Wind Damage

We've had some very strong winds in the past several days. That is not unusual, especially in West Danville where the wind is an almost constant companion. However, last night, the wind got the best of the roof on Hastings Store. Youngest son, Jamie, took this picture on his way to work this morning. The comparatively new metal roof was peeled back by strong north wind gusts, exposing almost half of the original roof which was likely  cedar shingle. the building was built in the early 1800s, and has no doubt had several "new" roofs over the years, the last one being long-lasting metal. Until the wind found a weak spot to work on, tearing at it relentlessly until last night, with gusts roaring down the length of the pond, it tore loose and peeled back in a giant curl. Jenny Larrabee Rafuse, now owner of the building, said the store and post office will be open as usual. She also mentioned to a reporter on WCAX that the Port-o-potty didn't make it through last night's heavy winds. No surprise there - that would be easy to topple, I would think. I haven't heard of other damage, but it wouldn't be surprising if a lot of people lost trees or had property damaged.

The wind is howling again today. It is a pretty typical "March day" with lots of wind, some snow flurries, an occasional glimpse of the sun, and temperature ranging in the mid-20s. We had a little rain yesterday, but not enough to cause flooding, and it didn't get unusually warm all day. I had a bit of ice in the bottom of my rain gauge this morning, topped off with an inch of snow. Again, it was difficult to get a reading of how much snow had fallen because the wind was redistributing it constantly, even as I tried to measure. There were bare spots on my deck and little drifts a couple inches deep in spots. That's when I take an average - so I reported one inch of new snow.

I hear people saying how unusual our weather has been, and I think that is true - the temperature swings have been crazy. We are now well into March and we've had temperature readings of 70 degrees in some places (not Joe's Pond!) and near zero at night (here at Joe's Pond) and this is unusual - sort of. March has always been a month of wild swings in weather patterns. The major difference I see is that we haven't had the heavy blizzards that dump a foot or more of snow on us, piling up drifts and overloading camp roofs. Many of the really big and troublesome storms here in the past have hit in March. We still have a lot of the month left to perhaps get one of those big storms, but that doesn't seem likely. So perhaps now we're well into March, the weather won't be all that unusual, considering the time of year! 

One thing is certain, spring is coming. There are lots of signs - the snow pulling away from trees in lovely circles; sap is running; back roads that are frozen when you go to work in the morning and a sea of mud when you come back in the afternoon; we are setting our clocks ahead this weekend; and wild animals are beginning to prowl at night. Which reminds me - it's about time to take down our bird feeders. The bears will begin to move around as the weather warms up and they will be hungry! I have three out this year and two are nearly empty, so I won't be refilling them. I plan to continue using the small one on my living-room window for another few weeks, but I know the neighborhood bear that visited and knocked it down last spring will probably remember and try again some night soon. 

Hold onto your hats and think "Spring." Stay safe.