MARCH STORM

       The March storm or storms is quite well known here. Today we had a March storm but it wasn't too severe. By this time of year the air has warmed up and holds more moisture. When a cold system comes in ,we can get lots of precipitation...SNOW. We usually get most of our snow fall in March. 

       Today we had a spring storm. It probably started just before 6:00 AM. At 7:00 AM there wasn't very much snow on the ground but it was snowing heavily and very windy. By noon it had stopped snowing and by 5:00 PM the sun was shining. 

     So I hope my series of photos gives you a bit of an idea what a spring storm is like here. 

     The first four photos were taken shortly after 7:00 AM

      The driveway photo was taken about 5:00 PM

   

   This photo was taken about 7:00 PM

The sun sets today at 7:48 PM

Spring? Hold on a Minute

     On my last post we were  having such a nice  spring day that I got my bike out for a ride.

     However , things change and change very quickly. It is March, and weather can be variable. We get most of our snow in March.

    So we were surprised by a good dump of snow in the last two days. To make it more interesting the snow  wasn't forecast. So our natural adaptations kicked in and we dealt with snow and treacherous road conditions.

     Friday evening we received a small amount of drizzle and snow. At 2:30 AM when I left the casino there was a hard crust of snow to scrape off the car. 
  

     Saturday evening it started snowing about 5:00 PM. The snow became heavy and road conditions quickly became dangerous. When I left the casino at 2:30 AM there was six inches of snow. So much more cleaning off the car!

    Sunday morning showed us a pleasant view of a white covered landscape.

   

Energetic Spring Storm

        We had a very energetic spring storm here this morning. It was a typical March blizzard.

        At 7 AM we had 3 or 4 cm of snow. When I looked out at 8:30 I said, "Ooh, We've had a lot of snow!" It was snowing heavily and the visibility was down to 1 Km.

        We had an appointment at 10:00 AM. The road was still good...not slippery. By the time we left the appointment at 10:45 much more snow had fallen, the temperature had risen to close to zero and the visibility had dropped some more. Needless to say, the road conditions had deteriorated greatly. The highway between Edmonton and Calgary was treacherous and not recommended for travel. Many people had hit the ditch.

      The snow slacked off just before noon and stopped during the noon hour.

      I had shovelled snow before leaving for the appointment and shovelled after returning from the appointment. I went out after lunch and shovelled again. We had about 15 cm of snow altogether.

     So this is a typical spring storm here. Short of duration and heavy snowfall. It was not forecast to any extent. We were told we would get 2-4 cm. So I got my exercise today!