April 2018 Snowstorm

It all started on Friday the 13th (April 13, 2018).  We had heard the weather people talking all week of a possible chance of snow but didn't take it too seriously.  It is the middle of April and by this time of year snow is limited to a dusting at the most.  We went about our business on Friday until later in the day when it started to rain.  I thought rain is good.  You don't have to shovel it, and it helps the spring plants leave their dormant state and start growing.  As it got dark, the rain hitting the window started to sound like ice pellets.  Then the wind started blowing really hard, forcing the ice to hit the window even harder.  All night long I could hear the tap, tap, tap of ice on the window and roof.  In the morning the ground was covered with white.  It wasn't really snow, it was more like little styrofoam balls stuck together.

On Saturday morning our grandson invited his friends to his 8th birthday party at the bowling alley. The bowling alley is about a half hour away.  The roads seemed fine, so we decided to go.  On the way, the roads were wet but not slippery.  The trees however were covered with heavy ice.  Some branches had become so heavy the entire branch broke off.

We stayed about 2 1/2 hours.  The party was so cute.  Second graders sure can have a lot of fun.

We were inside, and we didn't know what was going on outside.  When we came outside the weather had taken a definite turn for the worse.  It was raining harder with ice pellets mixed with the rain and the winds were howling.  We went straight home.   Gradually the ice began turning to snow.  We were lucky through the entire weekend because we did not lose power.  My daughter and her in-laws both lost power.  I can't imagine how miserable the workers must have been working all day and night in those cold and icy conditions.

Again we heard the wind all night long and woke up to snow.  It snowed most of the day on Sunday.  We ended up with about 8 inches of snow on top of a layer of ice.  That is a lot for the middle of April in our part of Wisconsin, but north of us got much more.  A town less than twenty miles from us got twenty inches.  Other cities further north got even more.   Blowing and drifting made for a very miserable weekend over much of the state.

The bright side for us (not the birds) was that the birds were on a feeding frenzy.  They entertained us all day Sunday.

The three days of bad weather are behind us now, although this poor little sandhill crane could argue with that.  Monday, April 16 was a day to plow out and begin the melting process.  The good thing about spring snowstorms is that they disappear quickly.  The April sun is high in the sky and packs a lot of heat.  I imagine most of our snow will be gone by the weekend.  Oops, correction, we are getting another two or three inches of snow on Wednesday.  We will have temperatures in the 50's by the weekend, but it won't be enough to melt everything.  As far as the areas with three times the snow we got, it may take a while longer.  They may want it to melt a little slower or the next  problem could be flooding.  One thing is for sure, we will not forget this April snowstorm.

This snow doesn't look too deep, but there is 3 inches of ice underneath.

Update:  On April 18, 2018 we had another snow event.  This time it was only 3 inches of fluffy snow, but enough is enough.  It is pretty though.