The Storm of the Century - What's Your Story?

[Julie Marie]

This visible image was captured by the GOES-13 satellite and shows the low pressure area bringing snowfall to the Midwest on Jan. 31, 2011. Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project.

2/1/11 - Chicago

Sometime later today snow is expected to begin falling again.  We got about 1-3 inches last night.  It looks like about 2" here.  They are predicting up to 24" of snow from late this afternoon to tomorrow afternoon.  Another foot is possible with lake effect snow.  I'm about 15 miles west of the lake so unless the wind is really blowing hard from the east (forecasts say up to 60 MPH gusts) we shouldn't see much from that.

What's happening near you?

[gennee]

Here in New York City we will have our 10th snowstorm in five weeks. We had our second largest amount of snow (36 inches) in January. The record I believe is 39 inches, which was set last February.

Today, it was sleet then rain. I'm in the library at the present moment so I don't know what it will be doing when I leave. Tonight, it's suppose to be a rain/snow mix. Tomorrow it's suppose to snow 2-4 inches and windy. And I have to go out tomorrow! Ugggh!

Gennee

[Kitpup]

...I almost feel bad because here in Tacoma it's just kind of cold. Not even record cold, just mildly uncomfortably so. We did have snow, which is kind of weird, but nothing anywhere near what's going on out there. Suffice to say, I am VERY glad we left South Dakota back in September.

[Pinkfluff]

A week or so ago Central Florida had a bunch of tornado warnings and some wind damage in places. Looks like rain is predicted for tomorrow too, but hopefully not to such a severe extent.

[Michelle.]

I'll meet up with everyone at the Tiki Hut for a cocktail after work let's out.
South Florida.
Above average temperature today, breezy and sunny.

Stay warm guys and dolls.

[tekla]

They are talking (because I love watching all this on the weather channel) about 2 feet of snow in Chicago, with winds strong enough to create 25 foot waves on Lake Michigan (Which is frickin huge for that lake) so pretty much you're going to be hosed for a couple of days or so.

[juliekins]

Here in the Windy City (actually named for political windbags), it is truly incredible. We are getting thunder snow. Yes, actual lighting and thunder in the middle of a blizzard with sustained winds over 35 mph with gusts up to 65 mph. Pretty wild stuff.

They say the snow is falling around 2-3 inches per hour, though it's impossible to tell due to the drifting.

Lake Shore Drive downtown is said to be closed due to a bus accident and the threat of waves lapping up over the roadway. I've been watching the weather channel tonight on cable just like everyone else. Coolto see nature at work. Pretty impressive that we have the guy here who normally covers the hurricanes covering our fair city.

Our 15 minutes of fame! Poor Mubarek. We took him off the front page of the paper. 

On a serious note, anyone caught in this storm should not go outside or drive. It's suicidal out there with the wind and ice. Stay in, and snuggle up with your honey tonight. That's my plan....

[Julie Marie]

The snow is that fine stuff that blows so well into drifts.  Out back, the deck around the hot tub is clear but a foot away the snow looks about two feet high.  The wind is fierce and it blows the snow so hard it looks like nothing is accumulating until you see the drifts.  We have a fire going and as soon as it began to die down, the wind overpowered the updraft of the fire and the house started getting smoky.  Now we gotta keep the fire stoked.

And the Lake Michigan thing...  I've been sailing on Michigan in 12 foot waves, downhill, and that was just a windy day on the lake.  It was a roller coaster ride.  But 18'-25' waves!  Talk to Ted Turner about what a 25 footer on Lake Michigan is like.  He vowed never to sail the Mac Race again and he endured the '79 Fastnet.

I saw this orange flash outside.  I thought a transformer blew but it was lightning.  Then another and another.  Very weird.  The house is creaking and at the bottom of our bedroom patio door the snow had pushed its way into the house and was accumulating inside.  In 23 years, I've never seen that here.

And they are saying the heavy snow is yet to come.  How fun.  Tomorrow we are planning on going for a walk...

[Flan]

not much storm up in minneapolis*, just couple cm on top of everything else.

(*photo was taken in st paul)


in front of target last night

[jamie lee]

I live 35 miles west of Chicago's downtown, got home about 5:00 and watched a 1 foot drift around a 6 foot plant hanger, and now at 11:53 CST that drift has grown to about 5 feet ! only the top part of the hanger is sticking out !The Thunder snow was awsome !!
Thank goodness I have a snow blower for when this mess stops !

[ClaireA]

not much storm up in minneapolis*, just couple cm on top of everything else.

