Biggest snowstorm EVAH

[pendell]

Well, maybe not, but still pretty big.

Right now the northeastern US is getting hammered with several feet of snow. My own area, Washington DC, is forecast to get 15-24 inches (38-61 cm), when the usual snowfall is 3 inches (7.6 cm).

So how is everyone coping ? I know Zeb and Telonius are all in my area...

in our case, my wife and I decided we weren't going to just hold still and let mother nature punch us in the chin. Instead we packed our car and lit out Friday afternoon for Norfolk, which was forecast to be below the snow line.

The forecast has so far been correct; we're sitting here in a hotel looking outside at rain, as the temperature here is in the upper 40s F. Since we live in an apartment, we have nothing to dig out by our car; I decided to be proactive and 'dig out' my car by moving it south of the snow line.

This was NOT the best idea; although we did dodge the storm we had to spend four hours driving through the teeth of it; a raging snowstorm which claimed another of people -- either by trying to drive into what turned out to be a drift and getting stuck, or by sliding on the ice. We slid once or twice but remained in control.

I put our lives at risk. I don't think I'll try that again. But praise God and my wife's piloting ability, we pulled through. We'll drive back up on Monday, when the cleanup's more or less sorted.

How are things for you guys?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Solaris]

Only two feet of snow? Pfft. Come back when it's a real blizzard.[/obligatory Alaskan tough guy act]

[Emperor Ing]

As a resident of the northern East Coast area, I can say I am coping quite well.
*looks out window*

yeah, right now in my specific area it looks like we have accumilated about...uh..0 inches of snow.

:smallyuk:

[Mauve Shirt]

Hooray! Snow!
I woke up to this
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs003.snc3/11057_1173849746143_1225020560_30799452_2001859_n. jpg
It's much deeper now.

[Perenelle]

all my area got was like an inch of ice. :smallsigh:

[Sneak]

To the OP: I'm in Maryland/DC right now. It's already over a foot now.

I would be happy, but I was supposed to fly to San Francisco today. The flight was first moved to a later time, and then cancelled altogether because of the snow.

Grr.

[Tavar]

At this point, the worst part is that by the time you finish shoveling an area, it's already starting to full up with snow again.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I am SO thankful that the snow didn't start until about an hour ago where I am. Because I was taking the train home from Manhattan.

And if the snow started earlier, then I would have had to walk almost a mile in it. Uphill. In sneakers.

[onthetown]

We got close to 7 FEET of snow one year, across the entire block.

You could climb up and walk on top of it, you could pretty much get on to the roofs of the bungalow houses. You got places by walking on the 7-foot pile of snow up and down the street.

So "biggest snowstorm evah" doesn't really apply to me.

Not to mention slipping and sliding and risking your life on ice is basically day-to-day life here in the winter anyway.

[pendell]

At this point, the worst part is that by the time you finish shoveling an area, it's already starting to full up with snow again.

Quite; Then, just when you're dug out, the neighborhood snow plow comes through and buries your car again. All the snow pushed off the road gets pushed right back into the parking spaces. Time to start again.

Solaris: Do Alaskan tough guys have transplanted California and Florida people by the tens of thousands in your neighborhood, none of whom have the slightest idea what to do in a snowstorm?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

A foot of snow is a pretty good chunk to get all at once. But, I th ink the biggest one I can remember was in 1991, when here in the Twin Cities we got roughly 30 inches...ON HALLOWEEN!!! Yep, the '91 nor'easter is quite possibly the biggest storm the eastern half of the country has seen in 50-100 years.

[Thajocoth]

My plan is to get onto a bus at 4am and ride it 5 and a half hours to a mountain, bringing with me my snowboarding gear.

I think, really, that's the best way to cope with the situation.

[blackfox]

Supposed to be in central VA right now, but instead, I'm stuck in Philadelphia, because of air traffic insanity. Apparently my hometown has upwards of two feet of snow, and it's still coming down. Philly here has about a foot and it's going to be coming down until Monday.

[Solaris]

Solaris: Do Alaskan tough guys have transplanted California and Florida people by the tens of thousands in your neighborhood, none of whom have the slightest idea what to do in a snowstorm?

Texans and Californians, mostly. I'm a transplanted Michigander, m'self. We're on an Army base, and despite it being the second or third month of full snowcover they still don't know how to drive in a real winter.

