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Subscribe to RSSSnow and hurricane-force winds are slated to hit the Northeast this weekend. Residents in the tri-state area are scrambling to get ready after last year's unusually dry and mild winter. NBC's Ron Mott reports.
Updated at 3:07 a.m. ET: A crippling and potentially historic winter storm barreled toward the Northeast on Thursday, threatening tens of millions of people with 2 feet of snow. Boston canceled school and braced for one of its worst blizzards of all time.
Airlines encouraged fliers to change their plans and get out of the way. There were already delays of more than two hours at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, where tangles can snarl air traffic across the country. More than 2500 flights had been cancelled by early Friday, according to flightstats.com.
The culprits were a so-called clipper system moving through the Upper Midwest and a low-pressure system headed for the waters off New England. When they converge, probably late Friday, they are expected to sock the region with its heaviest snow in at least two years, and perhaps much longer.
“When this hits, it’s going to come down very hard,” said Tom Niziol, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. “This is something we haven’t seen in a while, particularly in New England.”
The National Weather Service put the New York City area and Long Island under a blizzard warning and said those areas could get more than a foot of snow. Earlier in the day, the weather service warned that travel in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island could become nearly impossible.
Full coverage from The Weather Channel
Forecasts called for as much as 9 inches of snow across central Michigan, a foot and a half in the Hudson Valley region of New York, and 2 feet or more across coastal New England. Possible hurricane-force winds off Massachusetts and Rhode Island also made flooding a threat.
In Boston, the storm had the potential to take out century-old records. The city’s biggest snowstorms since 1892 were a 27.5-inch blast in February 2003 and a 27.1-inch dumping exactly 35 years ago, in 1978. Mayor Thomas Menino closed city schools for Friday and pleaded for common sense.
The snow is expected to pick up early Friday afternoon and by Saturday at 8 a.m. blizzard conditions will be in full force along several major cities in the Northeast, from New York City to Portland. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reports.
“Stay off the streets of our city,” he said. “Basically, stay home.”
Light to moderate snow is expected to spread through the Great Lakes on Thursday and could reach as far east as parts of New England and New York City by Thursday night, according to forecasters for The Weather Channel.
Snow should begin Friday in Boston and Hartford, Conn., and grow heavy at times during the day in New York, New England and parts of Pennsylvania, the forecasters said.
The most intense part of the storm was expected to hit Friday night and Saturday, with as much as 3 inches of snow falling per hour in coastal New England, including Boston, Hartford and Portland, Maine.
By Saturday evening, snow should taper off in Boston and the storm is forecast to pull off the coast of Maine by Sunday morning, The Weather Channel said.
RELATED: Detailed storm timeline from The Weather Channel
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was readying plows and said crews would work extended shifts.
“It’s been a quiet winter, but we knew that February could be a tough one,” said the city’s sanitation commissioner, John Doherty.
For at least some people there, the storm was a chance to profit.
“Shoveling, cleaning cars, anything you need me to do,” Isaac Morales told NBC affiliate WHDH in Boston. “I already have rock salt. I already have shovels. I’ve got extra bodies. I’ve got everything so I’m all set.”
But for survivors of Hurricane Sandy, including thousands of people still displaced and many more with disrupted lives, it was more serious. A much smaller snowstorm followed Sandy in late October.
“People were just miserable, unhappy, and it started to get cold,” Annie Petraro of Long Island told NBC New York. “Things just weren’t good. And now it’s freezing, it’s gonna snow.”
The Long Island Power Authority, which was strongly criticized for a slow response to the hurricane, said that it was planning for this one and making sure it had enough people working and enough supplies.
More than 130 flights into and out of O’Hare were canceled Thursday, and more than 70 were already canceled for Friday, according to FlightAware.com. More than 400 flights into and out of Newark Liberty International Airport were canceled for Friday, as were 100 for Boston Logan.
American, Delta, United and other major airlines said they would waive their fees to change flights, which can run to $150, for people going through major airports in the Northeast, including Logan in Boston and LaGuardia and Kennedy in New York.
Amtrak canceled some runs of its Downeaster train line, which runs from Brunswick, Maine, south to Boston.
