What's the big deal with this storm??

[Guest inoubliable]

Maybe I'm particularly dense today and I'm totally missing something. I've been watching for the last few days everyone talking about this monster snowstorm about to wreak havoc on the New England area. A monster storm with a predicted snowfall of.... two feet. What's monstrous about that?? Is it all expected to dump within 30 mins?

 

Two feet would be normal here. Two feet here and people would just get out their neon golf balls and go about their business. Why is two feet traumatic even further north?

[MtnMama]

I'm perplexed by this too. I would guess that people in New England are familiar with the concept of snowstorms in winter.

[creekland]

You're in VA and consider 2 feet normal? It sure wasn't when I lived there and I lived in the mountains. It's not even "normal" here in PA though a couple of years ago we had two storms come close to dumping that amount here (together they exceeded that amount). I think VA got that same set of storms.

 

BUT, yeah, up in places that are used to snow, two feet isn't that unusual in a storm. Those types come around every few years. I think the news wants us to get worked up so we stayed tuned in (and therefore they have a higher viewership). The blizzard I remember the most from my youth was in 1977 in northern NY (NOT the 1978 one - that one missed us). We had three feet of snow in one afternoon and school was closed for the next two days (the only time I ever had school closed two days in a row). Our superintendant was mad. The state made him close school. He saw no need for more than one day... That particular storm caused a drift over our house making the top of the snow level with my sister's second floor window. We had to tunnel out of the first floor door. My sister and I just wanted to use our sleds from the window, but our parents nixed it. ;)

 

I do chuckle at the news though - and wonder how many "storms of a century" we've seen in the past decade... They say this one should make the top 10 in single storm snowfalls in some areas.

[AnIslandGirl]

For us, it more about the hurricane force winds sustained for over 6 hours and the potential for devastating beach erosion. We live on an island, and a few houses are at risk for collapsing into the ocean from this storm. :(

[Julie Smith]

It's nice to have the warning up here. We haven't gotten that much snow. But then again the only "warning" I got was from checking the weather website like I do ever few days. It was just basic smart stuff. So much snow, over so much time.

 

ETA: I forgot where else I heard about the snow. Our local neighborhood association send out an email about it, because of the snow this weekend they are hosting the annual front lawn snow sculpture contest. They always plan it sort of last minute depending on when we will have a good amount of good building snow.

[creekland]

For us, it more about the hurricane force winds sustained for over 6 hours and the potential for devastating beach erosion. We live on an island, and a few houses are at risk for collapsing into the ocean from this storm. :(

 

 

That's definitely something worth worrying about (more than 2 feet of snow in areas used to snow). I hope things go well for you and your neighbors! Take care!

[KatieJ]

We have been hammered by snow fall after snow fall. We have had probably 3 feet in our backyard over the past 2 weeks. (It did completely melt halfway thru, so the amount in our yard is not that deep.) However, we did not get it all in 2 days. :laugh:

 

Bad news sells. Seriously they named the storm? I guess blizzards are tired of Hurricaines getting all notoriaty.

[unsinkable]

Bout 10 years ago, we had nearly 3 ft. of snow in 24 hours.

 

That is a horrendous amount. 2 ft. of snow plus wind? That is a significant storm.

[itsheresomewhere]

The winds are what will be bad. Also, factor in quite a bit of people still don't have power, heat or still have tarps for roofs. They are worried about the shore with damage which is already damaged.

[unsinkable]

We have been hammered by snow fall after snow fall. We have had probably 3 feet in our backyard over the past 2 weeks. (It did completely melt halfway thru, so the amount in our yard is not that deep.) However, we did not get it all in 2 days. :laugh:

 

Bad news sells. Seriously they named the storm? I guess blizzards are tired of Hurricaines getting all notoriaty.

 

 

Naming significant winter storms is new this year.

 

There are criterion that need to be met in order to be named.

