SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!!1111

So, you might have heard we had a little bit of weather over the weekend. The greater NoVA area experienced an honest-to-goodness blizzard, with the DC area getting somewhere between two to three feet of snow. We got about 30 inches at my house, putting this storm squarely in the "respectable" column even for a guy from New England.

The obligatory back-deck patio furniture shot. That's not even the half of it - we got another foot and a half on top of this. It was basically level across the back deck - I know, because I had to shovel most of it to prevent a collapse and to keep water from getting in the house. Home ownership, it's a blast...
It's also the first time I've ever had a flight canceled on me, outright. I was in Las Vegas for SHOT Show, and Thursday morning I received notice that my flight home, scheduled for Friday at 3:30PM, had been canceled. A bit of wild scrambling and a hail-Mary call to our travel agent and I secured a flight home on Thursday, a full 24 hours ahead of schedule. Which is good, because folks that weren't so lucky were, as of the writing of this post, still stuck in Vegas.

The kids are loving life, because school was canceled Thursday and Friday in anticipation of the storm and is closed today and tomorrow for the cleanup. Our county sent out a notice that residential streets won't even start to get plowed until today, although our neighborhood was in pretty good shape.

The biggest difference I've noticed between MA and VA when it comes to snow removal has nothing to do with municipally owned equipment. There's about the same number of trucks, sanders, etc. owned by the city/county/state in both places; in fact, VA almost certainly has more due to the larger size of the state. The biggest difference is in the privately owned plows and sanders.

In MA/New England, pretty much every landscaping company (that's not a school teacher's summer gig) has 4WD trucks with plows to supplement income through the winter. Whether it's a state contract, a local gig clearing out a plaza parking lot, or just going door-to-door clearing driveways, there's enough snow in New England to justify spending the cash on equipment. Given that the landscaping season is only about 6 months (mid-April to mid-October), it's a smart investment.

Here in VA there are a lot less private outfits with snowplows. Landscapers are really only off December through February, so there's less down time to fill with plowing. The snow season is much shorter, really only January and February; with more years than not seeing only minor storms. There's much less incentive to invest in a full plowing rig when it's quite possible you might only get one chance to use it in a season.

It leads to interesting driving, that's for sure. The state guys get the main roads, but really only the center of the road. It's not unusual to see entire lanes lost because they just couldn't plow them out. On the main drag near our house, there's a series of lights for entrance to a large shopping plaza with several different areas, and the third lane disappears and reappears in several sections. Turn lanes are generally the first victims.

Of course, everything will be melted by the end of the week, when it's projected to get into the 50s. That's another big difference - in MA, when there was a big January storm, it was quite possible that snow would stick around until April. Here, it's a rare storm that leaves snow lasting more than a few weeks.

I'm hoping to be back on the Harley by mid-February...

That is all.

People Are Stupid...

So, yesterday we had our first snowfall. Much like in New England, the first snow of the season is always a special occasion, and by "special" I mean "filled with a kind of stupid that brings about a frothing rage." I saw, in no particular order, the following:

*A person stop at a red light, and then - while the light is still red - make a U-turn into oncoming traffic. Mind you, the oncoming traffic had both a green light and was heading downhill. In the snow.

*A woman in a Mustang convertible STOP IN THE TRAVEL LANE on the highway to clear the ice off her windshield wipers. Stopped. IN THE TRAVEL LANE. She just brought her car to a stop and hopped out and started clearing - AND LEFT HER DAMN DOOR OPEN.

*A jackass in a black F-150 who, despite the two lanes of traffic attempting to merge onto the completely packed three-lane highway, dove into the breakdown lane and rode straight into the thick of things. A double damnation on the imbecile who let him in.

I left my house at 6:15 yesterday morning. I arrived at work, some 18 miles away, at 9:00. I could have biked to work in less time.

There were dozens of other, smaller stupid instances, like - yet again - idiots who stop on a snow-covered hill, or morons who make right turns on red despite oncoming traffic. Those are so common as to not even be worth mentioning otherwise. Like the dunderheads in their $80K luxury cars that don't understand the concept of "mashing the gas to the floor only makes the rear tires spin faster"...

