We didn’t have a white Christmas though we did have a little bit of snow some weeks beforehand. It’s pretty rare that we get much snow in December at all here in the south of Sweden. But now? Hoo boy.
On the 3rd of January we had a severe wind and snow storm that I wrote about on the 4th. That snow and ice stuck around for over a week and we’ve had REALLY cold temperatures until this past weekend when it warmed up to…0 degrees Celsius. They plow in our neighborhood but not very well, and the streets were covered with ice and snow up until a few days ago when we got another dumping, just a couple of inches.
But last night it started snowing again and this morning we had full-on blizzard once more. I think we probably got at least 5 inches but it’s been really windy as well so drifts in some places, especially over the roads and highways, have been quite high.
I worked from home on Monday, but yesterday morning, when I went to leave, it was -15C and the Tesla was entirely frozen shut. I couldn’t get the doors open at all, despite the fact that the car interior had already warmed up as scheduled to 19C. There is a “force door open” function on the app, but when I tried it, the car just sort of groaned and nothing happened.
The door handles are completely flush with the sides of the car doors, so there is nothing to pull. The only option is to bash in at the door handle until it gives but that can damage the handle completely, so it’s not a good idea. I made the mistake of leaving the ice scraper IN the car, so I couldn’t even scrape windows and remove snow while I waiting an extra 20 minutes for the “defrost on high” function to warm the car up enough to get the handles to budge.
I was only about 25 minutes late to work at least. This morning went much better. I had the ice scraper in the house, and it wasn’t as cold, but it was very slick and snowy and windy and it took longer than normal to drive anyway with the visibility and the roads not yet plowed. During the day today, people kept leaving early to get home before it could get worse, and eventually by noon, Skåne had cancelled ALL bus and train traffic and the highway to Flyinge was closed. EEESH!
The snow stopped around 1 pm, though, and the roads got better as the plowing was handled and by the time I drove home, it was fine, as long as you went a little slower and more carefully, especially when slowing down/braking, and turning. The office parking lot wasn’t plowed at all, so it was actually worse than most of the rest of the drive home. The highways were open again, and I hope people taking public transportation were able to get home.
I’m sure it’s very pretty but it’s hard to appreciate the snowy landscape when you have to be so concentrated on the road ahead of you! According to the weather report, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and up to 0 so maybe it will melt what’s on the roads.
We don’t usually get much snow or such blizzardy conditions down here anymore, but I guess climate change isn’t done with its surprises. Also, I would just like to note for posterity that I shoveled half the driveway all by myself after I got home, since Anders is gone this week. I would say I’ll do the rest tomorrow after work, but since I’m going to Malmö for a massage that would be a lie. Anders gets home on Friday…I’ll let him do it if it hasn’t melted by then. 😀
*which I realize now as I’m writing this, that I did again, so now I have to go back outside and bring it in, just in case.
Mood: chilly
Music: Lisa Hannigan—What’ll I Do