Scenes From the Snowpocalypse

As forecast, the sleet and freezing rain turned to snow overnight, and Atlanta awoke this morning to a dusting of fine snow over everything.

The highways were still empty in the morning, the city apparently having made a collective decision to take a second (or in many cases, a third) snow day off. 

At least Waffle House was open for business (of course it was open, what else would you expect?).

A walk through the neighborhood:

Temperatures quickly rose above freezing as the day progressed, and house-weary residents braved the snow to finally get out and mingle. 

“This is a storm of historical proportions with potentially catastrophic … crippling impacts,” the National Weather Service’s Atlanta office had warned. “Catastrophic… crippling… paralyzing… choose your adjective.” They even grimly added that “If residents have not completed their preparations, it may be too late.”

In all, we got more than four inches of snow on top of one inch of ice,  The snow and ice accumulated on trees and power lines, adding weight and stressing the infrastructure.  “Add on gusty winds of 20-30 mph, as are also forecasted, and you have a recipe for disaster, with 100-year-old oaks and hickories snapping like matchsticks,” Meteorologist Eric Holthaus wrote. “As a result, Wednesday’s storm could have lingering impacts across the region for years, if not decades.”

But it wasn't the disaster predicted, at least not here in Atlanta.  I understand that eastern regions of Georgia got hit harder, and all the reports from the rural regions are not yet in.  But other than the freakishness of this storm following two weeks after an equally unusual snowfall here in Georgia, this wasn't a storm that will have impacts for years, much less decades.  Even my little tool shed held up to the storm.

Still, while in the grip of this cold snap, it's hard to remember that in Alaska, extremely unseasonable warm weather has destabilized the snowpack, causing a series of avalanches that have buried roads 40 feet deep and hundreds of feet long last month. Greenland has been about 5°C warmer than normal in January. The snow season has shrunk in the northern hemisphere by about three weeks, leaving the people who plan Winter Olympics grappling with how to adapt.  In the southern hemisphere, Sao Paolo, Brazil is running out of water as it suffered through its hottest month on record, and an extreme heat wave has not just caused the Australian Open to suspend outdoor play, but has also led to a spike in heat-related deaths in Victoria.

Back here in Atlanta, the roads were mostly clear by the afternoon and most of the snow had melted away, water dissolving water all over the city.  I managed to uncover my car from beneath a layer of snow and ice, and eventually even got it back up to the top of my driveway.  No excuses not to go back to work tomorrow.  It was fun while it lasted, and amazingly, no falling branches managed to cut off the power to my tree-shrouded house. 

It was fun, but I'm ready for winter to be over and spring to arrive.