The Blizzard of 2013

Within a few months, I got to experience two storms that were very new to me. First, Hurricane Sandy, and two weeks ago, a blizzard.
Now, for all I knew, a blizzard just involved a lot of snow. However, there are some very specific qualifications to make a winter storm a "blizzard." Watching the news for hours and hours during the storm made me very aware of this fact. And, for those of you who don't know, I will share them with you!

A blizzard is a snow storm that contains both:

1. sustained winds of at least 35 mph

AND

2. visibility of 1/4 of a mile or less

FOR at least 3 straight hours.

Needless to say, we got hit with both, for quite a long time, which meant we were in a blizzard. It's kind of weird waiting for a storm like that to hit, knowing that you will be stuck where you are, unable to leave. We had plenty of food, and never lost power, which was such a huge blessing. We did have lots of friends who lost power, but National Grid and others did an awesome job working to restore power within a couple of days.

((The beginning of the storm on Friday night))

During the storm on Friday, Nick and I watched the news, cooked, read, and Skyped with friends and family. Nick actually went out and played Ultimate with some Brown students before it got really bad, which was quite brave of him. I had no desire to leave our cozy little home.  After a couple of hours of snow, it started lightening and thundering, which was just weird! You're used to snowfall being very peaceful and calming, but this was not the case for this storm.

We woke up on Saturday to two feet of snow, and it was still snowing! Every surface, horizontal and vertical, was covered with snow. The trees were just incredible looking. Nick helped our landlord/neighbor shovel and snow blow the driveway and sidewalk, and then he grabbed his snowboard and I grabbed the sled and we headed for the park next to our house for some fun in the snow! We were some of the first people over there so we got to play in fresh powder that went up past our knees. Nick enjoyed snowboarding down some stairs and off a ramp over a fence, which was rather terrifying but he enjoyed it. No injuries to report!

((The snow from our drive, in piles taller than us))

((Nick enjoying the snow with his snowboard))

 ((Nope, not kneeling...)

There was a driving ban in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for close to 24 hours, but there were plenty of people near our house whipping out their cross country skis and snow shoes. We were very blessed to have plowed roads in our neighborhoods, however there were a lot of streets that didn't get plowed for days. I saw that some people were having to work together to shovel their streets, while others pitched in to pay for a plowing service just so they would be able to leave their house when the ban was lifted.

((Our COVERED porch))

((Our cars are in there somewhere))

((Our street))

((Driving bans make busy streets look eery))

((Our driveway partly shoveled))

((Abandoned Wickenden Street))

((Saturday night sunset, SOOC))

((Looks photoshopped, but SOOC))

Needless to say, we enjoyed our blizzard weekend of 2013. It was a little scary but mostly a lot of fun. We had a snowstorm the next weekend, and even more snow this weekend, so... I'm done with snow for this year and am ready for spring/SUMMER! Can't wait to open those windows and enjoy the beach.