RELATED: Travelers brace for ‘monster storm’
Ski resorts were excited by the prospect of a major snowstorm.
“It is perfect timing because it will just remind everybody that it is winter, it’s real, and get out and enjoy it,” Tom Meyers, marketing director for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Massachusetts, told The Associated Press.
Boston Mayor Menino declares a snow emergency, urging people to stay home and canceling school.
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I'm so glad I don't live on the east coast anymore. Hey I thought the gopher said there was going to be an early spring - I guess not this early. Keep warm all of you in the east.
Hey joyce not a gopher but a groundhog. You keep warm and the best to you in Washington.
Funny, the story says you may get over two feet of snow, but what I saw at best was 20 inches. That is a lot less than 24 inches. But maybe I'm wrong. Damn, all those years as a carpenter.......
I think Puxatawney Phil meant that it was going to be an early Arab Spring.
I can see southern rednecks going "this dont look good son, "them librals" will flock south and Canadians will take over the north with their Zambonis, git the guns ready"...
Exactly what i was thnking. How ever for the forecast here is the scoop. Nature will do what it wants.
I've always feel the European model is more accurate. I'd be planning ahead if I were in that forecast
I always follow the Euro model before I follow any others because of its long-range record. Sandy is all the proof you need. What I see as the big difference between Euro and US GFS is that when GFS does converge with Euro, GFS is way late to the game. Using Sandy as an example, Euro was dialed in on its Sandy forecast for a good four days BEFORE GFS started to converge with it. Thie storm, which will be named Nemo, is no different. Euro is dialed in early and GFS is converging on the same track four days later.
From any kind of emergency planning standpoint, your only option is to make plans based on the Euro model. Your other option is to wait and see for four days with GFS. In any kind of potentially life-threatening weather event where you have clear advance warning, wait-and-see quickly turns into sit-and-die. One thing to make no mistake about: this storm will be a life-threatening event to anyone on the roads past mid-morning Friday. Why? All the computer models have converged on a period of snowfall in the two to four inch per hour range running from mid-morning Friday into Friday evening. What makes this rate of snowfall life-threatening? Once you hit two inches per hour, the plows are pulled off the roads because they can not keep up with the rate, and are no use to anyone bogged down behind abandoned cars. Motor vehicles will bog down or be abandoned in the snow, and some people will stay in those cars even though they do not have an emergency kit on-board; this equals dead from hypothermia. School buses are inoperable once snowfall hits one inch per hour. They are taller than they are wide, which means they have no leverage for climbing hills.
Make your plans based on the Euro model, and if things turn out to be less severe the forecast, consider it a practice run for what you're supposed to be doing when you really have to face a serious weather emergency.
angel d , a gopher is a groundhog
lol, gopher
@wenezdae,
"angel d , a gopher is a groundhog"
Nope not really....................
"Gopher is the common term for any of several distinct species of small burrowing rodents endemic to North America, including: the pocket gopher (family Geomyidae), also called true gophers; the ground squirrel (family Sciuridae); Richardson's ground squirrel; and species of prairie dog."
"The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the woodchuck is a lowland creature. It is widely distributed in North America and common in the northeastern and central United States. Groundhogs are found as far north as Alaska, with their habitat extending southeast to Georgia."
what happened to the days when 6 inches was a dusting? now 2 feet is a blizzard oh my.live in nh i can remember alot of winters you had to treat intersections as a 4 way stop cause you couldnt see cars coming.
@doc
"REDNECK" You mean WHITES? I can see northern Demoblacks running from the white snow, let's hope they run west....
Oh geez! How long till obama starts blaming this storm for his poor economy.
.
wow lee, wish i could ban you.......please take your meds as prescribed..please! they say it will help you get over your hate for yourself
Dear Mother Nature,
Why are you bringing another storm just to screw up the weekend?
Why not bring it on Sunday night instead?
I don't like Mondays!
Monday Snow Days rule!
Best post yet, LOL have a good day Steamie
Joyce, I've lived on the East Coast my whole life and I love snow. I'm planning to move to New England when I retire because I can't get enough of the white stuff. It's nature at its best.
Two feet and these fools are already panicking, having grown up in Minnesota that only means there may be a delay in getting to work on Monday. What is the big deal with these people, they act like it has never happened before. When you cannot open your front door and need a pole to find your car then it's a snowstorm.