[Gamerlord]

Well, it isn't hammering too much in my area, but I hope it lasts at least until Monday, and if I'm lucky, Tuesday as well. Snow days FTW.

[Zeb The Troll]

At 6:30 I had nearly 6 inches on my walk. It had covered the bottom step up to my porch. It's been snowing steadily for 12 hours since then yet and yeah, I gave up moving the snow around this morning when I got to the end of the walk and couldn't tell I'd done anything. Screw it. I'll break my back tomorrow trying to see sidewalk again.

[pendell]

Grumble.

Note the headline in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local.html?hpid=artslot)

AUTHORITIES PLEAD: STAY HOME

And *why* is this the banner headline?

Because despite the snow totals (http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=LWX&product=PNS&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0&highlight=off) recorded by the NWS people are still jumping into their cars to do their last-minute holiday shopping!

PEOPLE! THE STORES ARE CLOSED ANYWAY! GET OFF THE %#$#$# ROADS AND STAY HOME!

Words fail.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Thajocoth]

My plan is to get onto a bus at 4am and ride it 5 and a half hours to a mountain, bringing with me my snowboarding gear.

I think, really, that's the best way to cope with the situation.

Canceled... For the third week in a row!! This is insanely frustrating.

[A Rainy Knight]

Man, this is just nature taunting me and my classmates. Two or three times we thought we'd have a snow day from some little storm or other, but it never worked out. Then, the very night we get out of school for Christmas, THIS happens. :smalltongue:

I'm in Virginia, by the way. We don't see this kind of snow all that often.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

At 6:30 I had nearly 6 inches on my walk. It had covered the bottom step up to my porch. It's been snowing steadily for 12 hours since then yet and yeah, I gave up moving the snow around this morning when I got to the end of the walk and couldn't tell I'd done anything. Screw it. I'll break my back tomorrow trying to see sidewalk again.

Yeah, you probably don't have a snowblower do you. (the greatest invention in the world by the way).

[Pyrian]

PEOPLE! THE STORES ARE CLOSED ANYWAY! GET OFF THE %#$#$# ROADS AND STAY HOME!"...And call off Christmas!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6I_8HXcO54)

[Phoenix86]

To be honest it's sunny where i live (south america).
But my sis is living in Norway and earlier she told me that they had about 30 Inches of snow already and it was still snowing, so...
Biggest snowstorm EVAH???!!! I don't think so!!!! :smallwink:

[thubby]

considering it's knee deep around here, pretty well. <3 the snow

[Jacklu]

:smallsigh: I live in the American Northeast, and apparently the snowstorm is supposed to literally swing out to sea just south of where I live. All that beautiful snow and there is a good chance I won't see an inch of it. :smallfrown: 4-6 inches is a pitiful prediction for a storm that has dumped feet everywhere else it has hit. Oh well, we'll see how it goes in the morning. :smallsigh:

[Thajocoth]

Looking outside right now? There's this glass table outside with more snow on it (vertically) than the length from my knee down. I'm about 5'9" if you can estimate one length from the other... (I can't convert visual and numeric quantities, even roughly, without something to measure with), and it's still snowing. I'm worried about where the dogs will go to do their business tomorrow. The rest of us are all set with everything we need... With the notable exception of me not being on a snow covered mountain.

If it weren't for this blizzard, I'd be on my way to catch a bus to go snowboarding. Third week in a row of snowboarding cancellation... The first due to lack of snow, the second due to lack of interest, and the third now due to snow... With the mountain that I've been trying to go to having had advertisements everywhere for over a month too... And now the rest of December is out of the question entirely. So incredibly frustrating... More because it's like being taunted than it is the actual lack of getting to ride.

I'll be wearing most of my gear for snow shoveling tomorrow at least. (My sneakers would be a bad idea, so snowboarding boots it is, and the only pair of gloves I can find the right hand's glove for is the pair with wrist guards in them. If it's still snowing at that point, I see no reason not to wear the goggles, and the thermals, coat and pants are just winter clothes that are good for snow in general. No helmet, impact shorts or board though, obviously.)

Maybe I'll put the board on outside at some point at least. This one spot does have some minor elevation in the corner of the yard. Just to be sure I can still set up to go right. (I've only ridden from Jan 10 '09 to Mar 15 '09. Maybe 6 trips total in that time... So a refresher of setting up, even off a mountain, might be useful at least.)

