Valentine’s Day Snowstorm

– Posted in: Weather
11 comments

Justin and Owen shoveling snow on February 14, 2007 - Photo by Cadence Purdy
By 9 a.m. this morning about 8 inches of snow had fallen, and the weather service predicts

Snow will continue right into this evening… heavy at times. It appears the heaviest snow will fall this afternoon. Bands of intense snowfall could produce accumulation rates of as much as 2 to 3 inches per hour… between about 12 noon and 6 PM. By the time the steadier snow tapers off later this evening… after about 10 PM… storm totals of 15 to 25 inches are expected. Localized amounts near 30 inches are possible. In addition… gusty northwest winds will increase to 15 to 25 mph Wednesday afternoon… causing areas of blowing and drifting snow and near blizzard conditions at times.

Our driveway is over 100 feet long. It’s currently 15 degrees F out there. How’s by you?

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

In its own way, frost may be one of the most beautiful things to happen in your garden all year . . . Don’t miss it. Like all true beauty, it is fleeting. It will grace your garden for but a short while this morning. . . . For this moment, embrace frost as the beautiful gift that it is.

~Philip Harnden in A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons

Comments on this entry are closed.

MylesG February 28, 2007, 6:06 am

Holly Molly Kathy,
We here in U.K have just had 3 inches of snow and the whole country grinds to a halt!. Average temps for the country have been about 6.5C, dont now what that is in F but its alot warmer than you guys. And the daffs, snowdrops & crocus’s are flowering, unusually early.
Good luck
M

kerri February 25, 2007, 7:33 am

I’m glad to hear you survived the storm. We ended up with about 2.5ft, but with the blowing there was much more in some spots. We’re lucky to have a tractor to plow with because we have approx. a thousand feet of driveway all told.
We did some shoveling too. Great exercise! After the mild beginning, we’ve really had our severe winter weather packed into a short space of time this year, haven’t we?

Kathy Purdy February 16, 2007, 1:28 pm

Mel, you have no idea. I live in USDA Hardiness Zone 4. That means the average of the minimum temperature recorded for every year is in the -20F to -30F range. That would be between -28C to -34C. Of course, as almost any U.S. gardener will tell you, the low temps for this winter haven’t been average or typical, whether (believe it or not) warmer than usual here, or colder than usual for Texas (and elsewhere). Thus far, the lowest it’s gotten at night this winter has been -4F, which is -20C. That puts me two zones warmer, except for one thing: our last frost (that is, the last time it drops to 0C) will still be late May or even early June.

You can see why British gardening books aren’t always helpful to us.

Mel Rimmer February 16, 2007, 12:16 pm

14F? That’s minus ten celcius! You’re not kidding when you call it “cold climate gardening”.

Kathy Purdy February 15, 2007, 2:35 pm

How you Texans suffer! Sorry, Carol, no tractor and no plow, because no garage or barn to shelter it. Wound up with 17 to 20 inches, and of course at least 6 of those inches fell after the driveway was shoveled the first time. We fortified all the snow removal crew with brownies and extra rations, and no one’s the worse for the wear.

Cynthia February 15, 2007, 8:46 am

I just got back from my morning walk. It was a brrrrrrrr – 25 degrees. This is central TEXAS! I must admit that I have turned wimpy about the cold since moving here from upstate NY. I normally enjoy the mild winters here and then hibernate in the HOT summer months while in NY it was just the opposite! So it is not fun to have to endure these cold temps. and then realize that summer is coming too! Glad to see that we will be back in the 50’s to 60’s this weekend. That I can enjoy!

M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) February 14, 2007, 8:04 pm

In Austin it didn’t get out of the 30s today. I was sitting inside without the heater on working at the computer and noticed my fingers were icy. I checked the thermostat and it was 54 inside! Tonight it will dip into the 20s. Yesterday was the first sunny day we’d had in awhile and I took all the old sheets and blankets that I’d been using as plant covers (and which were lying next to the plants make my yard look very white trash) and washed them.

Today, I had to take back out and wrap everything up again and bring all the potted plants back in. I also picked a handful of cherry tomatoes that had ripened under cover. I’m surprised that plant survived the last freeze. I’ve been bag ripening all the green I’d taken off before then and we’re still those. I had a nice salad for dinner with fresh lettuce, the tomatoes, and a black Spanish radish.

Kim February 14, 2007, 6:50 pm

We got at least a foot overnight… maybe more? All told the snow depth ranges from 1ft in the “flats” up to 5ft in the drifts–I have about 1ft. showing yet of my stockade fence in the back. It took an hour and some for my boyfriend and I to clean the driveway enough to get to work. We switched off between the snowblower and the shovel. Now it will be cold for a few days (16 right now) so who knows when the snow will finally go away…

Oldroses February 14, 2007, 6:36 pm

We had a couple of inches of messy slush. Very annoying. My last house had a driveway that was 100′ long. I got tired of shovelling it all winter so I parked my car at the end closest to the street and just shovelled a few feet each storm!

Zoey February 14, 2007, 5:22 pm

Wow, Kathy, that’s a lot of snow to get all at once! I hope you have a plow for that long driveway.

Luckily we’ve only received about 4 inches yesterday and today is bright and sunny, though cold in the single digits.

Stay warm!

Carol February 14, 2007, 5:12 pm

We had a bright sunny day. My drive is only 25′ or so, but it had 8 inches of new snow on it this morning, on top of whatever we got the day before. I’m glad the storm is in my past, now to deal with what it has left behind. Best wishes, and you need a tractor with a plow on it for that driveway!