My unofficial snow gauge — the height of the piled up snow on my garden bench — has been up and down in this dizzying week of Wisconsin winter weather. A warm spell almost cleared the driveway and the deck furniture of snow but it was a short lived respite.
Here's the view Sunday, Dec. 14:
Wednesday, Dec. 17 the gauge (below) was climbing again with the snow making long triangular prisms on the bench slats. The depressions in the table in front of it are deceptive since the table is made of two long boards with a narrow space between them. The pattern suggests there are two openings but it always looks slightly different depending on how fast the snow falls, how wet it is and if it is windy out.
The big storm that was forecast for Friday (Dec. 19) arrived right on schedule around midnight. By about 12:45 a.m., snow was coming down very quickly and there was a strong wind blowing. You can just make out the sharp edges of the deck and our little Buddha at the base of our big honey locust tree (below).
Here's Buddha (below) this afternoon about 1 p.m. after we came in from a good two hours of snow blowing and shoveling our driveway.
WINTER COUNT
If you live in Madison and are wondering how much snow we got and how we compare with last year at this time, here's the answers based on my notes in last year's garden journal.
By this date in December, 2007, we were at 20 inches of snow for the season. Yesterday morning we were at 20.7 inches. Overnight we received 10.3 inches in Madison according to the NWS at Truax Field. That puts us at 31 inches — well ahead of last year's total at this same time.
We received 30 inches of snow during the entire month of December in 2007. Since that was our snowiest December on record, it would seem we are well on our way to tying — if not breaking — that record. Especially as snow is forecast for both Saturday and Monday evening. I'll keep you posted.
Because of the wind, last night's snow isn't very deep on the bench (above) but piled up in dips and swoops instead.
