It's a Nor'Easter, Ayuh

It's been a wicked snowy winter up here in ole Orono, Maine so far this December. The storm from two weeks ago ended up leaving us with 18 inches of the fluffy white stuff on the ground after two days. A couple of days later another two inches fell overnight...considered a "dusting" in these parts. Then a couple of days after that we got another dusting. So in the last two weeks we've gotten about 24 inches of snow. Compared to last year this is about 20 more inches that have fallen so far in December at this point than they had at this point last year.

Not much of the snow has had a chance to melt because the temperature these last two weeks has not gotten above freezing. Snow on the rooftops and roads ends up melting from the sun beaming down on it all day, but for the most part we still have all of the snow on the ground.

And now today, Sunday December 16th, 2007 at 9am, we have another storm. And this one is a nor'easter, so we're expecting another 10-20 inches. More than likley my area of Maine, Eastern/Central, will get closer to the middle of that estimate, so probably in the area of 13-15 inches. The places in Maine that will get the most snow will be up in the County (Aroostook County, Maine's northern-most, and largest, county) and they can expect the 20 inch end of that prediction. The snowplows will be busy once again.

This morning's news showed that last year (2006) at this time the area had 4 inches of snow at this point in December. So far for December 2007 we've gotten about 24 inches, and that's not including what will be left behind from todays blast. My friends and family up here have told me it's been a dozen or so years since this much snow has fallen before the winter holiday. I sure picked the right time to move back, eh?

But with the snow there is a nice, natural beauty to the land. Though it's cold, what we here in Maine call "bahmy", it's very nice to look at. The snow on the trees. The snow on the houses. The snow on the ground. It's very peaceful.

And then you get this...dog pee.

Murphy's Law of Snowshoveling...

...says that no matter when you go outside to shovel snow from your sidewalks and driveways, as soon as you're done, the snowplow will come by. And that's exactly what happened today during my first snowstorm in Maine since 1983.

The snow started falling around 6am this morning (Monday), and is expected to continue falling through tomorrow afternoon. So far it looks like about 7 inches have fallen. I was able to measure this with my....ruler.

The temperature hasn't gone above 24 degrees Farenheit (that's -4.4 Celsius for my friends from the sensible countries on the planet who use metrics) so the snow is fluffy and lightweight (easier to shovel...YEAH!).

The only part of this winter-wonderland scene that I'm missing is a sled. I can't wait to go sledding again! Then coming in to have warm cup of hot chocolate (or mangooooo for some of you).

Looks like winter is here.

Oh look...the snowplow just went by. I have to get out and shovel!