The Great Snowfall of 2017
Well I must say I am very lucky to be alive.
I survived the Great Blizzard of 2017! What a story to tell the Great Grandkids.
The first sign of the impending disaster happened just over a week ago when the weather forecasters put on very serious faces and warned us that blizzards would sweep the country on Thursday. Warnings went out that schools would probably have to close, and we were reassured that snowploughs were on standby and that gigantic stocks of sand and salt were ready to spread on the mayhem that our road system was to become. The gubmint’s National Disaster Committee were manning the phones and we were reassured that there was a good chance we would survive.
As the days passed the warnings got even more dire. The wind was going to switch to the North and they produced all sorts of fancy maps showing the Snow Line and how it was to cross the country on Thursday afternoon. Snow was going to be heavy and was to fall on lowlands as well as on those of us at altitude.
People made preparations. Food was stocked up. Meetings were cancelled. The country was already at a virtual standstill despite the mild weather – the forecasters had predicted Armageddon and we knew they had to be right because of the alerts and warnings that were by than a constant stream. Thursday was definitely D-Day. Or maybe S-Day.
The entire country held its breath.
Well, the forecasters were right! Thursday evening, well after dark I put the dog out for her piss. She came back in, and I swear that was a snowflake or two on her back. Things weren’t looking good.
Friday morning I woke up and opened the blinds.
My God but the snow had fallen all right! It was an impressive sight. There must have been at the very least half a millimetre of the stuff at the northern corner of the lawn. Just to be sure, I put on my clothes and boots and for safety;’s sake clipped a pair of those springy non-slip things on my boots. I strode across the green lawn to the patch of white in the corner. Yes – sure enough, it was snow.
On Thursday evening I checked the patch of snow on the grass and it had frozen. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t have to drive on that patch as it would have been treacherous.
By Friday afternoon it had all gone. I had made it through!
In years to come they will talk about the Great Snow of 2017. I can hold my head up with pride and say I was there.
And I survived.
I too braced myself for a snowbound freeze-up siege, with sliced bread, a bottle of Powers and sparkling water in good supply. And we had one snowy night with temperatures dropping. There was snow on my garden footpath; my garden birds continued to peck from the hanging birdseed feeder I placed near the kitchen window. Then the yellow warning was withdrawn by the meteo people, and a thaw happened within 24 hours. I guess the meteo boffins didn’t anticipate a radical change in wind direction. Warm wind from the south-west obviously pushed up temperatures.
I have a good mind to bring a case for compensation against them. Purely on their say so I stocked up with a dozen bottles [can’t be too careful] of Jameson’s finest.
You think it was bad up your way, it was pure cranage in Cork. On Thursday afternoon we saw eighteen non-stop minutes of sleet with visability down to a mile or so, the white-out was that intense. Worried looking brass monkeys scurried hither and yon as the panic-buying continued uninterrupted in the supermarkets. Up in the “Cotton Ball,” the publican had all three fires lighting in the front bar, such was the concern.
Well, it finally passed off on Friday though the aftermath is still being felt. Word has it that the waiting lists for counselling are making the A&E’s look good.
Oh thank God! I was worried and am glad to hear you made it through. I hope all my other reader survived.
It got above freezing here … for a day.
Did you enjoy your summer?
We had bright sunshine and 8-10 degrees. Two minutes of very light rain during the night. What’s snow?
The white stuff.
An amazing tale of stoicism in extremely difficult conditions, GD. But then, the Irish were always a brave and hardy race. I’m glad you survived such adversity. Many wouldn’t.
I suppose it’s as a result of a troubled history – The Famine, rule by foreigners, Bono and U2 – we have to be tough.
Dear Grandad
The EU are history? Good on the Irish.
I think we’ve suffered from Bono and U2 as well, though I can’t be certain since I haven’t watched TV or read the papers for decades. I do recall the Russians shot one down (a U2, not a Bono) before I stopped taking notice of news.
DP
I didn’t know you Irish were so hardy you could survive a snowfall like that one. Perhaps you should consider making up some “I survived the blizzard of 2017” T-shirts?
Hah! You think you had it bad? Here in North Derbyshire I could hardly make out the tarmac on the drive, and the drifts lingered all day.