PDA

View Full Version : More Global Warming on Tap...



riffjim4069
02-02-2010, 03:13 PM
Well, after having 18-inches of global warming dumped on us in the DC area last month, it looks like we may get another 3-6 inches this evening...and perhaps a larger dose of global warming this weekend. Of course, this is after we were warmed with a toasty 9-inch white blanket of global warming this past weekend.

My back is starting to hurt from shoveling all the aftermath of global warming. ;)

tigerfan33
02-02-2010, 03:21 PM
I think one of the funniest things was several years ago when Al Gore's movie came out (forget the name), he got cancelled on a big speaking engagement in New York.................due to a blizzard.

Jim. Don't you know the correct term is "climate change" :D

riffjim4069
02-02-2010, 03:46 PM
I think one of the funniest things was several years ago when Al Gore's movie came out (forget the name), he got cancelled on a big speaking engagement in New York.................due to a blizzard.

Jim. Don't you know the correct term is "climate change" :DApparently not...:D

lakebum431
02-02-2010, 08:22 PM
Haha, nice post! :D

riffjim4069
02-03-2010, 03:11 PM
Yikes! I was just served a weather advisory asking us to prepare for a winter storm with snow expected to be in excess of 12-inches here in the DC area. Not a problem...I love snow - the more the merrier.

navychop
02-03-2010, 08:08 PM
But it'll be warm snow. :rolleyes:

riffjim4069
02-03-2010, 11:04 PM
But it'll be warm snow. :rolleyes:Positively balmy...:D I noticed the weather experts (and I use that term loosely) are calling for a stong likelyhood of 12-16 inches and a possibility of 20+. Personally, I am tired of shoveling.

lakebum431
02-04-2010, 08:15 AM
Wow, I don't think I could handle living with what you northerners get for snow. I think snow is beautiful and love to see it 1-2 times per year as long as it goes away in a day or two ;)

Skyhi
02-04-2010, 08:26 AM
Yikes! I was just served a weather advisory asking us to prepare for a winter storm with snow expected to be in excess of 12-inches here in the DC area. Not a problem...I love snow - the more the merrier.

The Mid-Atlantic States are getting the storms that the Midwest/Great Lakes usually get because of El Nino. In a typical Winter, these big storm systems start in the SW, make a turn, and usually ride up the spine of the Appalachians. Because of El Nino, they're not making the turn and the Mid.Atl/NE is getting hammered. Where I am, east of Cleveland, we're way below normal this winter for snow. I just hope the pattern changes before Winter is over, because I love big snow storms.

Skyhi
02-04-2010, 08:29 AM
If the current Models stay on track, KY/TN/DC/Balt might get hammered again next Tues/Wed, so watch out. Fortunately (for me), recent runs have trended the system North. Nothing beats tracking storms......

HD MM
02-04-2010, 10:06 AM
The Mid-Atlantic States are getting the storms that the Midwest/Great Lakes usually get because of El Nino. In a typical Winter, these big storm systems start in the SW, make a turn, and usually ride up the spine of the Appalachians. Because of El Nino, they're not making the turn and the Mid.Atl/NE is getting hammered. Where I am, east of Cleveland, we're way below normal this winter for snow. I just hope the pattern changes before Winter is over, because I love big snow storms.

I don't mind the snow, but hate the dryness in the air and the bitter cold.

riffjim4069
02-04-2010, 01:04 PM
The weather experts have uppped our expected snowfall total to 16-24 inches. Plus, they are expecting another storm to his next week (Tuesday-Wednesday). Gotta love it.

navychop
02-04-2010, 04:47 PM
<sigh>

Already lost one doc appt. Now might lose the resked for tomorrow. Two miles from an emergency room, if worse comes to worse. Glad to have a 4WD pickup that both of us can drive. Ought to show son how also. That ought to take, oh, 30 seconds?

