[onlooker]

A massive Snow Storm is being predicted to arrive here in the North East of US by late Monday through much of Tuesday. They say could be record snowfalls between 2 and 3 feet. I just post this because it seems storms of all kinds are becoming more powerful and that seems to me to coincide with the greater available energy for them in the form of currents, heat and moisture. So just bracing here in NY for a Big One.

[Poordogabone]

I noticed a man made disaster at the supermarket here in ny, the shelves were empty, couldn't by a piece of meat for dinner. Only pork ribs were still available.I guess the big apple will turn into Siberia.

[Cid_Yama]

"This could be the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference, saying snowfall could reach up to 3 feet.

De Blasio told residents of America's financial capital and most populous city to stay off the roads and to "prepare for something worse than we have seen before."

The NWS called the approaching system a "crippling and potentially historic blizzard," with many areas along the East Coast expected to see between 12 to 24 inches (30-60 cm) of snow. The New York City area could be the hardest hit from the storm with lashing winds and snowfall of 30 inches (76 cm) or more in some suburbs.

The biggest snowfall on record in New York City was the storm of Feb. 11-12, 2006, that dropped 26.9 inches (68 cm), according to the city's Office of Emergency Management.

link

[basil_hayden]

The Great Snow of 1717 reportedly dumped 5 to 10 feet, I wasn't there. But I was there for the 3 feet in 1978, and the 2.5 feet in 2013.

[steam_cannon]

My boot was not impressed.


That said, time for a rant!

I find it really disturbing that the state orders driving bans. Are citizens just a bunch of children? Did a bunch of Mothers vote for the right to put everyone to bed? If you're too dumb (to drive in two feet of snow), spineless (to say no to work) or ill equipped (no snow mobile) to drive in two feet of snow, should the government save you? Lock you up for your own good? I don't think so. Should the government inspect my mittens when I go for a hike in the snow?

Back in the day no one knew if a foot of snow would drop anymore then if a micro-burst of wind or tornado might hit a town. People would have to use common sense or learn some. Put a blanket in your car, don't drive in blizzards, keep some food in your pantry for a rainy day. Instead we have the news only functioning to stir people up and empty the stores before every storm. People don't eat all that bread and milk, food goes bad, rinse and repeat, profit! It's getting to look like a scam more then anything else. And over the last 20 years, we haven't gotten much better at predicting these weather events. We've just gotten better at scaring people. The last hurricane to hit this area had my neighbors expecting all the trees and buildings to be blown away and we're 100 miles from the coast?! It just rained.

I'm all for team spirit and honest warnings, but the whole "let's all stay inside under threat of militarized law enforcement", it feels stupid to me. I'd be more in favor of buying each person a $40 pair of tire chains or even almost in favor of ordering people have a set and at most ordering some work places closed. I suppose since they weren't enforcing the $500 fines in Springfield MA, it's kinda like they were just ordering work places closed. But I still don't like that as the way to go about it.

Getting people used to being ordered to stay inside, it just feels wrong.

Sometimes I think I should move to Alaska.

End rant.

[basil_hayden]

I hear ya, steam_cannon.

But it's not whether you're smart enough to stay out of 2 feet of snow, which I got easily, it's whether you're unlucky enough to get stuck behind someone else who gets stuck, then the snow piles to 2 feet.

Look at any picture of a Connecticut highway from the blizzard of 1978 and you'll see it's packed with stuck cars. not only did al those people have to walk out in blizzard conditions, but it took 3 days to tow all the cars.

I'd rather the cars stay off the road so the plows can keep up, then when it stops snowing the road is ready to go and thousands of cars aren't waiting for a tow trucks.

I have no problem with state nannying if it's to my benefit.

[onlooker]

Yes unfortunately some drivers are not cautious at all and it has been seen already. In fact just a couple of years ago with Mayor Bloomberg. He did not require cars to stay off road and their were numerous incidents of cars crashing and blocking the road. So this is one case whereby I like the government to intervene cause it really is in everyone's benefit as it really does help the clean up crew do their job faster and better.