It's funny how the same types of idiots exist in both the northeast and in northern Virginia...

That is all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

SNOWMAGGEDON!!!111

So, there's another snowstorm headed our way, at least if you listen to the panicking talking heads and various and sundry weatherpeople... There's talk of anywhere from 5-18 inches, although I'll believe the latter only after I've seen it. I haven't seen more than 3" fall at any one time, although locals assure me it has been known to happen.

I'd like to laugh and say, "oh, these silly Virginians, they don't know how to react to snow", except that people in Massachusetts do exactly the same thing. The whole "milk, bread, and eggs" deal - like if the snow gets real bad and we're stuck in the house we're just going to make french toast... And the driving, well, I think in VA they've got a slight edge. You see, whenever there's the slightest hint of inclement weather, folks stay home in droves. As opposed to MA, where they try - emphasis on try - to drive anyways...

In any case, it's going to be an interesting couple of days...

That is all.

The Shocked Face Is Getting A Workout...

[Insert facepalm here]

Ex-New York mayor Bloomberg named UN climate envoy

Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has been appointed as UN special envoy for cities and climate change.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wants Mr Bloomberg to "raise political will and mobilise action" on climate change, a UN spokesman said.

He will also work to bring "concrete solutions" to a major climate summit in New York in September.

Gee, who didn't see this coming? The ersatz former Mayor of NYFC, he who has spent millions of his own money (and NYC tax dollars) propping up his own special version of gun control across the country, will now be put in another unaccountable position of questionable utility and power far outweighing the actual job.

Nice work if you can get it.

With "global warming" - rebranded "climate change" in light of record-breaking cold temperatures and wintry blasts in locations like Atlanta, GA - being blamed for everything from record cold winters to record hot summers, droughts and floods, and cats and dogs living together, there's little he can't get his paws on under the guise of "stopping climate change." Get ready to find out that trans-fats, large sodas, and handguns are all responsible for global warming, folks...

I wonder if he'll be jetting off to climate change conferences in his private jet...

That is all.

Another dispatch from...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)

SNOWMAGGEDON!!!111

Man, SNOWPOCALYPSE has a very different meaning in Virginia than it did in Massachusetts.

I mean, in MA, we'd get all the crazy news stories and breathless weather reports. But you know what else we'd get? SNOW. The kids' schools were both canceled over what I would estimate to be 0.1" of snow. I cleaned off my truck this morning by opening and closing the doors briskly. The roads - even the secondary roads - were down to bare pavement.

Now, it's understandable in places like Georgia, where even a light coating of snow turns a roadway into a skating rink. They don't have the equipment to handle things we take for granted like salting and sanding roadways. However, in Northern Virginia there's plenty of equipment to handle a light coating. If we received a foot of snow, I'd understand things being shut down longer - there simply aren't as many private snow plows in VA as in MA. There aren't enough subcontractors to rapidly clear all the roadways.

But no school over a dusting? I mean, not only did I not need 4WD this morning, I didn't even slip once. I even tried to break traction in the open parking lot at work and was unable to achieve a good slide. How can school be canceled if you can't even do proper donuts with an overpowered RWD pickup truck!?!?!?

The one good thing is that it's really helping to make the kids happy we moved to Virginia...

That is all.

ZOMG SNOWMAGGEDON!

Wow. PSH much?

'A real mess': Up to 100 million face mammoth winter storm

Some of the U.S.'s biggest cities braced for what's expected to be another mammoth snowfall and blizzard-like conditions in the Midwest and the Northeast — with as much as a foot and a half forecast through Friday.

Winter storm warnings stretched from Chicago through the New York tri-state region into New England — affecting an area home to more than 100 million people.

This is absolutely classic PSH, weather-wise. Over a quarter of the entire United States is going to face this storm? I'd love to know how they arrived at the figure of 100 million - the metropolitan area of NYC is ~ 20 million and 10 million for Chicago. That's some 70 million people - I guess they're including the entire eastern seaboard in the 100 million figure.

