Things have changed a lot in the sixty plus years I have been on this earth as far as technology goes. I used to have a rotary push mower to cut the grass when I was in my 20s. I still have a four foot buck saw used to cut down trees. I shoveled my driveway by hand up until a few years ago. I did wood carvings with chisels and wood mallets, the mallets I made myself. Most of my chisels, saws and carving tools are Swiss, English or German made which will last many generations. As my grandfather did I take pride in building things by hand, most of the stuff I made my great grand children will be able to pass on. On the technology side I have build computers, solar lighting systems and stereo amps. Sadly there isn’t much interest in working with wood or the knowledge of fixing or creating things yourself these days. We live in a throw away society, if something breaks you go out and buy a new one – that is the way things are built today.
In my grandfathers day he kept the snow shovel inside by the door. After a snow storm the first task would be to shovel a path to the outhouse. Secondly would be to shovel out to the barn to milk the cows. This was a lot of work at five o’clock in the morning. He didn’t own a tractor until the late 1950s and used work horses to plow and plant 80 acres just west of Allegan. In New England most of the farmers have their barns attached to the houses because of the harsh winters.
Before snow plows were invented teams of men would have to get together to remove the snow with shovels, loading and unloading horse drawn carriages of the white stuff clogging the streets of the cities. The rural farmers were better adapted to being snowed in because they had their food supply in place which was harvested and canned the previous fall. City dwellers had to keep the roads open to move supplies from town to town. Life wouldn’t be pleasant after a blizzard to say the least. Wood and coal would often have to be moved in by teams of horses, if they couldn’t get through people would freeze. Of course the country folk would already have their wood piles cut and stacked to last the whole winter. As we have moved from agrarian to suburbia the old ways of self sufficiency have been lost to most.
As did my grandfather I learned to become self sufficient – we both had two wood stoves to keep stoked all winter and always kept 10 to 12 cords of wood on hand. I use natural gas now as I don’t have the gumption to cut and split that amount of wood anymore.
I guess my point is it has become a scary situation that the old ways have been lost and survival has become dependent on the health of a large system of distribution rather than self sufficiency. Just some things to think about – I would like to hear your thoughts or reminisces on this….
Weather History
February 10
1899: Grand Rapids has its coldest day on record with a high of 6 below zero and a low of 21 below. Muskegon had set their record for all-time coldest high temperature on the 9th with a high of 5 below zero.
February 11
1899: Muskegon records their all-time record low of 30 below zero. Grand Rapids falls to 21 below and Lansing 22 below.
1999: A surge of warm air ahead of a cold front brings all-time record high February temperatures to much of Lower Michigan. February records include 67 degrees at Muskegon and 69 degrees at both Grand Rapids and Lansing. Battle Creek hits 72 degrees.
February 12
1967: Temperatures plummet to 24 below zero at Lansing and 16 below at Grand Rapids as arctic high pressure moves across Lower Michigan.
February 13
1938: Heavy rain and warm temperatures prevail for the second day. Lansing records over three inches of rain from the storm and Grand Rapids over two inches and some minor flooding is noted across Lower Michigan.
February 14
1899: The record arctic cold wave begins to abate but not before Grand Rapids sets their all-time record low of 24 below zero.
February 15
1954: A two-day surge of warm air into Lower Michigan peaks with record highs of 61 degrees at Grand Rapids and 60 at Lansing.
1899: The record arctic cold wave begins to abate but not before Grand Rapids sets their all-time record low of 24 below zero.
February 16
1981: Lower Michigan is in the midst of a long period of thawing weather with lows above freezing and highs mostly in the 50s from the 16th to the 20th.
Our advisory is set to expire at 1pm – we have picked up around four inches of snow mainly from snow squalls overnight. Yesterday we had a little over .10 of an inch of freezing rain. As the storm system moves out we may see a few peeks of the sun before the clouds increase once again as the next system makes its presence known. With temps near 40° tomorrow our precipitation will be rain…
Many of the warm weather fanatics have a hard time facing reality! It is winter and we are above average for snowfall and after today we will be transitioning right back to below normal temps for weeks on end!
GR seasonal snowfall total is up to 60.4 inches! Just think a month ago we had people on here saying GR may only see 40 inches this season! How crazy is that?
10 inches of fresh powder and temps in the low to mid 20’s! Nothing better!
The snow just keep coming! After a brief lull we will be getting hammered later this month! Rock n roll will never die!
I love it!
Looks like a lot of rain to me, just like tomorrow!
No snowstorms the next 8 days.. Looks like were in for another dry period.. Bring it on !!!!! Also, we change time and spring forward in under a month.. Ahhh yes, spring just around the corner …..
Can’t wait!! Spring and Fall, the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR!!! Only about 1 month away!
https://days.to/until/spring
These snow storms are nothing the last couple weeks it’s the day or two after of lingering lake effect that gets us snow plow drivers.. Got in my truck yesterday morning at 5 am and got out this morning at 530 am, got back in it at 7 am this morning and now just got home for dinner and to say hi to my wife and kids and get a couple hour nap. Heading back out at 10 for hopefully our final cleanup up this storm… I know cool story right, lol, I just thought it was a good post… Read more »
Would you look at this a MASSIVE 2 inches of snow over the next 10 days!!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzS2BBIXQAExP6S?format=png&name=medium
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzS2CDtWwAETcoN?format=png&name=medium
Looks like another November & February winter, with the rest being snowless and above average temps! I’ll take that every year! By the looks of things, the CPC is reflecting what Slim was posting earlier and the trough is going to set up out west with milder temperatures starting to move into the east! BRING IT!!
