Minnesota Weather: Blizzard - The Start to Being Buried Alive

Our winters in Minnesota have been fairly mild for 40 years. Let's face it. We've been somewhat spoiled. Until yesterday, our temperatures were mild. The temperatures were reaching the upper 50's.

Hibernating animals were starting to wander around on our gravel roads, confused probably by the warm weather. The grass was starting to green up amidst the brown. I was actually starting to wonder if we were going to have to start mowing again. The hubby picked up all the loose branches off the yard and cleaned up around buildings.

All in all, it was looking like calm, nice days.

Well, that was yesterday. So much for warm weather.

Actually, the temperature outside isn't very cold. It's cool, but a wet feeling. It is windy. There is a squeaking, scraping noise outside the corner of the house. The branches of the shrub outside the window is scraping against the siding.

I looked out the patio door window and the deck didn't have much snow on it Maybe a dusting, some stickiness stuck to the tops of the grill and the flowerpots. Then, minutes later, I heard a rumbling sound and the things that I could see mere minutes ago, are buried under an avalanche of snow that just fell off the roof. The snow that fell of the roof just now, just buried the objects on my deck in two foot of snow.

Walking out in my garage, there is snow forced into the inside through the spaces between the door and the door frame.

It is said that if you do not like the weather in Minnesota, wait fifteen minutes and it will change.

Minnesota weather is full of extremes. We're used to having extreme swings in temperature. One day it could be 20 degrees above zero, then, twelve hours later, be twenty below zero. Yes. Our weather is unpredictable like that.

Yesterday was greening up, today, it looks like the dead of a 1970's winter.

We do not get blizzards very often. It's been about 20 years since our last blizzard. The last one left the roads buried in snow. The plows out and working hard to clear paths through the mountainous drifts.

Today, in a few hours when the sun comes up, there will be appointments cancelled, I'm sure. The driveway will need to be cleared. We have a Bobcat plow that my hubby uses to clear the snow. Well. No rush, since even if he gets the driveway cleared, once we reach the road - unless the plow goes through, we're stuck here. No travel.

I remember, 40 years ago, or even 50 years ago, how the winters used to be. Every time it snowed, the drifts would be 2 foot high. As a kid, it was fun, because they'd cancel school and I would go outside and hollow out the drifts and sit inside them. A fort. Tunnels were made and I crawled through many feet of tubes.

Well. My car is surrounded by snow drifts. The wind has swirled through, carrying bits of snow on its shoulders, decorating the edge of the house with piles of smooth snow. It's all very surreal. The wind is very loud. Whistling. Roaring almost.

It's very quiet now.

The wind is in the distance, but it's quiet now. The squeaking of the branches has stopped. I suppose we're in some eye the storm.

Get ready for the next blast I guess.