The Blizzard of ’14

** UPDATE (from Dymphna): “Then We’re In Trouble” **


That “not much of a blizzard” is having the last laugh. It was supposed to have been over by 3:00 p.m. but shows no signs of stopping.

Here is the official “Winter Storm Warning” update, as of a few hours ago:

Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 9 PM EST this evening.

  • precipitation type… heavy snow and freezing drizzle.
  • Accumulations… a light glaze of ice. An additional 1 to 3 inches through this evening. Storm-total snowfall of 14 to 24 inches… with the highest amounts along the Blue Ridge.
  • Timing… a mix of light snow… sleet and freezing drizzle early this afternoon will change back to all snow between 3 PM and 4 PM. Snow may become moderate to locally heavy at times later this afternoon before tapering off in the early evening.
  • Temperatures… steady in the lower to mid 30s.
  • Winds… north 5 to 10 mph this afternoon… becoming northwest 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph this evening.
  • Impacts… roads will continue to be snow covered and slippery.Travel will be extremely dangerous. Heavy wet snow could lead to some power outages especially tonight as the winds increase.
  • Precautionary/preparedness actions… Severe winter weather conditions are occurring. Significantamounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel… keep an extra flashlight… food… and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

All of that ‘prediction’ has indeed come to pass, with an extra addition: freezing fog and maybe thicker snowfall than they thought.

The wind has indeed changed from northerly (which seemed strange given the direction of the storm) to a more decidedly western direction for the thickly falling flakes. The wind hasn’t picked up yet and probably won’t until after dark.

My concern remains those iced (and now snow-weighted) electric wires running down the mountains toward us, which is why y’all are sharing this update. The trees which had remained so oddly free of snow are covered now. And every imaginable gathering has been cancelled, including – she said gleefully – a follow-up doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’d much rather hang out here reading y’all ‘s coments.

The Baron just said “if the wind doesn’t pick up, we won’t have any trouble”.

And I replied, “well, it says here there’ll be gusts to thirty miles an hour.”

The Baron said: “Then we’re in trouble…”

Saint Valentine’s Day nor’easters were common during the last mid-century. And no such thing as fuel shortages back then, either. At least, not counting the Great Depression. Oh wait. That’s what we’re in now, innit?

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Well, it’s not much of a blizzard, at least not here at Schloss Bodissey. They had it worse down in Southwest, in the mountains, and also further north in D.C., from what I hear. Based on the animated radar images, New York City is getting nailed at the moment.

As blizzards go, this one has been about as mild and harmless as could be hoped for. None of the snow stuck to the trees, not even the pines. There was no wind to speak of. We got about seven inches (18 cm) of dry snow, followed by about two-thirds of an inch (2 cm) of sleet, topped off by a little bit of freezing rain. The temperature is above freezing now.

The weather service is calling for more snow late this afternoon, but there’s no sign of it so far.

A harmless blizzard is generally not very picturesque. None of the photos are particularly interesting.

Pretty boring, all in all. Time to get back to Counterjihad work…

8 thoughts on “The Blizzard of ’14

  1. Here in Britain, we certainly get less snow than when I was young, and I miss it (while sympathising with those it inconveniences). Climate change is happening, but I’m not convinced it’s more than marginally affected by human activity.

  2. Snow is boring?
    Be happy you actually have four seasons instead of two, we seem to be stuck in autumn for the last 5 months..

  3. What a wonderful change that would make from the typical two seasons I get to enjoy every year. Well at least the weather here in my part of Oz is fairly predictable. I can imagine myself in those photo’s making a snowman just for the fun of it.

  4. I used to say that Britain gets weather, the rest of the world gets climate. That’s why us Brits talk about the weather all the time. Now we are getting weather. Still not quite as severe as you guys. Chins up, jiffy screen door repairs are always available.

    • Back when the Baron wuz a working stiff, we got new storm doors. Screens in the top only, and they could be covered with glass that pulled up in the winter… We also traded in our dust-making space heater for central heat and a.c. – ironically, due to the high cost of heating fuel back then, doing that lowered both our electric bill and our house insurance. IOW, we went middle-class and began to accrue some of the benefits of being not-poor.

      Now though, I’ve found that being m.c. requires upkeep and when you’re not m.c. anymore…hmm…I guess I’ll live with the things we didn’t get to while we were still numbered among the ummm…affluent? Sure was affluence to us…

      So I’m stuck with a chipped & bug-ugly kitchen sink. The compassionate B., knowing how much I loathe looking at that decrepit sink, has taken over the ‘clean sink after supper’ chore. What a nice man.Sriously nice…

      • Only country people and the elderly talk about the weather here. The former because they tend to live in it rather than in office buildings and concrete, and the latter because they’ve seen so much weather they have an extremely broad base for comparison.

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