How's the weather...?

***Valandil*** · 02-02-2011, 12:23 PM

Epic blizzard hitting Chicago as I write.

Chicago's record snow is 23" in 1967. I was here in town for the second - a 21.6" on New Year's Day of 1999. There was also a pretty heavy one in 1979.

They were watching this system for the past several days - saying it might be another major one. They say that a lot - and sometimes nothing comes of it, so we made preparations, but didn't count on it.

The weathermen delivered THIS time. I think about three things converged on Chicago at once - a major storm system from the west, a mass of moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico and a real oddity - very strong winds from the east (our prevailing winds are from the west - and that's almost always what we have).

It started yesterday afternoon - around 3:00 or 4:00. Slight snow at first, but really strong winds. I read in advance they might be 50 mph, I saw this morning there had been gusts of 70 mph. They've been expecting maybe 15' to 20' waves to come in from Lake Michigan - potentially flooding Lake Shore Drive and freezing. So at first the wind was blowing around like crazy - not staying much on roofs, drifting heavily on the back side of things, from the eddys. There was even thunder and lightning! Some people lost power from wind damage - but we're good there. Sometime around 6pm or later, snow started falling at 2" to 3" per hour.

This morning - still some wind gusts, but overall, less wind - more snow. It keeps coming down. I'll be watching for accurate snowfall amounts, and won't be surprised if we've already passed the record. Most of our back yard looks like it has over two feet of snow. I let the dog out and she dove into the snow ahead - then turned back and gave me a funny look. We think she's part husky, but we've spoiled her by keeping her indoors.

Unfortunately - a good friend of mine was coming home from a little south last night. He got to where he had to choose between Lake Shore Drive and expressways. The expressways had a sign indicating it was a 3 hour trip, so he decided to take the Drive, figuring it was still early in the storm - this was about 5pm. He made really slow progress for about three hours, then was not able to go anywhere - and he sat, gas running low, phone battery running low, car rocked by the winds. There had been some accidents, the city had closed Lake Shore Drive - and they just were not able to get all the cars off quickly because of the conditions, the snow, the stranded (and abandoned) vehicles, etc. He finally got 'rescued' and put on a bus this morning at 5am - then took an el train home. Honestly - I would have gone for him and tried to meet him on a side street, but I think I would have gotten stuck out there.

So... soon we'll have to start our clean-up. It's supposed to trail off by about 3pm today. But meanwhile - it's actually very spectacular and wonderful (if you're not sitting in your car stranded someplace).

***Valandil*** · 02-02-2011, 12:32 PM

Oh - and to top it off, temps are dropping sharply tonight. Zero or below (Fahrenheit) straight temperature. The wind chills are there now - those will be REALLY low when the straight temp goes negative, because the winds are continuing.

The Ice Dragon has struck!

***Earniel*** · 02-02-2011, 12:49 PM

Quickly, call Gandalf!

Sounds like a rather spooky weather situation you're in. Snow, strong winds and lightning and thunder do sound rather epic.

I don't think I've ever even seen one foot of snow around these parts.

***Jonathan*** · 02-02-2011, 01:10 PM

A blizzard eh? A perfect excuse to stay indoors all day with many a nice, hot cup of chocolate

Good luck riding it out!

EllethValatari · 02-02-2011, 01:42 PM

Not bad here-about 18 inches of snow on average and not much ice. The blizzard passed through with what we call "thundersnows." Basically it snows violently and thunders at the same time. It amuses me that it's 15 degrees F now, while on Saturday it was 74! The weather here is SO unpredictable!

katya · 02-02-2011, 02:19 PM

The storm in Northern Indiana is not that bad really. We had worse earlier in January. I guess maybe I don't care too much about blizzards though, I like lightning storms the best. I'm still heading to the gym today. School (i.e. work) was closed, yay, but the gym is the one that you get a key to so you can go any time. So it doesn't matter if they're closed.

***Rían*** · 02-02-2011, 04:08 PM

Yes, I heard Chicago got hit really hard! That's a lot of weather!

Here in Phoenix we're having high winds and cooler temps - the high will be 49, which is quite cool for us.

katya · 02-02-2011, 04:13 PM

So before going to the gym I had to shovel myself out... well there's my workout for the day I guess! So much snow.

Grey_Wolf · 02-02-2011, 04:51 PM

Windy and rainy!

***Tessar*** · 02-02-2011, 04:58 PM

IT'S SO COLD HERE!!!!!!!!!

I wanna see some snoooooooooooow.

***Jonathan*** · 02-02-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

Windy and rainy!

Well isn't that good ol' Scania for ya!

Still, better than Illinois blizzards or Queensland cyclones, så klaga lagom

Grey_Wolf · 02-03-2011, 01:08 AM

oki, buddy. Indeed we are fortunate!

Gwaimir Windgem · 02-03-2011, 01:43 AM

We got your blizzard today.

