On Monday 31 Jan 2011, we saw the first signs of blizzard preparations, such as people in the grocery store buying 4 gallons of milk. People were coining nicknames for the impending storm, such as snowmageddon.
On Tuesday 1 Feb 2011, as of Noon, downtown Chicago, everything was windy but ok, no snow. By 2 pm, the blizzard started. By 3 pm, my university declared a snow day (first time that I can recall in 25 years) and cancelled classes for Tuesday night and Wednesday. By 3:05 pm, public transit was overwhelmed. Waited 45 minutes in the subway before I could finally squeeze onto a train to get home. As the night progressed, we had 70 mph winds (we are near Lake Michigan), along with lightning and thunder!
Wednesday 2 Feb 2011, blizzard continued throughout the morning. Side streets were impassable, with deep snow and cars abandoned in the middle of the street. Our street looking west:
On the cross street at the end of our block, those mounds of snow behind the tree are buried cars:
Only 4x4 trucks were able to drive through the snow to get to the semi-cleared arterial street, Lawrence Avenue, behind our apartment:
While the blizzard ended midday for most parts of the city, we are close enough to Lake Michigan to enjoy "lake effect" snow. Our snowfall ended later in the afternoon. A neighbor digging out:
Leaving our front door (that's John in the street with a shovel):
All in all, snow was about 2 or 3 feet deep, depending on how the snow had drifted. For example, the snow around our subaru had drifted to about 3 feet deep. This shows what remained after we had shoveled it all away:
snow piles after shoveling:
despite all the shoveling, you can still get a sense of how deep the snow is in the street:
An email from our alderman promises that the snow plows will start to dig out side streets tomorrow. After 90 minutes of shoveling, we are done for now:
Stay warm and dry everyone!
