It's Supposed to be April!

Today is April 5th and outside, it looks like the middle of winter. In fact, it's rather difficult to look outside my window because of the huge snow drift that covers the lower half. Our major blizzard started Tuesday night and hasn't let up since. It's starting to calm down now, but the winds are still quite brisk and the snow is still falling. We've picked up anywhere from 8 to 20 inches around the area - and it's so hard to measure because its been so windy. Remember that blog entry I wrote a month ago saying that we don't get the winter storms like we used to? Well, I'm biting my tongue today.

Yesterday was a nightmare driving to and from work. On the way in, U.S. 41; the major highway in our area, was not plowed all that well. It's normally a five-laned highway but was reduced to just two lanes in each direction. I was in with ten other cars heading west going 35 miles an hour. At least it was daylight which made it half-way decent to see, but when the wind was gusting, you really had to watch where you were going. Seeing how 41 was and knowing that the county road commission usually focuses their resources on keeping the U.P.'s busiest highway open, I considered turning around and staying home. But how could I? I was afraid of getting stuck. So I moved along and eventually turned off on M-35, a state highway. It seemed to be plowed better but underneath the snow was a sheet of ice. I think the fastest I drove was 40 miles an hour and even that was pushing it. I was actually surprised at how well this road was plowed over 41. Usually it's the opposite.

I would say getting home from work was even worse. This time, M-35 was the route that was in very poor shape. In fact, in a few spots, it was only open to one lane of traffic. I don't even think that road was plowed until before I made it into work! I was basically following the ruts from the previous vehicles that traversed the road. Again, I only went 35 to 40 MPH and since it was night time, the visibility was even worse. When the wind gusted, you REALLY couldn't see anything. But as soon as I made it onto 41, it was plowed better and I felt more comfortable. One of the biggest fears I have is sliding off the road and being stranded out in the middle of no where. There are many spots on the route to work that are forestland. No houses or businesses for many miles. I guess it would kind of help to have a cell phone for that reason alone.

So the blizzard of 2007 lives on to this day, with no apparent end in sight. It will remain cold (temperatures only in the 20's) until at least Sunday with snow showers predicted until then. Whatever happened to spring? The month of March was relatively beautiful (yes, we did have our fair share of cold days, but no snow - certainly nothing like the past few days). Up until this storm, we had no snow on the ground! Spring was in full mode, with birds singing and flowers starting to come up from the ground. Oh how quickly things change. Then again, this is the Upper Peninsula. The weather is always unpredictable.