The Northeast has been battered by Hurricane Sandy, extremely cold weather and now snow storms.
When are they "naysayers" going to realize or admit that we have damaged our only habit - this planet?
The right wing calls it a conspiracy for the sensible folks to demand that we reduce our carbon footprint.
Does our sky literally has to disappear or the sky somehow fall upon us, to wake the greedy up?
GAWD, these spamming trolls are PATHETIC! Ok, back on topic. Other than my hubby and kids, the most beautiful, gorgeous, breath-taking site I have ever seen was my former hometown in southwestern Pennsylvania blanketed in snow from a blizzard. I got up to walk to work that morning, it was really early. No one else had been out yet, no footprints in the snow, not a car on the road yet. It was quiet, serene and amazing! Pristine snow. I willnever forget that walk that morning as long as I live. This happened back in 1974 or1975. I feel so lucky to have that memory. So there are those that do not like such weather and so be it. I'm in Florida now and I hate it. C'est la vie!
rodentwarrior --- What the hell are "GFS" and Euro? Why would you write all of that without explaining what you are talking about?
ETA: Okay, it means "Global Forecast System". You should always write out an acronym before you start using it. I'm not an idiot, but I just get my weather forecasts from Weatherbug or The Weather Channel. There are many people who have never heard of the "Global Forecast System".
fhill...it isn't the amount of snow that makes a blizzard but the accompanying winds. Blizzards tend to bring whiteout or near whiteout conditions.
I think they are calling this thing a nor'easter which is basically the same as a hurricane..the only diffrence is that the precipitation is snow vice rain.
@Bobster...
I think the more rational question is...how long before right wing nut jobs start blaming this storm on Obama?
Well Caligula since you brought the subject up we can start now.
It's Obamas' fault. Feel better?
@iseenow, well when something goes over YOUR head......it goes waaay over, doesn't it? Sometimes it helps to read the posts PRIOR to responding to another poster. Caligula did not bring up the subject. Bobster-1557895 made the idiotic comment first in post #1.15, therefore, it actually took much less time than you thought.
Chose to live in blizzard prone areas....then you get what you asked for.
Irvmani, 1.22, thanks. I live on the eastern end of Lake Erie, and we get what is called Lake Effect snow every winter. An average winter here is 120 inches of snow/year. Look up 'lake effect', only 4 regions on the globe that are cursed with this weather affliction. To me, this is just hype. 2 feet? Feh, warm up the snow blower, and grab the shovel. Hell, one weekend we got 4 feet, and it didn't even make the news.
Caligula, unlike the liberals the right wing doesn't blame snow storms on anyone but Mother Nature.
It's called WINTER.
funny, sensationalism journalism. if you live here you're used to it and prepare accordingly. Not sure where the
"nervous" and "worried" adjectives came from....
@ Caligula - I think the better question is how long before some left wing sissy goads people into taking shots at Obama. Go be a victim somewhere else.
Don't journalists do their homework anymore?
"Worst ever, yeah right" What about March,1993?
That storm slammed the entire eastern seaboard. Dumped a foot on Atlanta, 6 feet in Albany,NY, 3 feet in Rochester,NY.. Hurricane force winds on the coast.
Just another over dramatized story. Really, this just looks like your average Nor-easter to me.
Irv - I now live in Minnesota, but was in Salem, Mass. for the "Blizzard of'78" - that was A LOT of snow - I watched our VW Beetle disappear so only the tip of the antenna was visable under the snow. Minnesota is prepared for this kind of weather (as are Lake Effect snow areas) - New England, not so much. There is simply nowhere to put all the snow in some of these charming but compact communities. I am thinking of moving back to the Boston area, but maybe after the winter...And let's not forget the possible impact on the still distressed victims of the "Super Storm" Sandy. Stock up on important supplies and plan on staying home!
Doc...there are plenty of "rednecks" up north too...I've seen some up there that could outredneck a good old southern boy...haha
haven't run into anyone nervous abouth this storm in Northern vermont... excited is the right word I think. 2 feet? bring it. (weather media is hoping one of these named winter storms will actually produce something this year so they can justify naming the storms) it's all hype.
