Significant snowstorm hits region

Strong winds packed snow
against just one side of the house.

Those who calculate snowfall totals following windy storms, like the one the region experienced on Wednesday and Thursday, either have a great deal more patience or a better system than I do.

I can say with a certainty that after the storm was done there was about 30 inches of snow pressed up against the south side of our house and right about 0 inches of snow near the north side of the house (clean grass). There was about half a foot of the white stuff accumulated inside the far reaches of our barn (the winds apparently having no trouble moving flakes horizontally over great distances and forcing them through the horse's open doorway into every corner of the structure). I'm merely going to average the extremes and state that we had a 15-inch snowfall. I realize that's a bit lower than other reported totals from the area, but until I can figure out a better method, I'm going with 15.

Though the snow in this area stopped falling Thursday morning, roads remained treacherous through the afternoon. During a drive through Middlebury in mid-afternoon, it appeared that there remained at least an inch of packed snow on stretches of Route 30 and Route 7.

Schoolkids in the area got two "snow days" off. With an Otter Valley teacher in-service day scheduled for today, that gives our high-schoolers a five-day weekend.