We got SNOW

Haytrader · December 08, 2002, 08:40:54 PM

Came back from Nam in Nov. of 1970 and was sent to Ft. Wainright, Alaska (Fairbanks) on New Years Eve where it was -45 degrees. Ended up with 187 inches of snow that winter. They had snow blowers the size of self propelled silage cutters we have here. Plugins in every parking lot.
Me and three others bought a 1962 Chevy Impala two door sight unseen. It was under all that snow but gauranteed to have had the water drained. It took us a couple of days to dig it out then we had wheels. 8)
NOW THAT IS A LOT OF SNOW

P. S. All is clear on the western front. ;)

johncinquo · December 09, 2002, 02:17:35 PM

Nothing for me but a few inches and that is evaporating off fast. I snowmobile and will be driving to Gaylord MI to get some time in next weekend. That is one of fthe highest elevations in MI and they get substantially more. I was stationed in Rapid City SD in the Air Force. They did not get a lot of snow as in inches like we do here, but the darn wind blew ALL the time and created drifts around any object. We had the B1 bombers stationed there so they had to keep the runway clear all the time. Those are some monster plows and blowers. I had to ride around a weapons storage area with a guy one time and he reminded me of the guy who's haulin "rocket fuel!" in the movie with John Candy. I swear he stepped out of the cab to clean the window while going 40 through 4ft of snow. I loved to watch when the sun came out and they used the blowers, those beasts sent a shower of snow 100 ft in the air and across the runway that looked amazing. There was more than 1 occassion we got called where a car had "accidently" been picked up and mangled and blown to pieces. They do not use salt out there on the roads but sand I think. I never had a rusty car until I moved to MI. Here we get Lake Effect, wet and deep. I can hardly wait! JB

Kevin_H. · December 09, 2002, 06:05:39 PM

Any one been to Pikes peak?
We went a couple of years ago and bought a video of the snow plows in action. These pics are off the web site, but that is one big snow blower. 500 horse-power, 12-cylinder Cummins diesel engine. The video shows them blasting away with TNT before the snow blowers came along.

Corley5 · December 09, 2002, 08:19:53 PM

Don't be too quick to come up snowmobiling. Gaylord has about the same amount of snow I do. I'm 16 miles north. The trails around here are chewed down to dirt. With the warm temps forecast for the middle of the week it'll be mud.
Dad has driven a county plow for many years. He could retire anytime with a 30 day notice but got promoted to Foreman a couple years ago and is having too much fun now. He says he's going a year from May. I've ridden with him in his plow. It was a IH Paystar 5000 with a 392 HP Detroit. It would throw snow. A lot of the time you can't see when you're driving one of these rigs. It's all done by feel. Different times after a good blow he'd have to stop on occasion and shovel the hood off. That's with a right handed plow. It's extra bad with the left handed plows that are used on the express way. Some of the big plows have trip springs on them but not all. It'll really throw you if you hit a soft spot and the plow digs in. Back in the late seventies one of the guys Dad worked with died as a result of injuries sustained when the plow dug in and the truck went over the top of it. The guy riding with him did recover but not with out permanent impairment. The truck was totalled and the plow looked like a culvert. It's especially dangerous in the spring after a thaw and then a big storm. Things are really soft under the snow even water puddles that aren't frozen only covered up can throw you when you hit them at 50 miles an hour. Dad really hated/hates messy driveway plowers. They plow snow across roads, leaves piles on the shoulder etc that freeze hard and really cause a jolt when you hit them. The last truck he had was a 1999 Paystar 5000. Really nice truck. 400hp Cummins and an auto tranny. Dad thought he was in heaven after driving the old one with the screaming Detroit and 13 speed tranny.

ADfields · December 09, 2002, 11:25:24 PM

Kevin_H.
Yes I have been to Pikes Peak. We have a steem powerd blower like that that still works the White Pass line to open it up every April. It has no way to move it's self it is pushed into the snowpack. Thay take a run at it and go till the blade stops and back up and get another run.

Hear is one neer Anchorage you can go in and check out as close as you want to. It's no longer used in this part of the state as thay now keep the lines open all year with plows.
Andy

ARKANSAWYER · December 15, 2002, 06:54:23 AM

We got snow Friday and it came down so hard you could not see 50 ft. It would have been a ft deep but it was 35 degrees and had been in the 40's all week. Now I just have a messy log yard. I love them kind of snows.
ARKANSAWYER

Kevin_H. · December 15, 2002, 04:46:21 PM

Hey Andy,
Thanks for the pic, man that thing is huge. I could not imagine getting that much snow.

Arky,
we got snow on friday too. big ol flakes with some sleet and freezing rain, but it was high 40's on sat. and almost 60 today.

Me thinks we will pay for this good weather later on.

