The Christmas Blizzard of 2008-2009

At the turn of this year, an even occurred that had not been witnessed in our region since 1971. Over the holidays, one meter of snow fell on the Lower Mainland. It arrived in two massive weather systems separated by a short thawing. In the days leading up to and immediately after Christmas, the first onslaughts of snow crippled our cities just in time to bring chaos for those travelers arriving and departing amidst the Christmas Rush. After Boxing Day, the temperature rose noticeably, and for those of us who had run out of places to shovel and pile the relentless deluge, it was a relief to watch the epic mounds diminishing before our eyes. Then, with the dawning of a new year, the onslaught returned, and by its end there was more snow than there had been before. Eventually, this deluge also ceased, and a rapid melting ensued. But even then our troubles would not end, for the melt brought floods and mudslides to our region.

I did not set out to make this video. Having documented the snowfall for posterity as it happened, I realized that I might cobble together enough images into a half-decent presentation. All of these images are my own except for a handful from January 2, which are my brothers. As of this writing there remains a fair bit of snow on the ground in our neighborhood, which is not unusual. We seem to have found one of the most snow-prone areas in the district. The snow is reacting with the warm air to produce all-day fogs. And for the record I LOVE snow, and this past month has been heavenly to me.

Category:

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• Surrey
• Vancouver
• Simon
• Fraser
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• British
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• Weather
• Chopin
• Strauss
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• Shovel

[46gibby]

Probably the best winter I've ever had here on the South Coast. from east van island, had about a meter and a half of snow fall just in one day alone on Dec. 17 /08 ! that was fun :)

[MChelada]

@46gibby And the irony is the following year was the year without a winter that coincided with our hosting the Winter Olympics!

[londonpenda]

Bluddy 'ell Michael....Now that IS a snow fall...O.O.

We get some 'snow',(nothing like this) and the whole country grinds to a halt...?

[MChelada]

I heard that is because there are NO snowplows at all in the entire country, but that can't be true....although, to be fair, our provincial capital sold all its snowplows some years ago and got into a heap of trouble when the next blizzard came along.

[64mung]

Maaan,,,I was just thinking, that shot of you falling backwards in the snow ( 1:25 ) would of made an excellent 'reverse shot '!!

I can see it now... you laying in the snow and then rising up out of the freezing powder...COOL! ( no pun intended ) ;)

64m >:-)

[MChelada]

DAG! You're right. I'll keep that shot in mind; perhaps I can use it again someday. Thanks for the idea.

[64mung]

I know what you're talking about, Dude! I have a little brother too...I did the shoveling, I washed the cars, I cut the grass..did he lift a bloody finger?? NO! Must be nice to be the youngest in the family! ( But I'm not bitter ) ;)

Your video turned out great, my friend!

64m >:-)

[MChelada]

All that snow you see piled up along the side of our driveway and sidewalks is mostly my work. I am the one who always volunteers to do the soveling, because it means I get to be outside in the snow. My mother only goes out when she decides to, but basically I am in charge of keeping the driveway clear. My brother did not lift one bloody finger to help! (But I'm not bitter).

I am glad you saw this because it took forever to finish processing.

[64mung]

Talk about a winter wonderland....GEEEEEEEZ! I must say though, I know the feeling, we can get up to 3 feet of snow at a time here in Pennsylvania, it's a beautiful site to see but it's also a lot of work and causes incredible damage. Well at least you had a very white Christmas, my friend.:)

Great photography, and video, Michael!

Well done!

*****

64m >:-)