[Guest inoubliable]

I'm in the Shenandoah Valley in VA. We usually get a couple of feet of snow in February. In the years that we get snow, that is. I've lived here most of my life and I wouldn't consider two feet of snow to be a monster storm, even if we hadn't gotten much snow in several preceding years. What I thought was truly strange was the thought that people who live much further north of me, who would presumably get much more snow and much more often, would be freaking out over two feet to fall over the weekend.

[Guest inoubliable]

Ah, okay. It's the wind. See, that isn't being mentioned much, or I'm walking out of the room every time they do. LOL. I just kept hearing about this two feet of snow.

[Zebra]

Ummmmm........I am very perplexed by the idea that 2 feet during one storm is not a lot of snow.

 

Getting 2 feet all at once IS a lot of snow. It doesn't happen every snowstorm. It's not the end of the world, and doesn't deserve all kinds of hype, but it's not "the norm". BUT, we are getting blizzard conditions, which is a whole other thing. Nor'easters can be a big deal. High wind gusts, white out conditions, astronomical high tides, it *could* be a real mess.

 

I'm having a hard time believing that in VA you get 2 feet of snow during one storm, on a regular basis. It's just hard for me to believe that is the norm.

[TravelingChris]

Blizzards are a big deal= plain snow usually isn;t. Blizzards involve high winds and whiteout conditions. Lots of people die in blizzards- they are one of our deadlier weather events. Though the deadliest is actually plain heat wave.

[unsinkable]

You're in VA and consider 2 feet normal? It sure wasn't when I lived there and I lived in the mountains. It's not even "normal" here in PA though a couple of years ago we had two storms come close to dumping that amount here (together they exceeded that amount). I think VA got that same set of storms.

 

BUT, yeah, up in places that are used to snow, two feet isn't that unusual in a storm. Those types come around every few years. I think the news wants us to get worked up so we stayed tuned in (and therefore they have a higher viewership). The blizzard I remember the most from my youth was in 1977 in northern NY (NOT the 1978 one - that one missed us). We had three feet of snow in one afternoon and school was closed for the next two days (the only time I ever had school closed two days in a row). Our superintendant was mad. The state made him close school. He saw no need for more than one day... That particular storm caused a drift over our house making the top of the snow level with my sister's second floor window. We had to tunnel out of the first floor door. My sister and I just wanted to use our sleds from the window, but our parents nixed it. ;)

 

I do chuckle at the news though - and wonder how many "storms of a century" we've seen in the past decade... They say this one should make the top 10 in single storm snowfalls in some areas.

 

 

The blizzard of '77 is legendary around here...the storm itself lasted a couple days. Cleanup took weeks.

 

My DH and some of his family were stuck at a restaurant for 3 days.

 

I have a healthy respect for snow storms. And I am grateful that we have resources now that we didn't have 30 years ago that give us a chance to prepared for potential bad weather.

 

[Guest inoubliable]

I'm having a hard time believing that in VA you get 2 feet of snow during one storm, on a regular basis. It's just hard for me to believe that is the norm.

 

 

Well I didn't say that. :confused1: I said we usually get a couple of feet in February. It's spread out. And it's not on a regular basis. There have been years where we get a bit in October, a bit in January, and nothing in February.

[Guest inoubliable]

Okay, okay. LOL. I get it now. The weather reports that I'd heard hadn't mentioned anything about winds or "blizzard" conditions. All I was hearing was "two feet of snow". I hadn't even heard how quickly the snow was going to be dumped.

 

No longer confused. Moving on.

[gingersmom]

After losing power during the hurricane for 7 days, every weather event is a big deal.

[SKL]

It depends on what they are used to. If they aren't used to a lot of snow, they will not have the tools to keep the roads clear so life can go on.

 

I live near the "snow belt" and lived right in it for about 10 years. 2-3 feet of snow does not faze me. We used to get that in the morning and again the same evening sometimes. I had to shovel my parent's cars out and shovel again so they could get back in after work. But it was rare to be actually shut in because of snow. The road crews were awesome over there.

