I love the Internet. The fact that data about anything you might even be slightly interested in is just out there just warms the cockles of my heart. My friend Dan sent me a link to this satellite image. It was taken on the morning of December 17th, 2008. While it is focussed on Oregon, and is cropped about 60 miles south of my house, it shows the nature of the snowfall that blanketed the Northwest before Christmas. This was the morning after the snow first fell. We were expecting a dusting of an inch or two, and instead received a dump of 12 to 14 inches. I drove the boys down to Seattle that day to fly to Colorado, and this high-pressure and clear skies vanished quickly. Thankfully I had already started my timelapse gear and captured the brilliant sunrise and clear morning before those clouds you see on the western edge of the photo barreled in and delivered another foot of snow that night. I struggled home the next evening, and then got stuck in my driveway. The following week of being snowbound was sort of fun, but as it stretched into three weeks our patience ran thin.

It appears the weather has settled back to rain and in fact has now cleared – perhaps a bit of sunshine and dry weather will bring the Jaguar out of it’s hibernation?

I finally had a chance last night to edit together all my time-lapse footage from the big snowfall over the holidays. Our snowfall events here in the Pacific Northwest generally are short-lived. I set up my time lapse gear to capture the rapid snowmelt that USUALLY happens, but instead it ended up continuing to fall and then staying around for over 3 weeks! So I varied the shots and continued to capture until the very end. I’ve compiled it all into a ~7 minute video. See the snow accumulate and then melt, icicles grow and shrink. Trees shake off their mantles of snow. At this latitude (>48°N) at this time of year days are short and nights long, hence the darkness. Enjoy!

This is what awaited me outside as I left for work. MORE snow. As you can see the 3+ feet that had fallen before christmas has melted away to a few inches, but still remains everywhere around our home. Last night brought another half inch or so. (Oddly I left the Valentine1 on, and it kept the area above it clear of snow.)

This is 17 straight days with snow covered ground, which I’m fairly certain is the longest we’ve ever endured that condition here in my 20-some years in the Pacific Northwest. Mind you the lowlands have been snow-free for a while, but I think I’ve had enough. Can we have our rain back please?

Next week I’ll be in California though so there’s hope. (who knows, maybe I’ll bring the snow with me!)

After a while it becomes tedious and while you can recall the beginnings, the adventure is getting a little old.

By the time the end rolls around you just wish it would hurry up and leave. There is all sorts of collateral damage that is coming to light. Things are no longer clean and bright… in fact it is messy, slushy, muddy, and miserable.

The last few flakes fell out of the sky Friday. Rain returned in full force Friday afternoon. Since we had accumulated well over a meter of snow up here in the foothills it is taking forever to melt. We still have over a foot on the ground and it is slowly vanishing. The air is heavy with moisture and fog collects above empty ground as the wetness really has nowhere to go. The snow is dirty, as all the fallen tree debris is being uncovered as things melt.

The big slab of snow on the barn roof slid off today, pulling part of a rain gutter along with it. I still have not turned the water on out there though… I’ll likely wait for mid-week when the threat of a night-time freeze is gone. I imagine it will be Wednesday before we lose all the major accumulations of snow.

I did manage to get the Jetta moved today though. Sorry no pics. I shoveled out a path immediately ahead of it. Then I got Sue’s Jeep out and created a pathway for the little VW to follow. I just patiently drove up and down the driveway, the full â…“rd mile out to the plowed road. First in 4WD-Low, then is just plain 4WD. The shovel lowered a few of the very deep “high-center” areas where the ruts were very deep. During the warmest, slushiest part of the day I hopped into the Jetta and braced myself for the journey. I already had the tow eye threaded in and a tow-strap ready in the Jeep should I get stuck. The Jetta started on the first try (always a good sign) and I put it in gear and just maintained a steady, but slow pace all the way out to the road. It never hesitated or slipped too much except for the odd transition corner I had to negotiate not long after I started. Patience and persistence saw me all the way out to wet pavement. It is now parked out there awaiting my morning commute.

I bet there is NO way I would have made it out come morning if we do indeed freeze again tonight.

The boys arrive home in the early afternoon. I’ll pick them up at Sea-Tac and bring them home.

At least now I’m certain I can.

Every moment that I’ve been shut in during this big snow I’ve been trying to be creatively productive. Every moment that we’ve had electricity that is.

Here’s what I’ve done so far. Think of it as my holiday greeting to everyone from the frozen Cascade foothills.