Heh, oops. I think I ranted. My apologies to anyone who read all of that.

[Miklus]

in our case, my wife and I decided we weren't going to just hold still and let mother nature punch us in the chin. Instead we packed our car and lit out Friday afternoon for Norfolk, which was forecast to be below the snow line.

Brian P.

You actually fled a snowstorm? Why? Is your apartment not heated???

And don't drive in a snowstorm. That is letting mother nature punch you in the nuts.

[pendell]

To be honest it's sunny where i live (south america).
But my sis is living in Norway and earlier she told me that they had about 30 Inches of snow already and it was still snowing, so...
Biggest snowstorm EVAH???!!! I don't think so!!!! :smallwink:

Let me qualify: In Washington DC, and in the month of December, it is literally true. If you followed the links to the Washington Post above, you would see that this is a record-breaking snowfall, far in excess of the usual amount. So, while it isn't the biggest snowstorm in all times and places, it is the biggest snowstorm ever in Washington DC in the month of December.



You actually fled a snowstorm? Why? Is your apartment not heated???

And don't drive in a snowstorm. That is letting mother nature punch you in the nuts.


Precisely. We knew two days in advance mother nature was going to touch the entire region in the nuts, and in *my* fighting course the best way to take a punch is to step out of the way and don't be there when it lands.

Snowfall was supposed to arrive at 9 PM. I left my job at 2 PM. I planned to be well below the snow line by the time the storm rolled in. But I underestimated both the magnitude of the storm and it's track.

Even so, my car is dug out and we are ready to go anywhere if there's an emergency. I've had to take my wife to the hospital before .. I couldn't do that now, not without digging my car out for hours. I think even a road side ambulance would be unable to travel. It would have to be a medevac. Those problems are now solved. Besides, if I don't *need* to shovel 20 inches of snow, on account of having nothing but my car, why *should* I?

Even so, had I been aware that we would cross through the front of the storm, I never would have done it.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Emperor Ing]

UPDATE: We have snow. About a foot of snow. Epic Success! :smallbiggrin:

[Kobold-Bard]

YAY Britland. We have like an inch of snow, 2 maximum. Just enough to be awesome, not enough to cancel my train home for Christmas. Win-win :smallbiggrin:

[Miklus]

Even so, my car is dug out and we are ready to go anywhere if there's an emergency. I've had to take my wife to the hospital before .. I couldn't do that now, not without digging my car out for hours. I think even a road side ambulance would be unable to travel. It would have to be a medevac. Those problems are now solved.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Ah, that makes more sence. In Denmark they use the army APC's as ambulances in these situations. BTW we had -19C (-2F) last night. That is the coldest recorded temperature since 2001. The police told people to stay at home unless it was an emergency. The auto resuce corps has pulled out stuck cars by the thousands.

If you must drive in a blizzard, make sure to have a full tank of gas, as well as a snow shovel, blankets (blankets can sometimes be put under the wheels to provice traction as well as keep you warm). If it is really cold, also bring a sleeping bag and emergency rations (peanuts and chocolate), just in case you have to spend a night in the car.

[Vizzerdrix]

2 in the afternoon, and still nothing in Bangor Maine :smallfrown:

Hurry up snow I dun wanna go to work tonight!!!

[Syka]

:smallfrown:

I was a sad fox when I woke up to see "Blizzard 2009" on the Weather Channel. Why, do you ask?

I live in Florida. Have my whole life. 4 years ago, the winter of 2005 (of course, it had to be the warmest year on record since records have been kept) I spent about 2ish weeks in NJ, near Philly. It snowed once and was the first (so far only) time I've seen snow. Just a wee bit, not even enough to cover the grass where we were. We subsequently saw more snow coverage in the city proper, but I never saw it fall and only found one itty bitty patch of pristine snow (which I proceeded to jump in to the amusement of the friends I was with, who'd lived in Jersey their whole life). We went to the fricking mountains, and they had to MAKE snow for snowtubing. ><

Exactly 4 years ago I was in NJ hoping for a blizzard. Only four years to late, Mother Nature! :smallwink:

I do, however, lovelovelove the fact we're sitting a nice, cool high 50's, low 60's right now. *kicks back in a lounge chair on the beach*

[Trog]

Yeah, you probably don't have a snowblower do you. (the greatest invention in the world by the way).
This. If any invention is well worth the investment (in places where you get decent amounts of snow regularly in the winter) it is picking up one of these babies. I love mine and it recently saved me from shoveling the 17" of snow we got in a 24 hour period a couple of weeks ago off of my 60' long driveway.

