Ah...the first snow day for Minnesota this year.

[MineralMan]

Looks like we'll end up with about 7 inches on the ground here in St. Paul. And it's December snow. It's very likely to be wet and heavy. If it's too wet, the snowblower can't deal well with it, and it clogs the chute. I hate that, because it can mean manually clearing the driveway, which is 24' wide and 60' long. Not pleasant.

So, I'm going to have to go out a bit later and make a first pass to clear snow, then repeat that tomorrow. Winter is here, and my back and shoulders already ache with anticipation of the task. Still, it's a small price to pay for a beautiful white blanket over everything that will be with us all winter.

Good things come at a cost, it seems, in everything. Hard work is always needed to be able to enjoy the good things. I'm grateful to everyone who put in the hard work of getting out the vote in November. Now, we get to enjoy the benefits of not having Mitt Romney sitting in the White House. It was most definitely worth it.

[randome]

1. Or, if you wait a while, it will all melt.

[rurallib]

3. Project April

[HereSince1628]

7. Yep, MN soil temp maps shows the ground below freezing in the Twin Cities...

Folks up your way look to be back to driving on white freezee skid stuff.

[MineralMan]

8. Yes and, as usual, they've forgotten how

again this year. Lots of cars in the ditch and bashed together this morning. In another month, they'll remember how to drive in the snow, and the accident rate will go back down.

Me? I stay off the roads during and after the first snow. Too damned dangerous.

[HereSince1628]

10. They learn or are eliminated...could be Darwinian

I stay off the interstate between Milw and Madison most of the winter. It's driven like the autobahn, I no longer have the nerve to drive 80 mph on broken snowpak and don't like 20 - 30 mph speed differentials.

[sarisataka]

15. Unfortunately I have to go from

the Eastside to Maple Grove. At least it will be late afternoon so the plows should have things pretty good by then.

[MineralMan]

4. That's true. Sometime next spring, it will all be gone.

I don't think I have enough groceries to last that long, though.

[HereSince1628]

2. Snowing in points west, but with light east wind it's 35F and rain in Milw.

Terrible day for workers who have to deliver the morning papers or who otherwise must work mostly out of doors.

[MineralMan]

5. Yah. Our Sunday paper came a little late.

But our delivery folks have a nice 4wd vehicle, and make it through almost anything. Nice tip for them coming soon.

[marmar]

6. Here in SE Michigan, nothing but one dusting this season (and dusting is being generous).....

....... and none in the extended forecast. Forecast highs for later in the week are in the mid-40s. It's beginning to look a lot like.......March?

[chillfactor]

9. I am a native Minnesotan....

but when I reached retirement age I wanted out of the cold and snow and retired in New Mexico...

I do not miss driving in the snow or the cold weather one bit

[ewagner]

11. Have a lot in common...

We're in Wisconsin and forecast to get 5-7 today also...

It just started snowing...

My driveway is roughly the same size as yours...and my snowblower hates heavy, wet snow just like yours...I also will probably be shoveling.

As an added attraction....

The snow plows won't be dispatched until 3AM tomorrow morning...meaning, of course that they will "plow in" my driveway just before I leave for work tomorrow morning...giving me the choice of bundling up and shoveling a 25' long, 4' wide 12" high bank of snow before work or plowing through it and leaving a trail of hard-packed ice in the driveway for the rest of the winter.

At least there is one thing we Cheeseheads and Minnes-soties have in common!

[MineralMan]

18. St. Paul just declared a snow emergency, which is nice.

They'll plow the big streets overnight, and then do all the residential side streets tomorrow. That will do it for this storm. Everyone is back in business the day after a storm comes through. It's really never a big deal, except when there's a real blizzard that dumps 18" or more. That takes an extra day.

Here in Minnesnowta, everyone calls snowblowers snowthrowers. I'm odd. I like snowblower better. I love my snow removal tools. No cheap snow shovels for me. I have to do the work, and I'm 67, so I've bought ones that do the job with the least effort. More expensive, but hey...

[madrchsod]

12. well we need a 4 or 5 ft this year up and down the watershed

the rock river shed from southern wisconsin to rock island illinois is the lowest i`vie seen in years. there`s a trickle going across the dam where i live.unfortunately it looks like we are not going to get enough moisture this winter.

what needs to be done in the next two yrs is to elect democrats to replace our batshit crazy house members and keep the senate. we need to start today to save the climate for the future generations

[longship]

13. Two snows here in rural west MI

One last week, about an inch.
The second last Friday, a couple inches.

Looks like this week will bring more, but nothing heavy forecast at this time.

Last winter was the warmest I've experienced in years, if ever in my life. Due to difficulties for me here, I am hoping for another mild winter this year.

I just cannot understand people who refuse to see the overwhelming evidence. It is just astounding what is happening and how so many people are willfully ignoring it.

[MineralMan]

14. Update: the first 4" of snow has been cleared.

it was just possible to use the snowblower, but the snow's sticky, so it tends to pile up in front of the snowblower, rather than entering the front, where it can be spewed out. That complicates the job. Still, I got through it all, including the city sidewalks in front of my house and two others. My neighbor, who shares my driveway just drove off, yelling thanks out her car window. No snowblower in her house, so I just do it all. I am expecting cookies at some point.

[LiberalFighter]

16. When I shovel the driveway

I usually do the half that I need. I might shovel the other half leaving a shove wide snow between the place I shovel. If there isn't too much in a few days it usually melts faster. Otherwise, in a day or two shovel the rest.

[MineralMan]

17. That wouldn't work for me. My house and my neighbor's

house share that 24' wide driveway. Each house has a detached garage near the back of the lot. The snowblower makes relatively short work of clearing the whole thing, since it eats 24" each pass. The only difficult thing is the part with the houses on both sides. You have to blow that snow further down the driveway to get rid of it. When the snow's dry and powdery, it only takes about half an hour to clear the whole thing. I have a pattern figured out that minimizes the time. The city sidewalks are 40" wide. That makes them a simple two pass clearing job.

When I moved here in 2004, I bought the snowblower as one of my first big purchases. I bought a good 8 hp two-stage one, and take very very good care of it. Now, 8 years later, it still starts on the first pull every time. It has electric start, but why bother? It's my favorite outdoor tool.