groundings: Deep Freeze, Lower Mainland style

It seems like all of my posts this month have been about the weather! :) November has really treated us to some extremes unusual for this area, and a good dumping of snow in November is the icing on the cake. I must admit that as an Albertan at heart, I'm loving the snow. It adds such a beauty to everything, and it's such a treat in this area. Normally, as soon as it starts to snow here, the temperature begins to rise and it changes to rain within 24 hours (although usually sooner). However, this time in snowed from Saturday afternoon straight through to Monday morning! And the temperatures are showing no sign of warming up. As I write this, the Abbotsford airport has temperatures of -9 degrees celsius! While much of the snow has stopped falling, we're currently the recipients of arctic outflow winds, which means the wind chill can be as cold as -20! That's unheard of in this tiny pocket of Canada that rarely experiences temperatures below zero. Today is a snow day for most students from Chilliwack to Vancouver with a few exceptions. Because of all the hills in the area, roads become treacherous relatively quickly. Yesterday afternoon as I was making my way to my parents' place from Mark's parents' place out on the Sumas Prairie, I watched one van spin his way up the Old Clayburn exit ramp from Sumas Way sideways!! Needless to say, I kept my distance and waited for him to make it up before following. I'm impressed with my tires, because as I slowly moved up the ramp, they didn't slip even once! Then, as I approached High Drive (another of Abbotsford's many hills), I saw one car with reverse lights crawling backwards down the hill, and another one sliding backwards with no reverse lights, so I'm assuming he was trying to make it up with no success. But, I made it to my parents without any damage and spent a few hours there before my dad dropped me off at my apartment. Today is a "work from home day" as TWU has closed it's doors.

Here are a few pictures I've taken thus far (for more, visit my Wacky Weather album):

Sunday, 9:30am