Storm of the Century?

[kidsmoke]

well, I'm surprised to hear myself say this, but so far, this storm is totally living up to the hype. Trees bent over, entire house shuddering, everything a ghost town, white out conditions. 44 years between Michigan, the NH coast and Chicago, I've never seen anything like it, and I've been through several legit blizzards. Only question now is whether or not the snow totals will will be there. 9 pm is when the the heavy snow was to start. Already have 3 foot drifts next to frozen turf in the yard, and there was 3 inches over everything at lunch today.

It is utterly surreal.....:munch:

[Beerman]

I heard earlier today that Lake Michigan could possibly see waves of 18 feet! Wow! And almost 2000 miles of bad weather here and also in Canada. Plus the floods and Cyclone in Australia and those on a mission of conspiracy can say the world is starting to end.
I wonder how much the sun spots are involved but I really believe it's all cyclical and if you live long enough, these things happen. It's sure messing up travel across the country.

[sunvalleylaw]

Hang in there folks!

[kidsmoke]

....and I failed to mention....thunder and lightning!!

My gf and I just took the dogs for a 45 minute trek. bizarre world out there. Struggled to to help the only car I saw with lights on get unstuck, no dice.

Note to self, a hemi does no good when your front spoiler is so low it acts as a plow, and your turnin' 20's with 10" wide goodyear all seasons....

Saw a tree limb that had snapped off and crushed a malibu, making one of the neighboring alley's unpassable.

With the thunder and lightning, howling winds so loud you have to yell at a person 5 feet away, the constant sounds of sirens, and yet NO moving cars and no other people out, at 9:30!!! Keep in mind, I can see the Sears Tower from my house, i'm IN one of the worlds largest cities.

I predict a lot of October babies this year.

Cheers!

[Tig]

Check out the photos of the storm from space. This thing is HUGE!

[kidsmoke]

very cool satellite progression of the storm. thanks Tig

http://nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.php?MediaID=641&MediaTypeID=2

[Spudman]

October babies:rollover That really got me.

I got a little anxious today when I heard about the storm and then the cyclone in Australia...I was watching 2012 at the time. Seems like the world is ending as we know it. Hang in there Tio. It eventually melts.

[piebaldpython]

Yeah Tio.....I feel your pain. Over here in Philly, we are getting our dose of the same storm too. Being that the low will be to our West...we will be getting a lot of ICE here. About 1/4" in Philly and over 1/2" of ICE in our suburbs. Which means that power lines will be coming down. UGH...I am so SICK of snow/ice/cold/winter.

Yes, in comparison to DEAA living in Finland, this is nothing. But, being in Finland and Scandanavia....what do you expect? lol
This is 2 yrs in a row that we've taken a beating. I know there's grass under all of our snow, just that it would be nice to see it again.

[deeaa]

Oh I dunno, from the looks of it it's never that severe over here. Sure we can get a lot of snow but it never comes all at once, and hard storms are very very rare, especially in winter. And we never ever get like proper ice storms, just snow or sleet. Plus, people are used to it so it doesn't create such hazards.

What I'm seeing in news would be quite extreme just the same here in Finland as well, would definitely be called very severe.

BTW Tio what the hell is a 'malibu'? Unless you mean the Chevy..?

[Eric]

Interesting stuff. I must say, I think the ice storm here was overrated. The hardest part about coming into work today was getting to my car, which was parked on the street. After that, it wasn't half-bad; the roads just seemed wet.

TK, if you say it's worse than anything you've ever seen, I'm impressed. I was in the Chicago 'burbs 3 or 4 years ago at about this time of year for work, and I barely got in and almost got trapped there because of the snow. It was a ton of snow, and I'm from Minnesota, so I'm no stranger to the white stuff.

I personally like big snowstorms, but I think I like them best when the heat works and I don't have anywhere to be. Keep us updated with the latest goings-on, if you don't mind.

[oldguy]

Hope everyone's OK out there this morning.

