Life In Morgantown: Winter Storm Jonas

I’m not a fan of snow. I don’t think I ever have been since around 8th grade. It was my first year playing organized basketball in Hampshire County and snow canceled one of my basketball games (it wasn’t the last). Since then, snow and I have had a very hate/hate relationship.

I’ve heard some people say, “This is the most snow we’ve had since 2010.” No. Stop it. While what I affectionately dubbed “The Snotorious B.I.G.” of 2010 was a fair amount of snow, I don’t remember being snowed in like we were with Jonas. I vaguely remember there being a lot of snow in 2003 and I was in Keyser for that one. Still not even close to the 30+ inches we got in some parts of town.

The last time I remember there being this much snow was in 1995. That was a real blizzard. I was only 12 at the time, so I remember helping my dad dig us out and tunneling my way around our driveway. When I get to play in it (which is rare anymore), I love the snow like anyone else. But I despise not being able to go anywhere or having my plans ruined. And having a January birthday normally leads to my plans being ruined thanks to snow and inclement weather.

The snow started falling in Morgantown around 1 and picked up to a consistent pace from there until late afternoon on Saturday. Upper management made the call for my job and we were all on the road home by 2 PM but the conditions were already getting terrible. Schools were closed and some businesses chose to either not open or close shortly after they had opened their doors for business.

Thankfully, Morgantown was a ghost town so I didn’t have to sit in traffic like I did a few days earlier, when snowfall slowed Morgantown traffic to a crawl for the second time in as many weeks. I got to my house and pulled in and there was already at least an inch of snow covering the ground. Once inside, me and my family settled in for the long haul.

I made the mistake of not trying to keep up with shoveling the snow as it fell though. “Oh, I’ll go out once it’s all over and start digging us out.” That was before the forecast changed and more snow came down on top of the Friday’s snow. It was shortly after 1 PM Saturday when I heard a loud whooshing followed by a thud.

I scrambled to my front door and confirmed my fears: A large amount of snow that had been sitting on our roof slid off and right onto our front porch. So we were now double buried in the accumulation we had received. I can’t even begin to explain the joy that brought to me.

Late Saturday, I was able to clear the porch and the steps; Sunday we cleared the driveway and shoveled out to the main road (which would remain unplowed until Monday). My friend Anthony Sellers was able to escape from his apartment and make a run to Wendy’s for us. The convenience of fast food after being snowed in was welcomed after we had been making our own meals since Friday (so primitive, I know). By Sunday afternoon, we realized that someone in the neighborhood had dug out the far side of the road with their Bobcat, so I was able to get my brother-in-law’s and my car out (I did get stuck at one point in his car but I had backup, so I was okay). When Monday arrived, I went to work and it was business as usual.

Things could have been much worse so I can’t complain too much about Winter Storm Jonas. We didn’t lose power, we had food, and we had heat. I even played Arkham City for the first time in almost 3 years. So while I still would rather it be 70 degrees all the time (why yes, I do know I live in West Virginia where the climate is not 70 degrees year round), I will reluctantly say that the blizzard didn’t make me miserable.

But the snow falling off the roof wasn’t fun at all.

Pro Tip: Don’t be me and try to shovel everything after the storm. Shovel during the storm if possible. It makes things easier when the storm does stop. I could hear my mom mocking me on Saturday as I shoveled double snow off of my porch.

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