*loans Zeb his Spade of Colossal Excavation™ brand Snowblower for his walk*

[thorgrim29]

Yeah, snowblowers rock, the only time I use a shovel nowadays is when I need the exercise and it's not too cold (too cold being under -20 C, silly europeans with your INCREDIBLY COLD -19s.....)

[thubby]

i loath snowblowers, I have yet to meet one that didn't choke and die on any amount of snow worth using it on.

[Trog]

i loath snowblowers, I have yet to meet one that didn't choke and die on any amount of snow worth using it on.

You need to find one with a bit more power (*insert Tim Allen grunting noise here*). Mine powers through whatever is in its path even if it exceeds the height of the snowblower itself. :smallcool:

[Mauve Shirt]

Our neighbor has a snowblower. We shoveled the entire driveway this morning ourselves, he helped us at the end by blowing a little path through the mound of snow pushed up by the snow plow so we could dig our mailbox out.

[Zeb The Troll]

Yeah, you probably don't have a snowblower do you. (the greatest invention in the world by the way).Not only do I not have a snowblower, I don't have a proper snow shovel. Ours broke the last time it snowed enough to need shoveling, two years ago.

And this is why I don't own a snowblower. The snow accumulates to any worrisome degree pretty rarely here. If there was such a thing as an electric one I might consider it, but having a gas operated one sitting around for years at a time is just begging for nonfunctionality when it comes time to need it again.

I ended up shoveling my walk with a regular square bladed shovel about 8" wide. It sucked. Not only was it slow because it's so small, being metal it's heavier than a normal snow shovel and also, being metal, the snow tended to stick to it instead of being thrown like it's supposed to. This resulted in me having to clean the blade every other shovelful. In the end, I think I threw out my back getting the walk in front of and up to my house clean. I was in too much pain to even dig out my vehicle. Thankfully, at least that's a high clearance crossover SUV with AWD. I was able to power my way out when it was time to go to work.

[Ashtar]

On Saturday evening, La Brévine, a charming locality not too far from my dad's recorded -34.2°C (-29.56°F). At my dad's it was a positively balmy evening at -20.1°C. :smalltongue:

Yes, Switzerland is cold!

[RS14]

I flew into DC last night. I was scheduled to arrive Saturday night, but my flight was canceled. I slept under a bench in LAX, left on a different flight at noon on Sunday, and landed here at about 1:00AM.

This snow is beautiful, but I wish it could have waited. :smallsigh:

[THAC0]

And this is why I don't own a snowblower. The snow accumulates to any worrisome degree pretty rarely here. If there was such a thing as an electric one I might consider it,

There is, in fact. My cute little electric snowblower, despite it's petite and adorable appearance, is quite capable of handling Alaska-snow! Plus, it's small and easy to store!

[Zeb The Troll]

There is, in fact. My cute little electric snowblower, despite it's petite and adorable appearance, is quite capable of handling Alaska-snow! Plus, it's small and easy to store!Interesting.... Can you provide a brand and model name so I can see if there's one locally available?

[Miklus]

More snow-chaos here in Denmark. 4000 cars got stuck and needed help. I also managed to drift my car at one point. I was going around a round-about and the back end suddenly had a mind of its own. :smallamused: Just like that scene from the Dukes of Hazard, except with x10000 less cool factor.

[KuReshtin]

The snow has finally got to me here in Scotland.
And of course, it's causing havoc with traffic, even if we've only got about an inch of snow here. People have absolutely no idea how to drive in snow here, and because of that, traffic grinds to a slow crawl. Today, it took about 45 minutes to drive into town from work, a trip that's usually only 15 minutes.

It gets very much on my nerves, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it.

[Watcher]

It's snowed so much already this year, even in places it doesn't.

I blame global warming.

[Ashtar]

Edit: Ooops, sorry ^^.

Still cold here, but luckily no more snow.

[horngeek]

Over in Sydney, there is no snow.

Because for us, it's summer.

:smalltongue:

[Murska]

Finland finally got a reasonable amount of snow awhile ago. It was getting boring going to school when the temperatures were steadily at -20 to -25 celsius but there was this pitiful mat of snow which wasn't even enough to completely dig yourself into.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Talking about the weather is the archetypal uncontroversial topic. Let's keep it that way and not drag climate politics into it.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I must say, this storm disappointed me.