[Zebra]

Maybe I'm particularly dense today and I'm totally missing something. I've been watching for the last few days everyone talking about this monster snowstorm about to wreak havoc on the New England area. A monster storm with a predicted snowfall of.... two feet. What's monstrous about that?? Is it all expected to dump within 30 mins?

 

Two feet would be normal here. Two feet here and people would just get out their neon golf balls and go about their business. Why is two feet traumatic even further north?

 

 

You said "Two feet would be normal here." And I read it like you were saying that getting 2 feet of snow during one storm was normal where you live. 2 feet of snow over a whole month, that's not a big deal. 2 feet of snow in 24 hours, yes, that's a big deal. It's still a lot of snow all at once.

[DianeW88]

Two feet of snow here in Utah is not a big deal. We had nothing but one storm on top of the other two weeks ago, leaving me with a grand total of 30 inches in my yard here (north of Salt Lake City). I still have a foot on the ground and piles of shoveled snow from the driveway and the plows that are more than 30 inches. Betcha heard nothing about it on the news. ;) And yes, some of those storms were blizzard conditions. It's all relative, I guess. We don't blink here at two feet.

[Guest inoubliable]

 

 

You said "Two feet would be normal here." And I read it like you were saying that getting 2 feet of snow during one storm was normal where you live. 2 feet of snow over a whole month, that's not a big deal. 2 feet of snow in 24 hours, yes, that's a big deal. It's still a lot of snow all at once.

 

That's okay. You must have missed another post I made in the thread.

 

And, I agree. Two feet over 24 hours IS a big deal. That part about the upcoming snowstorm, I didn't know.

[Rose in BC]

A few years ago we had 113 cm fall in 24 hrs. That's 3 feet 8 inches. We live in a snow belt but still it was a lot snow. I still had to go to work. :)

[Parrothead]

I"m hearing conflicting reports on how much we are supposed to get. Several weather services say 5-9 inches. Others say 24+ inches. Either way for here those amounts are fairly normal. We don't start getting worried until we are expecting more than 36 inches.

 

I wonder if the problem for points south would be heavy wet snow.

[MariannNOVA]

Two feet of snow is not normal in Virginia.....don't be ridiculous. good grief. Northern Virginia had two feet of snow three and a half years ago and it wasn't normal then and wouldn't be normal now.

 

New England is looking at totals of two feet and possibly more with blizzard condition winds....THAT would certainly get my attention if I were in the path of the storm. There is a concern regarding downed power lines and trees. The positive in this particular situation in NE is that there is no snow from previous storms already accumulated on the ground.

 

It really annoys me when people complain that too much is made of the weather, and then everyone starts whining that they weren't given enough warning.

 

ETA: I have lived in fairfax county for almost 12 years. two feet of snow on the ground even as the result of numerous snow storms is not normal. we would be more likely to have closings, etc due to ice than snow.

[Catwoman]

 

 

You said "Two feet would be normal here." And I read it like you were saying that getting 2 feet of snow during one storm was normal where you live. 2 feet of snow over a whole month, that's not a big deal. 2 feet of snow in 24 hours, yes, that's a big deal. It's still a lot of snow all at once.

 

KKinVA has already addressed this. I don't think we need to dwell on it.

[Guest inoubliable]

Two feet of snow here in Utah is not a big deal. We had nothing but one storm on top of the other two weeks ago, leaving me with a grand total of 30 inches in my yard here (north of Salt Lake City). I still have a foot on the ground and piles of shoveled snow from the driveway and the plows that are more than 30 inches. Betcha heard nothing about it on the news. ;) And yes, some of those storms were blizzard conditions. It's all relative, I guess. We don't blink here at two feet.

 

LOL. Nope. Heard nothing. I remember a snow storm in Utah when I was there for college. I was amazed at how much fell, how quickly they got it off of the roads, and how no one had run to the supermarkets for milk, bread, and toilet paper beforehand.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Where I live, we will most likely be out of power for 4-5-6? days, which is what makes it a "big deal." We are prepared and equipped and experienced with this, so it's not a HUGE deal to us (unless a tree falls on my kitchen, which is a concern), but the city-dwellers depend a lot more heavily on power, and often don't have an alternative heat source, so - cold is a factor for them, understandably.

