“Have you ever seen a winter as severe as this?” is the question I heard 10 minutes ago, and not for the first time, either.
Whole vast stretches of highway have been closed (and not necessarily reopened, as I reported earlier). At least a few people have had to be rescued from snowed-in homes in the boonies. The stuff is 6-7 feet deep in places out there, quoting a state cop in the paper, though I figure that’s from drifts. And every night it’s down near zero. Google “Chama, NM, snow” and see what you get. That’s 90 minutes away in another county, but they had to send the National Guard in there to dig people out.
More soon. If I can drive north tomorrow, I’ll get some wild snow shots.
UPDATE: Oh, I went north, all right. Turns out there wasn’t more than a couple feet of snow most places, and the roads were mostly fine. The really heavy stuff was west, up in the mountains on the way to Chama. But did I have a time. Photos and a few words to come.
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Driving down to see and experience it all tomorrow after school. Will be in Taos for three days! Can’t wait! Yipee!
We have just a skiff of snow, here, in Colorado Springs…so, we are craving it…especially from inside the hot tub gazing at the night sky!!
Two weeks ago..I beat my “sighting of shooting stars” record in Taos from the seat of our hot tub…saw 4 in a half an hour…for this CS gal…that is a record!!
You may be disappointed at what’s left in Taos, but between here and southern CO, maybe also out toward Tres Piedras, is where it’s supposed to be piled 10-12 feet high beside the highway. That’s what I read in the Taos News today.
That’s what I’m heading out to see. My wife doesn’t think the road will be open all the way to the Colorado line. We’ll see. What I really want is a good shot of Mt. Blanca from just outside of Costilla, NM. You probably know the view. But you know, you’d better check to see if the route you’re coming by is even open. La Veta pass might have gotten whacked, and the road south from Ft. Garland might have issues.
In these kinds of winters, where the snow falls almost daily and often in huge dumps, well, we forked creatures kind of adapt to the situation. Pretty soon every new dump just seems like business as usual. First full winter I was in Canada (’70-’71) records were set for snowfall, but to me it just seemed like that was the way it was supposed to be. You’re in Canada, man, what do you expect! But, then, three and a half decades passed, and that level of snowfall never came again. Last year there wasn’t even really a white Christmas. It was West Texas all over again. When the snow DID finally fall last winter, one just resented it and wondered why one didn’t live in Florida. Different story this year – we’re on target to break the ’70-’71 record. The snow-shoveling muscles are well-oiled, and one is up for the battle every morning and evening. No point in living in a place where things are done by halves – bring on Winter in its full fury in a place where it really matters, or live in the tropics and forget about the whole thing!
One funny little statistic I saw the other day…. The earth is warming. That means a lot more summer deaths from heatstrokes and the like. However it means fewer deaths (ten times fewer deaths, according to the report) from exposure to winter cold. Well, some winters, anyhow. Not so sure about this one.
Winter? What winter? You folks out west ought’a stop hoarding all the cold air. Here in Austin it’s freakin’ 75 degrees and we haven’t endured a hard freeze yet this season. At this rate, I won’t have any peaches to feed the stinkbugs in the spring. (The bluebonnets are confused and think it’s spring already)
I remember Austin. Spring lasts about two weeks, in mid-February, and then it’s summer again until November, when it turns to slightly cooler summer.
Well, it’s cold here. That’s all I can say. And no one can remember the like. We’re coming up on THREE MONTHS OF ICE outside the front door, and that’s heavy, thick, can’t-melt-or-chop-it-away stuff. The ground has been completely covered with snow all around the house since before Thanksgiving. With no breaks or thaws.
In a couple of days, we’re scheduled for another storm, too.