Winter Storm Xanto!

Winter Storm Warning in effect from Friday morning in Cheyenne, Morrill and Scottsbluff Counties! ~KNEB

A Thunderstorm 31 miles N of Sidney moving NE at 34 MPH. Winds over 40 MPH with Hail Pea to small marble size possible. ~KNEB Storm Center

Blizzard conditions expected today. Dangerous storm underway! ~KNEB Storm Center

“Life Threatening Blizzard Conditions Underway” per @NWSNorthPlatte in western Nebraska: Impossible travel conditions due to strong winds and heavy snow ongoing! STAY off the roads until #winterstormXanto lets up!!

“Wow Mom, where did this come from!”

In reference to storm on April 13, 2018! “Well son, I am not really sure.”

Well after the storm has cleared and we have daylight and days behind us, lets talk about where did Xanto come from and how the Circle L Ranch dealt with this monster.

We will be remembering Friday the 13, April 2018 for awhile. To be honest, this storm called:

Xanto,

hit us with a BAMMM!

Xanto started April 11, 2018 in with high winds from California to Utah and Wyoming as a jet stream disturbance dropped into the West. This storm also hit Utah and Montana. By April 13, rain and snowfall were reported in South Dakota and western Nebraska. Blizzard warnings were issued in South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. Highways and roads were closed. Xanto stayed into April 14 but slowly moved out of our country and eventually heading to the shores of western Lake Erie in Michigan. (Weather Underground) This storm had every thing in it including rain, snow, hail, sleet, freezing temperature, wind, thunder……What else is left!!?

Here’s our diary story:

Circle L Diary Entry: April 12, 2018

Our day started at 5:00 am. Breakfast of champions- cereal with milk for all the kids. We packed Kason’s lunch and Cody and I discussed our plan for the day. We discussed that the weather was supposed to change. Cody decided to lock all the heavy cows (Heavies-mother cows that are pregnant and haven’t had their calves yet) in a windbreak close to the barn and all of the pairs (Pairs-mother cows and their calves) he was going to feed in a deep valley protected by the wind. By feeding them there, they are more likely to bed down their calves and won’t drift with the storm causing the calves to get lost. Kason and Cade left a little after 6 so that Kason could catch the track bus heading to Sidney for a meet. The twins and I left about 7 am to head to school.

7:45 am- “Mom, my pickup is smoking,” Cade says on the phone. “What?!! Are you kidding me,” I say. “I will be there in a minute.” The moral of the story, Cade’s pickup blew the radiator. It was beginning to look like a great day to me. After calling the mechanic and getting the pickup to the shop, it was to late to head to Kason’s track meet. (I am thankful for moms that keep me posted about how my kids do, when I can not come.) I ended up working the rest of the day at the feedstore. Cody called with a list of feed, groceries and supplies that he thought we better pick up. The list looked like this:

Feed Store List: Calf Milk, Goat Feed, Old Horse Feed, 4-H Steer Feed

Grocery Store: Milk, Bread, Eggs, Peanut Butter, Mountain Dew, Coffee, Ceral and Snacks!

Coop: Fuel and make sure your car is full.

6:00 pm -I had a fairboard meeting. Cade and Kason headed home to start on chores. The twins went to the meeting with me.

I headed home about 7:30 pm. When I got home, I helped the boys finish up chores. We ate a fast supper of leftovers and headed to bed. Cody made it home about 11:30 pm.

Circle L Diary Entry: April 13, 2018 

It rained all night. I could hear it coming off our metal shed.

6:00 am – Phone rings- It was the school- NO SCHOOL!! NO blood drive (I was going to donate blood) and NO Basketball team meeting. We had breakfast. Kason and Ryder stayed home to do chores. Cody headed to Murphy’s which is a 6 mile, 1 hour drive. (Murphy’s is where most of cattle is.)

8:00 am- Called the vet to see if I could get a sick horse in to see a vet and also take Cade’s dog, Bear in to remove his staples from his ACL surgery. They said to head in.

10:00- 10:30 am – Cade, Reata and I made it to Alliance. The -+47 miles of dirt road took me 2 times the amount of time that it usually does. The roads were muddy and it was raining. By the time that we made it to the vet, it had started snowing. The snowflakes were big and full of moisture. I was thankful for all the moisture coming down. We helped the vet with the horse and we watched as they removed all 38 staples from Bear. We got word that the neighbors would be postponing their Saturday branding until Monday as well.

11:30 am: We ran to the grocery store and to the gas station while my horse was waking up from his medication. The snow was getting thicker by the moment. We headed south on the muddy roads, by this time, it was 4×4 all the way. By the time that I got 15 miles from the ranch, it was a blizzard. About 2 miles from home, I buried the pickup and the trailer in the mud and snow. It was hard to see anything. I tried to get unstuck but I was too deep. Cade and I decided that he would walk to the ranch house and get the tractor to pull me out. (Okay, I just want to put this right here, you can judge me as a bad mom but I had faith in Cade and in God,  that he would guide Cade to the house. The snow hadn’t quite filled in the trail road clear up and so he just followed the trail road to the house.) Cade brought the tractor and by that time the snow was above the running boards of the pickup. We made it home, got the horse put away and started on all the chores at home. We made sure that all the animals had some kind of protection from the winds. All the while, Cody was checking on the heavies to make sure nothing was calving. He finally headed home just before dark. He got stuck in the pickup, unloaded the 4-wheeler, got it stuck and then ended up walking a mile to the house. He made it on faith and prayers.

9:00 pm Supper and dry clothes.

10:00 pm – We all prayed together and asked God to watch over all our animals, our neighbors and friends and their animals and those that were affected by Xonto. We went to bed, not really knowing how much snow that was going to be left.

Circle L Diary Entry: April 14, 2018

5:00 am – I got up to take a look outside. WOW! I mean we really got the moisture.

6:00 am – Breakfast and we started chores. It was cold and windy and the snow was blowing. Cody and Kason headed to Murphy’s. Cade, Ryder and Reata and I finished feeding all the animals.

You see, Cade was going to a prom, so we were trying to figure out how to get him out. They ended up postponing prom.

Afternoon sometime: Cade, Reata and I headed to Murphy’s to help Cody and Kason. We packed our lunch and snacks.

I tell you what, seeing your calves and cows standing up right is such a good sight. There were all exhausted but all upright. Even the heavies held their babies in! We fed them fresh hay and looked around the hills. I spent the majority of my time scooping myself out of snow banks, lets just say that I did my workout for the month!!

Later afternoon and that night: We headed home. We finished more chores. Headed in for supper. We were all exhausted and tired.

Circle L Diary Entry: April 15, 2018 

5:00 am – Coffee

6:00 am – Breakfast

7:00 am – Cade and I headed to Denver and the twins stayed with Aunt Cary. Kason and Cody did chores and went to Murphys.

The rest of the story………………………………………………………..we are dreaming of all the green grass and pretty flowers that we know are coming.

It is continuing….our story…stay tuned for more diary entries.

Meanwhile, we are thankful for God’s protection of our animals and our family.

Xanto was a strong storm that really had its own path of snow, wind and everything in between. It left people stranded and without power and it tested all of our patience, all of our strength and made our everyday tasks a struggle.

When we headed out, about 7 miles down the road, there was hardly any snow. So it really was a crazy storm

Now I want to know, were you affected by the monster Xanto? I want to hear your story.

Happy Monday Friends!