Lion or Lamb?
This past week began a little chilly but that soon changed. Five days above freezing with three of them in the middle 40's. Precipitation was at a minimum with all of it falling during the fourth Winter storm of the season. It was a whopper as it almost dumped our entire months worth of snow. I was fortunate enough to have driven through the entire system and get my family home safely. Click here for the storm recap. (OSNW3 March Observations)
(Temp Comparison 2008 / 2009 | March 1 - 9)
Max temp: 28.8 / 32.5 / +3.7
Min temp: 11.9 / 17.4 / +5.5
(March 2009 Precipitation)
2009 Monthly Total
Precip.. 0.97"
Snow.... 6.6"
Oshkosh Average
Precip.. 2.18"
Snow.... 7.6"
Departure
Precip.. (1.21")
Snow.... (1.0")
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The Drive
As we awoke on Mar 8, 2009 I noticed the thermometer read 65° and the clock one hour behind. My initial thought was to get the heck out of dodge asap. We did just that, leaving STL around 8am. As we left, skies were partly cloudy but as we ventured further north, conditions slowly but surely deteriorated. The temps dropped and the winds picked up. A long story short, (and a bit exaggerated) we drove through tornadoes and blizzards to arrive home, safely, 8 hours later.
(North of Springfield, IL - Becoming cloudy)
(North of Bloomington, IL - Storm on the horizon)
(North of Peru, IL - Thunderstorm, heavy rain, gusty winds)
(North of Madison, WI - Freezing rain and wind)
(North of Rosendale, WI - Snow and wind)
Along with these few photos, I also captured videos of the conditions while I drove. You can find them at the end of the snowstorm photo album here. Check them out, they're kinda ridiculous. :)
Also, there are some photos of the storms and flooding in IL on the WGN blog. I can attest that there were "rivers" flowing rapidly on the side of the highway into the fields. I was unable to get photos of the flooding as it was just too difficult to get good side shots while cruising down the highway.
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Front Of House
Snow on top of snow. Nice.
(FOH - Mar 9, 2009)
(Temp Comparison 2008 / 2009 | March 1 - 9)
Max temp: 28.8 / 32.5 / +3.7
Min temp: 11.9 / 17.4 / +5.5
(March 2009 Precipitation)
2009 Monthly Total
Precip.. 0.97"
Snow.... 6.6"
Oshkosh Average
Precip.. 2.18"
Snow.... 7.6"
Departure
Precip.. (1.21")
Snow.... (1.0")
----
The Drive
As we awoke on Mar 8, 2009 I noticed the thermometer read 65° and the clock one hour behind. My initial thought was to get the heck out of dodge asap. We did just that, leaving STL around 8am. As we left, skies were partly cloudy but as we ventured further north, conditions slowly but surely deteriorated. The temps dropped and the winds picked up. A long story short, (and a bit exaggerated) we drove through tornadoes and blizzards to arrive home, safely, 8 hours later.
(North of Springfield, IL - Becoming cloudy)
(North of Bloomington, IL - Storm on the horizon)
(North of Peru, IL - Thunderstorm, heavy rain, gusty winds)
(North of Madison, WI - Freezing rain and wind)
(North of Rosendale, WI - Snow and wind)
Along with these few photos, I also captured videos of the conditions while I drove. You can find them at the end of the snowstorm photo album here. Check them out, they're kinda ridiculous. :)
Also, there are some photos of the storms and flooding in IL on the WGN blog. I can attest that there were "rivers" flowing rapidly on the side of the highway into the fields. I was unable to get photos of the flooding as it was just too difficult to get good side shots while cruising down the highway.
----
Front Of House
Snow on top of snow. Nice.
(FOH - Mar 9, 2009)
I Really enjoyed this post! I thought it was cool and Very true. I was tracking my friends drive from my area down to Oklahoma last week and it went from 26.F to 60.F in the madder of hours of driving, and Snowpack slowly shrank until it was gone. It amazing how fast the landscape and weather conditions can change! Of course now this week we have only snow patches left on the ground, but when he left this area we had 5 inches! only took 5 days of 30s and 40s to melt it!
ReplyDeleteDriving through tornadoes and blizzards...childsplay.
ReplyDeleteDriving 8 hours with small children...now THERE is a challenge! :o) We can hardly make the 2 hour drive to my parents without our 6 month old screaming in the back.
Great post, and THANK YOU for posting pictures and videos. Definitely not an experience you get everytime you take a trip. Our weather today will take us on a ride. From the 70s today to wind chills of 5-10 tonight. My wife told me "That's what you get when you live in Misery".
Derek, I am glad you enjoyed it! Major temps transitions lately. As we were driving south last Friday we had to make an emergency poopy diaper stop. We were in the middle of no where IL and pulled off on a side road gravel park and ride. Thankfully it was 60° and not below freezing as it made it much easier to deal with our 4 month old.
ReplyDeleteWxWatcher, no doubt! As I was telling Derek above we had to make a few pit stops. We were very proud of our baby for handling the long rides as well as she did. :) She enjoyed the sound of the heavy rain in IL and the sleet in WI. We found that stopping at Cracker Barrels is the easiest way to do the dirty work. Baby changing stations and rocking chairs! Can't beat it! And thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed the ride and the opportunity to document it. I know of a t-shirt that talks about Missouri in such a way. I believe it shows the state outline and something about "misery". Love it.
You drove through a tornado?! Do you drive a TIV?! Awesome! lol. What a crazy weather day that was for you, Josh.
ReplyDeleteOh, and if I recall, Cracker Barrels allow men to do the "dirty work" in their restroom. Equal opportunities. Love it!
WOW, cool photos. Personally, I think I would have loved that ride through all the crazy weather.
ReplyDeleteThanks Scout! I had a blast driving through the weather. My wife and daughter we asleep most of the drive... so I snapped a bunch of photos. :)
ReplyDelete