I'm always checking the 7 day forecast and reading the weather blog on our local news site. Most would deem my 3 or 4 times a day weather check a bit obsessive. I'll admit, it probably is, but it's hard not to be. Throughout most of the year, there's a lot that revolves around the weather.
About a week ago, during one of my many visits to my trusty weather site, there was snow in the forecast for today. At the time, they were predicting right around 1-4 inches. For us, that's nothing to worry about.
In the days to follow, that number went up. The storm got bigger. It intensified. They eventually started calling it a quick moving beast. A lot of snow was going to fall in a relatively short period of time during the day.
We didn't panic. We very seldom do. We just took precaution. Lisa ran a few errands and did the grocery shopping yesterday.
The store was packed and people were crazy.
Lisa made arrangements to take the day off today. She never takes a snow day, but we were confident this was going to be a substantial storm that would pound our area. In addition to the large amount of snow that would accumulate, they also mentioned high winds, whiteout conditions, and (drum roll)...thundersnow.
I didn't want Lisa on the road during any of this. It's not that I don't trust her ability to drive in a snowstorm. I know she can. We both grew up in New Hampshire. Driving in massive snowstorms isn't something new. Lisa has that mastered.
I just don't trust the other idiots on the road. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who assume their 4-wheel drive, and other rugged trucks and SUV's, will make it through the snow at high speeds accompanied with their stupidity behind the wheel.
The snow started around 8 as they had predicted. By late morning, I exhaled a sigh of relief that Lisa was home with us. The meteorologists didn't exaggerate the severity of the storm. A few counties were upgraded to a blizzard warning as the storm progressed and, throughout most of the storm, on and off, we had thundersnow.
If you're not familiar with thundersnow, it's very rare. The most simplest explanation is it's a thunderstorm during a snowstorm. It was my third time witnessing this phenomenon. It was Lisa's first.
All of our kids were unsettled during the storm, but Sophie was the most afraid. She's terrified of thunderstorms. During the summer months, we prepare for thunderstorms and have her snuggled close to us before they hit. However, as we learned today, it's impossible to prepare for a thunderstorm during a snowstorm.
Sophie ran behind the sofa and stayed there for about a half hour. After we got her out, I held her close until she stopped shaking. She spent the rest of the afternoon on the love seat in the home office, covered with her favorite blanket, eating biscuits.
Speaking of biscuits, that's what we did for most of the day...bake biscuit love. Lisa did most of the baking while I caught up on some work stuff. With the unpredictability of the thundersnow, the shoveling didn't get done until the storm was almost over shortly after dinnertime.
Thankfully, Lisa filled the bird feeders yesterday. Once the storm simmered down, the birds were hungry and feasted on seeds for the remainder of the day.
We got well over a foot of snow. It was a remarkable storm to say the very least, and an exceptionally productive day.
I needed this.
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