Ice and snow

It’s been a fun week here in the Bogs. Fun, that is, if you like flooding, ice storms, and cold weather.

We had more flooding in the basement on Tuesday due to warm temperatures, a lot of snow melt, and some more heavy rains. It looks like the water is coming up through the floor rather than pouring in from somewhere. With all the snow, rain, and ice we’ve had this winter, perhaps the basement has become part of the water table.

Tuesday evening the temperature plummeted and the ice storm arrived. By 12:30am the power had gone out. We woke up to an icy winter wonderland. It really was quite beautiful.

The power stayed off until around 5:00pm on Wednesday. That was much sooner than Ohio Edison (our power company) had predicted on their recorded message. They were saying late Thursday night. M booked us a hotel room just in case. Thankfully we didn’t need it, and the power came back on in time for him to cancel the room without paying a cancellation fee.

I’m convinced the power company purposely overshoots their estimates of when the power will be restored just to make us grateful when it comes on a day or two earlier than expected.

As I’ve mentioned here before, no electricity not only means no heat, it also means no water. I think I could manage ok for a while without the heat (we have two fireplaces) or the electricity, but I don’t like going without water (or a shower!). Flushing the toilets under those circumstances generally means hauling up buckets of water from the pond (which M was kind enough to do before he went to work Wednesday morning).

The kitties and I spent most of the day sitting by the fireplace. I read a book while they stayed warm curling up next to or on me. Cats make wonderful lap warmers.

I also went out for a few walks, to admire the beauty of what Mother Nature had done. There were a few downed tree branches, but nothing major. Every now and then the sun would peek out and make everything glisten.

Last evening M and I went to Kent Stage for a concert, to listen to the Boys of the Lough. They are a truly talented bunch of guys, and I really enjoyed their music. Some of their jokes weren’t bad, either.

This weekend we plan to, well, hunker in, I suppose. The latest weather predictions have us getting hit with a foot of snow, beginning tonight. I’m hoping that might lead to some cross-country skiing on Sunday.

For the record:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON EST TODAY TO 4 AM EDT SUNDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

SNOW WILL DEVELOP THIS MORNING AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. ACCUMULATIONS DURING THE DAY TODAY WILL RANGE FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES… BUT ADDITIONAL SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT AND PERSIST THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY ON SATURDAY. BY THE TIME THE SNOW TAPERS OFF SATURDAY NIGHT…TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF A FOOT WILL BE POSSIBLE.

GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM. THIS WILL LEAD TO BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW AS WELL AS PERIODS OF REDUCED VISIBILITIES ON AREA ROADWAYS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SEVERE WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED. HEAVY SNOW AND/OR ICE WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. IF YOU WILL BE TRAVELING IN THE WARNING AREA YOU SHOULD CHOOSE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE IF POSSIBLE, OR YOU SHOULD USE EXTREME CAUTION IF TRAVEL IS UNAVOIDABLE.