Valentine's Day Storm 2007. 

The storm is by no means over yet as this is written the morning of Feb 14; many hundreds of schools are closed, hundreds of miles of roads and highways are either impassable or officially shut down.  Ohio State Highway Patrol this morning reported a ten mile stretch of Route 10 had (possibly) as many as a hundred cars and trucks stranded in snowdrifts; yesterday afternoon there was a 25-vehicle pileup on I-71.  Early this morning when we went outside to clear the driveway for my brother's departure for work, almost all yesterday's work had been undone.  More than sixteen inches of snow are now on the ground -- but the sustained 20 MPH wind with gusts near 40 MPH keeps the snow already deposited on the move.

Barometric pressure has dropped from about 1026 mB yesterday mid-day to around 1008 mB now, showing the deep low pressure associated with this classic Panhandle Hook system.  Of course, this same massive system caused at least one tornado in New Orleans; spring-like weather threats have thus hit the southern half of the US East of the Mississippi River, while the Northeast gets shut down by blowing and drifting snow, very considerable wind chill and very low visibility.  At the moment (about 6:30 AM) official weather sites are giving the ceiling at 1100 feet, visibility at three quarters of a mile, although in fact at times visibility has been sustained at a quarter mile with occasional periods of practically zero.

I took a few pictures this morning in the latter stages of snow removal here at home.  The digital camera, not being a weatherproof style, was almost immediately too wet for further use.  Luckily it's OK and yielded what you see below.
The two photos at left were taken approximately twenty seconds apart; the upper one was taken without flash, in order to show details of the mostly-removed drifts.  The drift beside my truck is actually the smallest one in the yard; others are over five feet.  This one has been kept low by the wind being able to move the snow over the hood and into the side yard.

The lower photo was taken (as mentioned) immediately after the upper, standing in the same spot but with flash.  When I brought the camera out, I realized that the flash would not penetrate the snowfall, and so took the upper photo pointed toward the lighted garage.  I looked at the screen on the camera and noted that it appeared as if it were no longer snowing, so I set the camera for auto flash and took the second shot knowing fully that the flash would reflect off of the falling snow and obscure the distant details -- but the two pictures together give an idea of the overall conditions encountered everywhere for hundreds and hundreds of miles this morning.
This photographs above show the garage; this photograph shows the side of that garage, which faces roughly south.  The drift in the foreground is approximately four feet deep, on the LEE SIDE of the garage, while the barely-visible drift along the fence at the rear of the yard is probably on the order of three or three and one half feet.
No, this is not a "ghost photo" but rather a BLIZZARD photo.  It was taken looking out of the same garage shown above, toward my truck, and was snapped just as a very large gust of wind came up and blew a whole mass of snow into the air.  This gust-driven snow, coupled with already falling snow, the discharge of the snow-thrower being operated by my sister-in-law Michelle and the exhaust from the snow-thrower combine to give this eerie and really COLD LOOKING shot.
The photos above were made around 6 AM or so.  Television news indicated the approach of the last heavy snow band a short while ago, and the following shots were made just as it arrived at about 9:30 AM.
Deep snow pyramid created from snow removal.  The drifts beside the garage (not shown here) are approaching five feet; four to six inches has either fallen or blown back into areas cleared at 6:30, or just three hours before.  News reports indicate many roads and highway entrance / exit ramps closed due to drifting snow and / or vehicles trapped in snowdrifts.
View up our street, looking roughly north.  All vehicles parked on the side of the street are snow bound, some with drifts and plowed snow up to their roofs.  Taken just prior to the heavy snow band hitting.
On the right, a shot taken from exactly the same position but with direction reversed to look the other way, or approximately south, down the same street.  This shot was taken just as the heavy snow returned -- note the loss of light apparent in this shot. 

Most homes have snow drifted up to, or over, their front porches.  Normally by this time on a week day there are only one or two vehicles parked on the street; in this scene, the owners are either off work due to call-off or closures or else have been unable to free their cars.  A few were unable to start their cars.
More shots, taken 11:00 AM on Feb 14, 2007 as my sister-in-law and I re-cleared the drive and drive apron so that she could go to work.  I'm off work today, and staying on snow watch to ensure the plows don't re-bury the bottom of the driveway (again!)
Photo duplicating one in the earliest set, with snowfall ending.  Drift at left probably four and a half feet.  Drift by fence much deeper than before.
I helped the neighbor's kids digging out the green sedan parked in front of our house, which earlier was totally snowbound with several foot drifts all around and snow packed tight underneath.  Michelle is standing by the pile created from this and from half of the driveway apron.

Drivers up and down the street are presently freeing their cars, and several people are out shoveling or if they've been wise enough to buy one using a snow-thrower.
Interesting natural snow drift in side yard, with peaked "curly-Q" top.  The tip of this drift is probably, again, about four and a half feet, maybe even five feet.  We didn't want to trudge over there to find out!
Above, Michelle in driveway showing that snow beside home immediately North is now so high that no more can be deposited; it simply falls back down.  Right, our best friend, Dave's snow-thrower, taking a break.  (For you techno nuts out there, it's a Yard Machines, 4.5 HP Tecumseh Snow-King motor, single-stage with electric start.)  At least one homeowner was seen using a massive two-stage machine, throwing snow all the way out into the street since he'd run out of room on his own property!  Even with this much snow, a single-stage machine like this is enough IF YOU KEEP UP and don't wait'll the snow quits to attack!
Many people in other places had conditions much worse than this; some had better.   These shots are just a tiny bit of our experience with this storm, which (probably) a million people or more will remember for a long time to come.