The West Coast doesn't know how to handle a Mountainous Blizzard---no clearing of the streets, no immediate snow plowing--we're stuck--better to have it on the East Coast---
East Coasters know how to drive in perilous weather---experience.
Sandie,
Winters should assume a "normal" winter pattern, and not become extreme.
The pattern of our climate seems to have been altered...which is bad for human beings, animals, crops, and the economy.
I can't believe all the people arguing whether it's a gopher or groundhog or that a gopher is a groundhog (that makes an appearance on Feb 2) .. it's a darn rodent and he don't know his a@@ from the hole in the ground he hides in. Besides, Spring doesn't start until March 20th or 21st .. that's a month and a half away .. what does that have to do with the nor-easter that is coming? You people need to concentrate on your safety rather than fighting over a rodent poking his head out.
Previously an avid skiier and hoping to return to with my kids, I would be happily anticipating the storm but for one thing... power. How we put electricity, one of the most important things in making modern life, in the hands of private industy I will never come to terms with.
After Sandy we're hearing about rate increases from our power company because of the repairs they needed to do... right... blow money out your executive's as$#@ instead of keeping the grid updated, then when it fails because of the lack of modernization, get us to pay for it.
Anyway... enjoy the snow everyone! Get those kiddies onto saucers, sleighs, and skiis!
Great point 25Walker!
Cognito:
Private Industry/Electricity Execs?--How about the Government, of which has done nothing for the survivors of the Hurricane Sandy---People living (lower income) stuck in apts. in Manhattan not being able to afford the cost of NY's restaurants, food, basic neccessities, they never going back to their homes, still strangled in a mess, FEMA sitting on their butts; no response--What about those Executives?---or Leaders.
Check it out; not much has been done for the lower income people or other survivors who have no home--the relatives have kicked them out, too long of a stay; many are homeless.
Now that is atrocious--just like Katrina.
iseenow, janine and patrick...
Reading comprehension is not your strong point, eh? It started with bobster's asinine comment..but then again, folks of your ilk don't care about little things such as details and facts. Enjoy your bubble. It's all you have.
Worst of all time?....Really. How about the 27 incher which hit NYC in 1969? There were people stranded at LaGuardia for close to a week. Some biz types hijacked a helo to get out. There were lines of laundry hanging in the terminal concourse. Food was brought in by snowmobile and landcats.
Well, 2 feet of snow is a lot, but "historic" and "worst of all time"? Huh??
Ah, the politics of snow. Well, anyone who doesn't see that a snowstorm in winter is so obviously the fault of President Millard Fillmore is a moronic gay conservative Christian libtard redneck atheist feminazi sexist Jewish Muslim redheaded left-handed gun-nut wuss. IMHO. I hope I've not sounded judgmental or offended anyone. :-)
Bring it on!!! I'm ready..if you're not..Who ya gonna call...SNOW BUSTERS!
Shovels here rocksalt there..who ya gonna call..Snow Busters
Have no fear..we'll get there..who ya gonna call..Snow Busters..
Its winter people! Snow is coming until the weather starts to warm up for a change of seasons.
Blizzard? Do these people even know the true definition of what a blizzard truly is?
They are looking at a huge "Snowstorm" is more likely the proper way to explain to people whats coming there way. When the news people start "warning everyone" I think it just creates an even bigger problem because now you will have even more people who might have been just fine with staying home and waiting out the storm but now will second guess themselves and all rush out to buy "extra groceries" because they don't want to starve, oh the misery of it all!
If people would just prepare for the seasons before they even get here they would be so far ahead of the curve that all this hype wouldn't matter to them and they could sit back and relax. Keep your auto in tip top shape, Keep the necessary supplies in your auto and in the home as well so your not out driving around in horrible weather when it does come to your town or city.
Use some common sense and that in itself will go a long way.
Reminds me of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"
Now it's going to become real- we're moving to Mexico! Maybe they can make us illegals a deal and offer us a free ride yee-haw!!!
Boston is getting two feet and they call it "historic"?
Really? Two feet breaks records out there?
Two feet of snow here at Lake Tahoe is called "Flurries".
