NORTHEAST BLIZZARD - Live Thread - January 22-23 2005

[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!

[dirtboy]

Just doesn't seem very blizzard like to me...

Let's see how strong the coastal storm gets. Snow alone does not make a blizzard - it takes a lot of wind as well. And this snow is dry enough to blow and drift quite readily.

[cyborg]

Yeah you're right. All of it will drift right up against my door and car! LOL

[ProudVet77]

I am a bit younger than you

Sometimes I feel like I'm older than dirt. :)

[JLO]

"WOW...that's some picture,but it isn't nearly as bad as the blizzard that hit New York City in 1888 and my great grandmother lived through that one.The drifts were 15 feet high."
===

LOL!! Just wait a minute. I'll find some photos of a Duluth storm back about the same time frame, where people exited their homes from their chimneys! If I can find the pics again, that is!

My state storm can beat up your state storm.............LOL

I hope everyone is safe and warm, at home. I'm sure the blizzard out east is terrible to endure.

You talk inches "Not to be too picky,but a few years ago Conn. got close to 200 inches"

Some of us talk FEET of snow.

[nopardons]

Okay...what's 200 inches in feet? SIXTEEN FEET,8 INCHES.

This wee blizzard is supposedly going to dump close to three feet on me,in 24 hours. :-(

[ProudVet77]

At least those terrorists will have to drive in this stuff to bring their bomb to Boston. Or have they blown it already and this is the nuclear winter?

[ladyjane]

I met a woman from Iran whowas married to a man in Boston in 1978. She arrived in Boston in February 1978 to finally meet the man who would be her husband. Actually he already was her husband, the ceremony happened back Iran two weeks earlier. She had never seen snow, not to mention that she had never seen her husband. Her new husband kept saying "it never snows here like this" and she was on the telephone non-stop with her mother back in Iran saying "the snow is a foot high" and "the snow is up to the window" and "the snow is over the window"

[ventana]

My wife tells this story of going out one morning after a huge snowfall and seeing a guy in a gorilla suit cross-country skiing down the middle of a pristine and deserted fifth ave.

[t_skoz]

best regards from snowy Penfield...

;-)

[Mr_Moonlight]

"You haven't lived till you've walked throught 8" of snow, barefoot, in 13° weather."

Ahhhh yes ... so then I have lived ... of course it was at ski resorts, but the principle is the same :) Outdoor Hot Tub, where ya gotta walk thru inches of snow in yer barefeet to get to the Tub .... pure Heaven :)

btw --- Long Island report here: 8" on the ground now but seems to be tapering off a bit currently. Not sure when its supposed to pick up heavy again for the overnight, but will be ready with plenty of firewood and 2-cycle snowblower fuel for tomorrow's big dig .......

[SamAdams76]

Well I've had enough for the night and I'm going to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and shovel. We have somewhere around 10-12 inches on the ground right now here in Chelmsford, MA and the heaviest snow bands are yet to come! I don't think I'm going anywhere tomorrow except my driveway to shovel. Then I will watch football rest of day. I'll let you all know tomorrow how much we ended up with.

[ProudVet77]

The good news is that if we lose power the beer will stay cold :)

[JLO]

Okay...what's 200 inches in feet? SIXTEEN FEET,8 INCHES.
===

Actually, according to my calculator, 200 inches divided by feet, would be about 5.5 feet of snow.

But, hey, I'm no math wiz, nopardons.

[dirtboy]

Sometimes I feel like I'm older than dirt. :)

No, you're not.

[ventana]

I don't think I'm going anywhere tomorrow except my driveway to shovel.

I feel guilty. This is the first time I ever contracted out to a landscaper to come plow out my driveway when it snows. He's already been by once to move the first 10" so out of the gate he's more reliable than my former snow removal system (the one that went off to college).

How ya been, Sam?

[nopardons]

Your calculator is broken.Twelve (there are 12 inches to a foot) into 200 will give you 5.5 feet in some other universe. LOL

[SASsySIGster]

well, here in Connecticut, my mom's got the kids for an overnight, and my husband wandered off to play poker with the boys. Blizzard? Whatever. We each have one of those Gas Guzzlin SUV's that the prius drivers have so much of a problem with, but if I run out of hot cocoa, I can get to the grocery store. They're stuck with hot water.

Who's the sucker now??

[SASsySIGster]

well, here in Connecticut, my mom's got the kids for an overnight, and my husband wandered off to play poker with the boys. Blizzard? Whatever. We each have one of those Gas Guzzlin SUV's that the prius drivers have so much of a problem with, but if I run out of hot cocoa, I can get to the grocery store. They're stuck with hot water.

Who's the sucker now??

[SASsySIGster]

sorry about the double tap

[Jim Noble]

I'm going to bed as well, the dog just refused to go out!

Central NH: 2F, 28.90 falling, 15 mph NE wind, about 4" on the ground.

Stay warm, stay safe, check in in the AM if the power's on.