Throwback Thursday: Big snowstorm from the past? #TBT

[#1]

It's Thursday!

This week´s #TBT is inspired by @Dan Breyen ´s comment couple weeks ago. He asked if we had ever tried tick or treating knowing a blizzard was coming. Well, he has!

Soooo, tell us about some snowstorm memories that you have :)

Let’s make it a great Thursday!
KGM

tried trick or treating knowing a blizzard is coming

[Andy Gladstone]

No matter what you call it - Global Warming, Climate Change, etc. - the amount of snow we now get in New York as compared to what we received when I was a kid in the 1980's has drastically changed.

As a kid I remember SO MANY snow days - some times multiple days in a row. We lived on a wide street and the kids on one side would build a fort, while the kids from across the street did the same. We'd have epic hours long snowball fights which would always culminate in one team raiding the other's fort and claiming it as their own. One Mom would always be the Hot Cocoa dealer and make sure we stayed hydrated and caffeinated!

As an adult, we live on a narrow dead end street and plows cannot easily get down the street. In 2012 we had our last large snowfall and the human plows - the kids and adults of the five families that live on the street shoveled two feet of snow down the entire street ourselves. I'm still sore. Maybe I'll go take an ibuprofen now...

What's sad for me is that my kids have not had a snow day for a decade and don't know the thrill of waking up to a school cancellation and the possibilities of the day ahead.

[Sean Perry]

I once drove from Rome to Tignes to go snowboarding, arriving late at night. Woke up the next morning to a complete whiteout, literally couldn't see any of the cars in the carpark, just snow. Didn't see the car again (fortunately we had taken out all our luggage upon arrival) until we had to dig it out to leave. 

During the same trip my friend got stuck on a open chair lift in a snowstorm for 30'. The French skier next to him was basically wearing a jumper, no gloves. Never even shivered apparently. Hard core these French mountain people. 

I also remember night boarding in Keystone when it was so cold that we had to be checked for frostbite after every run, and the same friend was made to 'warm up' in the lobby before being able to rejoin us. 

[Stephen_Lugton]

@Kristján Geir Mathiesen I live in London, last year we had 5 minutes of snow, the entire city shut down!

[Amanda Barber]

We've had snow on Halloween here, too, but never a blizzard. I'll second what @Andy Gladstone mentioned - I remember having so many snow days as a kid, but now we have pretty mild winters. Last year, however, a huge ice and snow storm took our power out for 3 days. Thankfully, we were able to reverse the power on our electric car to keep our sump pump, fridge, and freezer running. We have a gas fireplace we used for a bit, but we went to a hotel once it got too cold in the house.

[Tuncay Senturk]

Istanbul is a city, connecting Europe and Asia, where crossing continents is just part of a daily commute. With nearly 20 million people here, traffic is a constant, and depending on the time of day, getting across one of the three bridges can be quite a journey!

Once, I visited my uncle on the European side while I lived on the Asian side. The trip usually takes around two hours with traffic, and the weather was perfectly fine when we arrived. But then, a heavy snowstorm hit, and the roads quickly became covered. We decided to head back home right away, hoping to cross the bridge before it got worse. But it was too late—a truck had stalled in the snow, blocking the road, and we ended up stranded on a road which is going to the bridge with low fuel and freezing temperatures. starting engine to warm the car vs empty fuel problem, so I barely used to make it a bit warm and stop the engine :)

After 5-6 long hours, they finally managed to clear the road, and we could drive again. We made it home, but it was already the next day by the time we arrived. That was definitely a night I’ll never forget!

[Natalie Beiler]

I second some of @Andy Gladstone 's comments. Growing up in the 60's & 70's in southwest Pennsylvania we had epic snow storms with many snow days. We were the last house on a secondary road that rejoined the primary highway about 1/4 mile from our place. The plow would come as far as our place and then turn around, Every winter we were the house with the shovels and the muscles to help stranded travelers (usually at night) who had the misfortune of driving into the unplowed portion of our road. Back then we use lots of aspirin and eventually Tylenol for the the sore muscles.

One of my favorite epic storm memories is the year we were without power for an entire week. I was probably 11 or 12 years old. I was second oldest in a family of 6. My youngest sibling at the time was less than a year old. Our maternal grandparents who had Amish neighbors next door, lived about 1 1/2 miles away. Because they had water and heat without electricity and we did not, we found kind neighbors willing to use snowmobiles and a horse drawn sled to transport us across the snowy fields to our grandparents. It took about 4 trips with the snowmobile and 1 with horse drawn sled to get us safely settled with grandma and grandpa. What fun we had sled riding, playing games, eating grandma's home cooking every day and just feeling the love of family and community.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

From age 11-16, I lived in Rochester, NY, where we got what they call "lake effect" snow (off the Great Lakes). If we got 18 inches of snow, they might think about closing school. When we moved to the Albany, NY area when I was 16, we got 6 inches of snow one night in December, and I got up the next morning, showered, and got dressed for school before my brother told me school was cancelled. I was like, "but we only got 6 inches of snow." My dad was happy, though, because I went out and shoveled the driveway as I was already up and dressed. Between snow and holidays, we had no school on any Wednesday in December that year.

6 years later was a different story. We had a mere 6.5 inches of snow overnight, but it was only October 4th. It was not predicted, and the area was crippled, mostly because the leaves had not yet fallen off the trees, which caused trees to fall (some onto power lines), and the snow equipment was not yet prepared for winter. 

