On Saturday February 7, 2010, Reading PA was hit with a snow storm. In all I believe there was an accumulation of about a foot of snow. Just a mere four days later, the Reading area saw a second snow storm. This one dumping more than a foot and a half in some areas.

The first storm to hit the area wasn’t terrible and I was able to to clear my sidewalks in short order. The snow was light and fluffy which made shoveling a breeze. To make things easier on myself, I shoveled in two shifts, clearing roughly six-inches each time. After the second shift was completed, I moved to dig out our two family vehicles.

With the township plowed, shoveling out the cars wasn’t so bad. The difficult part was finding a good place to put the snow so that it didn’t get piled up in an poor location. I wound up walking with each shovel full of snow so that I could pile it up out of the way and simply add to the mountain that the plows had already helped create.

When the second storm came to pass, I found myself doing much more walking and a lot more throwing to move the snow into a position which was not in the way. I spent about an hour out in the snow on three different occasions clearing my sidewalks during the storm. The first two times I moved between six and eight inches of snow while the third time was a mere three inches.

Once the sidewalks were clear, it was time to tackle the two family vehicles once again. Between the snow piled up beside the cars and the drifts created by the wind, both cars were completely covered. It took me nearly four-hours to dig out those two vehicles. Each and every shovel load of snow had to be carried to my growing mountain of snow.

By the time I was finished, my snow was piled over six-feet tall, five feet wide, and more than ten feet long. Granted, the snow plow helped me build such a monster pile of snow, but I added an incredible amount to it as I dug out those vehicles.

As I write this article, Reading is expecting yet another snow storm to come through the area in a matter of a few hours. We are expecting a mere six inches this time around but I am quickly running out of places to pile the snow.

Post from: Walt in PA

Berks County Snow Storms

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On Sunday afternoon I was checking the weather when I saw that the Reading area of PA was forecast to receive between four and six inches of snow. I was looking forward to the snow because it was going to mean that I’d be working from home, which entails a bath robe, coffee, and a cigar.

Later that evening I checked once again and saw that the forecast was downgraded to two to four inches of snow. With this level of snow I expected to have to head into the work the following morning. I set my alarm for 4:30 AM and went to sleep a little earlier than usual.

The plan was to get up a little earlier than usual to give me time to shovel my steps, walkway, and clear off the two family vehicles before driving off to work.

Monday morning came far too early and I dragged myself out of bed. Taking a peak out the window, I was surprised to see no snow at all. I got ready for work and later made my way out my front door. As soon as I stepped onto the porch I could hear the sleet bouncing off of the ground.

With the sleet coming down lightly, I didn’t give it much thought and made my way to work. After an uneventful first couple of hours, I walked out into the showroom to get some information from one of our salesman. The showroom area was a ghost town. There were two office employees in, one of which was me.

At that moment I got the feeling that I missed something along the way. The salesmen don’t have the option to work from home, as a result they are typically in the office regardless of bad weather. A few hours later the snow began to fall.

After about an hour of steady snowfall, the salt treated streets began to see some accumulation. It was at this time I realized the error in my ways. The next time I see a forecast calling for six inches of snow, I’m calling the voice mail system at work, the night before, to inform them I plan to work from home the following day.

Did you get a snow day on Monday
or did you make the commute to work?

Post from: Walt in PA

Snow Day

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Skipping the normal snow routine, I made my way to work. After completing my normal routine of posting a daily discussion topic on Stogie Review, checking my email, and breezing through the previous nights tweets, I checked the weather forecast.

An hour and a half after arriving at work, the sun begins to light up the sky and I draw open my office curtains. To my surprise, it was still snowing. Nothing was accumulating at this point but it was coming down pretty good. When I glanced out the window a few hours later, it was still coming down at a decent rate.

Nine hours after arriving at the office, it was finally time to head home. Just like before, the snow was still coming down. At this point it was beginning to accumulate on the roads, which were not prepped for this unexpected accumulation.

Snow is not all that uncommon for Pennsylvania, but you would have thought that it was the first time anyone on the road had seen it. People were crawling down otherwise busy streets doing less than 5mph. After an agonizing forty-minute drive (roughly five miles), I was finally home. Shortly after bringing in the mail and getting myself something to drink, the snow stopped falling and the sky cleared up.

I took this opportunity to take my new Nikon D40 out for a test drive. I snapped a few pictures from my porch and a few more from behind my house. After about a dozen photos, I climbed the almost vertical hill in my backyard and took a few more. After slipping on the snow twice while on the hill, I called it quits and headed back inside.

This was the first time I had been outside with an SLR in some time. It felt a little awkward at first, but that feeling quickly went away and I was enjoying myself. I’m looking forward to the snow melting and me being able to spend more time in the sunlight to take photos.

Post from: Walt in PA

A Berks County Snow Fall

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