Today and yesterday, I spent the best part of four hours clearing snow from our drive. The neighbours suggested that 2001/2 and 2005/6 were almost as bad; but I can't remember snow this heavy. Still, shifting snow is good physical exercise. As long as you have the right tools... When we came to Poland, the standard was still the wooden board on a long wooden handle. Today, supermarkets sell large heavy-grade plastic shovels which scoop up the snow much better. But the very best device is the double-width snow shovel on rollers, ideal for clearing large drives.
With more snow on the way before the weather gets colder towards the middle of the week, it makes sense to remove as much snow as possible while there's time to do it. Interesting to see whether there's traffic chaos in the morning...A propos of conditions in the morning. There are two online weather forecasts I follow for Warsaw; both are found here. Generally, the UM 48 hr forecast is more accurate, but not always. I've been caught out by the COAMPS 84 hr forecast... Let's see who'll be accurate forecasting the temperature tomorrow morning at 07:00. As of now (23:40 on Sunday), UM forecasts -1.5C, while COAMPS forecasts -6C. Results in the morning.
As for current conditions, the Physics Institute at Warsaw Polytechnic keeps good records (but somehow its precipitation readings are nearly always zero). A more accurate thermometer than the one outside my bedroom window (right)!UPDATE: Monday morning, 07:00. It's -3.1C outside, so neither forecaster was right. More snow expected this afternoon.
UPDATE: Monday evening, 21:00. No snow this afternoon. Again, neither forecaster was right.
I gave up this morning... I have 200 meters of a private road to clear after snowfall, and just called in Mr. Plow...
ReplyDelete"neither forecast was right" - Why am I not surprised? Both quotes forecast systems rely on complicated mathematical models and are very vulnerable to changes (hard to predicts in the Earth atmosphere), it's a bit like on financial markets - you can use mathematical tools to predict market trends but in the long run you're as successful as an investor who uses only his intuition :)
ReplyDeleteI don't remember 2001/2, but in 2005/6 there was more snow, but there no two consecutive days, when acumulative snowfall of 30 centimetres was recorded, like it happened this weekend.
You're very lucky cause you have plenty of room to store snow. Just toss it onto your lawn or push towards the end of the drive!