The worst of it went east of us. St Louis looked terrible on the news last night. Interstates closed down everywhere, people stranded, airports shut down.

We pretty much stayed in, watched movies, and ate. Better way to pass the time than trying to get the pickup out of the ditch.:messedup:

[poodlesrule]

October babies:rollover That really got me.

I got a little anxious today when I heard about the storm and then the cyclone in Australia...I was watching 2012 at the time. Seems like the world is ending as we know it. Hang in there Tio. It eventually melts.

Spud, you need to read "Mother of Storms" by John Barnes.
Science-fiction, for now..!

(Every time I hear about methane coming out of permafrost, or arctic ice, or, like last Saturday, lakes, I freak out a little bit...)

[kidsmoke]

@ deaa, yes a Chevy! limb fell, partially crushing the roof and smashing out the rear windows.

It's the wind that made this so dramatic, along with the lightning flashing and tremendous thunder. Never experienced that. Snow totals at this hour are officially just over 17", with another band passing through now, supposedly a few more inches. The winds have subsided, and it is now more of a normal looking story. In 99, we got 22 inches overnight once, but it was simply fast falling light snow. This was a storm! This 110 year old 50' foot tall frame house was shaking all night.

In chicago, we don't have driveways, we have streets in the front, with the homes near the street, then alleys in the back, running parallel to the street. The garages, of course are on the alley, and street parking is illegal in my area. The alleys are completely impassable but for a hearty 4x4. Therefore, even if the streets get plowed, people can't get out of their garages and down the alley to use them.

My girlfriend works for the public schools, and I was laid off a couple of weeks ago, so we've got nowhere to be. I'm heading out to fire up the snowblower and clear the walks. It's absolutely beautiful.

It felt like "Day after Tomorrow" last night. It really did, what with the winds and sirens and lightning, and desolate streets. Simply the most dramatic storm I've been through, although not the greatest snow totals.

[sumitomo]

Thunder,Lighting and Snow Oh My!Man Tio it's time to head to OZ.Sumi:D Hang in there brother.

[piebaldpython]

During our snowstorm from last week......we had thundersnow too. Pretty cool sound effects from that. Added to the eerie-ness of the whole storm.

We had ice here. The streets are SO salted, that they were the safest place to walk. I take public transportation as I work near Center City. My pavement at home (7 AM) was a skating rink. Nearly took a nasty header. Slid over to the snow to start walking and then to the streets for a nearly 1/2 mile walk to catch the bus.

[Tig]

Thunder,Lighting and Snow Oh My!Man Tio it's time to head to OZ.Sumi:D Hang in there brother.

Hold off on the Oz trip... They are getting hit with a Category 5 cyclone in Queensland today!

Now we have a reason to not use the "global warming" label... I have preferred "climate extremity" instead, since it describes the whole effect better. I learned many years ago that a global warming trend would also produce colder winters. My meteorologist friends were right!

[pedalbuilder]

As is usually the case, Pittsburgh was spared all of this . . . strange location for such mild weather . . . I'm not complaining.

[Rockermann]

Lots of snow, blowing and drifting here in SE Wisconsin. Probably about 12 inches or so... Could have been worse from what I was hearing, but it's enough to cause most businesses in the area (including mine) to close for the day.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs278.snc6/180686_1778744198322_1530904783_31977183_2312560_n .jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs042.snc6/167216_1778745318350_1530904783_31977188_7996689_n .jpg

[pes_laul]

Yeah its pretty Brootal here. The snows up to my waist out in the country where I live. I dont even know where my car is now its so snowy.

I walked out to the road and its just a weird world out there

[Eric]

Lots of snow, blowing and drifting here in SE Wisconsin. Probably about 12 inches or so... Could have been worse from what I was hearing, but it's enough to cause most businesses in the area (including mine) to close for the day.
How tall is that fence in your backyard??