No offense to meteorologists, but they always seem to exaggerate to historic degrees...at least in my 42 years of experience.
I bet they get nothing more than a dusting.
1.63 Ahhh...Lake Tahoe...the epicenter of business & commerce.... where millions live and manage complicated commuting.
Two feet in Lake Tahoe is considered flurries? Two feet here in Lewis County, NY near Tug Hill is called just getting started. Try 12 feet 2 inches in one dumping. I think we'd give Lake Tahoe a run for it's money, NevadaJ.
Exactly txman. I remember my older brother climbing out the second story window with a shovel so he could shovel a path to the door and unblock it. It has been many decades since I've seen it snow like that but 2 feet is by far no record for most northeasters.
The worst snow storms in New England history saw as much as 40-50 inches of snow, with drifts over 30 feet high. The great snow storm of 1717 and the blizzard of 1888 were as bad as it has ever been. In the 1888 blizzard New Haven got 45 inches and drifts were measured to 50 feet, while in the same storm Saratoga Springs got 58 inches too!
Then there was the 1978 blizzard in New England and a separate 1978 blizzard which struck the Great Lakes region which left as much as 3 feet of snow in each storm, with the January, 1978 blizzard causing 75 below zero wind chills, 40-foot drifts, and 35-foot surf on Lake Erie that that forced the closure of I-90 as those huge waves were breaking right across the freeway too! Another huge blizzard hit Buffalo, NY in 1977 with over 4 feet of snow too!
Blizzard of 1888:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/10-biggest-snowstorms.htm#page=1
Great snow storm of 1717:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/10-biggest-snowstorms.htm#page=8
But none of these storms even came close to the record established by the 1959 Mt. Shasta, CA blizzard which dumped almost 16 feet of snow up at the Mt. Shasta Ski Bowl:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/10-biggest-snowstorms.htm#page=5
Even I once saw over 6 feet of snow in St. Regis, MT overnight during the winter of 1980-81 too, which was so deep that I had to push snow with the door of a cabover truck tractor just to get out of the cab when I woke-up in the morning too.
Well, gray ghost, since the storm hasn't even hit yet, I'm at a loss to guess just what you saw.
Tell me, what area of the country is completely insulated from any type of natural disaster? This is a rare event, so put a sock in it.
Caligula- I guess you haven't been around the internet for too long, have you? If you think the other poster's point was so asinine then don't respond to it. This is a story about the weather. It has absolutely nothing to do with politics. If some troll comes on trying to make it about politics then just ignore him or her. When you feed a troll it ruins the conversation for everyone. Everyone was able to ignore the post but you, and it was because it made you feel victimized or self-righteous. It doesn't really matter why. Just ignore it.
Cogito- I am an engineer for a large electrical contractor that does a great deal of work for those evil private power companies. If you think it would be better off in the hands of a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy then I want some of what you have been smoking.
It's the Koch boys playing their games again. We can't have two in one year, otherwise people might think that the climate is changing for sure.
Even if it turns out to be heavy it has nothing to do with climate change. Not sure what the Koch Bros. have to do with the NWS. But that is how diseased liberal brains work.
I am 100% sure it could possibly snow up to four feet.
Liberalism is a disease that is cureable. The problem is that it is not covered by obamacare. They will give you an aspirin and send you home to die.
My hillbilly computer model which only predicts snow in feet,Predicts under 1 foot.
Talked to family about 45 miles from Boston, they laughed and said, yup, it's going to snow until it stops. Lots of beer and other supplies stored in the basement. They'll be fine.
only stupid ppl belong to any political party, ALL with an agenda deny climate change.
@Greyghost
I hope your right..
Its those damn liberals. !st they want to take away our automatic rifles used to spray helpless dangerous animals (like deer) now they want to take away our snowblowers. does that about capture the silliness of your remark? Also, Puxatawney Phil is a golfer . Geez, he just said an early spring so he could get in a round.
Not Gophers! Golfers!
I'm pretty sure he's a go-fer...
"Northeast snowstorm could be among the worst of all time" ??????
I grew up in western New York state the land of blizzards. The headline says this blizzard with it's two feet of snow could be among "the worst of all time"....... not even close. When you can't find your car in the morning because it's buried under six feet of snow, now that's a real blizzard.