Aside from that, we're talking about a snowstorm that - outside of New England - is under a foot of snow. This isn't a ZOMG Storm of the Century that's going to drop three feet of snow on Atlanta, GA here. This is a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill snowstorm for any area that gets snow on a regular basis. It's hard to figure out what's really going on here, unless it's just a slow news day.

In any case, for those still in the affected areas, be safe regardless...

That is all.

Keep In Your Thoughts...

The folks affected by the recent round of weather...

Tornadoes, damaging storms sweep across Midwest

WASHINGTON, Ill. (AP) — Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across the Midwest on Sunday, leaving at least five people dead and unleashing powerful winds that flattened entire neighborhoods, flipped over cars and uprooted trees.

Illinois took the brunt of the fury as the string of unusually powerful late-season tornadoes tore across the state, injuring dozens and even prompting officials at Chicago's Soldier Field to evacuate the stands and delay the Bears game.

You know, as much as I complain about the cold and snow in the Northeast, it's pretty damn easy to prepare for a blizzard. You don't have to worry about food going bad if the power goes out (although you do have to worry about freezing to death...); with a little preparation before hand you can ride out even the hairiest of blizzards - plus, there's generally a good three to five days advance warning. Tornadoes, not so much.

Keep those in the blast zone in your thoughts. For the folks in those areas, check in and let us know you're okay. Everyone else, if you could say a quick prayer to the Man Upstairs, or [insert deity-or-non-deity-of-choice here], or just think positive thoughts for those affected by the extreme weather, that'd be great.

Gaia is a stone-cold beeyotch, folks - never forget that.

That is all.

Pictures from SNOWPOCALYPSE

Took some pictures of SNOWMAGEDDON to share:

Here's a couple quick "before and after" shots, with the "before" shots taken early yesterday afternoon and "after" taken this morning:

Front of the house before

Front of the house after

Back of the house before

Back of the house after

Here's BabyGirl G. after a few minutes out playing in the snow:

Round three of snow removal will happen after lunch...

That is all.

Dispatches from SNOWMAGEDDON

Heh. Got this text from roving MArooned reporter SCI-FI earlier today:

Yeah, it's pretty much like that today...

That is all.

SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!!!11111oneneone

Oh, lord. This is going to get worse before it gets better...

Snowstorm Friday Has Potential To Be Historic

BOSTON (CBS) - The snowstorm Friday will be big, but will it be historic and rival some of the legendary storms of Boston’s past?  

The short answer is it just might. 

I think it is safe to say that Friday’s storm will easily be the biggest one of not only this season but last season as well.

Now, I understand the cheerful weatherperson being excited about this story. Last year was a real bust, snow wise - we had one storm of any significance, and that happened before Halloween. So far this year we've had a couple of storms -one that even was worth dragging out the snowblower - but nothing like the monster storms of years past. Naturally, the meterological community is all abuzz with the latest winter storm (side note: Nemo? Really? It's not bad enough that you have to name every weather system that wanders down from Canada, but after Disney clownfish?).

And, naturally, the buzz spills over. We just received word that BabyGirl G.'s basketball game on Saturday is canceled in anticipation of the storm; I expect to receive word later today about TheBoy's last basketball practice tomorrow night. From all indications, this is going to be a large storm - whenever they stop talking inches and start talking feet you know it's serious - but again, this isn't anything that we haven't dealt with previously.

The hype, though, is really starting to get out of hand. I understand that this is a big(ish) story, and that we're excited about the prospect of a large winter storm. But for the love of all that's good and wholesome, do we really need 24/7 coverage of ZOMG STORMAGEDDON?!?!?!? The near-constant reminders of the blizzard of 1978 are getting tiresome - yes, we get it, this is the same sort of system - especially considering the advances we've made in alerting folks of these sorts of events. Anyone that gets snowed into their house for an entire week can only blame themselves at this point.

On the plus side, we'll have plenty of eggs, toast, and milk for the obligatory french toast party!

That is all.

For Discussion: Naming Winter Storms? WTF?