[marnold]

It was very windy up here last night, but other than the existing snow being pushed around a bit, nothing new. The storm was well south of here. My sisters in the southern part of WI and my folks back in MI are getting nailed though. My sister had a meeting in Chicago. I know the hotel she is in is right by the lake.

[Rockermann]

How tall is that fence in your backyard??

It's a five foot fence. Drifts are a good four and a half or more.

[ZMAN]

Not so bad here in Southern Ontario. Everything is closed and we had about 2 inches of snow. I swear if you listened to the Television you would not leave your house. I can see where it is hitting other areas bad but we had hardly anything. Everyone in Toronto is pissed because they closed all the schools. First time since 1999 and nothing happened. I cleared my driveway and a neighbours with my snowblower and it took me about 35 mins. I have an 80 by 20 driveway, and some of it was bare.
They say we might get more tonight but I am not too worried. It was funny watching all the local television "Snow Desk" anchors trying to justify all the hype they made about the impending holocaust. I feel bad about people in other areas who are not equipped for the snow. I heard that the city of Toronto has 600 snow plows and 200 salter/sander machines in action.
I can't imagine some of the more southern US cities having anything like that.

[Eric]

I feel bad about people in other areas who are not equipped for the snow. I heard that the city of Toronto has 600 snow plows and 200 salter/sander machines in action.
I can't imagine some of the more southern US cities having anything like that.
Nothing even close to that in my experience. Even in Philadelphia, where it snows pretty much every year, the city refuses to add a line item for snow removal to the annual budget. Every year.

I don't know if that speaks more to the idiocy of this city or the ill-prepared-ness of non-northern cities.

I think truly southern areas like Texas and North Carolina are even worse. An inch or two and they're done. Nobody knows how to drive in snow, the city doesn't have snow-removal equipment, etc. It's a mess.

[kidsmoke]

My sister had a meeting in Chicago. I know the hotel she is in is right by the lake.

Well then, this would have been her view when she woke up this morning.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/180503_1835437643040_1153412133_32163569_8109864_n .jpg


I swear if you listened to the Television you would not leave your house. I can see where it is hitting other areas bad but we had hardly anything. Everyone in Toronto is pissed because they closed all the schools. First time since 1999 and nothing happened.

That's been one of the surprising things, that everyone is touching on. The forecasters nailed it regarding Chicago, to a t.

[ZMAN]

Hey man I feel for you. We had that back in 77 and there was one section on one of the main highways that was a slight valley with a bridge. There was about 30 feet of snow drifted across a 1/2 miles sectiion and there were about 100 cars under the snow. Nobody hurt but the hightway was closed for 2 days.
Up here they are calling it "Snowverreaction." There is a whole section in the Toronto star about the "Non Storm of the Century". I live in the Niagara Penninsula and because of the two Great Lakes, Ontario and Erie we either get bombed or nothing. This time there was a little but just a regular snowfall. I was watching CNN and they said the storm streched 2500 miles across the US. The is one big MF of a storm. Right now it is crystal clear blue sky sun shine. Amazing

[hubberjub]

I'm actually really disappointed. Schools were closing in preparation for the storm and we were told to expect two plus feet of snow overnight. I woke up to less than an inch of accumulation. We've had a surprisingly mild winter in upstate NY. We're use to seeing a lot of snow every winter but so far it's been underwhelming.

[kidsmoke]

Right now it is crystal clear blue sky sun shine. Amazing

Same here, gorgeous morning, blinding sun, and -4 fahrenheit


We've had a surprisingly mild winter in upstate NY. We're use to seeing a lot of snow every winter but so far it's been underwhelming.

I have family in Oswego, been traveling there for 35 years to visit them. Only place I know that gets more snow than them is Calumet, upper peninsula of Michigan. Actually I've got family there as well, but have hardly ever visited. It's an entirely different culture in the part of the country in winter.

[NWBasser]

Now we have a reason to not use the "global warming" label... I have preferred "climate extremity" instead, since it describes the whole effect better. I learned many years ago that a global warming trend would also produce colder winters. My meteorologist friends were right!

