Blizzard of 2014

We were warned for days.  It was on the news.  The inevitable was coming.  It hit hard.  It was the blizzard of 2014!  The Polar Vortex.   It all started out as a good ending to Christmas break.  The kids were getting bored and ready to get back on a routine (as was Mom).  The weather had been great with temps in the 50s.  It felt like spring.   Then it all changed..........


The temperatures plummeted, the winds started blowing, and the snow started falling.  And falling.  And falling.

If you live in the midwest northern states this may not look like much to you, but it is a big deal for this area.  St. Louis has not seen snow like this for 15 years!  We are in that area where we may get snow and we may not, usually not.  The snow did not pass us by this time.

As I said, this is not normal for St. Louis and they are not very good at plowing the streets.  They have a "snow route" through town and those are the only roads that are plowed, not any of the side streets.   We really had to dig ourselves out!  Then there was school that was called off day after day after day.   The buses could not travel on the unplowed side streets to get kids to school.  Each day the phone rang with the same message from Ryan Keller - no school.   The kids got a three week break instead of a two week break.  So lucky, until the weather is nice at the end of May and into June and they are still going to school.

We did do some cold weather experiments while they were home.  One of which was not so good.  If you follow me on facebook then I am sure you saw the picture of my burned are from throwing boiling water into the air.  (Not smart on my part).  Thankfully it is looking much better and healing, but I think I will have a doozy of a scar.  Another experiment we did was to fill balloons with water and food coloring and let them freeze.

This is what they looked like when placed outside to freeze.

The result in the morning after we peeled the balloons off.

We displayed them by the front door.

When the temperatures eased up a bit I sent the kids outide.  It was lots of fun playing in the high snow drifts and mega piles that were made from shoveling!

A few days after the above photo was taken the snow was gone!  Just like that.  One day of rain and the snow disappeared.    As fast and furious as the blizzard came in, it was quietly gone in a day.