couple of days of November 2016 and has essentially remained cold right up to the writing of this article on Feb 6, 2017.  There has been lots of snow, not so much in overall accumulation, but more in the number of snow days.  Up until yesterday there had been 8 snow events overall and it has started snowing again today.

FIRST SNOW IN DECEMBER

FIRST FOOTPRINT IN SNOW

 Previous snow days in December produced a couple of inches of snow at best, at least out here in Maple Ridge.  Vancouver got considerably more, which is unusual.  Usually Vancouver will get a dusting of snow, while the valley gets the big dump.

This past weekend though, it started snowing at 8:30 AM on Friday morning and kept snowing all day and all night.  It continued to snow most of Saturday and finally stopped in the afternoon.  It did snow some more on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, but stopped for several hours before starting up again Sunday night. 

SIGNS OF SPRING IN JANUARY?

The snow stopped Monday morning after I dropped Renee off at the Westcoast Express.  It remained snow free and the sun even came out during our morning walk.  It started again about 2:30 PM and is now snowing heavily again.  So far, we have a measured 14 inches of snow at my place and it is building quickly.

This is the longest winter, I am sure, but it is by no means the biggest snowfall.  Way back in 1996, December 29 (My Dad’s birthday), it started snowing heavily and kept right on going.  It produced a record amount of snow over a couple of days, almost 32 inches.  I was supposed to be working, but had been badly injured in a car accident at work on December 6.

THE MIGHTY FRASER RIVER FROZEN

It was a blessing that I couldn’t work though, as the city was essentially shut down.  A Canucks game was cancelled, buses couldn’t move, other traffic was snarled.  I couldn’t really enjoy it because of a wicked concussion, although I did have my kids for a week during that time and we were able to trek over to the park so they could slide down the same hill that I did as a kid.

Here is a link to the great snowmaggedon story of 1996:

http://globalnews.ca/news/3146344/a-look-back-1996-snow-storm-of-the-century-hits-vancouver-and-victoria/

It has been an amazing winter.  It’s like living on the prairies, like my Mom.  We have had extreme cold days -12C (extreme for our area), there has been Chinook type weather were the temperature climbed above freezing and allowing it to rain and melt all the snow, only to have the cold return a few days later.

BARBECUING IN THE SNOW IN FEBRUARY

It has played hell with the electric bill as I have only electric baseboard heating.  I thought the $300 bill during the summer was bad because of the air conditioning, but the $450 bill put that one to shame.  It also convinced me to switch to a monthly equalization plan so now I pay a manageable $136 per month.

The strata corporation has been good about salting, sanding and even plowing our roads when needed.  The first night though was a bit of a rude awakening when the snow plow came through at 1:30 AM and woke us from a dead sleep.  It’s funny though, I talked to numerous neighbours and nobody else heard him.

BUILDUP ON TABLE

TOBY THE SNOWDOG

 It seems we are responsible for shoveling our own driveways, but it’s such a short one it doesn’t really matter.  Add in the fact that I don’t even use the driveway because I still can’t get the truck in the garage because of boxes from the move.  Imagine my surprise though when after being out, we came home and one of my wonderful neighbours had taken it upon themselves to shovel my driveway for me.  I have no idea who did it, but it was greatly appreciated.

SURPRISE, SHOVELED DRIVEWAY

 Anyway, I write this because truly one of my decision points for moving out here was because it gets more snow than Vancouver.  I certainly have not been disappointed.  I do love the snow, have no problem driving in it and I just think it makes everything look so beautiful.  So as the song says, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”.