We have had well above normal snowfall to date – which will bode well for the spring if we get a slow melt and the water can infiltrate into the soil. The last few snowfalls have come with strong winds, which have blown and drifted the snow – anywhere the snow catches, it has piled up a lot! Yards have significant snow, as do treelines and grid roads. The road ditches are all full, which means any additional wind and snow – the roads get blown shut. We are to the point now where any amount of snow along with wind, there will be 3′ drifts across grid roads, and some highways also get blown shut!
This time last year, almost all the snow was gone, and it was above normal temperatures. This year we have had very little melting, and the long-range forecast is still showing below normal temperatures. Hopefully, we will see a gradual rise in temperatures to allow for a slower melt – if the cool weather continues, once it does warm up we could be in for significant water run.
We have been keeping busy with other projects around the office and shop – reorganizing and getting parts inventory in place for spring. The shortages of parts and equipment that we saw last year have gotten worse – so we are making sure we have a good supply of most of the common parts we have gone through in the past. Prices for parts have also been going up – some prices are up significantly year over year.
Below are some photos of the snow – hard to get a perspective of how deep the snowbanks are from the photos. One of the photos shows the railway line that gets blown shut every couple of days!
