~ Valentine's Weather Update ~

Does anyone want to see what 78.9 mm of rain immediately after 10-15 cm snow looks like? (That is 3.2" rain and approx 5"snow for non-metric folk)...

Here is a before shot, taken last weekend. Those little specks in the sea of white is hubby walking our dogs across the frozen lake. Note the little bare tree sticking up from our barbecue; use it as a landmark for the second photo below.

This is what the lake looked like yesterday. The raft is exposed again and you can also see our dock, partially submerged in the murky water. That discolouration comes from the road and ground sediment washing down with the rain into the lake.

Remember the stick from the barbecue in the before picture? That's the lonely little tree on our yard, to the right of the beached raft. Beyond it is where a creek runs into the lake ~ the same area that hubby fell through the ice 2 weeks ago. The creek becomes quite the raging little river during storms hence the bigger discolouration area that is visible.


The following two photos show the area adjoining the neighbour's property to ours. Normally any runoff travels through a pipe under the ground and empties into two manmade channel near the bottom of both of our properties. Our channel is visible immediately below the clump of trees in this next photo. The area above the trees holds the underground pipe. As you can see, it couldn't handle the volume of water and a "ravine" was made by the water rushing down.

There was a lot of snow here; you can see my footsteps from last weekend, where I tried to walk up the side of the house to the front. The snow got so deep I had to turn around and go back the long way around the house to get up to the street. This extra channel was created in the space of a few hours when the heaviest of rain fell and had to go somewhere. The force of the water was terrific to open that much area from our road down to the lake.


We were extremely fortunate that the water that entered our basement was NOT sewage backup. That means it isn't covered by insurance though...luckily, the damage appears to be minimal. Daughter and I vacuumed up the wet carpet as much as possible and mopped up the water in the bathroom and unfinished room. We rolled the carpet back to ensure it dries properly and will replace the thin foam backing. It was a small area that requires attention and is being dried out as we speak. The insurance company told me there are 55 claims in our area and one other home on our street has major damage. In another home their wood laminate flooring has already warped and buckled. Our industrial carpetting can take a beating and bounce back. I think...

Of course the fact that it is snowing AGAIN and is supposed to turn to rain AGAIN stinks!!

A special thank-you and blessing to my in-laws. Yesterday I'd planned on cooking them a nice meal but after discovering the mess downstairs, I called to cancel/postpone our evening. My mother-in-law brought US a home-cooked meal with dessert!!! Considering it was shopping day (ie, no food left in the house) and I hadn't been able to get to the store, that meal was just the nicest thing anyone could have done for us. Nanna, you're the best!!

Back to whining ~ the kids' school "celebrated" the dubious honour of its' 6-1/2 day of snowdays so far this year, with yesterday's closure. That is over a week of school closed due to weather this year and WINTER ISN'T EVEN OVER!! The road conditions are so slippery and icy that there is great concern the kids will be injured - or worse - getting to and from the buses and homes. Believe me, my kids sincerely thank the school district for their concern and planning...!