Preparing for a Major Snow Dump

Have you heard?  There's a snow storm headed to the Mid-Atlantic!  HOORAY!

Weds. night, and the stores are empty.

In general, we don't get a lot of snow in this part of Maryland.  We get several little snow storms, and a really big one every couple of years.  The problem with this kind of snow is that clearing it out so that people can get around again gets to be a huge task that takes days.  What would take the good folks in New England a day to clean out can easily take a week to clean out around here.  When Snowmaggedon hit six years ago, it took 5 days for the plows to get to our street to clean us out, and then we were hit by another massive storm a couple of days later.  It took a full week after that storm before we were able to get out of the neighborhood again.

I grew up in the Mid-West, where the snow was always more serious, and we were always prepared for the big one.  We knew that storms would hit, we just didn't know when. 

Fast forward 30 some years, and weather forecasting has improved to the point where we can predict and prepare for storms days in advance.  Being caught by surprise by the weather is no longer quite the reality it used to be back when I was a kid.

Needless to say, I spent a day earlier this week inventorying our supplies and picking up what we needed to round out what we think we'll need for a week at home.

source: Baltimore County Public Library

One of our snow shovels broke last season.  It was one of the cheap ones.  I replaced it with one of the sturdier, all metal heavy duty shovels.  I also bought another broom to supplement the one we sweep the cars off.  One extra bag of rock salt - purchased, and stored in it's water proof container outside.

For the cats, I picked up an extra bag of food.  I just bought one last week, but I bought an extra one, because I really don't want to have hungry, whiny cats roaming around the house in case if this turns out to be more than one storm that keeps us housebound for more than the week we're expecting.

The quick run to the grocery store Tuesday evening included toilet paper, almond milk, a couple of pounds of ground beef and chicken, a bag of potatoes, a bag of onions, a bag of carrots, and a bag of rice.  I'm actually out of rice.  How did that happen?  Can you believe that I had less than 12 items?  I was able to check out through the Express Lane!

Back at home, we made certain that the shovels were within easy reach of the door.

Our firewood is stacked under the carport, so for the most part, our wood stays dry when it snows.  We have some drifting, but the wood itself never gets soaked.

We are as ready as we are ever going to be for the upcoming storm!  Who knows if it will be as big as they are predicting?  The weather maps and models do look impressive!

Image: Foot's Forecast

In preparation for the storm, all of our cell phones are being charged - just in case the power goes out.  We supplement our heat with wood, so if we do lose power, we'll be warm, and we'll be able to cook.  We have solar lanterns outside, and they're storing up a charge now.  We also have a couple of old oil lamps that are on standby, just in case if we need them, as well as a hand cranked weather radio and a hand cranked LED lantern.

If you live in the Mid-Atlantic area, are you ready to be snowed in for a while?  Do you have enough to see you through a week without getting out of the house?