(*photo was taken in st paul)


in front of target last night

True that. I did get stuck a few times pulling out of the parking spot yesterday morning. Besides that, just enough to make me mad that I had to brush off the windows. Quite a bit of drifting tho

[justmeinoz]

By the title I thought this was going to be about Cyclone(hurricane to you lot) Yasi which is about to hit the northern Queensland coast. Category 5, and probably the worst cyclone Australia has ever had.
This on top of the record rains in the south of that state, and locally in Victoria a fortnight ago, with the flood repairs still going on.   
Send us some of your cold and you can have some of our heatwave.

[tekla]

Our 15 minutes of fame! Poor Mubarek. We took him off the front page of the paper.

Took Jay Cutler out the the Chicago news too, talk about an answer to a prayer.

[Julie Marie]

7:30 AM - Officially we now have 17.1" of snow.  It's still falling here but very lightly.  It's supposed to be out of here by noon.  I doubt we'll see two feet.  The drifts are pretty high but I've seen worse.  At least the wind has stopped. 

Some people got stranded on Lake Shore Drive for over five hours.  Workers are still digging stranded motorists out elsewhere.  Some streets are clear, some haven't seen a plow at all.  Guess that depends on if your local politician lives in the neighborhood.  It's going to be a lot of digging out but I'm guessing by tomorrow all we'll see is a lot of snow piled high along streets, driveways and walkways.

We heard about the cyclone in Australia last night, just before the cable went out.  I'm sure some nut will put the two together and tell us God is sending us a message.  Then there's the precursor to 2012 theory where we'll be seeing record breaking weather events, catastrophes and such before the entire planet is thrown into chaos.  Damn Mayans!

8:15 - The show has picked up again and so has the wind.  We're not out of the woods yet.

[tekla]

Guess that depends on if your local politician lives in the neighborhood.

Well, hell.  I'm glad that even in the midst of a huge snowstorm, the storm of the century (did you just have that like about 10 years ago or so, them centuries be flyin past, fo' sure!), that tradition still hold true and you haven't forgot your real values.  It's called "The Chicago Way" for a reason, and that's exactly why the aldermen have their streets plowed first.  They have to get into work and interfere with everyone else getting their streets clear don't ch' know.

I do love the Chicago (other places have tried it, and it meets with abject failure) of protecting parking places with lawn furniture and garbage cans.

[Julie Marie]

All the network and local stations have bumped their regular shows in place of the storm coverage.  I mean, The Price is Right has been bumped!  That's bad.  But it gets worse.  Regis and Kelly and Today both got bumped!  But this is the worst! Oprah got bumped!  Yeah, that's right, no Oprah! 

The only traffic on LSD has been tow trucks.  They are pulling cars off it faster than the Lincoln Park Pirates.  The entire length of LSD has been closed since last night.  No idea when it will be reopened.  One stretch of interstate is closed and a number of state roads are closed.  One reporter said the strong winds coming off the lake picked up moisture off the lake and turned it into ice pellets and covered everything in its path.  Wipers are useless.

The snow has been on and off all morning.  Winds are still blowing 35-40.  It's sometimes hard to tell if we're seeing new snow or blowing fallen snow.  Time to build an igloo.

[juliekins]

By the title I thought this was going to be about Cyclone(hurricane to you lot) Yasi which is about to hit the northern Queensland coast. Category 5, and probably the worst cyclone Australia has ever had.
This on top of the record rains in the south of that state, and locally in Victoria a fortnight ago, with the flood repairs still going on.   
Send us some of your cold and you can have some of our heatwave.

For those of us who stayed off the roads and out of harms way, this is merely an inconvenience.

I wish all of you down there all of our best. Cyclones can be killers, especially due to storm surge.

Stay safe!

[Cruelladeville]

I've been in Boston for over a week now...

And defo its record amounts of snow here for one winter...

The sidewalks are piled high with snow oft 4/5ft plus!!

Climate change is real and happening.... with warming oceans this means food production disruption, more precipitation - and within a few decades, if we do not tackle increasing oil/coal/gas burns more glacial fresh water failure, more sea species extinction... and sea levels rising...

Now i like sailing so can see some benefits...

But within 30 ears or so if the temps rise 3-4c mass-migrations will start to push the limits of over-shoot to the hilt...

These are very interesting times...

The riots in tunisia & egypt are triggered re rising food costs and no cheap fuel...

So pick you heimatts carefully... my dears...

If yous be smart this is not so hard as you might think....lol

[Alexmakenoise]

It was slightly foggy this morning, as usual.  Work was slowed just a bit by the company's northeastern and midwestern offices being closed for the storm.  I checked the news for updates on Cyclone Yasi about every half hour.  It was a stronger storm than Hurricane Katrina, and yet no one was killed or seriously injured.  That's remarkable.

[justmeinoz]

Main difference is that the cities in the area are a lot smaller than New Orleans, and not below sea level. They had a Cat 2 cyclone a couple of years ago, so were prepared.