Posted on 01/22/2005 4:04:20 AM PST by SamAdams76
Well all the stops have officially been pulled out by the weather prognosticators. They are on a "war footing." The Northeast is getting a true BLIZZARD this weekend. Not a "nor'easter". Not just your basic snowstorm dumping 6-10 inches in Boston and New York with a mix and changeover to rain along the coast. No! We are talking 20-30 inches of windblown powdery snow in many locations with no chance of a mix with or change to rain whatsoever.
The temperatures are currently running zero or below zero across most of the Northeast this morning so the cold air is in place and fully entrenched. With the high winds expected with this storm, This will be a true BLIZZARD.
So as I sit in the epicenter of it all (my area is expecting over two feet of snow), I thought I'd start this thead so that Freepers can give us reports of how conditions are in there area. And you don't have to be in the Northeast to participate as this storm is currently affecting Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia as it heads to the East Coast where it is expected to undergo what the weather nuts call "bombogenesis" and literally explode into a superstorm as energy is transferred over the comparatively milder Atlantic Ocean.
So there you have it. Even in areas where plenty of snow falls this time of year, you have people running to the supermarket early this morning to "stock up", as if somehow a few feet of snow is going to stop all commerce and transportation for the forseeable future (the reality is that we should be all shoveled and plowed out by Monday morning no matter how bad things get).
The local TV stations around here have gone absolutely bonkers, as they are wont to do. It's even more extreme this year because TV "broadcast" stations are struggling to maintain their relevancy in a high world of internet, satellite radio and many other distractions that consumers have these days.
Weekday "anchors" are being rolled out of bed early this Saturday morning as they throw on their hairpieces and head to the studios for all-day "wall-to-wall" coverage of this blizzard. Seasoned reporters are being sent to Home Depots where people are already nervously buying shovels (even though they likely have 7 or 8 shovels in their garage already) and supermarkets where silly old ladies are buying gallons of milk (that they normally never drink) and loaves of bread (that they will never eat and end up throwing to the birds). Other reporters will be sent into the streets to do interviews with snow-plow drivers and "public safety" officials. More junior reporters are being sent to the sides of highways for liveshots where absolutely nothing is going on presently. But they will stand there nevertheless, filming the traffic going by and commenting on "how dangerous" this highway will be in just a few more hours. Then when the storm hits, these same reporters will retreat to rest areas where they will continue their liveshots as their cameramen instruct them to "sway in the wind" and "hold on to their hats" to help convince the viewers at home that the storm is severe indeed.
Yes, it's going to be a fun weekend in New England and the Northeast in general. But the beauty of this is that is is on a weekend. If we are going to get a true blizzard, the timing just couldn't be much better. We are able to get our normal errands done on Saturday morning and then in the afternoon, we can retreat to our homes and stoke up the fireplace as the snow moves in. Then tomorrow (Sunday), we can sleep late and take our time shoveling out. Then we have a perfect excuse to sit around the warm house all afternoon watching football as THREE out of the four teams still playing are all in the snow-bound Northeast. The ratings ought to be phenomenal, provided the power doesn't go out.
So post conditions in your area here.
Outside my home (approx 30 miles northwest of Boston near the NH border), it is -11 degrees! It is daybreak and the skies are mostly clear with some high clouds. It is COLD out there, almost too cold for snow. But it's coming, at least that's what they tell me!
Shoot, Sam,
I live 2 hours south of Chicago - we got a little snow - enough for the plows to run. Haven't heard what Chi-town got. We're supposed to have pretty good winds today, which will make for dangerous driving out in the country around here - everything is flat (this is corn and soybean country) so folks out there will have a hard time finding the road, what with the snow that was already underground.
You guys are scheduled to get more white stuff than us, so I suggest you stock up on that excellent beer you represent, rent some great movies, throw the logs on the fire and have a great football weekend. Best of luck to our freeper buds in the northeast (ps: my sailboat's tucked away up in coastal Maine, so I guess a part of me lives in the northeast as well. She's all snugged in to her boat shed and can therefore weather anything.)
Best of luck, Sam. -- E
Oh, and by the way, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
Its 16 degrees here in Northern VA. No snow yet but they are calling for 6-8 inches now after saying 3-6 yesterday. I hope we get a foot.
Southern Tier NY/Northern Tier PA is expecting 10 to 20 inches. The good news is that it'll likely be the powdery stuff, which is easier to shovel. The bad news is that due to the wind chills expected, below zero, we may turn into popsicles trying.
How about them SeaDogs!!
...and it's Bush's fault.
South Central Mi at dawn..
11 degrees, snowing nicely, with about 3 or 4 inches on the ground..wind NNE 12-13 mph..
Blizzard??
no..
Oh, by the way, spent winter '82-'83 in Fairbanks....this is all child's play considering....
-2 here in Chappaqua..This is all Hillary's fault..She responded at the inaugural, when asked if she would run for the WH in 2008, "when hell freezes over"
Good heavens. I'm getting cold just thinking about that here in Oklahoma. I think I'll go turn my thermostat up!
I think about all the elderly people and the ill who can't afford heating oil or electricity. I hope they all have someone looking out for them.
Hey GRRRRR,
Down here in Champaign we've only got enough to run the plows once. S'posed to get a bit more today. You guys got hammered. I'm flying out of O'Hare on Monday. Hope they have it all under control by then. Which north suburb are you in?
Headline is incomplete..can we please add "Global Warming Alert"
Stay warm.
Outdoors. Here's a link to the story at ESPN:
I've noticed that Freepers from the Midwest rarely start urgent weather threads.
It's SNOW people. No school on Monday. Yippee!
-12 here in upstate NY, no snow yet...
Darlin',
Is that wind chill or actual temp? How far north of Bangor are you?
Southwest Ohio (Greater Cincinnati area) reporting in. Snow and drizzle were expected to start here in the early AM hours ... overcast and drab, low ceiling, but nothing in the way of percipitation, at least, not yet.
I had an apartment about 3 miles from the office and my car wouldn't budge. Our 'drop-dead-beautiful' receptionist had a Honda Civic and offered me a ride home.
Sheeit... we got to a package store and I told her to stop while I ran in and got a bottle of wine. By the time I got back, the Honda was 'bottoming-out' by the the quickly-accumulating snow... we barely made it to my apartment before it came to a dead stop.
The events that happened later were right out of a Penthouse Forum article. Budda-boom!
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