When did it become bloody necessary to name every single weather event?

Winter Storm Luna Takes Aim on Northeast

A shield of snow, sleet and freezing rain will pivot through the northern Great Lakes and Northeast today, including New York City, Philadelphia and D.C. Some light icing accumulations may lead to travel issues from northern Lower Michigan, Pennsylvania, southern New York and parts of southern New England.

ZOMG! It's winter and we're getting some form of frozen precipitation! Quick, break out the nomenclature apparatus! I mean, really, a storm that drops freezing rain and some snow on parts of New York and New England gets its own name? We've had years where we'd easily have to drop into Aardvark and Bburago for this sort of event.

Used to be, we'd name hurricanes only. As the hurricane hit land and wound down, it's status would be dropped down to tropical storm, but it would keep the name - I think we're seeing mission creep here. Next we started naming tropical storms. Then blizzards. Now we're tossing names at whatever storm happens to waltz up the jet stream or come lolling in from Canada.

Eventually, everything will be named Elvis...

That is all.

ZOMG GLOBAL WARMENING WILL KILL US ALL!

Heh.

Snow ball fight in Tuscaloosa Alabama.

Sorry, sometimes you just gotta snark...

That is all.

That Dirty Four-Letter "S" Word...

...that would be snow. We had our first substantial snowfall of the season last night, getting about 6" of light, fluffy snow starting mid-afternoon and ending sometime overnight.

Oddly enough, the Mrs.'s SUV handles worse in the snow than my Dodge Earthf**ker - or, more precisely, I'm more familiar with the 4WD pickup than the AWD Pilot. We hit a patch where everyone slammed on their brakes going down a snowy hill, and the Honda started slipping on the snow. While I concentrated on steering out of the skid, not mashing the brakes, etc., I found myself fighting with the Pilot - and watching the curb get ever closer to the passenger side tires. As soon as I stopped fighting the traction control, it straightened right out and was fine. It's great technology, you just have to be used to it...

Got a chance to bust out the new snowthrower, too. It's a little on the unwieldy side when running under a full load, and tends to "kick" one way or another if it catches on something, but it was easy to get used to it and it was certainly more precise than the tractor-mounted thrower we had been using. Overall it only took a little longer using the smaller snow thrower than the tractor, owing mainly to being able to make multiple passes faster. I even cleared off my neighbor's driveway while learning to use the blower.

I do have to admit, though, that if we're going to get snow, I'd rather it be this weekend rather than next. We've got the Fifth Annual Northeast Blogger Winter Dinner, and a few years ago the night we chose for the meet turned out to be a nasty blizzard. For the hardy souls that turned out it was great - we had Jillian's all to ourselves - but the ride home was a bit on the harrowing side. This year there's folks coming in from significant distances - including some via air! - so seeing a clear forecast is a good thing...

And now, I will need to go soak myself in a hot tub containing Ben Gay and liquid Advil...

That is all.

Look! Global Warmening!

They said if I voted for Romney, global warming would get worse...

I know, I know. It's only a dusting, etc. And this year it waited until after Halloween before it snowed - although I still don't have the Harley in for storage yet... It just struck me as funny that we'd get a snowstorm the day after the man who promised to roll back the ice caps was re-elected...

I think they were exaggerating...

That is all.

Where I Quote Myself...

It dawned on me earlier today that within the span of less than one month, we've had both and earthquake and a hurricane here in the Northeast. Now, I'm not one to complain (stop laughing), but there's a reason we put up with several feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures for five months out of the year here. That reason is that we DON'T get the Super Fun Happy Weather Rides like other areas of the country get. Florida and Texas are nice and warm in the winter months - and they have to contend with hurricanes that redistribute trailer parks across several counties.

So, please be keeping your weather to yourselves, or we will be forced to start exporting blizzards. You have been warned...

That is all.

STORMAGEDDON UPDATE

Power running out.

Ammo supplies low.

THE DRUMS! THE DRUMS!

