Friday, April 17, 2009

Too-late Snow Day

You've heard (or read) me whine about the fact that the Denver area has had very little snow this winter. We've had too much wind, some good golfing days, and some sit-on-the-deck-in-the-sun days, but very little snow. Two weeks ago, we were supposed to get a giant snowstorm. The forecast even provoked a couple of high schools to postpone proms that were supposed to take place the next day (imagine the limo deposit losses, prepaid flowers and tuxes). Well, the weather was cold and a tiny bit snowy, but the big snow missed us by 25 miles.

Yesterday and today, the weather forecasters were at it again. Big snow ... 10 to 20 inches in the Denver area. So we woke up this morning to not much of anything. It rained all night. It snowed a little throughtout the day, but most of it melted or was washed away by rain. None of it stuck to the roads and sidewalks. At 2:10 this afternoon (about an hour before school lets out), it started snowing. Really snowing. Giant flakes fell, making an extra-fluffy layer of very wet snow on the sidewalks and streets. I think it's snowing at a rate of about two inches an hour (no, I'm not exaggerating).

This was my view (the cell phone camera version) on the drive home, once I was off of the busy street that had bumper-to-bumper traffic and cars trying to get going again after stopping on a hill.



This is what it was like by the grocery store and Blockbuster (a girl has to have movies and tonic water for the weekend, after all).


It took me three tries to get out of my afternoon school's neighborhood. It's in a lower area, so all roads out are uphill. Two roads were completely blocked by school buses and cars that couldn't quite negotiate the stop-and-go traffic along with the hills. I cut over to a smaller neighborhood street and could get a run at an uphill street (a Camry requires a little run-up room). Thank goodness I used to live in that area, so I know the streets and shortcuts.

I'm not whining. Really. I'm thrilled to see much-needed moisture soak the dusty eastern part of our state. This snow is the perfect snowball and snowman snow. It'll be several inches of snowball fight waiting to happen. (All I need is a victim. The man I hang around with would kick my ass in a snowball fight.) I just have a couple of questions. Did so many inches have to arrive quite this rapidly? Couldn't it have arrived on Thursday instead of Friday? Do you have any idea how great it is to have a Friday snow day?

So there you have my Friday spring snow adventure. The number is 5. If you've been reading and paying attention, you know what I'm talking about. The last day of school draws near. Happy weekend ... make some fun.

11 comments:

Pam said...

I had heard on CNN this afternoon that Denver was supposed to get hit with alot of snow today. Glad that you made it home. Stay safe and warm.

Barb said...

Wow, is it really April 17? My son is (was?) supposed to go to Colorado Springs this weekend for a college bike race. Looks like they may be staying in Durango unless Sunday is OK. This is the 2nd race that has been called off because of snow.

Only 5 more days of school? CO sure has a different school calendar!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

How can it be 5 weeks to summer vacation with that much snow falling?! Yuck! PLEASE keep it there - the Detroit area has had enough!!!!

Brigitte said...

Oh my, just the weekend when my daughter is flying to Denver.
A snow day at school would have been much better than a normal snowed in weekend. Good that you don't live here, lol. We never have snow days no matter how much snow we have and how many students and teachers make it to school. But wen it stays like that you still have the chance of a snow day onMonday, lol.

Katrina said...

Don't you love Spring in Colorado. I am looking forward to being in the 70's next week. I already got my pedicure so I can wear sandals ;-).

Sharon said...

Glad you made it home safe, enjoy your weekend. Get lots of stitching done.

Deb said...

I saw that it was still snowing this morning, but it's suppose to change to rain and go up to 60. What fickle weather! But not very nice that it had to be that way on a Friday instead of another day during the week. And don't remind me about the number 5 - I know you're looking very forward to that, but I'm gearing up for a summer of chauffeur driving! UGH! Anyway, snow or not, hope you get a lot of stitching done!

Siobhán said...

I'm glad you got back home safely--hopefully at least you got to spend some of the day tucked inside when it was snowing. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, funny spring there.
No more temperatures below 0°C here pleeeeeease...
Have a great Sunday -

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

It's 73 and sunny here in North Georgia!

Annemarie said...

Wow, that is some serious snow. We've had some snow today too, but it came in the shape of the blossoms blowing in the wind, right through the French windows into the living room. Sorry, didn't mean to rub it in...
Only five more weeks? I can't bellieve it!