Apparently none of you are aware that this Blizzard is coming on the 35th Anniversary of the Blizzard of '78...TO THE DAY. How freaky is that ? I was in college in NH then and we had over 3ft of snow.
http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/78blizzard.html
Meteorologists are great at over-hyping these so-called winter storms. I doubt that we'll see more than 4-5 inches out of it in upstate NY. We never get what the forecast calls for---it's usually much less.
They r a bunch of Drama queens. They cry wolf ="STORM" @ the first flake.
Don't even get me started on the plow guys= a$$'e$.
Just don't lump all weather people as one. There are forecasts ranging from a few inches to 2 feet. Pisses me off the national mets/outlets always go for the big totals and broad brush the entire area. Get everyone in a panic. So many times they have us in 1-2 feet and 1 to 2 inches falls. Always go with the local met...........
I will say this: The Euro model was the correct one of at least 10 different models when it came to forecasting the eventual track of Hurricane Sandy.
Weather forecasting is the ONLY profession, other than politics of course, where you can be consistently WRONG and still keep your job.
We New Englanders know how to deal with snow. We've seen it before.
"...among the worst of all time..." Very dramatic headline, considering we are aware of only a tiny sliver of weather history throughout all of time. There are only records for about 250-300 years in eastern North America, and we are pretty sure that weather existed in that area for a considerable time before that. Maybe "... among the worst in 20 years ..." does not impress, even though it would be accurate.
Are the road conditions able to drive, in terms of visibility and icy situation?
If the road condition is not safe for driving, the school may be good to call off for tomorrow?
How about other businesses?
Shelters for cold weather may need to be open.
Y don't u run for mayor.
Brand new idea, Billy; why don't you folks use your own heads and be responsible for your own families? Keep the kids home if you think it is a problem. Stay off the roads, etc. Turn off the TV and listen to local radio for forecasts.
Thats what we're going to do. head into workl \early so by the time the snow gets heavy we can go home, pack the car with skis and head for Vermont. With the storm so well publicized there won't be much traffic so the ride, while slower than normal, will be fun as we watch the 45 mile and hour winds blow a couple of feet of snow around. Mother Nature is smokin..
Oh lawd...a couple of weeks ago they delayed school 3 hours here in Birmingham because the forcast was for 30 degrees the next morning...it only got to 36...and they didn't recall the delay...haha They actually put sand down too
A public Service anouncement to Flatlanders: Please stay home this weekend. You are not welcome. All ski mountains will be closed to you useless buggers. No fresh powder shall be wasted on thee. Thank you, you may now resume your regularly scheduled programming.
Bo, here too in Atlanta. "Watch out for ice! Ice-pocalypse!" I checked the weather myself and saw that while it would be below freezing for a grand total of two hours, they were not even forecasting rain. How, then, would ice magically develop? Kids here got a day off of school to look at the marginally cold (and dry) outdoors.
Woudn't it be kinda funny if NOTHING happened? LOL!
It's happened before......the great Blizzard of '78 turned out to be a real nice sunny day!
I remember the blizzard of 78. As I recall correctly most were forecasting no more than flurries.
They have been crying "WOLF" since Katrina. Every rain storm is the next FLOOD. Every snow fall the next ice age.
9 times out of 10, they are wrong.
It's that one time you have to watch out for.
The blizzard of 78 was supposed to be 6" - 8" so people went to work. The storm stalled off the coast for 3 days, but even at 27.2" of snow it wasn't the most for Boston. The 2 factors which made it unique were the wind driven surge of the ocean which destroyed the coast and the fact that rear wheel drive cars with bias ply tires don't do well in deep snow so once the first car got stuck on rte 128 10,000 more piled up behind it and then were covered by 20" of snow. Took bulldozers and front end loaders week to get them all out. Oops, almost forgt. Ten day prior the area received 20" of snow so the storm drainswere cloggedand the snowbanks huge already. It was a blast. Will never forget how much everyone helped each other. If it happens thiswekend, given the people of today, they'll probably shoot each other for shovels.
This blizzard will come but then all of a sudden it will turn to rain, I hope.