Next week he has 5 hours of chemo a day for 5 days- MAJOR concerns, apparently, if he misses one. He missed a different chemo once when all nurses were out sick or could not get in from snow. That one was ok to delay a day, though.

Can't help but wonder about the repercussions. I was in the hospital for the last one, and they required all the military to stay in the hospital, in case others did not make it in for their shifts. Lot's of civilian types stayed as well, just to avoid driving in the weather.

But we don't know how to deal with this here- think of the police, fire & other emergency personnel. And when we most need the metro (subway) - they shut it down!

bhelms
02-05-2010, 05:35 PM
Good luck to you and your family, navy. What you're going through is never welcome, much worse when conditions beyond your control make it downright hazardous.

I was traveling home last weekend, glad it's not this one. We'll get "only" 4-8" in these parts. My hat is off to all who must serve in one capacity or another for the duration. As for me, I'll just hunker down, stay home, and try very hard not to become part of the problem.

...and I'll be burning LOTS of wood to help with the GW...!

azgreg
02-05-2010, 05:55 PM
But it'll be warm snow. :rolleyes:

As long as it is white snow :)

We will be BBQ'ing Sunday. Small chance of rain, high in mid 60's.

riffjim4069
02-05-2010, 08:22 PM
As long as it is white snow :)

We will be BBQ'ing Sunday. Small chance of rain, high in mid 60's.I just came back from dinner - had a pretty good Prime Rib. Made it there prior to 7pm and the establishment closed their door shortly after I arrived. Anyway, except for Wawa and Sheets just about everthing else was shut-down. The revised forecast calls for 20-30 inches of snow here in the DC Metro area. I just hope we don't lose power since it is "wet" snow. Needless to say, I will be out-and-about after shoveling more snow tomorrow morning. :)

On a side note, one of the insane neighbors was out riding his bicycle. I have to give this guy credit...he is hard-core individual!!!

riffjim4069
02-07-2010, 04:02 PM
Well...the power finally came back on after going-out Friday night. Hopefully I can catch the game after a hot shower and some hot chow.

bhelms
02-08-2010, 02:13 PM
We ended-up getting all 14" of the 4-8" forecast for our region! (I wish I could be so inaccurate in my work and still get to keep my job! On second thought - who'd want to be so bad ?!?)

Derwin0
02-09-2010, 07:37 AM
We ended-up getting all 14" of the 4-8" forecast for our region! (I wish I could be so inaccurate in my work and still get to keep my job! On second thought - who'd want to be so bad ?!?)
Yeah, we got 26" of our 18" forecast. And now they're calling for another "foot or more" in my area tonight. :eek:

msmith198025
02-09-2010, 08:02 AM
Yeah, we got 26" of our 18" forecast. And now they're calling for another "foot or more" in my area tonight. :eek:
Were you one of the lucky ones that lost power in the last round?

Cybok said that around 900,000 lost it saturday.

bhelms
02-09-2010, 09:38 AM
Yeah, we got 26" of our 18" forecast. And now they're calling for another "foot or more" in my area tonight. :eek:Our locals (AccuWx) are hedging this time. "3-6", more possible..." It think they pretty well covered their bases! The 14.5" we got Sat. shrunk to about 12" remaining as of this AM. There was little wind with that event in our parts so it pretty much remains where it fell. We were just barely able to get our Silverado through that mess on Sat. to break a set of tracks. I also barely got my Subie through the path the truck cut on Mon. AM, but the car will now remain at the bottom of the lane until we get something cleared either mechanically (cost est. $300) or with some serious melting, which is not in the near-term f'cst. As long as the truck can make it we're OK. (Swapping vehicles at the bottom of the hill each time.) Once the truck gets stuck, we resort to walking the hill. No fun in howling winds, after dark, carrying whatever, and the snow thigh-high in drifted areas. And it's those drifts that will eventually do us in. 3-6" additional probably won't be a problem itself. It's what the wind does with it that makes all the difference. I have 200' of snow fence up to protect the area that is impacted worse. But that only helps when the wind is westerly as usual. The past storm and this imminent one are classic "nor'easters" and the fence is completely useless for those. Time to break-out the snowshoes again...!

