60-Year Storm

In the middle of January much of the Northwest got hit with what some forecasters have referred to as a 60-year storm. In Olympia we got almost 2 FEET of snow! It started out really fun with most businesses being closed, so that many folks didn't have to work. Snow Day! We relaxed and played in the snowy wonderland, but then the freezing rains came to much of southwest Washington. Everything became encapsulated with ice. Trees started breaking due to the weight of the ice and this caused massive power outages. We were lucky in that we only lost power for 28 hours. Mom and Doug lost power for several days. The experience made us all think about being prepared for emergencies and how thankful we are for great neighbors and friends.

The weekend before the big storm we had just a few inches of snow and went on a snowy hike at Priest Point Park.

The storm came in on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning we had deep snow!

Carmen had some clearance issues with the deep snow, but she enjoyed the snow nonetheless.

Thanks to Eric's eastcoast upbringing. He shoveled our walkway. Most folks here in Northwest lowlands have no concept of shoveling their sidewalks.

Snow Day! Eric sledding at the neighborhood hill with Carmen in tow.

Yep, I snowboarded around the neighborhood. Why not?

Then Wednesday night into Thursday brought freezing rain...

Everything became covered in ice.

Our Subaru...

Trees brought down power lines.

Central Street. Notice all the icy branches hanging down over the cars.

These poplar trees normally stand straight up in the air. They looked so odd curved at the tops.

Several days after the storm Eric and I decided to hike at our beloved Watershed Park to assess the damage. The damage was massive. All the forested parks in town are still closed due to fallen trees.

We kept losing the trail. It was hard to follow with all the destruction.

Alder trees laying right across the trail.