***Alcuin*** · 02-03-2011, 02:06 AM

70 inches (178 cm) of snow so far along the coast of Massachusetts, with more on the way. The snow on the sidewalks and beside our driveway is piled above my head.

***Rían*** · 02-03-2011, 02:23 AM

Gwai - where are you now? Are you still in Santa Paula?

Gwaimir Windgem · 02-03-2011, 04:46 AM

Toronto! Land of the theatre, and home of the draconic alcohol-sale laws!

katya · 02-03-2011, 01:46 PM

What are your alcohol sale laws? Here we can't buy on Sunday but we just drive up to Michigan (maybe half hour away).

Second snow day in a row. The first one I was happy, the second one I'm more worried about only working one day this whole week. But I guess there's nothing I can do about it, so I'll just sleep in until right now and then have powdered donut holes and a beer for breakfast.

Insidious Rex · 02-03-2011, 02:16 PM

Was looking forward to tons of snow but all we got was freezing rain... But probably for the best. Last week when a snow/sleet storm hit right at rush hour it put the city (Washington, DC) into gridlock. They announced early dismissal from the Fed. Government and everyone panicked and left at the same time. I left at 4 and didnt get to my house till 11pm only to find no electricity for the next 28 hours... What fun...

Gwaimir Windgem · 02-03-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katya

What are your alcohol sale laws? Here we can't buy on Sunday but we just drive up to Michigan (maybe half hour away).

A government bureau (the LCBO, Liquor Control Bureau of Ontario) is the only legal purveyor. Kinda freaked me out at first, but even more when I realized: monopoly = not a whole lot of sales.

***Valandil*** · 02-03-2011, 07:19 PM

My wife sent me this link:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/vid...NRLL&gt1=42007

I heard from someone that the snow measured at O'Hare Airport was 20.2" - which makes this our third highest snowfall of all time. So now I've been here for two of the top three!

But this one of course had the extreme winds and thunder and lightning.

02-02-2011, 12:23 PM	#1
*Valandil* High King at Annuminas Administrator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Wyoming - USA Posts: 10,752	How's the weather...? Epic blizzard hitting Chicago as I write. Chicago's record snow is 23" in 1967. I was here in town for the second - a 21.6" on New Year's Day of 1999. There was also a pretty heavy one in 1979. They were watching this system for the past several days - saying it might be another major one. They say that a lot - and sometimes nothing comes of it, so we made preparations, but didn't count on it. The weathermen delivered THIS time. I think about three things converged on Chicago at once - a major storm system from the west, a mass of moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico and a real oddity - very strong winds from the east (our prevailing winds are from the west - and that's almost always what we have). It started yesterday afternoon - around 3:00 or 4:00. Slight snow at first, but really strong winds. I read in advance they might be 50 mph, I saw this morning there had been gusts of 70 mph. They've been expecting maybe 15' to 20' waves to come in from Lake Michigan - potentially flooding Lake Shore Drive and freezing. So at first the wind was blowing around like crazy - not staying much on roofs, drifting heavily on the back side of things, from the eddys. There was even thunder and lightning! Some people lost power from wind damage - but we're good there. Sometime around 6pm or later, snow started falling at 2" to 3" per hour. This morning - still some wind gusts, but overall, less wind - more snow. It keeps coming down. I'll be watching for accurate snowfall amounts, and won't be surprised if we've already passed the record. Most of our back yard looks like it has over two feet of snow. I let the dog out and she dove into the snow ahead - then turned back and gave me a funny look. We think she's part husky, but we've spoiled her by keeping her indoors. Unfortunately - a good friend of mine was coming home from a little south last night. He got to where he had to choose between Lake Shore Drive and expressways. The expressways had a sign indicating it was a 3 hour trip, so he decided to take the Drive, figuring it was still early in the storm - this was about 5pm. He made really slow progress for about three hours, then was not able to go anywhere - and he sat, gas running low, phone battery running low, car rocked by the winds. There had been some accidents, the city had closed Lake Shore Drive - and they just were not able to get all the cars off quickly because of the conditions, the snow, the stranded (and abandoned) vehicles, etc. He finally got 'rescued' and put on a bus this morning at 5am - then took an el train home. Honestly - I would have gone for him and tried to meet him on a side street, but I think I would have gotten stuck out there. So... soon we'll have to start our clean-up. It's supposed to trail off by about 3pm today. But meanwhile - it's actually very spectacular and wonderful (if you're not sitting in your car stranded someplace). __________________ My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!!

02-02-2011, 12:32 PM	#2
*Valandil* High King at Annuminas Administrator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Wyoming - USA Posts: 10,752	Oh - and to top it off, temps are dropping sharply tonight. Zero or below (Fahrenheit) straight temperature. The wind chills are there now - those will be REALLY low when the straight temp goes negative, because the winds are continuing. The Ice Dragon has struck! __________________ My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!!

