Sunday, March 14, 2010

Still Snowing


Had about another 6 inches of snow since yesterday, and more on the way.
On the bright side, the Norwegian football season starts today, so there's something to laugh at. The local team, Molde FK, have been appealing for volunteers to help clear 35cm of snow from the pitch.
When I lived in Shetland, a couple of inches of snow could make the whole place come to a standstill, if there was enough wind to drift the snow. Here in Norway the snow never drifts, it just lies still, but even large falls are cleared so quickly by the snowploughs that movement is never restricted. That, and a legal requirement to use winter tyres makes driving here easy.
The snowploughs here do a brilliant job, keeping roads, paths, and car parks clear. The reason the snow clearing operation is so successful is in the equipment the use. Normal ploughs and snow blowers on the main roads, and tractors on the smaller side roads. The tractors are contracted from farmers who would have the tractors sitting idle in the winter if it wasn't for the snow clearing. A lot of the tractors have double ploughs, like the one shown above.
There's also tractors with big trailers which dump tons of snow into the sea.

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