EDIT - Oh joy - they just bumped it to "...6 to 10"...more possible"...

Derwin0
02-09-2010, 11:48 AM
Were you one of the lucky ones that lost power in the last round?

Cybok said that around 900,000 lost it saturday.Surprisingly being in the rural area I'm in, my power has been rock solid.
I've lost power once in the 5 years I've owned the house, even after several ice storms.


Our locals (AccuWx) are hedging this time. "3-6", more possible..." It think they pretty well covered their bases! The 14.5" we got Sat. shrunk to about 12" remaining as of this AM.

EDIT - Oh joy - they just bumped it to "...6 to 10"...more possible"...Yeah, we're getting a range too. Right now they're saying 8"-18".

I've still got about 18" on the ground, and 2'-3' beside the drive way. Not sure where I'll put tonights snow, the burm will just gget higher and higher I guess...

bhelms
02-09-2010, 12:09 PM
lol - Yeah that brings back bad memories of the '93/'94 winter. It's rare I need to have my lane plowed, which at 0.3 mi. long is not a trivial expense, so I always delay that as long as possible. And by then when I call a contractor I get to wait in line which is sometimes days. In early '94 we had repetitive accumulations that the contractors could only push back so far. The last effort required an articulated front-loader CAT that could lift the buckets-full over the already 3-4' high frozen walls. That was $60/hr. at the time and took 4 hrs. The result resembled a bobsled run. At least I knew I couldn't run off the road!

At that same time I had to shovel my roof the one and only time I did it. Took 2 of us almost 8 hours. It ruined the shingles which I only recently replaced. I really don't want to have to repeat that! Some parts of the resulting snowpiles that were in low-light areas did not melt completely until late April!

Unfortunately I'm beginning to see vestiges of that series of events again.

I should buy a massive, really expensive snowblower. That would virtually guarantee it would never snow here again...!

navychop
02-09-2010, 12:37 PM
Well, weather.com says it should start snowing here again at 3. Yesterday they said 9 a.m. this morning. Local TV & Weather ch 9438 say at 7 tonight.

Lady who works for me said Braddock, a fairly large artery here, is still messed up. And that stores have little - esp milk, bread and meat.

I have a 4WD pickup. But a huge pile of snow in front and back, and to some extent on the road side. Ain't getting out without shoveling. And I'm in no shape to shovel. Neighbors helped wife get her car out, though. She had an appt at the hospital.

With more snow coming, and considering that we never were plowed after the last one, I guess I won't be getting in to work this week at all. Telecommute, unless our flat roof collapses at work.

We haven't lost power this time around, but it sure sounds like they expect us to tonight or tomorrow.

mruk69
02-09-2010, 12:39 PM
Everyone should keep dumping their snow outside the Whitehouse, until they get sick and tired of saying "climate change".

navychop
02-09-2010, 01:59 PM
I'm speculating on clearing a short path from my back door to my gas grill and smokers. So there will be that much less to shovel tomorrow (son or wife will have to do it). If we lose power, we certainly will have warm food. Our small generator might run the gas furnace, if I figure out how to hot wire it. And we have a small gas fireplace, mostly for looks, and a kerosene heater (double burner so it's safe to run inside with some ventilation, like near the fireplace). And we've got plenty of food. So we're better prepared than many.

bhelms
02-09-2010, 03:00 PM
Good luck all! It's been snowing here for about an hour, small accumulation and no wind...so far. But I fear we're in for the proverbial "doozy" in these parts, worse than what hit over the weekend due to the timing, what's already on the ground, and the wind factor.

Bundle up and stay safe. My boss has allowed me a "special assignment" (telecommute) day for tomorrow. I'll need to load-up with stuff to read, etc. before I leave tonight.

