What does a ND Blizzard look like?

We haven't had a Blizzard like this since the blizzards (yes, multiple) of the 1996-1997 winter. The weather channel people drove up here Friday night to catch this nasty blizzard and said this was probably the coldest storm they had reported in. We also made the Today show this morning...

Supposedly we only got about 9 - 10 inches of snow, but with the additional wind and drifting, causing white out conditions, it was ugly. Many interstates were closed. However, the spring after those blizzards consisted of the nasty flood of '97. Hopefully this will be our only blizzard this year, as the water levels were already higher this fall before things froze over.

This is the picture I took of my front (side) door last night before heading to bed. Notice the snow drift in the window. I decided to sleep on the couch in the living room because I could already hear the loud tractors clearing out the parking lots across the street at the apartment complex.
Not too long after laying down on the couch I heard a big bang and scraping noises. Yes, someone was shoveling the sidewalk and steps along side my house. That someone being related to my wonderful neighbor.

When you buy a house, especially a twinhome, you never know who you are going to end up with on the other side and I must say I have been truly lucky, and grateful! He has not only plowed my driveway numerous times, but had his 20 year old son shovel my sidewalk and steps last night at 1030pm in the freezing temps.
Here's the view of my backyard from the patio door. It's hard to tell, but there are some pretty tall drifts in the back corners!
When my alarm went off at 6am this morning, I ran to my bedroom window to see what the streets looked like. They were plowed, but 4 foot snow piles were left in front of driveways. It wasn't too long after that that I heard the rumble of a snow plow and knew that my neighbor was plowing the pile of snow at the end of our driveways.


I bundled up and went out to take a couple photos of the aftermath of the Blizzard. Dang, it was so cold (14 degrees below zero - feels like 38 degrees below with wind chill) and I was only out there maybe 2 minutes. But, on the upside, the sun was shining!

Looking South, down my street this morning. Looking north, up my street.

Like I said, the wind was horrible, leaving little to no snow in some areas, and then drifts like this in a neighbors yard.

What does one do when stuck inside a house all by herself?

Besides going stir-crazy? I bake....and baked. First, my favorite (and very easy brown sugar cookies)...

My turtles... consisting of round pretzles, rolos, and pecans.

Homemade peanut butter cups...

And holiday pretzels covered in white almond bark and sprinkes.I still have one more thing to bake, but need to make a run to the grocery store to get chopped nuts. I will finish those later!

Since we do have a snow day (no work, but we will have to make it up in February), I will enjoy my extra day off. Supposedly the gym is going to open at noon, so I will probably head there for a nice run and maybe lift session since I have the extra time!

If anyone is looking for recipes of the above goodies, feel free to let me know and I will post them!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Blizzard Update

Last night the Blizzard was rolling into town when I was heading to our favorite bar to watch the Sioux hockey game. On the roads that were open, the wind was blowing the current snow around, causing nasty white out conditions and drifting in the roads. I questioned my reasoning for being out... but who would turn down a good hockey game with friends? The Sioux did beat SCSU last night and it was a pretty decent game. I think they have a pretty young team this year and are starting to click. They are coming back from too many losses this season thus far. This can be typical for the Sioux... they are on a roll now and hopefully things will pick up after the holidays.


How is the Blizzard Now?

In full force.

Most of the interstates in ND and parts of SD and MN are closed.

The temperature is 8 degrees below zero, with 39 degrees below zero wind chill. The winds are gusting from 37-44 mph and the snow is drifting like crazy. Fortunately, my mail box (that is tipped over from the moving truck episode wednesday) is still in my yard.

As I look out the window, some yards have 5 foot snow drifts while some have barely anything. I can't get out my front door due to a 3 foot snow drift; that is if I wanted to. Gotta love the wind.

Now they are saying 7-14 inches of snow, compared to the 6-8 inches predicted yesterday. I guess we will have to wait and see how this turns out!

Blizzard on the way

It's official, the BLIZZARD WATCH that we have been under for the past 48 hours has turned into a BLIZZARD WARNING, effective from 6pm this evening until 6am Monday morning. Here's a snipit of what we have to look forward to:

• the winds will be increasing to 25-40mph ...
• the wind chills will be getting down to 25-40 degrees below zero ...
• expecting 6-8 inches of snow ...

....add all of this together and it's going to be nasty!

Since I new about this yesterday, I hauled ass to the grocery store to grab a couple things that I was low in, including stuff to do some holiday baking. It was freakin' crazy there! An absolute zoo! You would have thought the end of the world was in sight.

If the world was coming to an end, I was going out and celebrating last night, and that is just what I did! LOL. I had way more fun than I planned to have and stayed up way too late. Supposedly I am not too shabby of a pool player.

Today I have a tight schedule.

• Watch the Kona Ironman on NBC at 1:30pm CT
• Watch the Tar Heels play at 5pm CT
• And then watch the Sioux at 7pm, since I won't be able to get up there for the game...due to weather. I don't know if I will be watching this at home or heading over to our local favorite to watch with some friends.
• I will also be baking goodies throughout the next 24 hours.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!