Spring flowers are on the way!
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!
Fine looking boys!
Spring flowers are on the way!
That looks very nice. A nice koi pond would fit in quite nicely.
I lived in the LA area for 26 years, then moved to Tennessee, ou have no idea what represive heat is until you live in the South. But, then I promised that I wouldn't whine about the dampness here anymore after what you all went through a few weeks ago.
My son finally showed up to snowblow us out and he's having a grand old time. The wind's really howling and the snows really blowing but he loves to actually get a chance to use his snowblower! He's off to Grandmas now!
Hot and dry is nice. I lived in China for 7 years so believe me, I know what hot and humid is all about (99 degrees and 100 percent humid).
On the Koi, I have my hands full with the gardening around here.
I tried to go out there and the snow is blowing back in my face *lol*
More birds to pick them off out there too
This was a really good thread.
Thanks for starting it....enjoy your football!
Heck no. I'm not going out there either! My son really seems to be enjoying himself. So am I. Reading the Sunday papers, having coffee and checking FR! Life is good :)
hey you forgot the mailbox!! Gonna shovel that out??
Here in West/central MA we got at least 18 inches, again hard to tell with the drifting and blowing of the snow.
I made my second half hearted attempt, and I think I'm going out much later *lol* I rather sit here drink some coffee and read the news, maybe make fun of Katie Kouric's dress one more time.
late last night, it was clear that the cape and coastal mass, conn, ri, was going to get the worst of it. NYC and most of long island missed the big punch from the coastal low, it stayed south and east before it hooked north. I wonder if that 30" prediction for the cape is going to hold up, I think it is.
yup, there are pockets on the north and south shore that got 30+ inches. the bad news is that it's going to be here for a while. Tonights windchill is expected to be -20 to -30.
This was a fun thread, a joy to see how things were going across the country. Thanks for starting it.
Yep, I remember the '77 Blizzard. It was definitely worse than '78 or '93. At noon at work in Newark, NY we were told a blizzard had hit Rochester and was heading our way at 50 mph. We were told to leave at once, unless we lived more than 15 min. away. I had to stay. The power and heat went off as soon as the blizzard hit. There was zero visibility.
Around 6 p.m. there was slight visibility. A co-worker who lived 1/2 mi. from work took me home with her. After we got in her car there was zero visibility again. It took us nearly an hour to get to her house. To contact my husband, I had to walk to her next door neighbor's to use the phone. Again, I lost visibility part way there. I can see how people can freeze to death in their own front yards. That night the house shook, and somehow it snowed through the walls.
Ever since, when I hear the word "Blizzard," I respect it completely. And Buffalo got it way worse than we did. Many deaths of people trapped inside cars, weren't there?
Lucky Dog! Speaking of Dogs, mine won't even go out to relieve herself! It's so cold out that the snow is crying!
(Wags finger at Renee for enraging "Mr. Snow.")
-good times, G.J.P.(Jr.)
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