Snow shoveling 2026: I did it wrong

[Anonymous]

A plow cleared the street which is great. It also left a nice wall of snow blocking the entrance to the driveway which is not so great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A plow cleared the street which is great. It also left a nice wall of snow blocking the entrance to the driveway which is not so great.

Same. Mine is 18 inches (wider road). It no longer matters what I cleared earlier or how I did it. I am never getting out of here.

[Anonymous]

I don't think any of the salt was helpful. And isn't it bad for the environment?

My neighbor salts religiously and did it twice yesterday. She hurt her back so I shoveled her sidewalks this morning. Her's was worse to manage than my own that I didn't salt. Her ice blocks were thicker.

[Anonymous]

Calling this even a #sleetsnow. I have never had such a hard time with it before. I would walk a step and suddenly drop 8 inches through the crust

[Anonymous]

We learned that we shouldn't have shoveled all the snow before the ice came. Ice was hard to shovel, as OP found out. The areas where we didn't shovel much had a layer of ice on it, but underneath, it was snow so it was easier to shovel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Calling this even a #sleetsnow. I have never had such a hard time with it before. I would walk a step and suddenly drop 8 inches through the crust

Ugh the sudden, unknown drop is the worst. It doesn't hurt but I dread the drop for some reason

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Minnesota. He shoveled first thing yesterday morning then again around 2pm, then salted. We still have a glacier of ice in the driveway. He has been out there for 3 hours this morning chipping away at it. He has given up on clearing anything except the driveway (no sidewalk, sorry).

With all due respect, MN snow isn't like this icy, wet mid-atlantic snow

The DC area does not normally get accumulating ice and sleet. It just doesn't.

This was closer to a midwest (not upper north central states like Wisconsin and Minnesota) but actual midwest ice storm (Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska) minus the sleet.

DC born and raised and this area is infamous for nasty frozen mush. We never get a beautiful snow. It's always sleet, freezing rain, ice storms

[Anonymous]

Op, you are over salting. You used 50 lb of salt in a few hours. That should be lasting most of the whole winter season. Shovel, then broadly sprinkle some de-icer on the porch steps and front walk way. No need to heavily salt your back deck—who’s going out there right now? Use the salt more sparingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Minnesota. He shoveled first thing yesterday morning then again around 2pm, then salted. We still have a glacier of ice in the driveway. He has been out there for 3 hours this morning chipping away at it. He has given up on clearing anything except the driveway (no sidewalk, sorry).

With all due respect, MN snow isn't like this icy, wet mid-atlantic snow

The DC area does not normally get accumulating ice and sleet. It just doesn't.

This was closer to a midwest (not upper north central states like Wisconsin and Minnesota) but actual midwest ice storm (Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska) minus the sleet.

DC born and raised and this area is infamous for nasty frozen mush. We never get a beautiful snow. It's always sleet, freezing rain, ice storms

No it is not.

This is the first real ice/sleet storm in DC in decades.

This area does not get ice storms.

They get huge nor'easters with a foot plus, or little wimpy snow falls.

Rarely does the DC area get anything that is even remotely a real ice/sleet storm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Minnesota. He shoveled first thing yesterday morning then again around 2pm, then salted. We still have a glacier of ice in the driveway. He has been out there for 3 hours this morning chipping away at it. He has given up on clearing anything except the driveway (no sidewalk, sorry).

With all due respect, MN snow isn't like this icy, wet mid-atlantic snow

The DC area does not normally get accumulating ice and sleet. It just doesn't.

This was closer to a midwest (not upper north central states like Wisconsin and Minnesota) but actual midwest ice storm (Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska) minus the sleet.

DC born and raised and this area is infamous for nasty frozen mush. We never get a beautiful snow. It's always sleet, freezing rain, ice storms

DC dors not get ice ice storms or accumulating sleet.

This storm was very unusual for this area.

[Anonymous]

We did not salt until today, and had the same issue as you, OP! We shoveled twice yesterday, then again today — today’s was icy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Minnesota. He shoveled first thing yesterday morning then again around 2pm, then salted. We still have a glacier of ice in the driveway. He has been out there for 3 hours this morning chipping away at it. He has given up on clearing anything except the driveway (no sidewalk, sorry).

With all due respect, MN snow isn't like this icy, wet mid-atlantic snow

With all due respect, DC doesn't get ice storms.

They get wet snow that melts then refreezes overnight.

This storm was not typical for DC. It was closer to a midwest ice/sleet storm and not at all like a mid Atlantic snow storm

[Anonymous]

I’ve never seen a storm like this in 60 years here. Sleet for 12 hours straight is not at all typical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never seen a storm like this in 60 years here. Sleet for 12 hours straight is not at all typical.

Are you a climate change denier?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never seen a storm like this in 60 years here. Sleet for 12 hours straight is not at all typical.

Good, because that didn't happen.