Over the weekend King’s Mountain National Military Park was hit by Winter Storm Jonas (The Weather Channel started naming winter storms in 2012 to make them easier to follow) so yesterday and today Tom and I had snow days! I never expected to have snow days when we retired. For one thing – Tom and I are trying to avoid winter storms! But after the flooding at Death Valley and our reassignment to King’s Mountain NMP in South Carolina, we knew we would probably get some cold temperatures and snow. Snowfall in this part of South Carolina averages about 2 inches per year, which is one good snowstorm.
The snow started Thursday night and kept falling until Friday around noon. By that time we had our two inches. Because they don’t close the park very often, there isn’t a procedure to follow for closing the park. But everything else in the area was closed and there is only one snowplow for the county, so the Park Superintendent decided to close the park about 1/2 hour before we were scheduled to open. Tom got to sleep in and I enjoyed the quiet snow falling outside.
We have plenty of propane, food, and battery power, so we weren’t concerned about power outages or getting out on the road. We had a quiet, snug day at home with old movies on television, good books, a jigsaw puzzle on the table, knitting, and plenty of work to do on the computer. The only thing that seemed to be affected (for us) was our cell phone signal which wasn’t good all day.
We got the call Friday night that the park would be closed again on Saturday. Local police and sheriffs were still warning people to stay off the roads. Saturday was clear and above freezing which led to another problem: icy roads. The temperatures on Saturday night were below freezing again and the melted snow on the roads froze to a glare of ice. The main roads were cleared off, but when Tom and I went to King’s Mountain to pick up a pizza for supper Saturday night, most of the roads were very treacherous. A majority of businesses, including the restaurants, in Kings Mountain were closed. Many of the churches in the area were closed on Sunday.
The usual procedure around here for a winter storm seems to be to hunker down and wait until the sun comes out and melts all the snow. Not a bad policy. The coming week is supposed to be sunny with temperatures rising all week. Tom and I enjoyed our snow days but we will be glad to get back to business as usual.