2024 Snowstorm

     It has been 65 years since Eastern Colorado saw the kind of snowstorm that hit in early November of 2024.  Two things qualify the November storm:  absence of wind, and quantity of heavy, wet snow on the level over a windy plain.

     I know of three such storms including the one in 1946-47.  The second one was in 1959-60.

     It was a little hard to believe that the November 2024 storm was happening.  Where we are  in Northern Colorado, we got rain, nearly an inch, but hardly any snow.

     The beneficial moisture delivered by the snowstorm came with some “collateral damage”.   I wouldn’t find out about that damage for nearly a month.  Not that it mattered.  I could not have done anything about it.  I still haven’t done much.

      I got the news on the Friday evening of December 5.  It came in a phone  call from my Grandson who had gone to the farm with his Dad hunting deer.  “Granddad, you know that shed where you keep your old tractors?”  “Yes.”

     “The roof collapsed.”

     Ouch.  He went on to explain that they hadn’t noticed until Friday afternoon because it was dark when they arrived on Thursday night.  They went out hunting early Friday morning, and when they came back, they saw it and looked into the matter. 

     And then called me.

 

     I made arrangements with Leslie, our caregiver to be on duty Sunday.  We went down Saturday.  Thankfully, the boys had the house warmed up so the Goodwife didn’t have to suffer the usual winter chill when we arrive and face a house in the 40’s.

      Sunday morning was bright and sunny, so I ventured out and pried open a couple of doors to look inside.

 

      The deer hunters had gone out at daybreak and came back while I was puttering around taking pictures, and looking.  The north end stayed pretty much intact, probably because I had it reinforced so I could use a chain hoist to life 500-pound flywheels and the like when I worked on the old 2-cylinder tractors.

 

      They set about shoveling the hard-packed snow that had slid off the roof and formed a rampart in front of the east doorway.  We managed to get a six-foot opening to enter the east side.

     They then devoted themselves to clearing the roof that lay mostly on the shed floor.

 

     They were much more successful at getting rid of that snow than they were in bagging a deer.

 

     They weren’t willing to risk life and limb to clean off the part of the roof residing on top of the tractors.  Good decision!

 

      Some irony:  I had a table made of an exterior door sitting on two saw horses.  On it were some gaskets that hadn’t made it onto one of the old tractors, the “R”, yet.  There were several small parts waiting to be found and put back on as I try to get the old gal back to running.  A service manual and a notebook with things to remember as I put it back together written in it were on the table.

    None of that was disturbed.  The paper work hadn’t even got wet.  I was able to remove all that and put it in the shop where I hope I can find it when I need it.

     Also undisturbed in the far southwest corner are a table saw and a miter saw covered with a plastic tarp.

     I did jack up some trusses that had broken on the north side and reinforced them with 2 X 4’s I had cut out of some of the downed trusses.

 

    Note the galvanized pipe between the wheels and beside the ceramic light fixture.  I hope they will do the job for awhile. 

    I used my remaining daylight and “Leslie time” to start pulling nails out of the roof metal that I could reach.  I will have to work my way south until I can prop up the south roof resting on the two tractors.  I’m off to a slow start.  I didn’t quite finish with one sheet.

     The insurance company assessed the damage less the deductible at $27K.  That’s only for the structure.  The contents must have their own insurance, which they are quick to tell you.

     What damage the “contents” suffered is a bit hard to tell right now.  The reel on the combine header has some bent bats.  The two tractors don’t seem to be too badly damaged.  Somewhere under there is a wood splitter. 

     As usual in Eastern Colorado, I am at the mercy of the weather.  I won’t be able to do much until it warms up. 

     I shudder to think that the rest of the winter of 2024-25 will follow the example of the other two heavy snow winters.  Will there be another three feet to come?