On January 25, it started to snow. It was just a gentle looking non-threatening snow with tiny little flakes. The t.v. stations kept saying that we were going to have this huge amount of snow. It didn't seem possible with these tiny little flakes. Well, it snowed and snowed and snowed and when it was over we had 13.5 inches.
Mike Swanson came up during the storm and ploughed the lane. Mike suggested putting some support posts under the dome of the temple. Leela dragged 3-12 foot 4x4's through drifts of snow from the shed to the studio. Dale was able to bring the 10 foot ladder with his tractor to the Temple and they wedged them into place under the lip of the dome.
Soon the blizzard began. By the time the storm ended we had another 12 inches on top of what we had just received a few days prior.
The weight of the snow on the temple roof was a huge concern. To top it off, another storm was predicted ... wave 3. We elicited suggestions from various architects. The solutions ranged from the very elaborate and expensive and impractical to Steve Kelley's down to earth suggestion: just remove the snow. Dale and Leela thought the snow was too dangerous to try to remove. But Steve said he could do it. He said "just shovel it off".
Steve came over on Feb. 4th. Leela strapped on Alaskan snowshoes and took 15 minutes just to walk from the house to the temple. The wind was bone chilling. With a big smile, Steve and Dale came to the Temple with plastic shovel and a long handled squeegie. Steve climbed up on the roof and then proceeded to tie a rope around the dome. Then he tied the rope to his waist.
Feb. 6th we got another 9 inches but the crisis was over.