[KaiserJeep]

My Mother-In-Law was evacuated from rural Nantucket Island to a shelter in the high school gymnasium yesterday when power went out. Electricity has been restored to the town, which is near the subsea power feed from the mainland. The problem is the aged electrical infrastructure, mainly wooden power poles and pole-mounted transformers, along with winds up to 75mph. Nantucket is 30 miles offshore from Cape Cod, and conditions are more extreme than they are on the mainland. The initial storm dumped 30" of snow in about 7 hours, with drifts that are covering cars and small buildings.

As my MIL lives on a fairly deserted road, her neighborhood will be one of the last to have power restored. We are in fact concerned about pipes freezing. There won't be water damage because they are on a well, but they lose power, water pressure, and forced air heat all at the same time. If the pipes freeze, no joy until a plumber fixes them.

My wife and myself will probably treat the MIL to a standby propane generator with timer, electric start, and auto transfer switch. It only makes sense since the wife and I own the place. Just one more thing to do while I'm selling my California home, and looking for a place in Wisconsin.

[dohboi]

Thanks for the insight, KJ. I trust the MIL got through ok?

I hear that those generators are flying off the shelves these days. There was just a story about it in the paper. They do sound like a good idea, though. Very thoughtful of you.

Good idea, imho, to beat the rush in getting out of CA. Why WI, though, if I may ask?

[Tanada]

Here in Ohio they declare snow emergencies in stages (1-2-3) as the snow actually falls instead of guessing that the weatherman might actually be right this time. In a low level emergency you can't park on the streets, in the highest setting you can't go anywhere unless you are a 'vital worker' as the government defines it. Police/Fire/Paramedic/Snow crew/Medical/Funeral type folks are vital but everyone else can be ordered to park it and huddle in so the plow trucks can do their job.

Why any city with as much business going on everyday as NYC would order a top level vital personnel only travel ban before the first flake of snow hit the ground is beyond my ability to comprehend. If they had issued a low level alert to not park on the street and so on then when only 4 inches fell they would be seen as wise and business would have been able to go forward as normal. Instead they ordered everything locked up and the city lost Billions with a B in business done for what turned out to be a minor storm in NYC. The Mayor is going to have a lot of angry accountants both in the tax collections department and all the businesses that lost time and money over a stupid close everything snowpocolypse order. Common sense, its not just a good idea for commoners, its good for Government officials too.

[Cid_Yama]

Lighten up Mr. Scrooge, it was a snow holiday. Let the working classes have a break once in a while. Besides, it was only the uncertainty of the ability to forcast, it could have gone either way.


Here in North Texas(Lake Texoma) we hit 80 degrees and had a heat index of 81, on January 28th!

[KaiserJeep]

Thanks for the insight, KJ. I trust the MIL got through ok?

I hear that those generators are flying off the shelves these days. There was just a story about it in the paper. They do sound like a good idea, though. Very thoughtful of you.

Good idea, imho, to beat the rush in getting out of CA. Why WI, though, if I may ask?

Wisconsin is because I have extended family in that state. Brother's family in Northern Wisconsin, married (and pregnant) daughter in the capital Madison, etc. I was born and spent years living one state South in Central Illinois.

Basically the wife wants to be close to her soon-to-be twin grandkids, and also wants to own her own section of sandy beach. So the plan is to live somewhere on the western shore of Lake Michigan. My retirement date is May 31, then I have to sell my present home.

We have been out there looking at available land once already. Land that looked good on the web was less impressive in person, and we didn't see anything we both wanted and could afford. Not surprisingly, all the best pieces of land are already built upon. My desire to build a super-insulated "Passive House" is in jeopardy.

Plan B is to keep looking for land, but this Summer we will also start looking at existing houses on the lake. We need to find a place we like, can afford, and also can afford to make necessary energy efficiency improvements.

I'm not planning on having natural gas, oil, or electricity that I can afford in 20 years after retiring. So I will likely need to add insulation, passive solar heat, and solar PV panels to an existing structure. If at all possible and affordable, I still want an "Energy Plus" house that can function "off grid" and charge an EV.

It's a complex calculation involving purchase price, remodel expense, and real estate taxes. Another factor is how much cash I walk away with from selling the California home.

