In Coming…

That weather I mentioned, is apparently on its way. According to our on site meteorologists, it’s going to be a doozy.

Before the storm we had to move all our equipment from the airfield to our shop. That means driving the machines ten (give or take) miles. We groomed the road as we drive back to the transition. I understand bringing the equipment in, but the groomers, I’m not sure why! Maybe they get less buried at the transition than they would out near the airfield. It took about an hour to get to the transition, the place where the ice and land meet. We dropped the groomers there and brought the tractors to our shop.

I’m excited for this storm. It’s called a “herbie”, combination hurricane and snow storm. The winds are supposed to get into the 70’s MPH with sustained winds in the 50 MPH range. Looks like we won’t be working for a day or two. Then, after the storm, a mad dash to get the runway and road ready for the next flights… which are also going to be delayed due to this storm. But yes, excited for it!!

After the storm we have to make sure there’s no packed snow around moving engine parts; the fan, belts, drive shafts, etc. Apparently the snow gets itself everywhere during a storm.

But it’s Tuesday. The storm rolled in Monday afternoon. It’s supposed to last until the end of today, maybe into Wednesday. We are currently in a Condition 1. Which means we stay inside our buildings. I’m lucky and my dorm is attached to the galley, so I have food. For those in other buildings that didn’t plan ahead, hope they have made friends that’ll share!

The wind is blowing the snow so much so that visibility is less than 100’. From what I’ve been told it doesn’t technically snow here, we are in a desert. The snow blows in and drifts. I can’t wait to see how much work will need to be done after the storm. As I’ve said, we have several flights that were delayed previous, and now delayed further with this storm. So getting them here ASAP will be important. 

On a side note, I can send and receive mail. It does take a long time for mail to come through. It’s last priority on the aircraft’s, which is where the delay comes. Letter size mail comes faster than oversized or packages, those can take months to arrive. If you have an interest in my address here, please text me and I’ll respond with my address.