The blizzard that never ends
... and the sleep that never comes....
It seems like every day I look at the detailed weather forecast on cbc.ca, the blizzard is predicted to go on. I remember when it was originally "scheduled" to be over by Friday morning.
And to be fair, it did die down Thursday night. Only to wind itself back up in a frenzy early Friday morning.
And I also remember when the forecast said the blizzard would be winding down Saturday night... with clear skies on Sunday...
And the forecast now reads:
Monday..Blizzard ending in the evening then a few clouds. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60. Temperature steady near minus 33. Wind chill minus 54.
It is almost surreal. It's like someone on the weather desk has forgotten to change the symbols on the map.
"Today: blowing snow, Tomorrow: blizzard"
I actually went out today. I threatened to go out on Friday, but my mom flipped out (via e-mail haha) saying it wasn't smart. So I listened to mother. And stayed indoors.
Today, I went to the Northern. I had no food. It was getting desperate. I hadn't left the house in 7 days, didn't do any REAL grocery shopping since I got back from vacation... and had made a food order. Yah. It was bad.
I dressed up in my finest:
- two pair of socks
- two pair of thermal pants
- a fleece sweater
- a thermal turtleneck with the neck pulled up over my mouth
- a thin scarf covering my nose and mouth
- neoprene face mask/balaclava
- wind-proof pants
- moon boots
- canada goose jacket
- knit scarf over TOP of the jacket, to secure the hood up over my ears
- lubsta claws (as they are affectionately known... they are mitts that happen to be cooked-lobster orange)
The walk back, now that was a different story. I actually felt like I was making one step forward, and half a step back every time I moved. Guess that walking with/against the wind really makes a difference eh?
I'm sure I'll look back on this week as the longest blizzard of all time... and smile ... but for now I will sit... and wait... and hope to eventually be able to look out my window and see a bit beyond the nearest lamp-post.
6 comments:
Those Canada goose jackets rock for going out when it's windy. I just find your visibility declines when the hood is up, like a horse with blinders on.
Your a tough woman for going out! You can take on anything now.
You're getting all the blizzard that we're not! We buckled down for a storm last night that never quite came. The wind picked up, knocking out power for a bit, but that's it. I might regret saying this, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit of weather here too...
:)
The weather forecaster always makes the end of the week look better than the short range forecasts. I used to think they were altruistically giving us northerners hope. After the first couple of years, I thought maybe they were playing a cruel joke by teasing us with the possibility of better days ahead (and this feeling grows worse as January turns to February). Then, after a couple more years, I decided to only tune in to that damned forecaster to validate what I already know. For example, today it was damn cold; so damned cold the floors never seemed to get warm. I checked the weather forecast and guess what? I was correct. It was damned cold. Geez. These days, that guy or gal has it all figured out!
Wow, we don't have that type of weather here at all. The most we had is 1 day where it was a bit windy. Damn cold, but not like that. And, one of the perks of Rob working at the Northern is that I can call him and say "can you bring home milk?" Hope what you bought was worth it! :)
I agree with Kate Nova; I was all set for a killer storm Sat. night that hopefully would blow through to Monday, but no, I am sitting in my office feeling slightly (alright- very) envious of you!
Those who have been up here longer than me tell me Environment Canada essentially makes up the forecast after 48 hours. The first two days they have poor accuracy rate. After that they're entering the realm of fantasy.
If you want to know the weather, just ask an elder. They have a better idea than people thousands of kilometres away in Edmonton.
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