Snow-verload, part 1

The rumors became fact. Accuweather.com proved worthy of its name. First eight inches, no ten-twelve inches...no, 18-20...oh, we'll just have to see what we end up with but it'll be really bad, ok?
Act I was as you would expect from a first act, rather fun and exciting, a nice introduction to the play.
Act II is when the plot turns sour. And so did this storm.

Winter Storm Warnings on Tuesday turned to Blizzard Warnings on Wednesday until 7 pm. Those were later extended to 10 pm. Snowfall estimates were ever-climbing and drift estimates were added as winds drove the snow sideways for hours.

The night before I stumbled over to the We-Is market to get more food to last another week (the amount of time we expected to be house-bound) plus, more importantly, some wine. (Had enough of the must-have bread and toilet paper.) I walked the aisles in a stress-induced daze. An enterprising person had shoved a "Snowplower for Hire" sign under the counter's glasstop.

DH got home early and again went into lock-down mode with wood, wood pellets, shovels, salt, and snowblower. It was becoming a routine that was not welcome.

The snow began, grudgingly it seemed, around mid-afternoon. By nightfall a few inches had collected. (Any other year, that would have been noteworthy alone, possibly cancelling school.)

Father Robin suggested that it was going to miss us; this was all we'd get.
But by bedtime, it picked up and snowed in earnest all the rest of the night. By morning there was around 6-8 inches. Then the storm truly began.
Snow came heavily all morning. At noon the wind also picked up, driving the snow sideways for most of the afternoon. White-outs were frequent.
At home, the girls and the dog went out to take video. Father R fired up Ol' Bess the Blower and headed out for another crawl up and down the driveway, harvesting the same "crop" he had spent hours on two days earlier. He found where the dog had relieved himself and blew it to smithereens over a bank.

Unlike the miraculous road conditions the county maintained in Act I, this time, the only thing going by were plows. And not often. By late in the day, even they had been called off the roads because of hazardous conditions.

You know it's getting bad when the plows get stuck.