Snow!
Starting yesterday afternoon, Oxford was hit by a large snowstorm that has deposited more than ten inches of snow all over the city. As Canadians, we’re not too impressed, and we’re used to snow storms like this. Oxford, however, is not. Back home, there exists the infrastructure to clear snow – from shovels and sand to salt and snowplows. Of course, it snows enough that things like that are a worthwhile investment. But here in the UK, it only snows once or twice a winter (and hasn’t snowed like this in anyone’s recent memory, apparently), and the snow goes away on its own within a day or two.
This storm, which the media have named “Whiteout Wednesday,” seems like it will be a bit more problematic. For one, it’s going to stay cold for the next few days, and is supposed to go down to -10°C tonight, which is almost unheard of. According to this Daily Info page, the coldest it has ever been in Oxford is -16.6°C (in 1982). If the cold keeps the snow from melting, I think it will be many days before things go back to normal in Oxford. Of course, the rest of the country has been hit by the same storm, so the few snowplows that must exist somewhere in the UK are probably either stranded or already spoken for.
We awoke this morning to a very quiet city, with few people bothering to get up to go into work (and probably not being able to, even if they wanted to). In fact, we’ve heard it said several times that snow in any amount is a perfectly acceptable reason to not go into work in the UK. Most buses weren’t running, especially not on hilly routes. In the middle of the street in front of a house, pranksters had left a giant snowball, probably rolled all the way down the hill from central Headington.
In the end, we both went to work. I took the long way in, stopping through Headington and South Park to get some nice photos of the snow. I went downtown (to the “city centre,” as they say) to take some more photos during my lunch hour, and will be posting them soon. South Park was full of kids who had the day off from school, and there were easily 40 or 50 more giant snowballs scattered around the park’s hillside, too.
Everybody at ecoVeritas made it into work today, which, we agreed, was quite an achievement. At the Ashmolean, they were severely short-staffed, and had to keep parts of the museum closed.
During my photo expedition at lunch, I noticed that almost everybody had a camera and was taking photos of the snow. Unlike most days, when the camera-toters one sees around town are tourists, these were all Oxonians, who will be talking about this storm for many years, I’m sure. As I crossed Magdalen Bridge, I had to dodge snowballs being thrown, during the breaks in traffic, by impromptu teams on either side of the road.
While the snow is indisputably inconvenient, spirits were certainly high in Oxford today! I think it’s partially a sense of helplessness (“well, we might as well make the most of this”), but also because it provides a chance for people to act like kids again. Ori and I saw so many snowmen all over town today. When it snows in the UK, they enjoy it as much as they can!
I’ll post photos of the snow as soon as I finish editing the ones I took in Germany over Christmas.
This storm, which the media have named “Whiteout Wednesday,” seems like it will be a bit more problematic. For one, it’s going to stay cold for the next few days, and is supposed to go down to -10°C tonight, which is almost unheard of. According to this Daily Info page, the coldest it has ever been in Oxford is -16.6°C (in 1982). If the cold keeps the snow from melting, I think it will be many days before things go back to normal in Oxford. Of course, the rest of the country has been hit by the same storm, so the few snowplows that must exist somewhere in the UK are probably either stranded or already spoken for.
We awoke this morning to a very quiet city, with few people bothering to get up to go into work (and probably not being able to, even if they wanted to). In fact, we’ve heard it said several times that snow in any amount is a perfectly acceptable reason to not go into work in the UK. Most buses weren’t running, especially not on hilly routes. In the middle of the street in front of a house, pranksters had left a giant snowball, probably rolled all the way down the hill from central Headington.
In the end, we both went to work. I took the long way in, stopping through Headington and South Park to get some nice photos of the snow. I went downtown (to the “city centre,” as they say) to take some more photos during my lunch hour, and will be posting them soon. South Park was full of kids who had the day off from school, and there were easily 40 or 50 more giant snowballs scattered around the park’s hillside, too.
Everybody at ecoVeritas made it into work today, which, we agreed, was quite an achievement. At the Ashmolean, they were severely short-staffed, and had to keep parts of the museum closed.
During my photo expedition at lunch, I noticed that almost everybody had a camera and was taking photos of the snow. Unlike most days, when the camera-toters one sees around town are tourists, these were all Oxonians, who will be talking about this storm for many years, I’m sure. As I crossed Magdalen Bridge, I had to dodge snowballs being thrown, during the breaks in traffic, by impromptu teams on either side of the road.
While the snow is indisputably inconvenient, spirits were certainly high in Oxford today! I think it’s partially a sense of helplessness (“well, we might as well make the most of this”), but also because it provides a chance for people to act like kids again. Ori and I saw so many snowmen all over town today. When it snows in the UK, they enjoy it as much as they can!
I’ll post photos of the snow as soon as I finish editing the ones I took in Germany over Christmas.
