Sat 19 Dec 2009
Well, I take this personally!
SEVERE WEATHER ALERT
Forecast for Sat Dec 19 04:41 AM EST
Newington, CT
Winter Storm Warning
View Details Below
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO NOON EST SUNDAY…
THIS WINTER STORM WARNING INCLUDES MUCH OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND EXCEPT THE NORTHWESTERN INTERIOR.
A CLASSIC WINTERTIME NOREASTER WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST TODAY. IT WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TONIGHT AND LIKELY BE SITUATED JUST SOUTHEAST OF NANTUCKET EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD IN ADVANCE OF THIS LOW AND WILL REACH THE WARNING AREA BY THIS EVENING. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT AND CONTINUE SUNDAY MORNING. THE LOW WILL PULL AWAY DURING THE DAY SUNDAY WHICH WILL ALLOW THE SNOW TO TAPER OFF AND END SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 7 TO 15 INCHES… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION…AS THE LOW APPROACHES TONIGHT…NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY… ESPECIALLY ACROSS EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. THIS COMBINED WITH HEAVY SNOW WILL CAUSE VISIBILITIES TO BE REDUCED TO UNDER A QUARTER MILE AT TIMES. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW IS ALSO POSSIBLE. IF WINDS LOOK TO INCREASE MORE THAN FORECAST ACROSS RHODE ISLAND AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS…MAINLY NEAR AND EAST OF THE I-95 CORRIDOR…AND UPGRADE TO BLIZZARD WARNING WOULD BE POSSIBLE LATER TODAY. TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED TONIGHT AND SUNDAY AS IT WILL BECOME DIFFICULT.
A WINTER STORM WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN AN AVERAGE OF 6 OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED IN A 12 HOUR PERIOD…OR FOR 8 OR MORE INCHES IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD. TRAVEL WILL BE SLOW AT BEST ON WELL TREATED SURFACES…AND QUITE DIFFICULT ON ANY UNPLOWED OR UNTREATED SURFACES.
UPDATE: 12-20-09. As far as the forecast is concerned, this storm was a dud. I don’t know about the rest of New England, but here in my driveway, the accumulation was only 5 or 6 inches. The word “only” is used only in context, you understand. If they’d predicted say 2 to 4 inches, this would have been huge.
But unless you have to travel, fires, hurricanes, mudslides and earthquakes are a lot more serious than a few inches of snow. As David points out in the comments, at least you can go out and play in it. Only once while we’ve been living in Connecticut has the governor had to shut the state down because of too much White Stuff.
In any case, my driveway is clear. It took me an hour and 30 minutes — and that’s about as long as I could go.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Somehow I don’t think this is what Irving Berlin was talking about.
We are even expecting a few flurries here, which actually is an improvement on some of the Christmas in the 80’s I’ve experienced in Texas where we have actually gone from 16 inches on Christmas Eve to 80 Christmas afternoon in a few cases.
But then we also get shut down by the occasional ice storm. The locals don’t do well on ice and snow.
Of course Christmas is in the mind and heart, but I have to admit it was weird the few I spent on Padre Island. Hard to think of Jingle Bells when the girls decking the tree are wearing bikini’s. Guess it’s just whatever you are used to.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Stay warm!
December 19th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
One of the downsides of getting older is that I notice each year there is something else I no longer can do or accomplish. A few years ago I had to give up on mowing my own lawn; now I pay someone else to do it. Soon after I found I no longer felt good during my morning half hour walk. Despite what the medical profession says about exercise, there comes a time when you can’t exercise really effectively.
Now with this dreadful snowstorm, I face the fact that I also can no longer shovel my porch, walk, and driveway. Hopefully someone will show up before it freezes to a giant icecube and I’ll be able get my car out onto the road Monday. As a kid I used to enjoy snow. Now I can’t stand it.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
We’re staying in all warm and snugly tonight, but if all the weather guys on TV are right (and they’re practically foaming at the mouth), it’s going to be a real job getting out tomorrow.
My snowblower is all gassed up and ready to go, though. It’s small, but over the years it’s tackled depths of snow taller than it is. So far. I hope it’s not on its last wheels.
— Steve
PS. I hate mowing grass even more, and I gave that up about ten years ago. My mower broke down, and I never bought another. Even if I had to pay someone else, that was one weekly routine I got rid of very easily!
December 20th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Hate to point this out guys, but I don’t even own a snow shovel … Though in fairness it is usually November before I can stop mowing.
However we are expecting a white Christmas here this year, though not much of one. I still recall the shock when my cousin moved from Dallas to Los Alamos. They asked how much snow Dallas got a year, and she said all together anything from 8 to 10 inches. How much snow in Los Alamos? Anything from 150 to 200 inches …
Then again when was the last time it was 105 there for more than one day a year.
December 20th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Typical December Los Angeles weather for me. But wildfires, earthquakes, and mudslides are the darker side of Southern California life.
I have the utmost sympathy for the unpleasantness that harsh weather is causing others.
(Southern California’s and Israel’s climates are quite similar, so no talk about how this is not really the way Christmas “is”, btw. :))
December 20th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Rick
You are mostly right about Southern Cal and Israel, but I think it actually snows in Jerusalem more often.
As for earthquakes we are having small ones here in Central OK almost every week. Only 3.2 or .4, but not something we are used to.
Still, a blizzard may be the only weather disaster that can threaten life and property, yet you can get out and play in it.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:07 am
It snows more often in Jerusalem than in the city of L.A., it’s true.
But it snows every year in parts of L.A. County (Palmdale; and usually in the Newhall Pass).
And the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernandino County visible to the SE on the way to Palm Springs from L.A. always get some winter snow in the higher elevations.
December 21st, 2009 at 8:05 am
It snowed 11 inches in Central Park (at the official monitoring station) and here in Brooklyn there was – supposedly – up to 13 inches in Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island.
That should have buried us deep, but I think the blizzard-like conditions worked in our favor, as the sideways wind seems to have blown the snow away. My car is 3/4 uncovered (I won’t move it until it’s mostly melted) and the streets aren’t too bad either.
December 24th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Here is the irony. We got the foot of snow and the blizzard for Christmas Eve in Oklahoma. One 50 car pile up, the National Guard called out, all the highways out of state closed …
Or, Steve, your average winter day in Connecticut.
Still, I should point out, driving on snow is not a skill set of the plains Indians.
Me I’m tucked in for the duration, lacing a little Baileys into my hot chocolate — or rather a little hot chocolate in my Baileys …
See you after hibernation…
and Merry Christmas everyone.