Or Mr and Mrs Jones, those perfect neighbors, will beat their elderly neighbor over the head to steal the tea biscuits. After all they do need to eat.
hello
Here in Kentucky (we're bordered with OH & WV) our weather report just says 50% chance of whatever. So if we don't get snow or rain, it's not wrong. Can't go wrong when you say 50-50...We just wait until the a.m. & see what it looks like the next day. Sometimes they might predict & we would get it a day or two later, so you really just have to go it alone, just day by day....
The biggest snowfall I can recall in our area, approached 36" - but the prediction that day was for "flurries".
Weathermen or Weather Forecasters have the best damn job in the world!! What other job could you be continuously wrong time after time and still have a job?
Doug. A member of Congress or Senate.
Are you talking about government workers or weatherman?
Weather forcasters and politicians are who I'm referring to. Usually incorrect but still employed.
Doug; I take exception to your remarks. In my 3 yrs. forecasting I was correct at least twice.
Doug-394923
Congress has the best job of all. You get to screw around for two years then con the voters into re-electing you and best of all - you can vote yourself raises whenever you want!!!!!!
Doug, I've been saying that for years.
And it's not just congress guys, it's ANY branch of government. local or national.
Weather forecasters actually do a pretty good job but even they can't predict a sudden change in movement of a front or some such.....look at hurricane predictions....they can't definitively tell where the eye will make landfall until the initial outer bands begin to move in and even then the storm can wobble at the last minute.
Weather forecasting isn't like predictable math which is why there are so many models out there; weather forecasting is still a guessing game when all is said and done.
As for predicitn ghte worst scenario..better to get people listening and moving to get ready and not getting hit as hard than calming things down and having people get caught for not being adequately prepared.
I agree with you there Lynn. People need to be prepared for storms. Either hold up at home when you can, or evacuate when you are told to. If you don't leave. TOUGH on you. Don't expect anyone to race back to get you at the last minute.
Jack says: Congress has the best job of all. ... you can vote yourself raises whenever you want!!!!!!
Sorry to inject a contrary note, but since 1992, we've had the 27th Amendment. It says: No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
And keep track folks. When the USWS predicts precip for your area with upwards of a 70% chance, they are almost always right.
Both models got me near a foot of snow so either way I'm buried.
yea our last monster 10 inch storm in Chicago dropped a whopping half inch! The only thing different between a toilet and a weather man is toilets flush!
yeh....their good @ saying "computer error" rather than "human".
There is no sense in Chitcago, Mike. Move away now, before they brainwash you into thinking Madigans are nice folks!
I grew up about fifty miles north of NYC. I remember as a kid in the mid 60s, it would snow from Thanksgiving up to the first week in March. You never saw bare ground untill late March, early April. Now they call a six inch snowfall a "storm", worthy of causing school closings, panic food hording and general mayhem. School days? what school days! I was glued to the radio as a kid only to hear the old GMC school bus chugging up the hill with the chains clanging away. Times have changed.
wayne-3103108, was the same here 35 miles south of Buffalo. The school buses became the plows. I remember seeing the front bumpers and even the grills pushing snow. No problem, just get your butt to school.
Mike..that's been typical of here too. They've been screaming about the next great storm since last year.
The groundhog "predicts" six more weeks of winter or six more weeks until spring. No difference!!
Interesting how much snow we used to get based on memory, yet within the past 5 years Cannon Mountain NH had their second snowiest season since 1938. Of course we had seasons passes.
Well, if it does hit the Northeast, I hope it's not too bad, good luck over there. Mike from Kansas.
Jim cantore probably has a big woody just thinking about this storm....
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..........
I'm more excited than the kids--hoping for two feet! It just doesn't feel like winter without a big snowstorm. Last winter was so mild, we didn't even get to use the snowshoes, so I'm crossing my fingers that this one will be a biggie. Perfect timing, too, with the majority of the snow overnight & into the weekend. Gives us time to have some fun & then dig out.
Colorado sure could use the good news of snow. I've lived here 30 years and have seen some great blizzards but not since 2003 (4 feet) have we had an actual blizzard. Our weather forecasters get all excited over 6 inches of snow now. We are that dry. The mountains have gotten snow but other then that we are desperate. It was raining turning to snow last night and we were dancing just for the moisture.