The MIL is fine and staying in the shelter along with a hundred or so other evacuees. She used her first phone call to her sister in Georgia, and then my daughter got a call from her Aunt early this morning, saying she was fine. We have no way of reaching her short of declaring an emergency, as communications on the island are spotty.

[Subjectivist]

KJ a few years ago a coworker of mine did the sunrise sunset challenge. Watch sunrise over Lake Erie, jump on the Expressway and head down I-94 to the dunes on Lake Michigan and chill on the beach all day before watching sunset over the lake. You start in one state beachfront park and end in another.

[steam_cannon]

You guys are awesome. Truly a group willing to explore rants and good ideas too!

Yes unfortunately some drivers are not cautious at all and it has been seen already. In fact just a couple of years ago with Mayor Bloomberg. He did not require cars to stay off road and their were numerous incidents of cars crashing and blocking the road. So this is one case whereby I like the government to intervene cause it really is in everyone's benefit as it really does help the clean up crew do their job faster and better.

So yeah, I see what you mean. It's the most workable solution.

It's too bad though, because it means that all that doomer porn of highways choked full of empty cars probably won't happen. Though on the plus side, clear roads means mad max is still a possibility! Lol

[KaiserJeep]

Speaking of "doomer porn", do you guys remember the 1998 disaster film Deep Impact? Recall the scene where the city residents are all stopped on the highway by the traffic backup? Approximately every fourth vehicle on the road is an SUV, and most would have 4WD or AWD. Yet every vehicle owner chose to sit in the vehicle and die rather than get on the shoulder and drive in the level grass to high ground in order to escape the tidal wave from the giant meteor impact.

I know most SUVs are owned by people who drive them to shopping malls. I know that us Jeep owners are an oddball group because many of us drive crazy places off the pavement, and even modify our vehicles with larger tires and equipment like winches to improve offroad performance. But how many of you would have died on that highway rather than think outside the box by driving offroad? In truth the highway's road shoulder in the film was level and grassy, and had been mowed in the recent past - most 2WD cars could have easily driven on it.

[dinopello]

Speaking of "doomer porn", do you guys remember the 1998 disaster film Deep Impact? Recall the scene where the city residents are all stopped on the highway by the traffic backup? Approximately every fourth vehicle on the road is an SUV, and most would have 4WD or AWD. Yet every vehicle owner chose to sit in the vehicle and die rather than get on the shoulder and drive in the level grass to high ground in order to escape the tidal wave from the giant meteor impact.

I know most SUVs are owned by people who drive them to shopping malls. I know that us Jeep owners are an oddball group because many of us drive crazy places off the pavement, and even modify our vehicles with larger tires and equipment like winches to improve offroad performance. But how many of you would have died on that highway rather than think outside the box by driving offroad? In truth the highway's road shoulder in the film was level and grassy, and had been mowed in the recent past - most 2WD cars could have easily driven on it.

I just watched it again a few days ago. It's on Netflix. It's a movie - the scene just meant to show that the exits would be clogged as they most assuredly would be - on road, off road whatever. A motorcycle might be able to weave through the cars and when needed weave through the dense forest that covers the eastern US. A motorcycle is what the movie used to show the guy who did make it to high ground - so in that sense it was realistic.

That scene had more problems then how they staged and shot the traffic. There was a sign saying Virginia Beaches 6 miles or something and then next thing the guy is climbing a wooded mountain (westerners would call it a hill) that looked more like the GW Forest. But, hey it's a movie. The panic people would be climbing/driving over each other to get out. I would have been on the beach watching the wave come in with Téa Leoni in my arms . Little would I know that Robert Duvall was going to save us from the big one. Oh well.

[KaiserJeep]

My MIL on Nantucket is back home after two days without power, which she spent in the shelter. She says the Police evacuated her to the shelter, the Fire Department returned her to her home. The power is back on and none of her pipes froze.

I remember one such snow storm during the years I lived there, approximately 40 years ago. It is unusual but not unprecedented.

[ennui2]

I didn't lose power and the snow almost immediately started melting after the shoveling was done. If not for this storm we've had very little snowfall. We just have these periodic polar vortex style inversions which are responsible for dropping the temperature long enough to catch a storm or two, but other than that, we're not getting the kind of winters we used to get. GW continues apace.