The Hoop House Survived the Snow...just barely

Yesterday's storm began with rain and even some hail. It quickly changed over to sleet and then to heavy, wet snow. We even had some 'thunder snow'!

This morning, there was three to four inches of snow on the ground. It was beautiful.

Our horses fared quite well and were in a playful mood.

The big news is that the hoop house survived. Amazingly! I had foolishly hoped the pitch of the hoop would be steep enough that snow would slide right off. It didn't. 

The PVC pipes bent, but didn't break. Once I brushed off the snow and big pools of heavy slush, the hoops rebounded.

After about an hour, they were back in a 'hoopish' shape again.

It's been snowing again this afternoon. Since the temperature is below freezing, the snow is light and dry this time. So far, the hoop house is shedding the snow, but I'm keeping a close eye on it. The forecast is for another 5"-8" of snow tonight, so I will have to continue to monitor the situation closely.

As is typical for Colorado weather, temperatures will rebound into the 60's over the next four days. Once it warms up, I will add some internal vertical braces for the hoops. It's too cold to open the hoops up now. Hopefully, it'll hang in there for a few more days!

It might help keep snow from building up if I stretch the plastic more tightly over the hoops, too. I may add a couple of purlins for extra stability.

Oh, I did sneak a peek into the house. It was considerably warmer in there than outside. I was impressed at the temperature difference. Maybe I'll get a remote sensor thermometer so I can see just how much warmer it is in there.