victim of last nights storm....

[TorontoBuilder]

I was out shoveling during a thunderstorm so I wouldn't be faced with a massive job today.

I had to shovel a portion of the back yard (short dogs - deep snow), finished up and nothing was amiss, I went out to start shoveling the drive. About 5 minutes later I went inside after lightning strikes within close proximity, not wanting to get fried while trying to work up to a good heart attack. That's when I saw this victim of the wind gusts.

It was one of my favourite pines. Our resident red squirrel is going to be heartbroken too when he sees this. Good thing it toppled into the playground and not a block of townhomes. It is at least 35' tall.

 

[DavidR8]

That's a sad loss.
We're surrounded by large Douglas Firs and when we have a big winter windstorm we are always on alert for one of them coming down. It would be a house destroying event...

 

[YotaBota]

I've had a couple 80 foot firs come down over the last few years, no damage yet.
At least it missed your exercise machine.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

That's a sad loss.
We're surrounded by large Douglas Firs and when we have a big winter windstorm we are always on alert for one of them coming down. It would be a house destroying event...

I bet... our loss is tragic because we have so few pines in the immediate area and we get a little micro-habitat for a small red squirrel population.

We have plenty of crappy manitoba maples that are bigger and have been coming down the last few years but I dont mourn their loss nearly as much

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I think some of the cause must have been the snow load too... it was sticky and heavy. There must have been at least 4" thick on the branches. Wife's car had almost 8" on top and about 4" stuck to the upper sides.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Sorry for the loss. I love trees, but some are just problematic near houses etc. I have a large white pine that looms over the house on the prevailing windy side. It's top heavy as the lower limbs die off and fall. It's only a matter of time. It's a leaner towards the house too, or I would have taken it down already. I'm very confident in my tree felling ability, but this one is beyond me I'm afraid.

I have sized the sawmill I'm building to be able to mill it into beams for a timber frame .

I'm amazed we never lost any last night though, or lost the power. Twas a lot of snow. Was pretty light and fluffy when I went out earlier to blow it, but took a break for lunch and then went out to do the side road and didn't get very far once the sun warmed it up. Got heavy and wet in a hurry. We'll be snowed in for a while until the neighbor gets to it with the tractor.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Sorry for the loss. I love trees, but some are just problematic near houses etc. I have a large white pine that looms over the house on the prevailing windy side. It's top heavy as the lower limbs die off and fall. It's only a matter of time. It's a leaner towards the house too, or I would have taken it down already. I'm very confident in my tree felling ability, but this one is beyond me I'm afraid.

I have sized the sawmill I'm building to be able to mill it into beams for a timber frame .

I'm amazed we never lost any last night though, or lost the power. Twas a lot of snow. Was pretty light and fluffy when I went out earlier to blow it, but took a break for lunch and then went out to do the side road and didn't get very far once the sun warmed it up. Got heavy and wet in a hurry. We'll be snowed in for a while until the neighbor gets to it with the tractor.

Our power went as as expected. Port Union/Centennial area of Scarborough has tons and tons of trees, that were very neglected under a previous administration putting hydro lines in jeopardy. They got trimmed back after the big ice storm of 2013 but have grown back to the extent they now imperil power lines once again. Got luck though, the power was restored in hours rather than the usual day or more

 

[slow-poke]

We use to live along a river in Mississauga and we had lots of big trees mostly oak most about 50" but a couple very close to 100', came home from the cottage and one had fallen over, it looked fine but the ants had made a nest a few feet up. It fell across the overhead telephone lines, snapped the telephone poles in half. The fire wood lasted quite a while.

We also hade some really tall pines 100 footers and a relatively small branch about 4-5" diameter broke on a ice stormy day, not very far up perhaps 30' it came down pointy end first and went right through the 2x6 deck board it hit.

About every 10 years the city would come in a cut down the dead trees that looked dangerous in the forest behind our house, the pines would come down relatively peacefully but the oaks would make a huge whomp sound and shake the house.

 

[PaulL]

I've had a couple 80 foot firs come down over the last few years, no damage yet.
At least it missed your exercise machine.

I had one come down at the cabin a few weeks ago. The very tip of the tree came down on the truck. No damage, thanks to the top of the tree being whippy, but the thing is a good 24" across as the base, and squished another 3 smaller trees on the way down. Still cleaning up the mess.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I had one come down at the cabin a few weeks ago. The very tip of the tree came down on the truck. No damage, thanks to the top of the tree being whippy, but the thing is a good 24" across as the base, and squished another 3 smaller trees on the way down. Still cleaning up the mess.

So aside from the usual sea level rise and earth quake worry I have to be mindful of treefalls if I move to the greater victoria area for retirement.

 

[DavidR8]

So aside from the usual sea level rise and earth quake worry I have to be mindful of treefalls if I move to the greater victoria area for retirement.

We have parks here along the coast of the island that close in high winds because of the potential to be hit by falling branches.

 

[Susquatch]

My bride and I went walking after the last ice event here in Iceland Ontario. We had to walk looking up cuz the branches were coming down all around us.

But it was REALLY BEAUTIFUL!

My home is between sections of Carolinian forest. We listened to gun shots all night along as the branches broke and cannon shots as the tree trucks broke. Lots of firewood this coming summer.

The most common sound in the area right now is chainsaws and chippers.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

My bride and I went walking after the last ice event here in Iceland Ontario. We had to walk looking up cuz the branches were coming down all around us.

But it was REALLY BEAUTIFUL!

My home is between sections of Carolinian forest. We listened to gun shots all night along as the branches broke and cannon shots as the tree trucks broke. Lots of firewood this coming summer.

The most common sound in the area right now is chainsaws and chippers.

That's some vulnerable habitat, so any losses are bad.

 

[Susquatch]

That's some vulnerable habitat, so any losses are bad.

That's very very true. Not much old growth Carolinian Forest left any more. And it is not just the trees. It's all the birds and critters that live there too. At least there are very few nests this time of year. Hawks & Eagles nest early, but we have none in our forest that I know of. There are bald eagles on the side concession though. I should go and see how their nest fared.

 

[6.5 Fan]

To bad about the tree. I don't have those problems, caragana hedges just flatten out and aren't tall enough to hurt anything.

 

[Dabbler]

I was in Burlington Friday/Saturday, and I had to shovel about 2000 sq ft of driveway. I learned how easy we get winters in Calgary.

 

[trlvn]

I was in Burlington Friday/Saturday, and I had to shovel about 2000 sq ft of driveway. I learned how easy we get winters in Calgary.

Your timing was impeccable!

Honestly, I've lived in Oakville for 30 years now and that snow was the most water-logged goop I've ever seen. OTOH, if it had been light and fluffy, we would have been up to our necks!

Craig

 

[Susquatch]

Your timing was impeccable!

Honestly, I've lived in Oakville for 30 years now and that snow was the most water-logged goop I've ever seen. OTOH, if it had been light and fluffy, we would have been up to our necks!

Craig

You asked for it. We aim to please!

Light and fluffy it is. The forecast was over a foot but that has backed off to just 6 inches now. The real problem will be the wind. 6 inches of fluffy light snow can become 10 foot drifts in the blink of an eye.....

Thought you guys might like the comparison between ice and light fluffy snow. Spring is just 10 days away!