[Dan Breyen]

Thanks @Kristján Geir Mathiesen , now you have me thinking about 4 ft (1.5m) snow drifts.  

But first, the beautiful part was watching the snow fall, having the fireplace going, and knowing I don't have any plans to be anywhere.

However, I only had a snow blade on my tractor, and figured I needed to go outside regularly to keep my driveway open.  That worked for awhile, but then I ran out of places to put it.

In the end, I woke up the next morning to chest high snow drifts, and we were pretty much stuck.  

My father-in-law had to come out with his snow blower, and started out at the other end and eventually we were able to get out.

On a side note, ever seen a line of snow plows trying to clear off the freeway?  This is impressive!

[Holly Scott]

I was living in CO during the "Holiday Blizzard I" in 2006. I was stuck in my townhome for two days, then it took another four days or so to dig out of the parking lot due to the amount and very little help. Once it was clear enough to risk driving to work I made the treacherous journey, our side streets still hadn't been plowed. At the time I was driving a Lincoln Town car from the late 80s, early 90s, it had been gifted to me by my Great Grandma's . It was rear-wheel drive and I had many hills to drive over. One hill in particular took me 20 minutes to get over. I was obviously struggling in my car while people got behind me honking and flipping me off, though there was another lane, four lane road, two on each side. No one offered to help either. I was terrified, embarrassed, exhausted, and mad. I finally made it over the hill and pulled into the first parking lot that so happened to have a Denny's. I called work and explained the situation. It was a small company where the few people who made it into the office lived right next to it and had awesome trucks for the weather. They gave me grief for not coming in, like mad at me, just like the people driving behind me on the hill. I hated winters there. Breathing in with ice shards in your nose, cold enough to make you choke. I don't miss that, though I do miss my CO

[Brant Schroeder]

We often would visit a small ski town in the Sierra Nevada's when I was growing up.  The town would get dumped on.  We have images of me and my brother walking down paths cut into the snow.  The snow would tower over us at 7-8 feet in height.  Made for great skiing.  

[Susan Waldrip]

I remember one year back in the 80s, I lived in Washington DC and we had a freak snowstorm that dumped about 3 feet of snow over several days. When DC gets 2" they shut down, so this was really weird -- it was so quiet! My friend and I put on our snow clothes and she had snow boots but I didn't, so I put plastic grocery bags over my socks and wore my tennis shoes and we walked about 2.5 miles through that deep snow to go to one of the few stores that were open to get me a new pair of snow boots! I was young and stupid and thought that was really fun. 🤣 I don't remember, but I imagine I slept well that night!

[Natalie Beiler]

I must add that I absolutely love all memories being shared! What a wonderful topic for TBT! Well done @Kristján Geir Mathiesen and thank you for sparking the idea @Dan Breyen 

Now would someone please send us some amazing unexpected snow here in VA? 

[Tomislav Tobijas _Koios_]

My sister transferred some recordings from old CDs so that got me back to the days when there was actual snow outside. I was way younger then so snow outside was a blast ☃️ Last couple of years I think there were 5 days of snow in total...

I remember last winter when I woke up one day and I was quite surprised that everything was 'glowing' when I was looking at the window blinds. Firstly I thought I just slept through and it was the middle of the day, and then I realized everything was white as it was snowing all night. I must admit that it was beautiful looking through the window, but it was not so beautiful when I had to drive to the store and back 😅

[Laurie Sciutti]

Growing up in Northern California, we rarely saw snow unless we traveled to Lake Tahoe.  Loved reading all the East Coasters' stories though (and @Holly Scott 's from CO!).  I can only WISH we had snow days growing up ~ how fun!   :)

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

I just wish I had one of those snow storms where I am.

It's freaking hot here, and I'm sweating profusely every day. You can't survive without the A/C.

To be honest, 20 years ago, the weather was so different. The thunderstorms were very frequent, heavy, and cooling. By this time of year, the A/C was never used, and it would be chilling by night. It was so comfortable to sleep.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Thanks for sharing - fun to read!

[vikram]

@Kristján Geir Mathiesen 

as I live in India, we never had a snow blizzard, but I am able to see now here in Belgium, some snow falls but not that much Blizzard.

Vikram P 

[MishManners]

We're in Australia, so no blizzards, but it can easily get very hot or very cold.

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

Well at least the thunderstorm has started.. much more comfortable weather.

[Stephen_Lugton]

I'm sitting here in the office in London on the 7th floor watching snow falling outside, it's already been more than 5 minutes and the snow flakes are larger than I remember from last year!

HR just sent an email: We understand that some of you may face challenges in commuting. Our offices remain open, but should your travel be disrupted, please speak with your line manager regarding working arrangements, and if appropriate use alternatives such as working from home.

---

The snow lasted 17 minutes from the time I first noticed and didn't settle

[sasanka]

Waking up and sending your daughter & wife to day care and school for work respectively.

And after that sit on working table and going throught the mail and start working on all pending tasks are fun.

[Viktoriia Golovtseva _Railsware_]

In Bucharest snow happens once a year, but that's actually the time to book train tickets to mountains which are 1,5 hour close, because in the city it is a nightmare. But you can easily skip it going to mountains for a couple of days once you return you'll never see snow till the next year :)