I got 13-14", which wasn't much compared to other parts of the state. Even so, it took 2+ hours for my wife and I to clear the driveway. This was only the 3rd time I've used the snow blower I got before last winter. The two previous times were ~4", so this was the first real test. I got one of the higher rated electric (corded) ones and it was a real effort. I think the one benefit over shoveling is that it doesn't tire out your arms as much (just your legs and abs). It seems to be almost as much effort. The forecast shows low 40's for the rest of the week, so hopefully that will melt most of it. I've got my first trees coming in in less than a month, so I don't want this to stick around long. Unlike Mrs G, I didn't see any damage whatsoever to my trees. I guess it stayed cold enough to be snow and not ice them up. Also, I think that there was a lot less wind than predicted.

nice whaas, novaplant, and rispetto! novaplant, looks like those horses are riding the storm out! we're finally getting some snow here today, it's been a while Pinus strobiformis in pot on left, Picea pungens in ground on right (Helianthus maximiliana, tall plant in middle)

Josh, This is from another site. I had always been just a bit skeptical of the fact that snow contains nitrogen. My research when I was first asked this question back in the late '70s -- which I don't need to remind you was pre-Internet and Google -- failed to turn up any reliable data confirming what I considered to be just another gardening wives' tale. Well, it turns out not only snow, but rain as well, contains nitrogen compounds that were suspended in air as they formed. It is estimated that 2 to 12 pounds of nitrogen are deposited per acre as a result of snow and rain. Most of this nitrogen comes from emissions as a result of burning fossil fuels and industrial manufacturing. The rest comes from lightning fixing atmospheric nitrogen, which makes up 70 percent of air, as I recall. In fact, it seems the amount of nitrogen in snow and rain has increased dramatically since industrialization and the advent of the automobile. One study I read indicated that by the 1980s the amount of nitrogen deposited in the Colorado Front Range was 30 times greater than it was before the Industrial Revolution. Another study says that this number has since doubled. Granted, to a chemical gardener, 2 to 12 pounds per acre is not that much nitrogen when one considers the suggested rate of application is 3 to 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet. (An acre has 43,560 square feet). But in more and more areas, particularly along rivers and in watersheds, the nitrogen from rain and snow, particularly when snow melts in the spring, has been enough to cause serious changes in the ecosystem. Add to this studies that show an increase in nitrogen mineralization -- uptake by microbes a la soil food web -- in tundra areas when there is snow cover and it becomes clear that snow falling in your yard can be counted for something, especially if you have not damaged your soil's microbes with harsh chemical fertilizers. No wonder the old wives' tales called snow "the poor farmer's fertilizer." Here is a link that might be useful: Poor Farmer's Fertilizer

SE Wisc: Someone turned of the "snow switch" at 3 pm this afternoon. The forecasters are predicting 4 to 6 inches. I know it will be more than 4 inches becasue we have that much right now. Its messy to deal with, but we need the gound moisture. It'll be good for the winter wheat and hay grasses planted last fall. My backyard deer herd appeared early this evening to brouse. They usually come around at midnight or later. Today, they apeared at 5 pm - it was almost dark and snowing. There are 7 in this herd and all came out tonight. Often, only a few at a time apear in the open with the others staying under cover.