Well, at least here in the PacNW, our winters have become much milder. Our number of freezing days has decreased considerably and snow is a rarity. Our winters seem to fizzle out in February. Last year, I was mowing my yard in February! The snowpack in our mountains has been decreasing as well. Glaciers are disappearing rather quickly in the North Cascades.

It seems that our summers are a bit rainier these days. Most of the changes that I've observed are consistent with the climate change models, but maybe at a faster rate than predicted.

[Tig]

Why I don't drive on icy roads in Texas!
Here's the recent map showing all the ice warnings and current traffic accidents in Houston. Everyone was told to stay home due to ice. I worked from home last night, which was a good choice!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5415953466_02f0697483_b.jpg

[Spudman]

Why I don't drive on icy roads in Texas!
Here's the recent map showing all the ice warnings and current traffic accidents in Houston. Everyone was told to stay home due to ice. I worked from home last night, which was a good choice!

We're used to driving on ice here, but wouldn't you know it, every year people forget the lessons from the previous year and we end up with ditches full of over confident drivers. Ice warnings would be helpful if we ever would get them.

[deeaa]

Whoa Rockermann, that could be right from my yard :-)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_6nk96PAbWiI/TUwleewqnLI/AAAAAAAADjs/e72ERT4_D6I/s800/IMAG0633.jpg

From this pic you see the driveway that has been reduced to a narrow path by now...I can still keep the car place clean enough but the rest, well it's enough so I can just get the bike out of the garage in the mornings.

The amount of snow accumulating this year is just ridiculous already. I simply can't haul the stuff away any more. See the driveway...I have to push everything from up there all the way down to where I shot the pic from by hand largely. I have a small snow plow but it's useless in anything but powder snow really. Give it a nightly snowfall of one feet and barely minus degrees so it's kinda heavy and wettish and it's useless. There's no place left up there any more, I have six feet high banks over and around the fence and to the left is the neighbor's yard, can't much haul the snow over there either. Hard work :-(

Roofs have already been cleaned from snow once this year, so there's anything from a few feet to four on rooftops. I haven't cleared mine but the winds keep the snowcap in about 4' max...it looks really dangerous in the spring when it's basically frozen solid. See the white fence in front? It's really sturdy, built of 2x4's with steel supports every 5 feet but it's been shaved clear off the terrace twice in the spring when the snow finally came down :-)

[sunvalleylaw]

Man, Deea, I am envious. We started out with a great set of storms and nice soft snowpack. But it has been a long dry spell now. I am hoping for the storms to come back around.

[deeaa]

Here's a video I shot with the cell phone on the driveway. I'm very lucky it's almost never windy or very stormy here in winter, seldom in summer too...that's all just the snow that's fallen there. If it blew in drifts---man, it could be bad.


https://picasaweb.google.com/aepheikki/Tyopoyta?authkey=Gv1sRgCJSmwOby3tbG-QE#5570201914551254178

[marnold]

OK, I'll bite. What does "Työpöytä" mean? I simply love excessive use of umlauts.

[Eric]

Work Desk?

[deeaa]

Yeah exactly; in this case 'Desktop', I suppose because the file was on the desktop Google named the album that.

Marnold, there's a whole lot of words with lots of umlauts...like 'päämäärätön' = aimless.

There's also lots of pretty long compound words like in german...like: kolmivaihevaihtovirtavikavirtasuojakytkinpistorasi aohjauskeskus.
That would mean a 3-phase AC power fault protected switching power outlet control panel. But the words are dealt with as single entities, not written and said separately like in english.

[marnold]

I love languages for just this sort of thing. It is endlessly fascinating to me. I feel bad for people who have to learn English as a second language, especially when it comes to spelling. Way too many words you just have to learn by rote.

[Tig]

This is closer to reality than you might think!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhHr7LCVQRw