Yeah, March of 2003. Live on the Northwest Corner of the Palmer Divide, had more than 6ft in front of the house from that one. Holed up 3 days, finally broke through and walked to the Albertsons. I drove in the blizzard of 1997 home from DGH it took me four hours, when normally takes about 20 min at that time. Last night I was in the Snow driving home. Those were some big flakes, almost 2 inches across.
I've always made my rule to be, plan for the worse, hope for the best. As far as having emergency supplies.
2nd rule, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.IMHO just saying.
Hey smacksoflies,unless you live in the mountains or the country,there is no need for that.I live in chicago,and no matter what i could go down to the local super walmart and shop for whatever i want at any time.Even if the power goes out,thoughs greedy bastards will always be open handing out flashlights at the door if needed.That's one of the few advantages of living in the city.I still have fast food and drug store in walking distance if we get hit with 5' and cant even drive my 4 wheel drive blazer.
It would seem that the old saying is correct. Baseball players and weathermen have the best jobs in the world. Perform 3 out of 10 times and you are a star. Want to know what the weather is? Stick your head out of the window and see for your self.
Want to know if your going to make through a weather event? Stick your head in the pantry and see for your self
Quote"depending on which weather forecast model is right". When is it ever right?
The best forecasting models can't agree on a weather event less than a week out, but the climate change liars say we should trust the model of the "climate change scientists"?
Rex,
To date, a total of 34 national science academies, including ours, have confirmed anthropogenic global warming and are urging the the world to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
My kids shouldn't have to suffer becuase you are too damn stupid to get it (or maybe too damn greedy).
How can so many scientists be wrong? On the contrary, I am a weather expert, how about you?
For the last 46 years of my life it was cold and SNOWED in WINTER. How is the NEWS?
You people do realize there is an entire country between the Hudson and Los Angeles don't you ???
Yea, but there is only a mile or so between me and the Hudson.
Yes, but no intelligent life forms !
Do like the Boy Scouts. Be Prepared
It won't ever happen again if ban high capacity weather fronts!
Brilliant IFN!
Hello brainwashed idiot liberals, Cant tell you what the weather will be yet you trust them to tell you "what the weather should be".
David....just read your post....you're the idiot! Take the tin foil hat off and go to sleep!
And please take your meds. You know how you get when you stop.
First of all, if your not from the New England area,and dont plan on traveling to the New England area,WHO CARES.IM from Chicago,and i will maybe worry about it when i see snow falling.Nothing has changed for a 2000 years people.You see bad weather, you leave early if you have to be somewhere.If not put on a sweater make a pot of coffee,and put on a good movie.And before the modern technology.You put on a pair of boots,still left early and through on a bear coat,made a pot of soup,and read a book.I dont understand the panic of normal weather.Let me know when there is a real panic,like a meteor or comet the size of Texas coming.But it is fun to watch stupid people panicing like lab rats,lol.
I wouldn't underestimate the European model format this time. It was "right on target" for it's predicted model for Hurricane Ernesto in August and for Hurricane Sandy. With this one, depending on the strength of the Canadian circulation around the high pressure system (a clipper) meeting a wet gulf stream could create a horrendous storm with lots of moisture...and with conditions just right, very high amounts of percipitation as snow measured in feet instead of inches. Good Luck to all those on the East Coast....so glad to live in So. California.
And the Gulf Stream, with its warmer waters and overlying air, has a large effect on weather systems, usually causing them to intensify.
Really? We'll be skiing powder all weekend. So glad we don't live in California. Buenas dias.
Ah David, are you going to be alright?
Wish it would happen on Thursday or Friday morning rather than ruin the weekend. I'm going to be shoveling all that fluffy white stuff by hand. :(
Why is most of this article written in the past tense? The storm hasn't happened yet?
I'm just hoping that it stays cold enough so it is the light fluffy stuff. That will mean more snow overall, but easier to move around.
REALLY Janine 1645002,thats what you hope for?I rather have it above freezing,because i rather have wet heavy slushy stuff and stay on the ground,rather than your stupid cold fluffy stuff,and bouncing off the guard rails like a pin ball.I could tell your a woman.