Feb 19, 2003 2 min read

It wasn’t the emergency that those who scurried to the stores snapping up duct tape and plastic sheeting had planned. Nature rather than the beast attacked. We are still digging out from the first major snowstorm of this century – with some nearby places such as Seven Springs reporting more than 40 inches of snow. Our southern neighbors were walloped with ice and much more snow.

It could have been worse. The silver lining in this persistent storm cloud is thickened with blessings. The temperature wasn’t as bitter as we’ve experienced so far this winter. The wind was calmer. The snow was a lighter, drier variety, not the heavy, wet stuff that easily downs power lines and trees.

For the most part everyone stayed warm and dry. The timing couldn’t have been better as most people were scheduled to be off Sunday and Monday anyway in honor of President’s Day. And the storm petered out a half day earlier than the National Weather Service predicted.

There will be those who will grumble about the state of the roads and complain that main roads could have been scrapped better, of side roads that seemed untouched or plowed shut and back roads that were impassable. But consider the task of clearing a snowstorm that doesn’t let up. In the midst of the storm PennDOT’s Brent Blake offered this observation, “We plow a road open and by the time we turn around to come back over it, it’s covered up again.”

It’s a monumental task to move a foot or two of snow. The men and women who began early Sunday morning and are continuing even now to open roads deserve our thanks. If they happen by while your still digging out, raise a snow shovel in their honor.