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John Campopiano's alter ego has been a staple of the winter season since he first decided to don a yeti costume and go walking around in the snow seven years agoWe catch up with the Boston Yeti to talk about being a Boston winter legend, his children’s book plans and if we will see an official Yeti sidekick out there in the future. Boston residents know that a local legend makes their way out in the elements when the snow starts falling. And a blizzard means you might just see the beloved Boston Yeti on the prowl. John Campopiano, aka...

Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency Friday in light of the winter storm expected to pummel the Eastern Seaboard with snow throughout the weekend's start. The order will take effect at 5 p.m. Friday and includes a commercial vehicle travel ban. Murphy urged all residents to stay off the roads if possible. "We expect low visibility and tough travel conditions," Murphy said at the Friday morning press conference. "So, let’s leave the roads empty for crews to do their jobs."

A powerful nor'easter moving toward Boston could bring snowfall totals high enough to break previous January records, with more than 2 feet of accumulation possible. The largest snowfall in January in Boston took place back in 2015, when we had 24.6 inches of snow; the largest snowfall ever in the city was President's Day weekend 2003, with 27.6 inches of snow. Those records may still be standing Saturday evening, but there's also a chance they are both broken. Greater Boston will likely see between 18 and 28 inches, and some pockets could even see more than 30 inches where the...

How close would a solar and wind-dependent power grid have come to giving us the electricity we needed during the three-week freeze in Alberta where the average temperature was -22 C from Dec. 15 to Jan. 9?... Alberta needs a supply of about 10,500 MW (megawatts) on average, said Mackay. If they are running at maximum capacity, solar can provide 736 MW and wind 2,269 MW.... If we had been reliant on far more solar and wind, how would we have done? “You’d have to start with rolling blackouts or brownouts,” Mackay said. “If we lost the bulk of our...

A Florida man was charged Thursday with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the U.S. border in what authorities believe was a failed crossing attempt during a freezing blizzard. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said Steve Shand, 47, has been charged with human smuggling after seven Indian nationals were found in the U.S. and the discovery of the bodies. Court documents filed Wednesday in support of Shand’s arrest allege one of the people spent a significant amount of money to come to...

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard, the developer behind Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, for $68.7 billion. This deal, which is the most expensive acquisition in Microsoft’s history, will make Microsoft the third-largest game company by revenue behind Tencent and Sony. But more importantly, it will kick off Microsoft’s venture into the metaverse.

Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard, the publisher and associated developer of many titles including the Call of Duty franchise. Announced today on an Xbox Wire post, Microsoft has agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard, which includes the development teams at Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, and Treyarch. Microsoft's purchase is set to cost $68.7 billion. Microsoft has stated that Activision Blizzard will operate independently until the deal is complete, but Phil Spencer does note that once the deal is complete...

The Omicron COVID-19 variant is about to infect millions of Americans in a “viral blizzard” of cases, a leading expert has warned. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota, highlighted data from the Big Apple as proof that “outbreaks are starting to occur” from the worrying new variant. “I think we’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday. “In the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus,” he said, citing...

That headline is correct, there is a blizzard warning out for parts of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Of course, most visitors to the park on the Big Island won't have to bundle up unless they're planning to scale Mauna Loa, and that's not being advised. According to the National Weather Service, Mauna Loa's summits can experience winds of 100 mph this weekend along with 12 or more inches of snow. "Blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times, with periods of zero visibility," the agency said. "The strong winds will likely cause significant drifting of snow." At the park, officials...

Dozens of customers who stopped for a drink at Britain’s highest altitude pub got a longer stay than they bargained for, after the building was cut off by a blizzard. Sixty-one people woke up Monday after their third night at the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales, 270 miles (435 kilometers) north of London. They have been unable to leave since Friday, when a late autumn storm brought snow and heavy winds that felled power cables and blocked roads. The pub sits 1,732 feet (528 meters) above sea level and is used to being cut off by bad weather....

Millions of people living in the Midwestern region of the U.S. received their first blizzard warnings of the season on Thursday, NBC News reported. Parts of northeastern South Dakota and western Minnesota were issued blizzard warnings on Thursday. Both areas are part of “Blizzard Alley,” according to NBC News. November blizzards are a rarity; the last time there was a blizzard warning in November was in 2016 in South Dakota, NBC News noted.

