Picture of the Day March 25, 2009
What will become of this building when the Vermont Food Venture moves out???REMEMBERING:THE FROZEN WINTER OF 1994I originally posted this on my MyWeatherLive page this past weekend:http://www.myweatherlive.com/MikeCainF9The winter of 1994 is the benchmark that all recent winters are compared to.
The amount of snow, coupled with the Arctic temperatures, made this winter a burn mark in the back of our memories.
Every week there was some kind of winter weather advisory, winter storm watch or warning.
In the end, 400 inches of snow fell on Jay Peak, some 30 miles to our northeast. 33 feet of snow.
Locally, snow banks were in upwards of 6 feet high.
The cold temperatures defied common belief. "It's too cold to snow." One Saturday in early January saw 11 inches of snow fall all the while the thermometer read -5 degrees. That's five degrees below zero.
The local TV station in Burlington predicted overnight lows of -10 to -15. We would add another 10-15 degrees for us, because it was regularly -20 to -30 at night. Some days never got to zero. A lot of days.
Our perspective on winter changed January 17th. The Northridge Earthquake happened in Southern California. Homes collasped. Highways collapsed. While rescuers were pulling people out of collapsed homes, we figured we could put up with the cold.
That changed 10 days later.
On January 27th, the Thursday morning before the Super Bowl, the mercury in my thermometer was in the well. It goes as low as-38, then there is a gap to where it disappers into the well. And it was in the well. I figured I had 50 degrees below zero.
At that point I decided, "Give me the earthquake. Give me the collapsed homes and highways. I will sleep in a tent on my front lawn if I have to. At least I will be warm.".
Then something weird happened. Less than 36 hours later the temperature had risen to 40 degrees above zero. A warm wind blew. Snow melted. Puddles formed. We thought it was over.
Wrong.
Winter, and the cold, returned with a vengence. Without the snow cover the frost sank deep into the ground. Everything heaved. House foundations cracked. Waterpipes froze, Pools heaved. The main road between Fairfax and St. Albans, 12 miles to the north, was a nightmare. You simply couldn't get warm.
I remember going out in early April and it was still below zero.
After that winter, I never complained about summer heat and humidity. My waterpipes do not freeze when it's 90 degrees out.
