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 ...
LOL - Rex a dog hospital! LOL. Hope they treated you well.
Fox News now showing Greensboro NC - LOTS of snow there and it’s about 90 minutes west of here.
Wow - they really got zapped.
Not good - I have friends driving around to Charlotte tonight!!! Hope they get their safely....
If you had some vanilla flavoring and sugar you could make snow cream, don’t need bread for that though. Maybe it’s for french toast, lol.
No you said, the Airline needs to look out for the “R” word - ??? Didn’t know what you meant...sorry too much posting....
Fox news saying DC to get about 20 inches of snow!!!
And, New York City - Blizzard will shut it down.
As much as I’m enjoying the ecopolitical ramifications of this storm, I wish the best for the folks who have to deal with it. Drive carefully.
OTOH, I am loving the irony of Zero hurrying home to the deep freeze. LMAO. What a dork.
Not that I know of. I’ve looked at weather maps but not in this area. The sun actually came out today for the first time in a couple of weeks. Probably in the 40’s here.
Fox just confirmed that prediction of Blizzard in NYC....
Ugh.
Hope you will stay warm, not lose power, and have plenty of food/beverages.
Unk, I live in central NH, some times you get a lot of snow some times you get less, But in our town if the plows aren’t out after the first inch Selectmen do not get reelected.
I too feel for the people in the path of this storm. It can be very unfun.
Stay safe everyone - stay home - keep Freepin on!
But, were just a bunch-a-dumb-hicks in a Flyover State. Nothing to see here... *SHRUG*
Same here. We got almost four feet of snow the other day and not a peep out of ABC News about it.
I love this as Obama comes back from the Copenhagen climate conference.
Um, well, there is snow cream - I think it’s made with milk, snow, and sugar. I never was fond of it but some love it.
If you can’t get to a store for 3-4 days.....or your power goes out - how will you do?
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1003 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009
DCZ001-MDZ003>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-501-502-VAZ021-025>031-
036>042-050>057-WVZ050>055-501>504-190915-
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-
NORTHERN BALTIMORE-HARFORD-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-
PRINCE GEORGES-ANNE ARUNDEL-CHARLES-ST. MARYS-CALVERT-
EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY-HIGHLAND-
AUGUSTA-ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-FREDERICK VA-PAGE-WARREN-CLARKE-
NELSON-ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-RAPPAHANNOCK-FAUQUIER-LOUDOUN-
ORANGE-CULPEPER-PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK-FAIRFAX-
ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-STAFFORD-SPOTSYLVANIA-
KING GEORGE-HAMPSHIRE-MORGAN-BERKELEY-JEFFERSON-PENDLETON-HARDY-
WESTERN GRANT-EASTERN GRANT-WESTERN MINERAL-EASTERN MINERAL-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...HAGERSTOWN...FREDERICK...
WESTMINSTER...GAITHERSBURG...COLUMBIA...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS...
WALDORF...ST MARYS CITY...FROSTBURG...CUMBERLAND...STAUNTON...
WAYNESBORO...HARRISONBURG...WINCHESTER...FRONT ROYAL...
CHARLOTTESVILLE...LEESBURG...CULPEPER...MANASSAS...
MANASSAS PARK...FAIRFAX...ALEXANDRIA...FALLS CHURCH...
FREDERICKSBURG...MARTINSBURG...CHARLES TOWN...BAYARD...
PETERSBURG...EMORYVILLE...HARTMANSVILLE...KEYSER...FORT ASHBY
1003 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009
...RECORD BREAKING DECEMBER SNOWFALL FOR BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
METROPOLITAN AREAS BRINGING HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER TO THE REGION
OVERNIGHT AND SATURDAY...
TOTAL STORM SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 FEET ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR
IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREAS BY DAWN SUNDAY...WHICH
SHOULD ECLIPSE THE DECEMBER RECORDS FOR BOTH CITIES. THE RECORD
DECEMBER SNOWFALL FOR WASHINGTON IS 12.0 INCHES ON 18-19 DECEMBER
1932...AND FOR BALTIMORE TO RECORD IS 14.1 INCHES ON 12-13 DECEMBER 1960.
SHOULD ACCUMULATIONS EXCEED 14 INCHES...THIS STORM WILL MAKE THE
LIST OF THE ALL-TIME TOP 10 SNOWSTORMS ON RECORD FOR BOTH CITIES.
HERE ARE SOME HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER PREPAREDNESS TIPS...
1. TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED ON SATURDAY...AS CONDITIONS WILL
DETERIORATE RAPIDLY AFTER DAYBREAK. IF YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL SATURDAY IN
AN EMERGENCY...CARRY A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT WHICH INCLUDES A
CHARGED MOBILE PHONE...BLANKETS...FLASHLIGHT WITH EXTRA
BATTERIES...HIGH CALORIE NON-PERISHABLE FOOD...WATER...AND A SNOW
SHOVEL. KEEP YOUR GAS TANK FULL...AND AVOID TRAVELING ALONE. LET
SOMEONE KNOW YOUR TIMETABLE AND YOUR PRIMARY ROUTE.
2. IF YOU DO GET STRANDED...STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE. ATTEMPTING TO
WALK FOR HELP IN A WINTER STORM COULD BE A DEADLY DECISION. RUN
THE MOTOR FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES EVERY HOUR FOR HEAT. OPEN THE
WINDOW A LITTLE FOR FRESH AIR TO AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING.
MAKE SURE YOUR EXHAUST PIPE IS NOT BLOCKED FROM ICE AND SNOW.
3. IF YOU NEED TO USE A PORTABLE GENERATOR...FOLLOW MANUFACTURERS
INSTRUCTIONS TO KEEP THE AREA SURROUNDING YOUR GENERATOR WELL
VENTILATED.
4. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHOVEL SNOW UNLESS YOU ARE PHYSICALLY FIT.
HYDRATE YOURSELF OFTEN WITH WATER WHILE SHOVELING...AND TAKE
FREQUENT BREAKS.
5. MOVE PETS AND FARM ANIMALS TO SHELTERED LOCATIONS AND ENSURE
THEY HAVE PLENTY OF FOOD AND DRINK.
6. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL AND CABLE OUTLETS TO
STAY INFORMED ON THE PROGRESS OF THE STORM.
$$
LEE
Up here in WI, we would only be shut down for a day over this. Two tops. You should be asking Obama and Gore for some of that “GoreBull Warming”.
They’re trying to panic us - “historic”, “record-breaking”, but I was just looking at the Accuweather SE regional animated map, and there’s no way this is going to continue all day tomorrow. I’d be surprised if we still had snow at 9:00 am. I’m going for 6-8” here in western Fairfax County.
GW PING!!!!
Oh my! (snow on Christmas eve and Christmas where you are!)
Hope it doesn’t start til you get home also!
I cannot remember having snow here on Christmas day - but we did have ice one year.
17 inches in Asheville.
NWS predicting snowstorm for WI on Christmas Eve-Christmas Day.
Oh. I thought “the ‘r’ word” was fairly self explanatory, but maybe not.
Racist. Somebody’s going to toss the r bomb if the situation actually is as described. I’m not agreeing with that being done at all, but it’ll happen. That’s why US Air needs to wake up.
That airport isn’t in the city, it’s down I-26 toward SC. in a town called Arden. Could be that there aren’t too many nearby hotel rooms to begin with, and they’re full. If you’ve ever flown into Salisbury, MD, it reminds me of that airport, only slightly larger and surrounded by mountains. Just large enough for jet service.
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