Snowblogging Part 2

[lagilman]

Went out for a walk, just to see what the conditions were actually like, since some folk south of me in mid-Manhattan were saying they weren't seeing much of anything, accumulation-wise.

Here in the Northern Outposts, we have between 3-5" of perfect packing powder on the ground (ranging from the sidewalk in front of my building to the parking lot up the hill), and it's coming down at a steady clip. Also, wind. Not blizzard-level, but it does get your attention. I suspect 12" by dinner is well within reach, at this rate. Meanwhile, lots of people out, shoveling, and just walking around, enjoying the weather. Stores open, occasional cars going by slow. Totally sledding and snowball fight weather.



Came back and reported in, and someone on-line took a Tone of "oh, you northeasters all panic over a little blizzard."

No, we here, at least, don't panic. But we do take blizzards seriously. I said it then and I say it now: blizzards are serious. Only an idiot doesn't treat a blizzard (or a true nor'easter) with respect.

They're also, if you're prepared, really, really pretty. And -- if you don't have to be anywhere -- a lot of fun. Now, where's my hot cocoa...?


EtA: the view from my window @ noon:


EtA2: the view from town @3pm
The same walk was much harder now, with the snow blowing into my face and footing uncertain. Random measurements from 6" to 9" of snow where it hasn't been shoveled/packed. Drifts are to knee-height.

Comments

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

It's just about finished over here in our corner of the Midwest. My boss in SE Indiana reported a bit over a foot total, and we probably reached over 10" ourselves. (Ignore the official total, my ol' yardstick has the combined total of this week plus last weekend around 15-16".)

Do you know if you're going to expect more snow this weekend like we are?

[lagilman]

the weekend looks clear, for now. But who knows... late winter storms are even more unpredictable than early winter storms...

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, sorry 'bout that. My bad. Come back and play. I'll be nice, or even leave if necessary.

--You know who

[jperceval.livejournal.com]

It's not us northeasterners who panic -- one only has to look at the news reports to see it. Washington DC? Shut down, b/c they're not used to dealing with snow on this scale. NYC? Showing little old ladies on cross-country skis in Central Park!

[lagilman]

I was really, really tempted to head into town and take Puppy for a romp in the park. But then I remembered how much work I have to do today....

[jperceval.livejournal.com]

Later, I hope, there will be pictures of my pups in the snow. This morning, Riley wandered too close to a laden tree branch and got dumped on. She's the Smart One, but even so, she didn't get it, and it was amusing watching her "WTF was that?!" reaction.

[blitheringpooks.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous view. That much snow would shut Dallas down, of course. But if prepared, in a good way.

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

We now enough snow so that I can't see what passes for grass in our yard. It's still snowing, not madly, but I think I should go by the grocery store before I pick the kid up at school.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Better you than me. You like snow. I do not! ;-)

[burger-eater.livejournal.com]

Beautiful picture.

We don't get much snow, and I miss it.

[stef94.livejournal.com]

Pretty snow!
We got about 2-3" as well today. More winter to come, so dad and I are going in search of nice ice to skate on this coming Sunday :-)

[birdhousefrog.livejournal.com]

It's not that DC isn't used to this amount of snow. It's that conditions here are dangerous. I would hope NO ONE takes a real blizzard lightly (winds >35mph). I've been through them in Nebraska and it doesn't take much snow, just wind and gusts. They're coming to you in NYC, I suspect. It seems to still be intensifying. We're waiting for the back edge down here, which has stalled. We can't begin to dig out with 50mph gusts and the stuff just drifts where we are. Drifts to 30 inches, even though we have less than a foot of new snow. And we're 50 miles NW of DC itself which being more east is getting more snow. B'more and Philly are getting hammered.

Compared to the last storm, this one joined up the two lows a little further north off the coast. That meant less snow for us and that meant you're in the mix this time. But the winds are worse than last time.

I must confess I've been married to a weatherdude for a very, very long time, the real thing, not the tv kind. I'm not sure whether you just get 'bad reporting' or whether they deliberately up the ante on your storms because it's such a dense area of population. They used to do that with hurricanes. They'd predict them for ANY city area, whether or not that was likely. We're getting a new NWS head of Eastern Region and maybe that's one of the things folks can ask for...better explanation of confidence levels in what the models are putting out. That last storm? Right on the money here, I had about 5 days advanced warning from The Dude and they canceled schools and began emergency prep when they should have. This one was trickier, but again, I heard it was coming before the last one was here, last Thurs. (You just can't beat that inside track of info sometimes.)

Oz

[windrose.livejournal.com]

Wow. That looks both beautiful and really freaking cold.

[lagilman]

Actually, we're hanging just below freezing right now, which is part of the problem -- the snow's turning wet and heavy, rather than the dryer snow we had earlier. The temperature will start dropping in an hour or so, and then the stuff on the roads that was slushy will freeze, and I won't go out there for love, money, or need-of-chocolate.

[windrose.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Well, in that case, I hope you've laid in a good supply of hot cocoa.

[lagilman]

I have spiced hot cocoa, chocolate-covered pretzels, and fresh-baked rosemary flatbread. I'm good. :-)

[nycdeb.livejournal.com]

I will be taking pictures of the front of the building tomorrow AM to get the final covering but at the moment, I'd say there's a good 5 or 6 inches on top of the walls and urns

[(Anonymous)]

Living North and East of DC its been pretty miserable. We're definitely not used to it and even with preparations, I know the region has been struggling. And we've been doing a LOT of shovelling.

One plow came through about midnight on Sunday and...it got stuck. It had to be pushed out. I learned that on Monday about 4pm a salt truck came down the street. I found out about it from neighbors who had to get their shovels and dig it out. (We'd escaped for a walk-about to deal with a little too much stircrazy). But yes, the salt truck too was trapped. Now, the winds are blowing hard and the drifts are over my 5'2 height. Bah! Well, at least it gives me more time for reading!
Best,
Day
www.DayinWashington.com

[e-booklover.livejournal.com]

Lovely pictures! Glad you are staying safe and warm.