 

My zip code is predicted to get 24-30" tonight, all at once.

 

I do think it's funny that they named the storm - so of course we are watching Finding Nemo right now. :)

[Guest inoubliable]

I"m hearing conflicting reports on how much we are supposed to get. Several weather services say 5-9 inches. Others say 24+ inches. Either way for here those amounts are fairly normal. We don't start getting worried until we are expecting more than 36 inches.

 

I wonder if the problem for points south would be heavy wet snow.

 

Heavy, wet snow I could see being a problem. We had a storm here when I was younger, maybe high school, that was over a few days. At the end of it there were some houses that had issues with their roofs from all the heavy wet snow.

[DianeW88]

 

LOL. Nope. Heard nothing. I remember a snow storm in Utah when I was there for college. I was amazed at how much fell, how quickly they got it off of the roads, and how no one had run to the supermarkets for milk, bread, and toilet paper beforehand.

Yep, our roads are always clear. We couldn't get out of the driveway until we shoveled, but once we did....blacktop with not a flake on it. I love our road crews! And there is no such thing as a "grocery store run" before a storm here. Actually....we laugh when we see news stories of people doing that back east for an expected 4-6 inches.

[Chris in VA]

I wish it were coming here.

I take that back--I wish it were coming here, and I wouldn't lose power, wouldn't have to drive or walk dogs in it, everyone stayed safe, and it was just FUN, like it used to be when we were kids.

I could use the break, and the distraction.

 

Fantasyland looks all nice and pretty covered in snow, eh? :D ;)

[Guest inoubliable]

Where I live, we will most likely be out of power for 4-5-6? days, which is what makes it a "big deal." We are prepared and equipped and experienced with this, so it's not a HUGE deal to us (unless a tree falls on my kitchen, which is a concern), but the city-dwellers depend a lot more heavily on power, and often don't have an alternative heat source, so - cold is a factor for them, understandably.

 

I do think it's funny that they named the storm - so of course we are watching Finding Nemo right now. :)

 

Power outages. Yikes. Okay, I hadn't thought of that, either. :( You've already been told you'll likely be without power for several days?? I'm glad to hear that you're prepared for that! I wonder - what do the cities do for people in-city who are less likely to have wood burning fireplaces or some other way to keep warm without the power on?

 

I didn't realize they'd named the storm Nemo, either, until I kept hearing the kids shout "I found Nemo!" whenever a weather update came on. I'm really out of it today. I'm expecting my parents this evening, and to stay an entire weekend. I've sort of got a lot on my mind right now. :( And now I feel incredibly stupid for not having heard all the details about this storm until now.

[Danestress]

 

I think it's probably on the news partly because a major storm that shuts down major US airports is a bigger deal than the same storm in a place with no major airports. There will be people all over the country stranded because of those closures, even though thy will see no snow themselves.

 

 

Maybe I'm particularly dense today and I'm totally missing something. I've been watching for the last few days everyone talking about this monster snowstorm about to wreak havoc on the New England area. A monster storm with a predicted snowfall of.... two feet. What's monstrous about that?? Is it all expected to dump within 30 mins?

 

Two feet would be normal here. Two feet here and people would just get out their neon golf balls and go about their business. Why is two feet traumatic even further north?

[Guest inoubliable]

Yep, our roads are always clear. We couldn't get out of the driveway until we shoveled, but once we did....blacktop with not a flake on it. I love our road crews! And there is no such thing as a "grocery store run" before a storm here. Actually....we laugh when we see news stories of people doing that back east for an expected 4-6 inches.

