Still Snowing!

Snowstorm number three!

Are we done, yet?



It started snowing on Thursday, December 28 at about 3:30 PM and it has not stopped since that time. The whole state of New Mexico is closed!
According to NOAA and the National Weather Service, a slow-moving storm with a lot of moisture in it stalled over the Sandia Mountains this morning. We had gotten 30" at our house by this morning--and it is still snowing. Above is our truck, parked at the top of the driveway and completely buried!



To the right is a picture of snow falling on the rain guage last night. I like the effect of the flash on the snowflakes. There is also a "ghost" just above the guage, a drop of melting snow on the lense just as the picture was taken.
Last night, we heard that I-40 westbound was open for a little while but it was closed before our daughter could even think of going into town.

We took a walk with the dogs this morning. My DH shoveled a path to the top of the driveway--but the county had not plowed since Friday morning, so we had to break a trail on our cul-de-sac to Via Sedillo Road. There, a lone 4-wheel-drive pick-up had driven down the road and we were able to walk in his tire-tracks. The dogs love the snow!




To the left is a picture of a fence with about 18" of snow on the top rail. The rest of the snow had fallen off behind the fence. Cedro Peak can be seen in the distance.





News Flash!! The neighbors are outside using their snowblower to make a path to the road! Awesome!! I will have to make them some cookies!







Here is a view of Via Sedillo heading north toward I-40 (and Old Route 66), both of which were closed yesterday and are still closed today! You can see the tracks of the neighbor's lone pick-up in the middle of the virgin snow. These are the tracks we were walking in. The ridge of Sedillo Hill is visible, but the Sandias behind it are hidden by clouds and falling snow.
This is awesome! (Just so long as we have clear weather next week for the Bar Mitzvah.




To the right is a picture of our daughter's car.

She parked it at the end of our cul-de-sac on
Thurdsay evening. By this morning, ML's car was buried under all the snow we got.
Beyond the barricade is the National Forest land. We saw some people heading that way with their cross-country skis this morning. N. wants to learn to snowboard and DH and I are thinking of getting some snowshoes. Oh, I do hope we are out of the drought! This is like the New Mexico winters I remember from the '80's.




Here is a picture of our house taken this morning. You can see how heavy the snow is from the tree in the right foreground. This storm brought a lot more snow than the Hannukah snowstorm. The snow was also wet and heavy, whereas the Hannukah snow was light and there was more wind and drifting that happened. There are no drifts with this snow; it is deep everywhere. There are deeper patches where it fell on top of the snow that had not melted from Hannukah.



To the right is a picture of the snow against and on top of our retaining fence. It filled up the basketball net--I wonder how you calculate those points! The trees in our yard there are weighted down by the snow. Every now and then, the snow slides off and makes what N. called "a mini-snow explosion!" It is no fun being under one when it happens. Snow down the back, snow in the face...definitely a "snow bomb!"



This is "lively Lily." She loves the snow so much that last week when ML lost the leash,


she took the kids on a merry chase into the National forest. (At least, Lily was merry! The kids weren't counting on a three mile walk in deep snow). Getting her to hold still long enough to snap a good picture was difficult, but I just kept snapping away--the joy of a digital camera--until we got a good picture.

Below is Zoey. She is not quite as enthusiastic about the snow. Could that be because she

was breaking the trail for everyone? Actually, she is a greyhound-dalmatian cross. She does not have an undercoat, so she gets cold faster than Lily, and is usually ready to come in after about 30 minutes. Lily, on the other hand, being a hound-shepherd cross, has a thick undercoat and could probably play in the snow all day without getting cold.

Guess what? The sun has finally broken through at 2:30 MST! We have had about 40 hours of continuous snow, but it looks like the storm has finally moved to the east and we can dig out. I wonder how long it will be until the state gets the freeway open? Once that and Route 66 are clear, the county will plow our roads.

I think the third snowstorm of the 2006 -07 season is coming to end for us.

Stay tuned for pictures of our saintly neighbor, Dave the Dentist, and his labs, ploughing the driveway! Wow--is that?--could it be?--BLUE SKY!

I accidentally downloaded this twice and I cannot figure out how to get rid of it! Cut does nothing!

So Here it is again. Oh, well.