I’m in the Midwest. We have been getting snow daily for a long time. Schools were closed Friday due to the roads, and they’re closed again today for the same reason … we went to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, and the roads are icy in random spots. Tomorrow, windchills are supposed to be -20, so they’ll probably close schools again. I’d hate to be a working parent.
1 Like
The crisis is over here. Temps are rising 10 degrees per hour, so should be close to 40 by noon. Very sunny, which helps.
1 Like
D1 lives in the Triangle. She at first was worried last night that they were getting freezing rain, but upon further examination, she realized she was looking at sleet. They did okay too, thank goodness.
2 Likes
Have you seen all the people getting creative to maintain some “grass” for their pups???
A few I’ve seen:
- lay down a tarp and lift when the pup needs to go (obviously doesn’t work with inches of snow)
- lay down a piece of plywood to lift when pup needs to go
- A thick plastic “pup poop/pee tent”. Sort of like those inexpensive greenhouses you see. Set it up in your yard or outside your door, lift the plastic “door” and pup can go inside and have at it.
2 Likes
H put this on our family chat this morning while SIL was out shoveling snow😂 It’s supposed to be 76 degrees at the coast here on Friday.
8 Likes
We had quite a bit of sleet yesterday but thankfully no power outages. The big issue for us the rest of the week will be the cold - high temps below freezing the rest of the week, lows on several days in the negative numbers. H was outside yesterday with the snow blower before the sleet came down on top of the snow, so today we are just dealing with very slick pavement. We broke snow out front so the pups have a spot - Elder Sabadog is over 12 and has a weak hindquarter but she is managing. She loves the snow. The younger Sabapup is very excited by the snow but the snow gets in between her pawpads - I don’t think she particularly enjoys that. Schools are already closed tomorrow. At our old house we only had a heat pump - here we have a heat pump and a gas furnace and the house is much more comfortable. Kids are across the street sledding. H has gone to help the neighbor who didn’t do any snow clearing yesterday. 
2 Likes
In my neighborhood, people snowblow paths through their yards for their dogs to run a bit & do their business. Unfortunately, the snow has been relentless for days, so I can’t help but wonder if they are blowing stuff besides snow when re-blowing the paths!
2 Likes
18 inches of snow in CT, but fortunately it is light and powdery and shoveling has not been too bad.
We put a card table near the house and have shoveled out the snow from under it to give the dogs a place to do their business. Our pups are not really outside girls, so they go out and come back in ASAP when it is cold, but add a foot and a half of snow and they sprint out and back in ensuring as little tome as possible outside.
1 Like
Here is a picture from the driveway. The hoop structure on the right holds a car (car not in picture – I put it in the garage just in case the hoop collapsed).
I would much rather have this than half an inch of ice.
8 Likes
A tragedy that didn’t need to happen:
One 16 year old girl has died and another is in critical condition.
“Preliminary investigations into the accident indicate that the two girls were on a sled being pulled by a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 16-year-old boy. Witnesses at the scene said the sled struck a curb and collided with a tree, according to police.”
How devastating.
10 Likes
We have at least 20 inches of snow. I had to shovel out a place off the driveway for the dogs to go out and do their thing. The snow is taller than they are. This is my deck early this morning and it’s still snowing a bit.
10 Likes
Another big snow storm coming our way next weekend 
3 Likes
A neighbor did this in my current neighborhood when my son was in elementary school and he was visiting their daughter. I saw him come down our street with him on an innertube tied behind his jeep and it sliding all over the place on the ice. I made him stop and my son get off and I laid into him for #1 doing this at all, but #2 not talking to the parent and asking permission first. Boy did I get it back in spades on what a whimp and pathetic parent I was not letting my boy be a boy (this was a dad of 3 girls, no sons). His daughter turned out not to be a nice person by high school and so glad they didn’t continue to hang around each other.
9 Likes
We do that. The leaf blower is a fine tool for light snows!
I have shoveled a whole fitness course ( 
) for our dog in our backyard. Hand shoveled.
The snow blob on the left side of the photo is actually our pool - there is a narrow path around it should he go that way. I also have shoveled a straight path with a couple cut in’s along the fence line in the right of the photo as that is his fav place to pee.
Yes this is probably overboard and as much for him as it is for ME who doesn’t like snow to still see grass and pavement!
6 Likes
Like @WayOutWestMom I’m in VA in the close in DC burbs. (And I’m guessing we may be in the same or adjacent smaller counties, because I’m betting the larger county a little more west will be out an additional day or two, just to deal with their more remote students.)
We also got maybe 4 inches snow, 3-4 inches sleet on top. My husband waited until it was all over to shovel. Which I really thought was going to be a mistake, but worked well. He lifted the top layer of ice off, then it was easy powdery snow underneath that he literally swept away with a broom.
Meanwhile, S25 at Clemson in Upstate SC was out walking about on the all - ice - all - the time grounds. At least he had his construction boots with him, which have nice treads and some good heft to them. I had to laugh at the kids sledding. Some were your traditional actual sleds, cafeteria trays, flattened boxes. But i also saw kayaks (successful) and mattresses (not successful). And then I saw boys, who I will hope are normally smarter than this, playing football - shirts v skins in the ice. S22 reported that he knew the storm was bad since the Waffle House was closed.
Then S22, in Worcester MA, I was worried not so much for him, but for all the potential bad choices that could happen. Lots of snow in MA, lots of college boys across the state watching and celebrating the Patriots win with beer, then walking home in deep snow after drinking all that beer. Fortunately, seems like all is well, although S22 did report that last night when he walked home the snow was “between knee and mid-thigh” height. He’s 5’11", so that’s a good amount of snow.
1 Like
Is THAT how they won? Hope the beer works again on the 8th. 
6 Likes
And with that…
A reminder to tell your kids (college or otherwise) to not walk alone in the cold especially when drinking….there was a sad story out of Univ of Michigan the last few days of a young man who left a frat party (?) heading for home alone in the cold, no coat and was found frozen to death about a block from his home. 
11 Likes
Yep, I had seen the article. Which is why my S22 got more texts than normal to “not be stupid” yesterday. With the temps what they are, and knowing how college kids tend to celebrate, I was really really worried.
2 Likes
Laughing at all the suggestions for making bathroom accommodations for your pup. My dog was nope nope nope to our Southern freezing rain Sunday. When I finally put a leash on him and dragged him outside he decided he was out there to sniff everywhere searching for critters. Three dragged walks fully around the yard to all his usual favorite places, as I got soaked, and finally somewhere suited his majesty’s fancy.
4 Likes
Just checked school closures for tomorrow, all 3 adjacent counties will be closed tomorrow due to cold weather. No announcement yet from grandkids’ private school but I assume since all the publics are closed, they will be also.
And I just had to order a new snow shovel. SIL cracked the blade of the one he bought for last winter’s storms. It’s supposed to arrive before the weekend and the next predicted winter storm. I got a metal blade this time, even though it’s heavier. Hopefully it’ll last longer.
1 Like