 

LOL. I have to say, too, that when I first got to Utah in August it looked very...scrubby. With lots of dirt. And then when it snowed....ahhhh....it looked like a fairytale land! And your mountains!! I remember driving down to SLC, and as we're going through these mountain, I didn't even realize how BIG they were until I shoved my head OUT of the car window to look...UP! Our eensy little Blue Ridge is just rolling hills compared to the mountains out there.

[Trish]

I think it's winds of 50 to 75 mph that they're worried about. I don't think 2 to 3 feet of snow is normal for NYC and Boston and cities along the NE coast.

 

The news wants to make sure everyone is Minding Nemo.

[SKL]

 

LOL. I have to say, too, that when I first got to Utah in August it looked very...scrubby. With lots of dirt. And then when it snowed....ahhhh....it looked like a fairytale land! And your mountains!! I remember driving down to SLC, and as we're going through these mountain, I didn't even realize how BIG they were until I shoved my head OUT of the car window to look...UP! Our eensy little Blue Ridge is just rolling hills compared to the mountains out there.

 

I had a client out there years ago, in a small town with an awesome mountain view. The window of their conference room was free therapy. However, somebody should have warned me to grab a coffee before arriving at the all-day (very long day) meeting ;).

[DianeW88]

LOL. I have to say, too, that when I first got to Utah in August it looked very...scrubby. With lots of dirt. And then when it snowed....ahhhh....it looked like a fairytale land! And your mountains!! I remember driving down to SLC, and as we're going through these mountain, I didn't even realize how BIG they were until I shoved my head OUT of the car window to look...UP! Our eensy little Blue Ridge is just rolling hills compared to the mountains out there.

Taken a few years ago, but this is the view from my front porch. I love our mountains!! We need the Utah county ladies to post a few photos, because they are closer to their mountains than I am to mine.

[Guest inoubliable]

Beautiful! And so close to your houses!

[Starr]

Lots of snow is really hard in cities that don't get it often. They don't have enough equipment to keep up with removing it and then there is the problem of where to put it.

[Lucy the Valiant]

 

Power outages. Yikes. Okay, I hadn't thought of that, either. :( You've already been told you'll likely be without power for several days?? I'm glad to hear that you're prepared for that! I wonder - what do the cities do for people in-city who are less likely to have wood burning fireplaces or some other way to keep warm without the power on?

 

I didn't realize they'd named the storm Nemo, either, until I kept hearing the kids shout "I found Nemo!" whenever a weather update came on. I'm really out of it today. I'm expecting my parents this evening, and to stay an entire weekend. I've sort of got a lot on my mind right now. :( And now I feel incredibly stupid for not having heard all the details about this storm until now.

 

 

Nobody told me, but I figured it out all by myself after losing it for 4 days after Sandy, 4 days the year before that (Halloween storm), 5 days the year before that - yep, I catch on quick-like!

 

And something city people (like myself) don't realize until you live it is that private wells do not work without power; in other words, we will have no running water in our house for the duration of the power outage. We fill our bathtubs with water so we can flush (or we have to melt snow, which is messy). We use paper plates and cook on our wood stove.

 

Also we live on a dead end, so we will be the last street plowed out, and if a tree falls on power lines, you have to add another 2 days.

 

Our (prepared) city friends have small propane heaters in their apartments; others just get cold. It's definitely do-able, but takes some preparation.

 

You shouldn't feel bad - you just didn't know! I learned the hard way 10 years ago when we lived in Maryland and had a 10-day outage (on well water, so - no water, no phone, no nothing, thankfully it was September and warm) . . . and I have been 100% prepared ever since that day. LOL

[Parrothead]

Yep, our roads are always clear. We couldn't get out of the driveway until we shoveled, but once we did....blacktop with not a flake on it. I love our road crews! And there is no such thing as a "grocery store run" before a storm here. Actually....we laugh when we see news stories of people doing that back east for an expected 4-6 inches.