We got... 2 inches. And we were only forecast to get up to 8 inches.

Certainly no blizzard for us.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Not only do I not have a snowblower, I don't have a proper snow shovel. Ours broke the last time it snowed enough to need shoveling, two years ago.

And this is why I don't own a snowblower. The snow accumulates to any worrisome degree pretty rarely here. If there was such a thing as an electric one I might consider it, but having a gas operated one sitting around for years at a time is just begging for nonfunctionality when it comes time to need it again.

I ended up shoveling my walk with a regular square bladed shovel about 8" wide. It sucked. Not only was it slow because it's so small, being metal it's heavier than a normal snow shovel and also, being metal, the snow tended to stick to it instead of being thrown like it's supposed to. This resulted in me having to clean the blade every other shovelful. In the end, I think I threw out my back getting the walk in front of and up to my house clean. I was in too much pain to even dig out my vehicle. Thankfully, at least that's a high clearance crossover SUV with AWD. I was able to power my way out when it was time to go to work.

Yes indeed you can get electric snow blowers. Just about any major hardware store or Home Depot/Lowes will have what you need. My guess is you'll easily find a Toro or John Deere that will work for you. Most gas models also come with an electric start as well. We run our snowblower dry every spring, and it starts up just fine, when new gas is put in for winter. So, I'm not sure that one sitting in a garage for a year or two without use is all that terrible. Although it's one of those things, that if you don't go through a winter without using it, it's best to put at least a little gas in it, and run it until it's gone.

Oh, and it looks like we're going to get about a foot of snow starting tomorrow some time, and continuing until Friday. From what I understand, we're on the low end too. Then again, we're equipped to handle that 'round these parts.

[Temotei]

Minnesota's getting hit fairly hard in a short period of time. I like snow. :smallbiggrin:

[Zeb The Troll]

Yes indeed you can get electric snow blowers. Just about any major hardware store or Home Depot/Lowes will have what you need. My guess is you'll easily find a Toro or John Deere that will work for you. Most gas models also come with an electric start as well. We run our snowblower dry every spring, and it starts up just fine, when new gas is put in for winter. So, I'm not sure that one sitting in a garage for a year or two without use is all that terrible. Although it's one of those things, that if you don't go through a winter without using it, it's best to put at least a little gas in it, and run it until it's gone.Interesting, I was just in Lowe's the day the snow started and didn't see any electrics. Of course, that's not what I went there for, so it could easily have escaped me. I'll poke around a bit.

As for leaving the gas powered one in the garage, that's a no-go. I don't have a garage, so anything I don't use has to stay in the basement. Considering I have pets and toddlers with ready access to said basement, keeping that stuff around is just not a good idea.

[Krade]

Considering I have pets and toddlers with ready access to said basement, keeping that stuff around is just not a good idea.

Toddlers? I was under the impression that there was only one. Perhaps you have been keeping secrets?

Hasn't been snowing much here. An inch here. An inch there. Nothing serious. Then again, Indiana isn't exactly known for serious snowfall.

Last year year we got one decent storm that I think was not very nearly as bad as the one that just hit the East Coast. The best part about that storm though, was the MASSIVE snow plow failure that morning where exactly 0 snow plows were on the road. I walk to work anyways so I didn't need to get out a car, but I did still needed to shovel my way to the street. I had to walk in the tracks of cars in the middle of the street because there were no clear sidewalks. Looking over my shoulder every 3 seconds to make sure there wasn't a car coming was good fun too...

[Minstrel Cowboy]

Only two feet of snow? Pfft. Come back when it's a real blizzard.[/obligatory Alaskan tough guy act] Pretend to be Canadian.
Two years ago we set a record for snow fall.
it was 4 feet of snow everywhere at some points stayed steady at 3 the whole time. A pain to shovel though.

[Zeb The Troll]

Toddlers? I was under the impression that there was only one. Perhaps you have been keeping secrets?Interesting. I wonder how I missed this post when it happened. :smallconfused:

Anyway, PuddingTroll and GrandTroll (who visits roughly weekly, and usually for a couple/three days at a time). Admittedly PuddingTroll isn't toddling yet, but it does happen so fast. By next winter he certainly will be.