---

Of course, what I mean is that we're doing fine, thanks to all those that have asked. The worst of the storm is just about upon us, and so far it doesn't seem any worse than other hurricanes/tropical storms that have come through the area. Bob in 1991 and Gloria in 1986 were worse IMHO, hitting us in August and September respectively when the temps were warmer.

Of course, now that I've said this we'll probably get walloped and lose power for three days. The kids' school was canceled in anticipation of high winds and power outages. Personally, I think it was a poor call given the track record of ZOMG HURRICANES this far north - especially since Sandy's track has always been well south of us (we're extreme north shore). Given that one of the towns in our district loses power if you sneeze real hard, though, I can understand being closed down.

---

And we have a caption contest! From the local news station comes this photo out of CT:

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Keep your fingers crossed and keep those in other, harder-hit areas in your thoughts and prayers everyone. Thanks.

That is all.

Drought...

What comes to mind when you hear the word drought? Something that happens to someone else? Outdoor water use restrictions? Visiting folks in WI, it really hits home just what a drought really is.

It's corn that's not even 3 feet tall already brown and withered away, long before it ever ripened for harvesting. It's a priest exhorting his congregation to pray for rain, for the farmers in the community and for the general well-being of the town.

Talking to my wife's uncle, who is an honest-to-goodness farmer, things are bad. He knows folks who rent farmland, $300 per acre per year, due at harvest time, who will have no crops to show for the money they've spent so far. Worse yet, they've paid for the seed and the fertilizer for crops that didn't make it to harvest, so they're even further in the hole.

And, of course, there's the specter of what it means for the rest of us should the drought continue: Higher food prices and shortages are almost certain as crops don't make it to harvest; not only food on our plates but food that goes to feed livestock is no longer available as it once was.

Naturally, the finger pointing begins in earnest, with some blaming global warming and others blaming farm subsidies. It's human nature to want to assign blame for this; you can't score political points on Mother Nature, but you can on evil corporations that a) pollute the environment; b) run small independent farms out of business; or c) contribute to politicians with the wrong letter in parenthesis after their name.

But the real people who are hurting now are the farmers; folks who are working their fingers to the bone just to barely break even - and in many cases not even doing that. This year may be one for the record books, with uniformly small crop yields and attendant fallout. There's talk that food animals may be culled early in anticipation of significantly higher prices; stock up now if prices decline due to overabundance of stock.

And in any case, keep the farmers of America in your thoughts - and think of rain.

That is all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When Roads ATTACK!

Holy smokes... Spotted this on the local news:

Car Stuck In Sinkhole In Manchester Street

MANCHESTER, N. H. (CBS) – A driver was caught in a frightening incident early Monday morning in Manchester’s North End.

A woman was approaching the intersection at Beech and North Streets just after 6 a.m. when she tried to drive through a puddle that had been created by a water main break.

There's a still photo from the story that says it all:

(photo from story)

I've had a similar experience, although not quite as severe. Riding around on a rainy night many years ago, I came across a rather sizable puddle off to the side of the road. Oncoming traffic prevented me from skirting the puddle entirely, so I went to drive through it. Got about 1/3 of the way into it when I realized that it was a significant depression by a storm drain, and that the water was up over the bottom of the door sill... Luckily traffic had thinned so I was able to skirt the remainder of the puddle, but it's a reminder to be careful when driving in inclement weather.

Because Mother Nature is a stone cold bitch who will eat your car if she gets the chance...

That is all.

When Worlds Collide...

Since it seems to be the ONLY news today, here's a picture from just outside Casa del G.:

Premature snowulation

Our pre-Halloween snowfall has been big news all over the country. Parts of western MA got over a foot of snow - we only got ~ 3-4", but it was heavy, wet snow. Lots of places without power because a lot of trees still had leaves like in the picture - and those leaves get heavy when laden with wet snow. School has been canceled in our area because two of the three towns in the school district don't have power (it's an all-or-nothing thing because we're regional) and my work has no power so we've got the day off...


And no, Al Gore has not been spotted in the Northeast...

That is all.

Al Gore Can Kiss My...

(picture from here)

Global warming my hairy Italian ass...

That is all.