Snowpocalypse Update(s)

Saturday at 1:00pm: This is the scene in front of my townhouse this morning. There has been one and a half inches of accumulation in one hour. There is at least 18 inches recorded now at nearby Washington National Airport. As we're uphill from there, one can estimate at least 21 inches in this neighborhood.

They have ordered people off the roads, as even emergency vehicles are at risk. Thank God we haven't lost power in this area. Others in northern Virginia have not been so fortunate. Of course, when the snow plows went by, they piled at least a foot or more of snow to block all the cars, so it's a mixed blessing. They're expecting an additional four to six inches before the end of the day, by which time I expect to be getting some headway on digging out the car.

We'll add to this post as things develop, as well as continue to monitor The Weather Channel.

Saturday at 3:00pm: As we said before, the state of emergency in northern Virginia continues today. Not sure about tomorrow. Elsewhere, Dawn (blondeblogger) of Leesburg has an image of the front of her house, where her daughter's car is completely buried in the snow.

Saturday at 4:00pm: There are signs of life on the street, as one SUV is near completion of being dug out, and another hearty member of the neighborhood gets an early jump on the coming aftermath. Yours truly will be joining the ranks shortly.

Saturday at 6:00pm: This is the front view of my car. There is at least two feet of snow around it. Some of that is from the snowplows, but from the surroundings, one can surmise that to be a minor factor. There are other people out, some shoveling their own cars out, others are young parents with small children on their first walk through a winter wonderland.

I get all manner of advice when I'm out there. They say it'll turn to ice tonight unless you get rid of it now. Then again, it's never been a problem for me before, especially when the car has been warming up for 20 or 30 minutes. (That neighbor from Massachusetts, bless her heart, I'll bet she thinks we have no idea what a real snowstorm looks like. What if she's right?) After over an hour, I managed to nearly reach the car. But my back is starting to get to me, so I came in.

Saturday 7:30pm: I went out again tonight, concentrating mostly on getting the snow off the windows so there wouldn't be any ice. I got a text message from the pastor of the parish where I work: "Stay put! And we'll make do." I was told earlier in the day that there wouldn't be any music tomorrow. No music, no High Mass. They'd be lucky to get the lot plowed anyway.

I was lucky to get most of the snow away from my car. I've still got an hour or so left to do.

Tomorrow everybody will be watching the game all day, including the hours of pre-game stuff that is twice as long as the game itself. Maybe we'll just go for a stroll, enjoying the snowy landscape, the peace and quiet.

I envied the people who just wandered the streets today. Maybe tomorrow is my turn.
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