10:13 a.m. Good morning.

This is the view of our front yard/street at 8:30 a.m. (This would be a great I-Spy picture: can you find a car by a tree?). We’ve already measured 24+ inches of heavy, heavy snow, and it’s not supposed to end for another 8 hours. The sustained winds are blowing at 20-35 miles per hour. This storm is on track to be the worst snowstorm in Baltimore’s history. The greatest unofficial storm happened in January 1772, when George Washington and Thomas Jefferson recorded in their journals, separately, that 36 inches of snow fell in both Baltimore and Washington.

We are fortunate to still have our power. Between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., we lost power on three separate, brief occasions. What made it flicker, and how it came back on, we do not know. No need to question the gift of electricity, though. Our friends have been without power since 3 a.m., and they were without power for nearly 24 hours during the last storm. They are just one family comprising the ever-growing statistic of 126,000 power outages in the Baltimore region. It is possible that, in the next 24 hours, that number will double, if not triple. Temperatures are in the mid-20s and will continue to fall to 14 degrees or lower in the evening. Sustained winds of 15-24 miles per hour will create a wind-chill index near zero degrees.

We’ll head out in about an hour and begin the long and arduous process of digging out. I don’t foresee taking the Jeep for a ride before 4 p.m., if it will even be possible then.

I will post pictures of the dig-out, and if we’re fortunate to get the Jeep on the road before sunset, I’ll do my best to get photos of how the rest of Baltimore looks.

Until then, we are grateful for the comfort and safety of our home, and our thoughts and prayers to those around us who are doing their best to stay warm without electricity. Feel free to post updates from your area in the comments section of this post.