Recent multi-day power outages have taught us how to cope. We'll be fine for the most part if we do lose power but that's one thing I'm not anticipating this time. These times make me ever grateful for all the effort I put in each fall gathering firewood, and the Coleman stoves and lanterns left over from scouting days. Have even learned how to take a "sponge shower" with warm enough water to actually enjoy it when needed...!

Don Landis
02-09-2010, 05:01 PM
Maybe we need to pump more CO2 into the atmosphere, clear out more rain forests and burn the wood.

Even here in Jacksonville, this year, I had to break out the long sleeve shirts.

bhelms
02-09-2010, 05:51 PM
yep - And I'm freezing at work too. Wearing 4 layers on top right now and might start wearing LJs! If this isn't corrected soon I'm gonna hafta start busting-up the furniture and start a bonfire...!

Derwin0
02-09-2010, 08:24 PM
Good luck all! It's been snowing here for about an hour, small accumulation and no wind...so far. But I fear we're in for the proverbial "doozy" in these parts, worse than what hit over the weekend due to the timing, what's already on the ground, and the wind factor.
5 inches already and it's not even 8:30pm
Tomorrow is going to be a doozy...

Derwin0
02-09-2010, 08:31 PM
Recent multi-day power outages have taught us how to cope. We'll be fine for the most part if we do lose power but that's one thing I'm not anticipating this time. These times make me ever grateful for all the effort I put in each fall gathering firewood, and the Coleman stoves and lanterns left over from scouting days. Have even learned how to take a "sponge shower" with warm enough water to actually enjoy it when needed...!Thankfully we have the travel trailer. If power was lost, we could quickly move into it and stay warm, as it's furnace runs off the battery & propane.

Skyhi
02-10-2010, 09:41 AM
Be safe out there today! The snow totals aren't going to be as impressive, but the wind + cold + snow is going to make it downright dangerous in certain areas.

bhelms
02-10-2010, 10:16 AM
Looks like I misjudged this one by about 12 hours. As-of this AM we only had a couple of inches down, but it's still coming and will intensify through 7PM. And the wind is making havoc of it all! Fortunately this wind is westerly in my neck of the woods which means my snow fence can have a positive impact on the outcome. So I came into work, only a bit late. Will stay as long as things seem reasonable. Tomorrow may be my telecommute day...

Derwin0
02-10-2010, 01:22 PM
Looks like I misjudged this one by about 12 hours. As-of this AM we only had a couple of inches down, but it's still coming and will intensify through 7PM. And the wind is making havoc of it all! Fortunately this wind is westerly in my neck of the woods which means my snow fence can have a positive impact on the outcome. So I came into work, only a bit late. Will stay as long as things seem reasonable. Tomorrow may be my telecommute day...You're lucky. We're shut down here in York.
Over 18" already and still coming down steadily, and supposed to until 7pm.
I'm thinking tomorrow will be another snow/digging out day.

Skyhi
02-10-2010, 01:27 PM
I'm jealous of you guys. I LOVE the snow and Cleveland is running a snow deficit so far this winter.

bhelms
02-10-2010, 01:36 PM
DerwinO - we're right behind you to be sure! I expect my lane to become completely impassable sometime later today or tomorrow with the drifting...

Skyhi - I don't know if Cleveland is subject to "lake effect" snows as are Buffalo and points east, but if so I think your dearth of snowfall is another effect of the title theme of this thread. I read somewhere that Lake Erie is nearly frozen over and that will shut off the engine for the L-E storms for the balance of this winter...!

Skyhi
02-10-2010, 01:42 PM
Skyhi - I don't know if Cleveland is subject to "lake effect" snows as are Buffalo and points east, but if so I think your dearth of snowfall is another effect of the title theme of this thread. I read somewhere that Lake Erie is nearly frozen over and that will shut off the engine for the L-E storms for the balance of this winter...!

