Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Snow Woes


It is STILL snowing here!

The kids are STILL home from school.

The last day that our county had school was on February 4th.

All together (including weekends) they have been home for 13 days straight and they are loving every minute of it.

Now, it's not like we aren't used to winter weather. We have snow every winter but this year has been different. We usually have snowfall followed by a brief warm-up that melts all the snow away. This year we have had snow, snow and more snow and I couldn't tell you when the last day was that we had temperatures above freezing. Not to mention the fact that I am beginning to forget what sunshine even looks like.

On the ground, the snowpiles are mounding up and everyone is starting to wonder where we are going to put the next round of snowfall.
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This is just our little snow pile in front of our house from where we have been shoveling the sidewalks. It's miniature compared to some of the snowpiles on the city streets and parking lots.
If you look up all you will see are icicles dangling from the gutters.
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All the gutters and downspouts are full to the brim and frozen so any melting snow from the rooftops just spill over the gutter edges and down the sides of the houses.
Or in our case, that water finds any ol' open crack or crevice to enter through and then leaks down our wall. :(
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We have lived here for nine years and have never had a problem with the roof.
I don't really think we would have this problem now if it wasn't for all the ice build-up.
Till it all thaws out though, there isn't really much that we can do other than to try to keep the snow shoveled off of that part of the roof.
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I'm just glad it's not in one of the rooms that we have already remodeled. This room (our laundry) is still on our to-do list so we'll fix it up down the road.
The next weather woe will be when all this melts. If we get a fast warm-up and/or rain then all of the local creeks as well as the Ohio River will surely rise. The best we can hope for would be a gradual warm-up and a slow snow melt. I guess we will just have to wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.

10 comments:

Carmen S. said...

UGH! We had a roof leak last winter from all the ice build up and it came in the hallway wall, I'm sure we might have it again as we have about 6 inches of ice and snow on the roof and about 1 1/2 ft. still on the ground:( I WANT SPRING!!!!

Unknown said...

We had a ice dam 2 years ago..leaked down to the basement by the furnace..not fun..We bought a roof rake and it is the best thing we ever bought..it has an extension on it that I don't have to climb on a ladder...we also bought roof salt...just made for the roof..We have icicles this year but not as bad because I have been dilegent in clearing the roof in front of the house..I nelgected the back part and we had two small wet marks..So I have been doing front and back...this week we haven't had snow thank goodness because we have piles 4 feet high..I think we are all in shock with this winter.. I want spring so bad and I hope we have a nice one..in 2008 cedar rapids had horrible floods and they are saying we may have it again because of the melting up north and I hope we don't rain that will make it worse...We weren't affected by the floods as we are not near the river..They still haven't recovered... Think spring thoughts everyone..Lisa

Deb said...

Jessica,
The weather is so weird this winter - we have not had snow for 30 days here in Maine- we got about 5 inches last night but our lawns are practically bare.
I really hope you get a slow warm up and don't have to deal with tons of water with no place to go. You folks have sure had it rough, no doubt about that.
Keep your chin up - spring really will come!
Take care -
Deb

Leah said...

Wow - that is a lot of snow days! Do the kids have to make them up? Our schools only build in one or two snow days a year and after that we have to go longer in the summer....

Farmchick said...

You have got to be kidding??? That is alot of snow days....will you have to make them up? We only have several snow days a year. We only stay home if it is an full-blown blizzard with high winds and blowing snow....with zero visibility. Hope you see some sun soon. Come say hi.

Country Whispers said...

We're not sure yet what they will do to make up the days. They have several options like taking away Spring Break as well as a few other days off but I'm not even sure if those would all add up to the amount that they have missed so far. It's crazy! Most schools in our surrounding area of WV & Ohio have missed many days. As I said this is not a typical winter for us. I guess we will just wait and see. Schools are cancelled again for tomorrow!
I'm wondering why roads have not been kept up on enough to allow school buses to run. Is it a lack of state funding, manpower or what????

The Wife said...

UGH, I can only imagine. So much for global warming, huh!

Sandra said...

Well, we have NO snow and NEVER get any. We are going to be 70 on Saturday and Sunday. Our highs are usually in the mid 70's to the low 80's this time of year and this is our first 70 since Dec. 15th. I know I'll get NO compassion from any of you getting snow, but we are really whimps down here and are not even used to the cold temps we're getting.

Lona said...

Ugh! That old ice from the icicles can really make a mess. They start damming back under your sofit and cause leaks under the roof. I have been going out every other day here to knock them down before we have leaks or the gutters start coming down from the weight. Scares me silly to see him on the roof in the slippery snow. I could not have watched ;-)

Nancy M. said...

Wow! I have never thought about having to shovel a roof! That's crazy! Sorry it's been so cold and snowy for so long. Hopefully, that will change soon! We are supposed to be up to 60 this weekend and dry. I am so excited!