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!
It'll be interesting to see how much the coastal low affects the Philly area. I'm thinking that the western Philly burbs won't see much more snow. But it really won't make that much of a difference, because we have nine inches of powder on the ground already and nature will have great fun blowing it around later tonight and tomorrow.
There is someting to be said for traveling underneath the ground in a subway.
"(FYI, our acting governor is Richard Codey, for those of you who are about to make any McGreedy plowing comments. rofl.)"
Phew! Just think, if we'd had a storm this bad a year ago, we'd have to deal with having ONLY the back roads plowed.
Qwinn
Is it just me, or does this storm look like it might move off so fast that the by the time it "wraps around", New England will only really catch the tail?
Calibration? Here's Concord: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KCON.html
Thanx.
I wonder if this means I shouldn't go in to work in the morning...
eastern mass (boston, but especially the cape), eastern long island, eastern conn and rhode island, are going to get hit hard by the exploding coastal low as it moves northeast just offshore.
Its still warm-ish and smoggy here in Hollyweird.
Started to pick up here in Scituate, on the coast. Six PM Snowing a little heavier and the wind which was calm this afternon is now picking up. - Tom
"...my daughter is going to have to miss her date...."
Oh, the humanity! How old is she? Mine is 19, she came home from college for Christmas and spent the entire time "acting out" how big, bad, and grown up she is now. Ohmigoodness I hope she gets over THAT by the summer!
I know the area, I was born in Loma Linda, raised at Lake Elsinore, lived in Temecula, Moreno, Corona, Riverside, Redlands and joined the Navy in San Berdo in '47. :)
Hope you have plenty of beer, so you can "become one" with your environment! ;-)
GO PATS!
Yeah---get this, we lived on 1221 W. Chase,(7300 North) literally 50 FEET from Lake Michigan. Next door to our apt. bldg. was a Day School with a large side yard, then the rocky shoals of Lake Michigan, with a little dead-end guard rail at the end of Chase, and some very jagged rocks, with the water lapping up over them during the summer, and solid ice in the winter. The "lake effect" was in effect both winters we lived there. It was brutally cold on our street. I recently downloaded KEYHOLE for a free trial from Google and was able to get a heartbreaking aerial view of the street, and the lake, and the whole package from 25-26 years ago. Try it. BTW , I knew a lot of people (girls, girlfriends,etc.) who were prodigious enough to have gone to Latin School.
Staaaaaay hoooommmme, Dog!
Youuuu muuuuusssst staaaay hoommmme.
Waarrrmmm aaaannd saaaaafffffe.
Foooooootbaaaallllll.
Late to the party, but I had to comment. I lived in Chicago in '79 on the Near North Side and was a six year old student at the Latin School at that time. We still have pictures of the snow piled five feet high in our yard! You can imagine the scope of such an event for a six year old. Unbelievable.
That's one of the reasons I have loved the blizzards in NYC - they bring back those early childhood memories (I left Chicago at 13). This one is doing the trick. :)
"Snowstorm with lightning?"
I've seen one since moving to New Jersey. Also we get the ice storms here that you never get in New York City. Awful. I remember days where it's like the world is coming to an end.
In Maine - Had about 12" a couple of days ago. (on the coast) Hurricane wind expected with anywhere from 12-24"...ugh!! cold. If the cable goes out Tomm., I'll be pissed. Big pats fan!
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