East of the city (where I am) typically gets a lot of lake effect. Except for 1 week in January, the winds were never quite right this year for us to get dumped on.

Unfortunately, Lake Erie is 90% ice-covered so the LES machine is virtually shutdown. That's not unusual, though - - Erie freezes every year. This year it actually took longer than average to freeze.......we just didn;t get the good winds for multiple lake effect snows.

To all those that are getting the snow and like it - - - enjoy it. If you don't like it, take solace in the fact that spring will be here before you know it. Hopefully it will be a slow thaw, though, because I'm guessing flooding would be a major concern.

Skyhi
02-10-2010, 06:08 PM
I hope all is well with you guys. This thread has been awfully quiet......

Derwin0
02-10-2010, 08:33 PM
I hope all is well with you guys. This thread has been awfully quiet......In between bouts of shoveling snow and watching the kiddos play in it, been too tired to log on.

Tomorrow I'll probably dig the kids an igloo in one of the piles.

(http://www.facebook.com/#%21/album.php?aid=54521&id=1196439907&ref=nf)

Skyhi
02-10-2010, 08:49 PM
In between bouts of shoveling snow and watching the kiddos play in it, been too tired to log on.

Tomorrow I'll probably dig the kids an igloo in one of the piles.

(http://www.facebook.com/#%21/album.php?aid=54521&id=1196439907&ref=nf)
Watch them real closely when they play in it. This story sent chills down my spine when I saw it the other day:

WMFD.com - Ashland Girl Dies While Playing In Snow Pile (http://www.wmfd.com/newsboard/single.asp?Story=39696)

Derwin0
02-11-2010, 06:18 AM
Watch them real closely when they play in it. This story sent chills down my spine when I saw it the other day:

We always supervise them in something like that.
My father-in-law dug them tunnels when we were up in Canada, they were always watched when playing in them.

bhelms
02-11-2010, 03:37 PM
Well the past 24 or so hours played out pretty much as I expected. I stayed here at work almost for the duration yesterday, left a bit early so it would still be daylight when I got home in case I had to hike my lane (0.3 mi. and uphill, a real bitch in a blizzard!) and to also be able to see the drifts which as expected were becoming substantial. My daughter met me at the bottom and the "Jolly Green Giant" (Silverado) made the hill OK, but marginally. Interestingly as I was "swapping vehicles" a local contractor in a plow vehicle stopped and asked if I needed help. I suggested he call me in the AM re: getting the lane plowed. (He stuck around to see if I made it up OK.)

We hunkered down for the night and watched some new HD channels! This AM I expected the lower part of my lane which is through an open field to be completely drifted shut, but I didn't need to venture out to check. The contractor called and I told him to go ahead. He had the lane completely opened-up by about 10:45. I took a quick shower and headed into work, got here around 12:30 and will put in some semblence of a day. (My boss in Atlanta is thankfully quite accommodating!) So I'm working on that now.

Tonight I expect some additional drifting but I should be able to get my Subaru up to the house again, and all's good until the next major storm...tentatively this weekend...!

Derwin0
02-12-2010, 07:40 AM
Dug out yesterday, as with the snow falling and wind blowing on Wednesday, wasn't worth bothering with.

Kids loved sliding off the 8' snow banks beside my driveway. Snow Blower made some nice hills.

Fortunately we didn't have any power outtages. Did prepare though, and made sure the travel trailers batteries were charged up.

Schools are closed again today, which didn't make my wife happy, especially since Monday is a holiday.

bhelms
02-12-2010, 11:05 AM
We're back to "normal" now. My Subaru can now negotiate the hill again. Looks like no additional accumulation in the foreseeable future. Schools around here are back on schedule. Power never even flickered. This time the only 'damage' I suffered was the relatively minor expense to plow the lane. Hope that's the last time this season, but we still have at least a month to go...!

Best luck to all who are still impacted by recent storms and still digging-out...