More Abominable Winter Weather

The day dawned at a reasonable 20 degrees with lightly falling snow. But by the time I got outdoors to do the chores, the temperature was plummeting, the light snow had turned to blizzard-like conditions and the winds were howling and gusting fiercely. I got the cows inside for some grain and it was clear that they'd been enduring foul weather:

After finishing their grain, the cattle went back outside to the hay bale feeder, fighting the mighty winds and driving snow the whole way:

They clustered downwind of the hay bale in an attempt to find whatever shelter they could:

The hay bale supply was going to be frozen to the ground and covered in ice:

Visibility was severely reduced and I could only aim my camera away from the driving winds. Many shots were simply not possible, at least not without ruining my camera lens:

The north field was iced in and the snow was blowing and driving in great gusts and what appeared to be "snow devils," whirling mini-storms. But mostly the snow just blew across the field:

I threw down some old, disgusting bedding hay after cleaning the manure. The cows ran back in to eat it instead of the newer hay out in the storm. I had to shoo them back outside several times. When I realized the storm would not die down, I relented and left the barn door open so the cows could take shelter indoors:

I put the dogs out briefly, where they were somewhat protected by the house:

But poor little PeeWee had to struggle against the fierce winds just to come back indoors. I thought I might have to help him, but he made it inside on his own:

Once indoors, where my gloves were drying over a heat vent, I could see the wind velocity outside had increased even more, producing near whiteout conditions:

This video shows what it was like when I went up into the hayloft to throw down some bedding hay. I could hear the winds howling and see the snow being forced up through the eaves into the loft. It was a dramatic demonstration of the power in a winter storm:


As I went back into the house, I turned my camera back toward the barn to record the awesome wind and driving snow:


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