So that (from my most recent post, "Deep Freeze") was what my front deck looked like last Friday. And this is what it looks like now, after the three-day blizzard that started Saturday morning and didn't end until Monday evening.
This afternoon a neighbor cleared a path to my front door and dug my car out from under several feet of snow.
I'm told this is highly unusual weather, even for the Columbia River Gorge, where weather can be a bit wild. Over the past 11 days, we've had three successive winter storm fronts come through, one right after another without any respite. One more is scheduled for tonight, and then finally a warming trend on Christmas day. (Meaning the temps will get above freezing.) The city of Portland itself has essentially been shut down for days with snow and ice, although they didn't have the wind problems that we did in the Gorge, nor quite as bitterly cold temperatures. The Gorge was in the teens Fahrenheit for three days, and with the wind chill factor that was way below zero.
The thing about wind and snow is that you get blowing snow, which results in a much deeper accumulation. Where I am, between the heavy snowfall and the 65 MPH winds blowing through the Gorge for two days, we ended up with three feet or more of snow on the ground. Some of that is attributable to already-fallen snow being picked up and deposited elsewhere. That's how snow drifts are formed.
I guess I've earned my stripes as a "real" Gorge resident now. Although I don't expect there to be this much snow every year ... it's not International Falls, Minnesota ... I am coming to know this kind of weather and be comfortable in it. In fact, looking at the photo above, something in me resonates deeply and says, "this is home."
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