02-02-2011, 12:49 PM	#3
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	Quickly, call Gandalf! Sounds like a rather spooky weather situation you're in. Snow, strong winds and lightning and thunder do sound rather epic. I don't think I've ever even seen one foot of snow around these parts. __________________ We are not things.

02-02-2011, 01:10 PM	#4
*Jonathan* Entmoot Attorney-General, Equilibrating the Scales of Justice, Administrator ♎ Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 3,891	A blizzard eh? A perfect excuse to stay indoors all day with many a nice, hot cup of chocolate Good luck riding it out! __________________ An unwritten post is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and it immediately becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it’s halfway to being just like every other bloody entry that’s ever been written. ☻

02-02-2011, 01:42 PM	#5
EllethValatari Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: United States Posts: 401	Not bad here-about 18 inches of snow on average and not much ice. The blizzard passed through with what we call "thundersnows." Basically it snows violently and thunders at the same time. It amuses me that it's 15 degrees F now, while on Saturday it was 74! The weather here is SO unpredictable! __________________ Elleth Valatari "We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Our myths may be misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour, while materialistic 'progress' leads only to a yawning abyss and the Iron Crown of the power of evil." — J.R.R. Tolkien

02-02-2011, 02:19 PM	#6
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	The storm in Northern Indiana is not that bad really. We had worse earlier in January. I guess maybe I don't care too much about blizzards though, I like lightning storms the best. I'm still heading to the gym today. School (i.e. work) was closed, yay, but the gym is the one that you get a key to so you can go any time. So it doesn't matter if they're closed. __________________ ~~eat until you can't anymore, play until you drop, sleep the day away, laugh, cry, yell, just live live live!~~

02-02-2011, 04:08 PM	#7
*Rían* Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Not where I want to be ... Posts: 15,254	Yes, I heard Chicago got hit really hard! That's a lot of weather! Here in Phoenix we're having high winds and cooler temps - the high will be 49, which is quite cool for us. __________________ . I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!

02-02-2011, 04:13 PM	#8
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	So before going to the gym I had to shovel myself out... well there's my workout for the day I guess! So much snow. __________________ ~~eat until you can't anymore, play until you drop, sleep the day away, laugh, cry, yell, just live live live!~~

02-02-2011, 04:51 PM	#9
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	Windy and rainy!

02-02-2011, 04:58 PM	#10
*Tessar* Master and Wielder of the Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: IM IN UR POSTZ, EDITIN' UR WURDZ Posts: 6,433	IT'S SO COLD HERE!!!!!!!!! I wanna see some snoooooooooooow.

02-03-2011, 01:08 AM	#12
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	oki, buddy. Indeed we are fortunate!

02-03-2011, 01:43 AM	#13
Gwaimir Windgem Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA Posts: 10,820	We got your blizzard today. __________________ Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle

02-03-2011, 02:06 AM	#14
*Alcuin* Salt Miner Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: gone to Far Harad Posts: 987	70 inches (178 cm) of snow so far along the coast of Massachusetts, with more on the way. The snow on the sidewalks and beside our driveway is piled above my head. Last edited by Alcuin : 02-03-2011 at 02:07 AM.

02-03-2011, 02:23 AM	#15
*Rían* Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Not where I want to be ... Posts: 15,254	Gwai - where are you now? Are you still in Santa Paula? __________________ . I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!

02-03-2011, 04:46 AM	#16
Gwaimir Windgem Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA Posts: 10,820	Toronto! Land of the theatre, and home of the draconic alcohol-sale laws! __________________ Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle

02-03-2011, 01:46 PM	#17
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	What are your alcohol sale laws? Here we can't buy on Sunday but we just drive up to Michigan (maybe half hour away). Second snow day in a row. The first one I was happy, the second one I'm more worried about only working one day this whole week. But I guess there's nothing I can do about it, so I'll just sleep in until right now and then have powdered donut holes and a beer for breakfast. __________________ ~~eat until you can't anymore, play until you drop, sleep the day away, laugh, cry, yell, just live live live!~~

02-03-2011, 02:16 PM	#18
Insidious Rex Quasi Evil Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Maryland, US Posts: 4,634	Was looking forward to tons of snow but all we got was freezing rain... But probably for the best. Last week when a snow/sleet storm hit right at rush hour it put the city (Washington, DC) into gridlock. They announced early dismissal from the Fed. Government and everyone panicked and left at the same time. I left at 4 and didnt get to my house till 11pm only to find no electricity for the next 28 hours... What fun... __________________ "People's political beliefs don't stem from the factual information they've acquired. Far more the facts people choose to believe are the product of their political beliefs." "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

02-03-2011, 07:19 PM	#20
*Valandil* High King at Annuminas Administrator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Wyoming - USA Posts: 10,752	My wife sent me this link: http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/vid...NRLL&gt1=42007 I heard from someone that the snow measured at O'Hare Airport was 20.2" - which makes this our third highest snowfall of all time. So now I've been here for two of the top three! But this one of course had the extreme winds and thunder and lightning. __________________ My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!!

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