It was an eagle-weather kind of day today. Woke up this morning to find the rest of the snow we were promised from the last storm that went through. I drove about 40 miles south on roads that hadn't been plowed yet this morning. A drive that normally would barely take an hour fully consumed 2. In several places the snow scraped along the bottom of my vehicle's belly, impressive for a somewhat high off the ground SUV. While 3-8" of snow fell along the path I took this morning at 8am, by afternoon the above freezing temps helped clear the roads nicely. I'm not even worried about re-freezing since the roads I took were all dry. I took this Bald Eagle photo on my way home near Modoc Illinois, about 40 miles SE of St. Louis.

February 3rd 2011 - Brisk But Beautiful

It was +5F today when I woke up, which is better than the -6F they were forecasting just a few days ago. The sun is shining through the ice glazed trees making much of the area glisten like crystal. It's still in the single digits, but since the wind isn't blowing as long as you're bundled and not a wimp it's not bad to be out. Roads are patchy in places but the strong sun is making the ice on top of everything melt creating wicked icicles so I highly recommend getting out to see them (though standing under them is probably not a great idea :D )

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 2 5:45pm

The radar says we're finally into the snowy stuff... it's really fine so far, hard to believe we're going to get much accumulation on our side of STL Metro.

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 2 3:30pm

On the metro-east side of St. Louis, we've had about 2" of sleet, mixed with the occasional flake. That fat section of pink is all we've seen so far. The limbs on the trees have gotten really heavy with the ice and the wind is starting to get a little blustery, threatening us with damage if it picks up. That big blue section is supposed to get here before the night is over, leaving us with 4-6" or so, maybe up to 10" of snow on top the sleet we've had so far. We probably should have gone to work today, if for no other reason than get some extra work done with fewer interruptions. Honestly, what's worrying me most is the -6oF low temp tomorrow night. IF we lose power, that's going to make for a lot of problems.

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 2 1pm

It's sleeting like crazy outside, but I went for a walk down my street for some photos. Caught this robin behind my house and various other neat ice formations in the neighborhood, including an ice covered hornets nest.

The sleet has accumulated to about an inch so far making walking pretty easy. The bulk of the snow should miss a lot of the metro-east.

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 2 7am

There has never been a blizzard warning since I've lived in St Louis. I don't recall having one in my life. The most snow I've ever seen was 14" while we lived in Springfield IL in '98. We could see that and then some with this storm. Looks like the ice glaze from last night has gotten a little thicker, but we're just bordering the switch over from the ice to the snow.

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 1 9:15pm

The drive home (approx 7 miles) was pretty uneventful. My garbage bag window cover was successful, especially after seeing the 1/4" glaze on my neighboring cars. The roads were still warm enough that the only slick spot I came across was up a hill near my home. The Interstate had the fewest cars I've ever seen. I had an easy 1/4 mile view ahead and behind me, and not another car in sight.

The trees are starting to get a crystal glaze on them. Is it just me or does this bradford pear tree limb look like a reindeer ornament for a christmas tree?

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 1 5:20pm

Well, it's evening of Day 1 of the weather "event". The weather forecasting websites are talking less about tonight's ice accumulation, but still speculating up to an inch where I am through tomorrow. My husband is on his way back from Champaign and had a truck cross the median when it hit ice just north of Effingham. Google Maps traffic is pretty accurate too, as the traffic is slowing down on that same path, but still shows full speed for him all the way home. Let's hope!

Snowpacolypse 2011 - Day 1 1:00PM

To the right, you can see the icicles starting to form off the cars and light fixtures. Our parking lot is well salted, so nothing slick on the ground here, and traffic maps show all roads as green. My friend up the street already slipped on his driveway, but that's likely as much to do with his walking abilities as the slick conditions :D (sorry Rob)

We're in a little gap of weather right now. Would be a good time to run out for lunch for any of you locals. :)

Snowpacolypse 2011 - 12:00pm

Roads and parking lots are wet. Walks and vehicles aren't freezing yet, though there are icicles forming on light fixtures. Rain is light to medium right now, with bursts of heavy downpours.. There's a 4 semi accident on I-70 west of St. Louis that has the interstate closed. To the right, water is flowing freely from this drain pipe, but ice is beginning to form on the edges.

Snowpacolypse 2011 - 10:55am

The rain has started to fall, but it isn't immediately freezing on surfaces (yet).

Snowpacolypse 2011 - 10:30am

The radar hasn't changed significantly. No, that's not true, their servers are just so overloaded by all of us looking at it that it won't load for me. Nothing is falling from the sky yet, but you can see the change in the color of everything around us. Everything is taking on a gray-blue hue and you can see streaks of color in the sky. The most noticeable difference is the feel of the air. The wind is cold and dry and reminds me of our trip to Alaska.

It's the Snowpacolypse of 2011 - Hour Zero

Waking up this morning was pretty uneventful. We've been hearing about how terrible today was going to be for about a week from all the weather folks. The radar is finally starting to show something starting to come at us. We're all at work, my husband even taking his chances for an early service call up in Peoria, IL about 3 hours north of here, in regular weather. Unfortunately, we can't afford to lose any more business to the weather. My windshield's covered nicely with a large garbage bag, attached with magnets framing the window and I have small waste basket liners on my windshield wipers. If the weather does anything as promised, I should keep this blog updated with news, photos, and videos throughout the next few days.