Finally a good old fashioned snow storm.

In reply to Gary :

Do you have any problems with the neighbors across the street? They look like a quiet lot.

In reply to NY Nick :

Details on the rink, process, etc? 

I want to do one badly. 

lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) said:

You call it a "good old-fashioned snow storm". It's winter after all. 
 

Then it became a nor'easter. 
 

The "catch phrase" a few years back for snow and cold weather was "polar vortex". Yes it was going to get cold and possibly snow.

The newest one I've heard is "bomb cyclone". Still cold and snow.

 

Waiting to see what they call winter next...........

 

A nor'easter is nothing new here in the north east. It is just a storm that comes up the coast and due to its track the wind wraps around and cones in from the north east even though the storm comes up from the south. We get them with some regularity and are particularly bad for coastal towns and property on the coast.  
 

Blizzard is not an amount of snow it has to do with the visability you have (or lack there of). I think it is less than 1000 feet but not sure and it has to be maintained for more than three hours. 
 

The Bomb storm really has nothing to do with snow at all it is defined by a large  drop in barometric pressure over an hour.   Again an old term used by meteorologists for years but not really publicly used as it would stir up un needed panic. Now however the weather people will do just about anything to wip people in to a panic hence it is now used on air.    
 

The polar vortex has also been around a long time. If I remember it has to do with the Jet stream. Not used publicly like the bomb but then used on air for the same reasons bomb is used.  
 

What we got was just a good old fashioned snow storm. The south shore got 30+ inches. Where I am we got 16-20. Hard to tell due to drifting.  It was fun to just kick back and watch the snowfall saterday. Then Sunday see all the kids out in the snow having a great time.  

In reply to mtn :

I didn't do it right, it was my first try. I built up the edges with snow (shoveled everything that was in the rink are to the edges) and then put a 25'x25' plastic sheet in there and flooded. It froze eventually. I did it right before it snowed so it made a slushy mess but the internet said just let it sit. After a few days it just leveled out. 

If I do it again I will make it much bigger. Build walls out of 2x10's or something like that, drape plastic sheet for a liner, fill with water. I use a shop broom and a large shovel to clean it off, If there gets to be too many skate marks I flood with hot water. No idea if that is the right thing to do but it seems to be working. I am worried the first time this gets warm it is going to melt the edges and be gone.

edit: but I have about $25 in materials and the kids have been skating for several weeks so I haven't lost anything.

If you guessed 6 TR8s, 2 TR7s, a Mini Cooper, and a BMW 2002, you win the prize.

In reply to NY Nick :

Awesome! 

I follow a FB group called Backyard Ice Rinks, and it has some awesome stuff in there. I'm trying to figure out how I could do one next year, but I just don't know if we have enough room. Probably enough to get my daughter out there (she'll be 3 in  March 2023), but not for my wife or I to skate (I'm a high level hockey ref, she's a pretty damn good figure skater... We just wouldn't have room to do much of anything). 

Maybe if I go across our driveway we could work something out. Probably have to use some pallets or sandbags to even out the slope, but it wouldn't be too bad.

In reply to mtn :

yep, I can barely turn around on it but my kids are learning to skate so it is big enough to get started. I would try to make sure the area is flat. I didn't, this ice goes from 2" to 10" thick. 2" isn't enough, it won't stay flat. My back yard is flatter and bigger so I'll try that next.

PS- I was a hockey ref for ~10 years. I was terrible. It was a blessing for the sport when I finally stopped in college. 

I made an ice rink using my scrap 2x4s and some plastic sheeting. Unfortunately "looks level" isn't "actually level," and over a 15' x 35' span it changes level by a few inches. Which means I have about 10' x 15' that's totally thick enough to enjoy and the rest is not. The kids have had a blast on it, though. It'll be better next winter!

Lot of freak-out here as we are expected to get 9-14 inches of snow later this week.  Yeah, a foot of snow.  I dont want to sound like an old man but wasn't a foot of snow a pretty common thing when I was a kid.  It's not the end of the world.  It's what supposed to happen this time of year. 

As far as ice rinks...

My small town, for the first time ever put in a "freeze your own" type ice rink at a city park on the tennis court area.  Amazing by residential standards and simplistic but good by city park standards.  But, it is lighted and they are keeping the rink open to 9pm.  No rentals and no indoor shelter.  Knowing this was coming, Santa brought some cheapo Amazon skates.  Due to weather not cooperating, this rink just opened two weekends ago.  Our personal schedule did not work out for weekend #1 but did work for #2, this past weekend. 

