Second Post of the Day: Afternoon Photos of the Oklahoma Blizzard...

WOW! What a day it's been! By noon today we'd beat the 11.5" single day snow record from 1994! (I haven't heard a final tally for the day yet, so I'm not sure what Broken Arrow's final snow depth is, not counting all of the dreadful drifts!)

The shop where Justin works, (he's a CNC machinist), closed around 8:30 a.m. this morning because the weather conditions continued to deteriorate. That shop is only about 10 miles away from our home, but it took him almost 2 hours to get home - crazy! He did stop a couple of times along the way to help pull a truck out of a ditch and also push a car up a hill, (have I mentioned that he's such a good and helpful kid?!?!) He drives a 3/4 ton 4x4 truck and always carries chains, etc. for just such emergencies!

Mike made it to the shop where he works, (he's a collision repair technician), and was the only one there! About 10 minutes after he'd arrived the shop manager called him to let him know that they were closing the shop for the day...after he'd driven about 8 miles in white-out blizzard conditions - OY! Anyhoo, he worked for a couple of hours and decided with the weather worsening he should head home so he didn't get stranded! He stopped along the way to also help a couple whose car was stuck, he and Justin are always so kind to stop and help others like this!!  Mike also drives a 4x4 truck and got stuck a couple of times himself in the drifts that kept forming, but made it home safe and sound by 10:30 a.m.

Several of the turnpikes and interstates had to close, and car/trucks litter the sides of the roads...some drivers are still stranded in their cars waiting for emergency crews to get to them.

By 5:00ish this evening the snow had finally stopped and the sun peeked out for a few minutes. The wind continues to fiercely blow, though. The temp is at 12 degrees and the wind chill is below zero...BRRR!!!

Here are some pics that I took a little after 5:00 p.m. this evening:

Upon opening my front door I found HUGE snow drifts!! Check this out:

Remember the photo of my garden shed and the drifts around the little fenced in garden area that I posted this morning? Check them out now...some drifts just in my yard are over 4 feet tall!!

Here's a view looking out onto my covered patio at the Adirondack chairs that Mike's dad built for us...check out the snow drifts behind the chairs!

Remember the cute little photo that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago...the one of the decorative garden birdhouses in a flowerbed in my back yard? Here they are now...almost completely covered by a drift:

And lastly, here's Justin and Hunter chilling out and watching a little TV...Hunter was so happy to have her "boy" home!

Looks like we'll be home bound for at least another day until we can shovel out of this wintry mess!! To everyone else that's weathering the "Blizzard of 2011" stay safe and warm!!

Blessings,