In Western universities and board rooms, souls are cheap. But Jimmy Lai's is not.In Hong Kong right now, Jimmy Lai is sacrificing all — his fortune and possibly his life — for his God, his fellow man, and for freedom.Lai is a billionaire, although he wasn’t always one. Born two years before the Communists defeated the nationalists in China’s civil war, his father fled and his mother was sent to a labor camp when he was a young child. Carrying bags for train passengers and getting by as a street vendor, he first tasted freedom when a man from British...

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Many, if they were alive 40 years ago this week, can remember exactly where they were and what they saw between Jan. 25 and Jan. 27, 1978. The most devastating winter storm to ever hit Ohio moved in during the early hours of Jan. 26 and battered the state for three days, breaking records and wreaking havoc on the roads, on homes and even in the skies. “If you lived through it, you might remember the huge snowdrifts,” said Fox 8 Meteorologist Scott Sabol. “We haven’t had wind chills like that since.” On Jan. 25, it was...

This is when all this covid sh!t started.

For all of you in the path of this week’s Nor’Easter and still digging out, allow me to offer an alternative to ongoing snow removal: Follow the panda’s lead and do your best to enjoy it.Let them give you a little boost and maybe we’ll all make it over hump-day. Just hang in there a bit longerand it will soon be spring. Maybe we’ll be able to get together with our friends and family again without social distancing, perhaps even go out for a meal as a group again.Which will of course still be dangerous, as this panda-emic is here...

The January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American winter storm, also called the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard,[14][15][16] was a powerful and historic winter storm, situated around the United States and Canada on Groundhog Day.[14][17][18] During the initial stages of the storm, some meteorologists predicted that the system would affect over 100 million people in the United States.[19][20] The storm brought cold air, heavy snowfall, blowing snow, and mixed precipitation on a path from New Mexico and northern Texas to New England and Eastern Canada. The Chicago area saw between 1 and 2 feet of snow and blizzard conditions, with...

The company's communities are in chaos and US senators are taking notice, following the suspension of a pro 'Hearthstone' player who declared support for Hong Kong's protest movement. Outrage at Activision Blizzard is mounting after the company suspended Hearthstone pro Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai for declaring his support of Hong Kong’s protest movement. Fans are mad, U.S. politicians are angry, and there’s evidence that even Blizzard’s employees are upset. United States Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) both tweeted their condemnation of Activision Blizzard’s actions on Tuesday. “Blizzard shows it is willing to humiliate itself to please the...

A weather whiplash is predicted to hit people in the Rockies and Plains this week, as conditions go from balmy to blizzard overnight. The high is predicted to be around 80 degrees in Denver and other cities Tuesday — but within 24 hours, blizzard conditions are forecast, the National Weather Service says. "Warm today. Snow tomorrow," says the NWS office in Denver and Boulder, Colo., predicting temperatures that could hit record highs Tuesday — followed by rain turning to snow, in a blast of cold air that will ride winds of 40-60 mph on Wednesday. For many central U.S. residents,...

Historic Great Plains Blizzard Turns Deadly In Colorado A huge blizzard continues its destructive path today (March 14) across the nation's heartland, after a brutal hit in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska on Wednesday. Heavy snowfall, record-breaking winds and whiteout conditions became dangerous and deadly. The storm was even hard to handle hundreds of miles away where skies were sunny and the air was warm. The Damage Done The blizzard made it nearly impossible to drive safely, but, unfortunately, this didn't stop people from trying. In one instance, it took the life of a man in uniform. According to the Colorado...

Blizzard conditions are rocking communities in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming today as an intense low-pressure system rapidly strengthens on the central Plains. The storm became a “bomb cyclone,” a scary-sounding term that refers to how quickly the storm intensified. The low will be responsible for a variety of foul weather across the country over the next couple of days. The WPC's surface analysis for the central Plains at 10:00 AM CDT March 13, 2019.NOAA/WPC The low-pressure system over southeastern Colorado had a minimum central pressure of 970 millibars as of the WPC’s surface analysis at 10:00 AM CDT, which is...