Fist time on ice, my 7 yr old daughter was unsteady at first but caught on quickly.  Shortly after we arrived and family of 3 arrived.  Mom, Dad and teen daughter all on hockey skates.  The best part is they brought extra sticks.  The dad was super cool and enjoyed teaching/helping my daughter, Jane.  We were there for 3 HOURS and it was super fun.  The ice was much more fun as "hockey" than it was as not.  Now I need to source some cheap kid sticks, like 4 of them, so we can bring them and encourage others to play.  I don't think my daughter will ever play league hockey since we have what I see as an unltra shortage of ice in the 1 hour away area.  But, fun to play outside.  

That was Sunday we were at the rink.  On Monday conditions were perfect and we went there from 5:15 to 5:45pm.  Sadly, no other kids and that included me contacting the parents of the one other kid I know who has skates.  

Pics from Sunday.  First day ever on ice:

In reply to John Welsh :

Wunderground forecast is still showing 12" for Columbus on Thursday. I'm really hoping it happens. 

In reply to EvanB :

We've been updated to 12-18" here in Metro Detroit. We'll see what comes!

Here's a picture of my skepticism...  The say we'll get a foot of snow but I'll now know what we really get.  

Drive a stake and tape a yardstick to the stake.  

At 7pm tonight, they have called off school for tomorrow of just about every school in my county and the counties to the west. 

What I read says rain all day starting in the 40's but dropping to 35 around 3pm.  The real fear seems to be, "we can get the to school safely but not sure if we can get them home safely (ice)" 

In reply to tr8todd :

Blowing/drifting can impact the yardstick too. I prefer the patio furniture measuring technique personally

6 inches so far here, and still falling hard.

In reply to mtn :

Just east of you, 41 degrees and raining. Prediction of temps to 32 degrees now at 7pm.

The rain is likely killing the ice rink but 25 degree high expected for Thurs

In reply to John Welsh :

Rain then snow would kill the rink, if it makes it slushy enough that you can't plow the snow. Rain itself isn't so bad if it gets cold soon after.

I reffed last night (outdoor rink with freezers underneath). It rained all day, but quit about an hour before our games. They'd had youth practice earlier in the day, but the ice was still spectacular. Started to snow a little bit in the last game, it was dreamlike. Obviously they've got an easier time with a zamboni and coolers keeping the ice from underneath, but they'll be putting in a full day today removing the snow. It'll probably involve dry cutting the ice (zamming with no water) and plowing with an F150 every 15 minutes, dumping the snow in the alley, and then using a bobcat to move that dumped snow. For the other outdoor rinks around here without coolers, they're lucky that there was about 3 hours or so of dry freezing temps between the rain and the snow. 

The local village makes and maintains 2 outdoor rinks each winter, and about 3 years ago they significantly upgraded the equipment with a big investment. They're less than a 10 minute walk from our house, and they are huge. The village staff clears the snow and keeps em flat. The rinks have white tarps underneath to keep the sun from melting them too much and "boards" all the way around. 

They even put up a net between the two so the big one is for hockey and the smaller one is for skating only.

Since they did a big investment, they have really been pushing events. They have weekly free skate rental hours and they've done fun stuff like hot cocoa events and a "skate with Olaf" event where they convinced someone to put on a giant inflatable Olaf costume and do large circles for about 4 solid hours haha.

We bring the kids down multiple times a week and there are usually others there that they recognize from school or something. It really has become a cool thing in the neighborhood. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

This FB post of someone else's should give you a good insight to what we have.  In the comments of that posting I put some videos also.   https://www.facebook.com/groups/Huron.Ohio/posts/4924374230961596/?comment_id=4925118210887198&reply_comment_id=4925647120834307

The Thursday 9am reading is 5 inches. It's snowing now and expected to snow all day. 

In reply to John Welsh :

I think we probably got the same amount. The first 3-4 hours of snow falling, it all compacted/turned to mush on the wet ground, though - I wouldn't be surprised if a total of 10 fell, just didn't stick as expected..

Still just sleet here. Hours and hours of sleet so far with hours and hours left to go. It should start snowing around 3pm. The kids school is cancelled but they're bummed because there's no snow to spend the day playing in. 

The Thursday 2:30 report...6 inches 

A 7 year old doing what a 7 year old should be doing...digging a snow cave into a huge snow drift. 

The county has called a snow emergency. All roads closed to non emergency travel. Businesses start to close and send people home. 

We missed all the fun, currently enjoying sunny and 80 degrees on vacation.

Though John's pic makes me a bit sad I'm not out digging snow forts with my kids.

I am glad we left a day early and weren't driving through the storm.

Today looks like snow, sleet, and ice and what ever else winter can bring to the party!!!   Told all my employees yesterday to take the day off today (company paid snow day). Around my place and the office the roads are fine but a mile north and west things are getting dicey. Temps are in the low 40 s now but will be in the 20s by mid afternoon.  Many schools closed. I will head in to the office anyway to get a couple things done.