 

Well, in some places back east. LOL

[dancer67]

We get snow. But rarely this amount in such a short amount of time. The wind is going to be the big issue. We have 200 year old trees surrounding out home and all that snow and wind can make it very dangerous. I remember the blizzard of 78. That was paralyzing. This one is expected to be much worse. Living in New England we should be used to different kinds of weather. But I think we have had enough. Between the tornadoes(which is NOT normal) followed by a microburst. Then this, we are getting hammered. We are not expecting to be cleared out of here for a few days. We are in a blizzard warning with up to 3 feet of snow. Not to be taken lightly.

[unsinkable]

 

Well, in some places back east. LOL

 

 

And I find it is age related, too. Older people want their staples. So do families with younger children.

 

[OH_Homeschooler]

It will be interesting to see the drifts produced from 2 feet of snowfall plus those winds. They will be very high, I am sure.

 

I also saw on the news that they are very concerned about the storm hitting during rush hour, when there would not be enough time to clear the roads before everyone is on them. Being snuggly warm at a well-stocked home during a snowstorm is one thing, being on a highway is quite another!

[I talk to the trees]

Living in "lake-effect-land," I have come to accept 1-2 feet of snow as normal. (Well, not really. I'm always like this: :willy_nilly: whenever it starts coming down. But we- as a region- are more prepared than many parts of the country for this type of storm.) I'm more concerned about the ice predictions for tomorrow. We had a very ugly ice storm about a decade ago, and about 80% of the county was without power for at least a day, some for over a week!

[unsinkable]

When snow falls an inch or more an hour, visibility is severely reduced, which leads to more accidents, which leads to backed up roads, which leads to people stranded...

 

Things can go wrong in snow storms.

[J-rap]

I live in a northern state and we get lots of snow; our winters are often 6 months long. Even then, 2 feet in one storm is a lot. Roads and schools would be closed and people would be stranded.

[unsinkable]

Living in "lake-effect-land," I have come to accept 1-2 feet of snow as normal. (Well, not really. I'm always like this: :willy_nilly: whenever it starts coming down. But we- as a region- are more prepared than many parts of the country for this type of storm.) I'm more concerned about the ice predictions for tomorrow. We had a very ugly ice storm about a decade ago, and about 80% of the county was without power for at least a day, some for over a week!

 

I'm guessing you live east of a Great Lake, as do I.

[Parrothead]

Lots of snow is really hard in cities that don't get it often. They don't have enough equipment to keep up with removing it and then there is the problem of where to put it.

Yeah, I didn't realize that until the big snow storm that happened a couple years ago. I would have thought that with the potential for such a storm the infrastructure would be in place to deal with it. Sadly that isn't always the case.

[creekland]

The blizzard of '77 is legendary around here...the storm itself lasted a couple days. Cleanup took weeks.

 

My DH and some of his family were stuck at a restaurant for 3 days.

 

I have a healthy respect for snow storms. And I am grateful that we have resources now that we didn't have 30 years ago that give us a chance to prepared for potential bad weather.

 

Yes, I think that's the blizzard that seldom gets remembered elsewhere, but it's definitely one I remember. If I'm remembering correctly ;) it came on a Wednesday. My first memory of it was coming home from school with my parents (in our car) and they couldn't see a thing. Dad (driving) kept trying to clear the windshield and mom had her door open to try to see the line on the road to be certain we were on it. At one point, she told dad the line was "yellow" not "white" so dad moved to the right to get in the correct lane. Less than 10 seconds later, a car passed us going the other way. It was kind of scary.

 

Once we got home (safely) all was well and we enjoyed the storm. We were prepared with a generator, etc. Where we live we were always prepared for such things. In my family, even though we now live further south, we're still always prepared.

 

We had Thursday and Friday off from school, but again, our superintendent was not happy. It was a city school district where kids walked (we lived in the country, so drove) and he felt there was no reason we needed more than one day off. The state thought otherwise...

 

Memories! The storms are fun when one is a kid (I was 10 at that time) and if one is prepared without anything awful (storm surges, etc) going on. They are rather dangerous otherwise. It's definitely important to be prepared. I learned that lesson well growing up.