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Some of you guys should be getting the same blizzard-like conditions we're seeing here in eastern NE / western IA. I figured I'd put a few up that we've taken recently...
First up, the streetsign near where I live, usually it's sticking 7-8' above the ground. Lately, not so much!:
The wife's from New Orleans, I met her in SoCal, needless to say this is her first winter with REAL quantities of snow. What do all snow noobs do when there are big drifts? we build snow forts!! (tunnels in the snow drifts).
So, I decided last Thursday night that I was going to make it into work on Friday, like every tough guy with a 4x4 truck, right? WRONG! I buried the truck just before dark, about 3/4 mile from my home... let me tell you, 3/4 of a mile doesn't sound like a long distance but when there are 40mph winds, and blowing snow, and the temperature is REALLY cold - that short hike seems like an expedition to Anarctica! And like a complete idiot, I left the ignition in "accessory" position all night long, while the temps got down to something like -18F. Wind chills were down in the -40s and -50s. If you think digging a 7000lb diesel truck out of waist-deep snow sucks with a RUNNING engine, you should try it when the truck is 100% deadweight!! Thank god for neighbor troy and his skidloader...
Once unstuck, instead of dorking around with jumper cables or a battery charger, we put er in 4th gear, popped the clutch, and she fired right up without even running the intake heater. She smoked a little in protest, but whose complaining with 350,000 miles on the odometer? Yeah, sure, diesels suck in the winter...
On Saturday, when we DID finally get dug out, I took this pic of the nearest plowed road, about 1.5 miles from my driveway. It's the "snow emergency" route. 5 miles of 1-lane road, REAL handy to meet another vehicle and have to figure out whose backing up that entire distance:
The first major highway is a few more miles down the road. Road crews were working to open up two lanes most of the weekend, with really cool bangshift-approved equipment like this. It's difficult to understand the size of this thing, but it's driven by a payloader with tires about as tall as the average person. The snowblower has it's own inline 6 Cummins diesel engine, just to run the blower!
More perspective: here are the drifts just in front of the giant snowblower, about to get chewed & spit, blocking one lane of Hwy 6 (the "Grand Army Highway" famous for being the second longest highway in the country, also my route to work each day):
Finally, a bad pic taken through the window of my truck. A herd of deer were crossing the road just before my neighbor's house. We caught this while we were taking her home (4x4 owner in my neighborhood gets to make the grocery runs!).
so, who else has snow pics from the Blizzard of 09/10? Post 'em up!
First up, the streetsign near where I live, usually it's sticking 7-8' above the ground. Lately, not so much!:
The wife's from New Orleans, I met her in SoCal, needless to say this is her first winter with REAL quantities of snow. What do all snow noobs do when there are big drifts? we build snow forts!! (tunnels in the snow drifts).
So, I decided last Thursday night that I was going to make it into work on Friday, like every tough guy with a 4x4 truck, right? WRONG! I buried the truck just before dark, about 3/4 mile from my home... let me tell you, 3/4 of a mile doesn't sound like a long distance but when there are 40mph winds, and blowing snow, and the temperature is REALLY cold - that short hike seems like an expedition to Anarctica! And like a complete idiot, I left the ignition in "accessory" position all night long, while the temps got down to something like -18F. Wind chills were down in the -40s and -50s. If you think digging a 7000lb diesel truck out of waist-deep snow sucks with a RUNNING engine, you should try it when the truck is 100% deadweight!! Thank god for neighbor troy and his skidloader...
Once unstuck, instead of dorking around with jumper cables or a battery charger, we put er in 4th gear, popped the clutch, and she fired right up without even running the intake heater. She smoked a little in protest, but whose complaining with 350,000 miles on the odometer? Yeah, sure, diesels suck in the winter...
On Saturday, when we DID finally get dug out, I took this pic of the nearest plowed road, about 1.5 miles from my driveway. It's the "snow emergency" route. 5 miles of 1-lane road, REAL handy to meet another vehicle and have to figure out whose backing up that entire distance:
The first major highway is a few more miles down the road. Road crews were working to open up two lanes most of the weekend, with really cool bangshift-approved equipment like this. It's difficult to understand the size of this thing, but it's driven by a payloader with tires about as tall as the average person. The snowblower has it's own inline 6 Cummins diesel engine, just to run the blower!
More perspective: here are the drifts just in front of the giant snowblower, about to get chewed & spit, blocking one lane of Hwy 6 (the "Grand Army Highway" famous for being the second longest highway in the country, also my route to work each day):
Finally, a bad pic taken through the window of my truck. A herd of deer were crossing the road just before my neighbor's house. We caught this while we were taking her home (4x4 owner in my neighborhood gets to make the grocery runs!).
so, who else has snow pics from the Blizzard of 09/10? Post 'em up!
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