Ya right!
That map is almost a week old, and the other extremes map is saying we only have a 20% chance of hazardous minimum temperatures! Enjoy the melting tomorrow! Rocky is heading into his sad end of winter denial phase!
In looking at the snowfall reports, it appears KZoo county got the most. We have about 5″ on the ground now.
11 inches of snow on the ground out at thee YARDofBRICKS GR NE with 6 or 7 feet of piles great winter week indeed from out in a snow bank INDY….
The snow plow went by so did the end of driveway thing and took some snow measurements. At this time I have 9.8” (average) of snow on the ground ranging from 8” up to 11.5” At GRR for February the official snow fall so far is 9.7” and since December 1st the official snow fall at Grand Rapids is now at 43.4” and for the season Grand Rapids is now at 57.8” since January 20th Grand Rapids has seen a lot of snow. At this time we look to be at or maybe above average at the end of the… Read more »
Sure are a lot of posts from the two who seem to be so ape over some snow. You’d think they would be out thrashing around in it instead of posting the entire day.
With today’s technology it’s easy you can post from outside in the snow lol…INDY..
But you still can’t post pictures or links.
When you start using proper names ..lol. INDY..
Good read Michael. I’ve always insisted that we are one Carrington event away from the complete collapse of today’s society. Most people don’t know or care what that is, but if something similar happens, only the prepared and self sustaining will survive. I’ve hunted, grown food, and split wood since about the time I could walk. Still cut and split wood today, but food mostly comes from the stores. I still retain the know how to revert to “living off the land” if needed, but I don’t know to many people who would be able to make it. Sure, everyone… Read more »
Amazing stat GR is at almost 20 inches above normal snowfall for the month of February and its only the middle part ..let it snow let it snow .. INDY..
Look at Slims stats above. 9 inches, not 20.
Off to the slopes I go! Later people! Enjoy winter!
The snow just keeps coming!
http://wxcaster.com/gis-gfs-snow-overlays.php?STATIONID=GRR
While I am sure it has happened before this winter but for the fist time I have seen it today (in fact within the last hour) there have been 3 cars/trucks stuck on my road! At least one of them was an all-wheel drive. I have 4″ of new snow here an now have just under 9″ on the ground. At this time getting light snow falling with some wind the current temperature is 23.4°
Slim
Only 4 inches? Sounds too low. GR picked up .72inches of precip!
That was overnight and there is a lot of blowing snow that is why the road has so much snow on it. The road has now been plowed so will have to do the end of driveway thing now. Still getting snow and blowing snow here at this time. Also just down the street there must still be some power issues as consumers is down there.
Slim
I see so about 3 or 4 yesterday and the another 4 last night! What a storm!
The current radar shows Kent county getting hammered with snow! How is that possible?
Give me automation and snowblowers over the good old days! I have no problem being self sufficient however give me convenience any day!
I declare this snow talking day on MV’S blog lol..Let it snow let it snow love it…INDY!
I like it. I will be out playing in the snow later today. TC picked up around 10 inches of fresh snow!
Currently very heavy snow falling out at thee YARDofBRICKS NE GR wind is Gusty blowing the snow around town I’m curious about this coming Saturday with two possible low pressures emerging together over the Great lakes could give us a major amount of snow it is early in the ball game and the key word is possible we have to use words like that now it covers a lot of economics on this blog lol…Have a hot cup of Joe today and safe travels…
INDY..
We can only hope those two storms merge and hammer us, however the current models only show light snow for us this weekend! I will take anything we can get!
I used a rotary mower at my dads. I begged him to buy a gas powered mower, but no dice.
Only 4 districts open today, and we’re one of them. I lost track of the number of snow days we’ve had. Some rural districts around here have had more than dozen.
Yes and there will be more closing in future weeks! Get ready!
If you don’t keep your sidewalk shoveld off in the city of GR you can be fined..Snow removal has come a long way over the years but piles are becoming high around town I’m with slim probably snow piles to May in some areas ..We are running out of space .. INDY..
Some interesting school closing decisions today? Rockford closed yet, Nothview is open. Comstock Park is closed yet Kenowa Hills is open? Currently some decent lake effect, slippery roads and low visibilities! I agree with the closings!
NORTHVIEW currently has student count day that’s more important then anything these days. I love it nother quiet day coming up out at thee YARDofBRICKS.. INDY..
I am sure some parents are keeping their kids home today, that will not help, their count day!
I know they are not as many drop off this morning it was kinda nice for a change.. INDY..
Let’s review the facts:
1. Yesterday’s snowfall was a daily record for GR!
2. The RDB model was spot on!
3. Currently GR is above normal for seasonal snowfall even though all experts predicted otherwise!
4. The current cpc shows below normal temps at least through the first week of March!
5. This winter is one for the record books!
6. Skiing has been awesome this season including cross country skiing!
7. Winter is the best season!
8. Cold and snow rocks!
9. Rock n roll will never die!
10. MV and Slim rock the Michigan Weather Center!
11. Friday will make it a month straight with accumulating snow covered on the ground in NE GR…. INDY..
Nice!