After about 17 inches of snow yesterday, Flagstaff went under a blizzard warning last night. Apparently the first one in about ten years. It blew pretty hard for much of the night, and I could hear things falling over in the carport. Between 11 pm and midnight, power flashes lit up our windows, followed by a darkening of the sky until power was re-routed. That happened three times with the last outage being the longest. We wondered how cold it would get in the house if it lasted all night. We've got four bodies and lots of blankets, so it wouldn't be unmanageable--just uncomfortable.
By morning, the snow was done, and the wind had died down. All snow covered surfaces were encrusted in an inch-thick layer of snow-ice. Shoveling the walk and driveway required chopping it into squares like a frosted dessert. My back, shoulders and arms have been complaining all day and will probably be a real mess tonight.
The morning after a big snow is always beautiful. As I worked on the mortared snow, I was treated to an amazing sunrise. All the remaining snow crystals drifting through the air allowed a sun pillar to form.
Some of the roads along the way to work were still suffering from blowing snow obscuring things.
The interstate was a dream to drive. I only saw 2 other cars on the way to work. It sounds like ADOT had closed access to I-40 from Kingman to Holbrook, so the only traffic was local, and that's me!
