Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 12/18/2009 5:59:52 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
A major storm was expected to bury the Washington region Saturday with what forecasters said could be the largest snowfall to hit the area in six years and the greatest December accumulation in more than 70 years.
Accumulations of 15 inches or more in the city and up to 24 inches in parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains were possible, according to the National Weather Service. The snow was expected to cause significant disruptions for shoppers, travelers and revelers on the last weekend -- and biggest shopping day -- before Christmas.
Especially large amounts of snow could accumulate southeast of the Interstate 95 corridor, where "paralyzing" near-blizzard conditions could occur, said AccuWeather.com chief meteorologist Joe Bastardi.
Snow was expected to start falling early Saturday and to increase in intensity all day, as bands of precipitation, fed by moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and driven by a cold northeast wind, sweep over the area.
Temperatures will remain in the 20s and low 30s, aggravated by gusty winds of 20 to 25 mph, the Weather Service said. The snow was not expected to taper off until Sunday morning.
Severe highway, rail and air travel disruptions were anticipated. Some airlines were canceling flights Friday, and authorities urged people to stay off the roads. Southwest Airlines said it was allowing customers using six East Coast airports to rebook tickets without penalties.
A state of emergency was declared in Virginia, where the National Guard was on alert to help with emergency transportation. In the District, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) declared a snow emergency, effective at 7 a.m. Saturday. All vehicles must be removed from the city's snow routes or they will be ticketed and towed.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The guy on the Weather Channel is no longer giving the DC estimate in inches, merely saying “One to two feet.”
Here in the Hyattsville/College Park/Greenbelt (MD) area we’ve got a couple inches on the ground already. It’s been snowing steady since about 9:30 pm ET. And this is just the warm-up for the Blizzard Warning later in the day.
Gonna be a long weekend.
Just had to give a bump to your comment.
Do you remember that big storm over New Year’s sometime late ‘80’s, early 90’s... It was over a foot of snow and then it rained on top of that and everything had a heavy crust on it? All the power lines came down because they were so heavy from being coated with ice, trees were snapping. We were living on a farm then outside of Raleigh and our power was out for three days. We couldn’t get water to the horses, so we had to haul buckets up from the pond. That was quite a storm.
I’m going to ping this, so I will remember it and give it a shot this winter (in either Minn or Wisc)
My only friend is Jack Daniels. :-P
milk. bread. toi-let pa-per.
milk. bread. toi-let pa-per.
milk. bread. toi-let pa-per.
It used to crack me up. I'd go to the store just to watch people freak out.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Yes, I do remember that storm. We were without power for about that long also. Bought a generator after that.
Ice is what we get so often here - not snow.
I can remember watching the night sky after an ice storm and seeing all the transformers blowing up - across the horizon - little flashes of light as one transformer after another “explodes”. Eerie and something I do NOT want to see again any time soon.
Sure glad you posted. The title is misleading because we’ve had deeper snows than this. But your post says DECEMBER. That is correct.
It started snowing lightly at Walter Reed about 9:00. By the time we left to go home around 10 there was about a 1/2 inch on the roads. For a normal 25 minute drive, it took us about an hour to get home.
Saw one accident happen. Some idiot, on a 3 lane road at 20MPH, did something stupid to make skid out. And this was on a perfectly strait, fairly level section of Georgia Ave by Leisure World for those who know the area. He broad sided another car. They were both going slow enough that I doubt there was any injures. We were traveling about 75 feet behind them and we were able to stay out of their path.
At the time of this post there is around 3” of snow.
[Mr] T
Looks like wind will be bad today in N.East - shiver. Hope everyone stays inside and stays warm!
Thanks for the first person report - and kudos to you for being at Walter Reed even in this weather!
Glad you stayed far enough away to not be involved in that accident and got home safely.
Whenever you see this - please give an updated report on the amount of snow there in DC area.
Stay warm!
Dang. The Senate just stasrted up at 6:45 AM this morning.
What a time for them to be heros.
Oh no!
But surely many won’t be able to get there???
They're there. I listened until Harry "the body" Reid started talking (nausea overcame me at that point and then I had to tune out)
BTW, the snow as of 0700 here (Laurel MD):
King Baraq will get the last laugh as he flies directly to his vacation hangout in Hawaii.
Wow - almost 4 inches already.
Too bad dirty Harry and the entire rogue’s gang is there. No I can’t even tune in.
If you can still stomach it - please report what is happening when you’re able.
Oooo - stay warm in Richmond!
All rain here in central NC. Thank God!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.