My diabolical plan worked.
Just four days after posting "SNOWLESS!," Idaho (and the Pacific Northwest) braced itself for SNOWPOCALYPSE! We were finally going to get the big snowstorm we had all been awaiting with bated breath.
When the local meteorologists reported a severe winter storm warning for Wednesday, the news was greeted, not with trepidation, but with eager anticipation. Boise residents seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and complained less than usual about having to drive on the snowy winter streets. The ACHD went to work pretreating roads with an almost happy diligence. It was predicted that we were going to get anywhere from three to nine inches in the Treasure Valley alone.
But then SNOWPOCALYPSE! came, and with it came fifty-nine crashes, thirty-five slide offs, and twenty-four stalled vehicles (according to an early report on the local news station).
SNOWPOCALYPSE! didn't reach Boise soon enough to necessitate a snow day. It wasn't until all of us school district employees were driving to school that we got pelted with snow. Many of the buses didn't make it to our school on time. The fourth graders were supposed to go on a music department-sponsored field trip to the Philharmonic, but only one bus arrived, and it was over a half-hour late. We watched the snow come down in wet, fluffy flakes, hoping we wouldn't get stuck at the school overnight. The kids spent the day rolling around in the stuff, returning to our rooms a sopping, soggy mess of little bodies.
The nurse finally sent us an e-mail that said something to the effect: "I have no dry clothes. Please let students know if they play in the snow, they are going to get wet."
The kids didn't care.
"When I get out to recess, I'm going to do a face plant in the snow!" one of my students exclaimed.
"What did our principal say about that on the morning announcements?" I reminded him.
"He just said not to do it to someone else," another kid chimed in.
Eventually the snow turned into rain, making the commute home slushy and slick. The temperatures in the Treasure Valley crept back up to the forties, and we have been stuck with rain ever since. Later in the week, the remaining snow in the higher elevations was so wet and heavy that it knocked out power for a couple hundred customers in Boise County.
But in the long run, I believe SNOWPOCALYPSE! will benefit our local economy. Bogus Basin opened the very next day, having gained ten inches on Wednesday and fourteen more on Thursday. Even non-skiers, like me, can appreciate the impact that will have on our community. And I'll be the first to admit - That one day of Snowmageddon was pretty exciting.
For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-DugganJust four days after posting "SNOWLESS!," Idaho (and the Pacific Northwest) braced itself for SNOWPOCALYPSE! We were finally going to get the big snowstorm we had all been awaiting with bated breath.
When the local meteorologists reported a severe winter storm warning for Wednesday, the news was greeted, not with trepidation, but with eager anticipation. Boise residents seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and complained less than usual about having to drive on the snowy winter streets. The ACHD went to work pretreating roads with an almost happy diligence. It was predicted that we were going to get anywhere from three to nine inches in the Treasure Valley alone.
But then SNOWPOCALYPSE! came, and with it came fifty-nine crashes, thirty-five slide offs, and twenty-four stalled vehicles (according to an early report on the local news station).
SNOWPOCALYPSE! didn't reach Boise soon enough to necessitate a snow day. It wasn't until all of us school district employees were driving to school that we got pelted with snow. Many of the buses didn't make it to our school on time. The fourth graders were supposed to go on a music department-sponsored field trip to the Philharmonic, but only one bus arrived, and it was over a half-hour late. We watched the snow come down in wet, fluffy flakes, hoping we wouldn't get stuck at the school overnight. The kids spent the day rolling around in the stuff, returning to our rooms a sopping, soggy mess of little bodies.
The nurse finally sent us an e-mail that said something to the effect: "I have no dry clothes. Please let students know if they play in the snow, they are going to get wet."
The kids didn't care.
"When I get out to recess, I'm going to do a face plant in the snow!" one of my students exclaimed.
"What did our principal say about that on the morning announcements?" I reminded him.
"He just said not to do it to someone else," another kid chimed in.
Eventually the snow turned into rain, making the commute home slushy and slick. The temperatures in the Treasure Valley crept back up to the forties, and we have been stuck with rain ever since. Later in the week, the remaining snow in the higher elevations was so wet and heavy that it knocked out power for a couple hundred customers in Boise County.
But in the long run, I believe SNOWPOCALYPSE! will benefit our local economy. Bogus Basin opened the very next day, having gained ten inches on Wednesday and fourteen more on Thursday. Even non-skiers, like me, can appreciate the impact that will have on our community. And I'll be the first to admit - That one day of Snowmageddon was pretty exciting.
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