Area residents had a rare opportunity to break out the sleds, snowshoes, and snowboards, get out of school, and retry the old cold arts of making snow angels and snowmen — to enjoy a snow day. Although temperatures were bitter with a chilly wind accompanying the first storm, snowball fights could not be resisted by many. Perhaps carried on between the onerous chores of shoveling sidewalks and driveways, and cleaning windshields and car tops, a chance to stretch cramped muscles. Battle winners and losers, and shovelers alike, could be rewarded with the season’s traditional steaming mug of hot chocolate. 

Not only did northern Virginia get its first significant snow since January 2022 on Jan. 15, but the added storm on Jan. 19 brought the total snow yield for the week to an impressive three to five inches for the immediate area. 

Richard Cotton, of Springfield Glen, got hooked on creating snow sculptures over 30 years ago with his first, a large bear. 

 

With that amount of snow, and its powdery quality, the urge to make snow art was hard to resist. Drawn into the moment, were both beginners and accomplished snow artisans. Richard Cotton, of the Springfield Glen neighborhood, falls into the later category. He has been sculpting snow for fun, when snowfall permits, since he moved to his house in the early ’90’s. His first creation was a larger than man-sized bear that lounged between his garage doors. The retired program security professional has no formal art training but enjoys making snow sculptures more than doing chores in the house when storms keep him home. Starting with his first bear, his creation subjects have covered a wide gambit, including hearts with a built-in surrounding snow slide, a president, leprechaun, car with seating, dragon, train, a Japanese bridge with lanterns - everything and anything, except a traditional snowman. Cotton says, “Why be typical?” He shares that one of his favorites was the Statue of Liberty, complete with a candle lighted torch, so tall he needed a ladder to compete construction. Unfortunately Liberty’s arm succumbed to gravity soon after completion. 

This storm Cotton’s first creation is a pair of birds, inspired by his son’s inside pets. For the second storm, his daughter, a teacher at a Loudon County elementary school, urged him to create a Cardinal to represent the school’s mascot. He worked about five hours to form, and then color, the cardinal that now joins the original bird pair keeping watch over his front lawn, with the pet birds inside adding sound effects from time to time.

While warmer temperatures inevitably will claim this art, and all the other area snowman efforts, the cold is lasting long enough to keep those ice birds sentries in place for several days. Light ice is forming on area ponds and lakes leading nature’s real waterfowl to swim between ice patches. Feathers protect their bodies and their circulation system sends warm blood from their hearts to their feet in arteries surrounding the veins returning cold blood, keeping them warm, even on the icy ponds. Walkers braving the trails near them in sub-zero wind chills can watch with envy. With enough snow to cover seeds and nuts on the ground, song birds flocked to feeders, making observation of several species in a short period a snowy day pastime.

Will the winter bring more snow to our area in the remaining winter months? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts “wetter-than-average conditions “ for the Southeast from December through February, in part because of the El Niño in place for the first time in four years. Snow sculptor Cotton may need to come up with more ice subjects soon.