Blizzard of 2013

The storm kicked off Friday morning.  By the time we woke up there was already a few inches of snow on the ground and work had been canceled for me!  Kevin decided to go into work an hour early since the blizzard warning was supposed to take effect at his usual start time.  The worst of the storm was supposed to hit overnight and the wind was really howling by the time I went to bed.  Since I was a little concerned about falling trees, Kaitlyn and I had a camp out downstairs in the living room.  

In the early morning hours the city and state could no longer keep up with the snowfall and the blowing winds.  So, they stopped plowing the roads.  Instead, plows were sent to the fire stations they could reach and the plows would clear the road in front of the fire trucks and ambulances as they received calls. 

Since Kevin and I knew there was no way I was going to be getting out in the morning, we had planned on him walking from the PD to his mom’s about a mile down the street and waiting out the rest of the storm there.  As you can see, I wasn’t going anywhere!One of his co-workers who has a 4 wheel drive pickup truck graciously shuttled Kevin and a few others to their homes when they got off work.  She got Kevin to the end of our street  and then he had to hike in from there.  When he arrived we discovered there was no way he was getting in the front door.  I put all my weight into it and this was as far as I could get the door open!                                       

So he had to turn around and hike out back where we could slide the patio door open.  Here’s a view of our neighbors’ patios out back.  Needless to say they will not be barbecuing any time soon!

The view out the front.                         

Kaitlyn is ready to help dig out the car!

Actually we got really lucky.  The way the wind was blowing, it piled the snow around three sides of the car, but not the front since I had backed in.  I shoveled out the side so I could get in and pulled right out with no problems.  Then we got to spend more time watching Kaitlyn play.                                                                                                         

This shows how deep the snow is.  Kaitlyn is standing up here…                                                             

Playing around…                                                              

Her gloves were frozen solid when she got inside!

These pictures are from downtown Portland early Sunday morning.  These are the stairs at City Hall.  The news showed people skiing down them!

This one is in front of the PD.  Portland broke it’s single storm snowfall record…  31.9”. 

Maine is serious about snow cleanup!

Kaitlyn in front of the snow mountain created by the plow.  She’s looking forward to playing in it again.

Tonight will be the third straight night of parking bans in the city of Portland as the city continues to try to remove the snow.  City officials are estimating three weeks before all of the snow is cleared from the city sidewalks.