ADfields · December 15, 2002, 08:56:12 PM

Well I got up saterday and looked out and there was white stuff all over about 2 inches deep. Took me a bit to rember what it was as it's been about 8 months back when I last looked at some, IT SNOWED! 8) Now if it will snow enouf for my sled life could be full of winter fun.

Temp is now 11 out and thats as cold as we have had so far. It's not so DanG dark with the long nights now and a lot less brown and depressing with even this little snow. You have not seen a DARK night till you see a Alaska 18 hour long night without a bit of snow on the ground!
Andy

Tom · December 16, 2002, 06:46:44 AM

Andy! Do parents take winter into consideration when they set curfew up there? Man, I'd have loved to have had a few 18 hour nights when I was in High School. By the time you ate a hamburger and saw a movie you had to rush to get home. :D

ADfields · December 16, 2002, 04:02:24 PM

Thats 18 hours of DARK night, Tom. :

It's not all that much fun when sunup is 9:30am and sundown is 3:30 and when it's up it's so low in the sky you wish it would go back down! :( Ever had rush hour in full dark with an inch of ice on all the roads?

It can get fun like that but the good part is in summer it's light all night long, never gets dark just dusk!

The kids hear just sit in the nice worm living room and play there X-box things, no need for no curfew when it's -10 outside. Just TRY and PUSH them youngons out the door without the car keys, thay get like a rabid dog!
Andy

ARKANSAWYER · December 23, 2002, 03:33:02 PM

HERE WE GO AGAIN. I got snow, 4 inches and counting. If it keeps this up I might as well move up north

Tornatos last week snow this week what is going on?
ARKANSAWYER

Haytrader · December 23, 2002, 06:04:15 PM

ARKANSAWYER,

We have about 6" so far and they think we will get another 2 to 4". :

It is still coming from New Mexico so we may get more. And guess what, from here it goes your direction. :D :D

Haytrader

ElectricAl · December 23, 2002, 07:38:03 PM

Arkansawyer,

We are brown and dry here. If fleried for about 5 minutes once.

Our weather guy on TV is so board with our weather, he is predicting 6" of snow for your area. That's on top of your 4" now.

ElectricAl

Jeff · December 23, 2002, 07:44:27 PM

here in Northern Michigan we have about an inch on the ground. Corley5 probably has more as would Ron Scott.

chet · December 23, 2002, 09:50:20 PM

Didn't you mean Northern Lower Jeff ;D ;D ;D

Jeff · December 24, 2002, 01:55:13 AM

yup Northern Lower. Not the Superior state. ;)

Corley5 · December 24, 2002, 06:09:25 AM

We've probably got 5 or 6" now. It's been blowing around so much the last few days it's hard to tell. Some areas are blown clean and in other spots its drifted a couple feet deep.

Noble_Ma · December 24, 2002, 04:35:46 PM

They're forcasting a Nor'Easter for us on Christmas day. That usually means at least 10+. However, the local weather guys haven't been right all year..

Tom · December 24, 2002, 05:01:52 PM

Ours went to that school too. :D :D

ARKANSAWYER · December 25, 2002, 08:19:34 AM

Well it ended up about 12 inches up here on the hill and 8 down in the valleys. North of us in MO. they got 12 to 16. Noble should have as much or more then me. I got to saw "snow boards" yesterday out of "snow white pine". We are having a White Christmas and I will put the bucket on the tractor and dig out today.
I will try to send this stuff up North were you like it as it just makes a mess here.
ARKANSAWYER

Bro. Noble · December 25, 2002, 09:42:05 AM

We are having to postpone Christmas till the roads are better. I bladed roads today and only went in the ditch twice. Michael was coming over to take Carrie to his family's Christmas dinner but turned around and went home because the roads weren't safe. Our son Dave is still in Columbia Mo. waiting for the roads to clear. My Brother is supposed to come from Nebraska today but havn't heard from him. Our oldest son Tom left this morning for Springfield. His mother-in-law is in the hospital there with serious health problems. Hopefully it will thaw out today (it's sunny and really beautiful with all the snow). We will be extra happy when everyone is home safe and sound.

Noble

Jeff · December 25, 2002, 02:11:49 PM

I can see the grass over my septic tank. ;D

Corley5 · December 25, 2002, 03:23:55 PM

I just love it when the rest of the country gets snow and we have VERY little!! I'm all for brown a Christmas ;D ;D Ours was just white this year.

chet · December 25, 2002, 07:47:43 PM

We have no more than 1/4" outside right now.

That is almost unheard of at this time of the year here in the UP of Michigan. ;D My youngest sons future father-in-law was here for Christmas dinner, he's a buyer for Bessemer Plywood. He said the wood yards are fillin' up real fast.

ARKANSAWYER · January 05, 2003, 04:45:37 PM

Late note but on the 2nd of Jan we got 1 1/2 inches more but when I left the mountian there was none in the valleys. I went to Gainsville MO. Friday and Noble had none. I am not sure if I need to pay the preacher more so it will stop or pay less?
ARKANSAWYER