January 31-February 2 snowstorm February 3, 2021

I said in the last winter storm post that “there will be storms this winter.” It took until the last hours of January for the next storm to come, lasting nearly two days and dropping 17 inches of snow.

The first snowflakes fell at around 8PM on Sunday, January 31. I took this photo at 8:05 before going to bed:

After a broken eight hours of sleep, I was up for the day, taking this photo at 6:28 AM on Monday, February 1:

8:25 AM:

Following my morning workout, and a botched attempt at treadmill running, I returned to my room, taking these photos at 9:13:

Snowflakes were thicker at 9:53:

In the next few hours, I began watching The Goonies on Blu-ray, along with special features, and worked on the March 10 Instrumental Invasion playlist. I took a break at 12:43 PM for the next photographic update:

Any photo of the backyard was risky, as the wind gusted out of the northeast (it was a nor’easter, after all):

The snow seemed to be tapering off by 1:53, so I attempted to shovel part of the driveway after taking another batch of photos:

Before photo:

I measured 15 inches of snow on the lawn with a wooden 18-inch ruler.

After photos, 58 minutes later (2:54 PM):

For the second storm in a row, I initially felt I had wasted my time shoveling. Snow re-intensified as I shoveled and it re-accumulated. My goal was to shovel a path from my dad Bill’s car on the side of the driveway to the front door. But when he came home around 4:00, he had to park in the road. The snow I had left for the snow blower to get was too high. I wasn’t sure if he’d use the blower right away, but work began at 4:25:

At one point, Dad let me try out the snow blower. I asked my mom Lisa to capture the moment:

Working around the visible license plate, here is my edit of Mom’s video:

Having gotten the hang of it, I let Dad finish up:

It took 30 minutes to clear all that snow. Now, Dad was able to move his car into the driveway:

I took photos these at 5:13, after ten minutes of touch-up shoveling:

Unfortunately, the snow was still not over. Another two inches would fall by the early morning hours of Tuesday, February 2. I took this last photo of the 1st at 6:46, shortly before an early bedtime:

I got a broken 8 1/2 hours of sleep this time and woke up at 4:59 AM. Two minutes later…:

After watching more of The Goonies, I decided it was time for one last touch-up at 6AM. I used a 12-inch ruler to measure the additional snowfall in the driveway: 2 inches, making for 17 in all. It must have taken half an hour to shovel the driveway and then another half-hour to shovel the sidewalk up to the property line.

Starting at 7:04, I captured the after photos:

Unfortunately, a plow came through within the hour, which undid my edge work.

I took indoor photos at 7:10:

My Tuesday proceeded from there. Wet snow showers came in the afternoon, but didn’t accumulate. I did a little more shoveling around 4:00, taking this indoor photo at 4:37:

Snow showers persisted after sunset when temperatures were back below freezing. That meant the snow stuck to the ground, as seen at 7:18:

I initially tried to shovel the new accumulation on the morning of Wednesday, February 3, but it was merely a coating, so I left it.

Tuesday was also Groundhog Day, and if you’re wondering, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. That means six more weeks of winter and more storms to photograph. The next one is expected on Super Bowl Sunday. Until then.