Let it snow… let it snow… let it snow…biggest snowstorm since 1922, and still not over.
From the New York Times, a crippled government. Even the post office gave up.
Capital Is Crippled as Blizzard Continues
A winter storm continued its blizzard rage in some parts of the Mid-Atlantic region on Saturday morning, dumping nearly two feet of wet, heavy snow that cut power to about 200,000 residents, caused the roof of a private jet hangar to collapse at Washington Dulles International Airport and forced the nation’s capital into quiet hibernation.
All postal operations in the Washington area, including the suburbs in Northern Virginia and Maryland were canceled on Saturday.
Full story at NYT here
CBS news calls the storm “epic”. See video report below.
From NOAA/NWS
…EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS CONTINUE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON REGION…EASTERN
PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA…AND NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY…
…BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ONGOING IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND…
…POISED TO SET ALL-TIME STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL RECORD FOR
BALTIMORE…
BLIZZARD WARNINGS CONTINUE UNTIL 10 PM FOR MARYLAND EAST OF THE
INTERSTATE 95 CORRIDOR BETWEEN BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON DC AND WEST
OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR HEAVY SNOW
CONTINUE ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE REGION UNTIL 10 PM.
AT 11:45 AM THIS MORNING…WEATHER OBSERVERS AT BALTIMORE`S THURGOOD
MARSHALL BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REPORTED 26.5
INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND. THIS IS ONLY 0.3 INCHES SHY OF THE
26.8 INCH RECORD FROM THE PRESIDENTS DAY FEBRUARY 2003 STORM. THE
AIRPORT IS FORECAST TO HAVE AN ADDITIONAL 3 TO 6 INCHES BEFORE THE
STORM ENDS THIS EVENING. A RECORD REPORT WILL BE ISSUED WHEN THE
RECORD IS REACHED.
GENERALLY…24 TO 32 INCHES OF SNOW HAVE FALLEN ACROSS NORTH OF A
LINE BETWEEN ANNAPOLIS MD TO WASHINGTON DC TO PETERSBURG WV. SOUTH
OF THIS LINE TO CHARLOTTESVILLE VA…APPROXIMATELY 14 TO 20 INCHES
HAVE FALLEN.
AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 8 INCHES WILL FALL ACROSS THE REGION BEFORE THE
SNOW TAPERS TO FLURRIES LATER THIS EVENING. AREAS SOUTH AND EAST OF
BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON WILL SEE ACCUMULATIONS AT THE HIGHER END
OF THIS RANGE…ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH CREATING BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS.
Blizzard Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1002 AM EST SAT FEB 6 2010 DCZ001-MDZ007-011-013-014-062315- /O.CON.KLWX.BZ.W.0001.000000T0000Z-100207T0300Z/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-HARFORD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES- ANNE ARUNDEL- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS 1002 AM EST SAT FEB 6 2010 ...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING... A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING. * PRECIPITATION TYPE...MODERATE SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS...AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 8 INCHES TODAY WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 INCHES. * TIMING...MODERATE INTENSITY SNOW BANDS WILL MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL BECOME LIGHTER THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL TAPER OFF BY EARLY THIS EVENING. * VISIBILITIES...VISIBILITIES AS LOW AS ONE-QUARTER TO ONE-HALF MILE ARE EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. * TEMPERATURES...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR 30 DEGREES THIS MORNING AND WILL FALL INTO THE MID TO UPPER 20S TONIGHT. * WINDS...NORTHEAST WINDS 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... ALTHOUGH WIND SPEEDS WILL DECREASE THROUGH THE DAY...VISIBILITIES WILL BE AT OR BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE AT TIMES IN MODERATE SNOW... WHICH WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY DANGEROUS. A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY.
Local weather is always due to regional circulation patterns and has little to do with global trends. Still, too bad Al Gore wasn’t hosting a climate change event in D.C. this weekend. Another data point to confirm the Gore effect is always welcome.
Slightly OT: I’m involved in a little global warming thread in my local newspaper’s forum. I tried to inject some first principle science into the discussion. If anyone is interested, please see if there is anything I’m missing that could help me strengthen my opening argument.
(I’m on there as Pain Train, about the 6th post down. Apologize in advance if the discussion there gets too testy. Mods – Please snip is this request is in bad form.)
Thanks,
-Chris
NYT: “…it appeared that the District of Columbia would not surpass the 1922 record of 28 inches of snowfall.”
But close!
Oops, link to above mentioned discussion is:
http://www.seattlepi.com/forum/boards/viewtopic.asp?topicid=145032
“You are completely out of bounds. This post reported only what was going on using news sources and NOAA/NWS. There’s no editorialization. – Anthony
🙂
Anthony, give us a break. Why “completely out of bounds’? Perhaps “slightly skewed”? Maybe your original posting has no editorial content, but your readership and contributors largely equate warmist with liberal and skeptic with conservative and you get lots of conservative political comments or innuendos which don’t get commented on or snipped. Ex: your posting didn’t mention “cap & trade” either, but it got quickly referenced w/o comment. I’m not suggesting you encourage politicizing your blog or editorializing GW, but you should give the odd warmist or liberal equal treatment, especially in this case because his comment about askew weather is a largely correct and non-political observation. I’m a slightly left of center independant skeptic, and I get pretty tired of all of the comments equating left with warmist, and deriding anything except extreme right viewpoints. Be fair.
REPLY: My career has always been to report the weather. If I was on TV still, I’d be asked to do a special report on the DC blizzard. This is no different. If I had done some editorializing I could certainly see the point. It’s fine if you want to accuse commenters of making something out of it I did not. But, the complaint was against me saying the purpose was to insult “liberal idiots” (his words) when no such claim was made by me nor even hinted at. That’s why it is out of bounds, he put words in my mouth that were not written. – A
we’ve had not much of a winter here in NE oregonn-below 3500 ft.
still anything above that altitiude seems to have snow.However, I see our turn coming…
It should not be forgotten that the Washington DC’s population is not just politicians. Few years ago, when I was there, I saw many ‘down and outs’, I think more than I encountered in any other major US city I visited. It is those we should be concerned for.
Whoa !!
“Can’t we have another Greenpiece organized rally outside the Capitol to demand that DC shut down coal heat and electricity operations that powers the Capitol?
Nancy Pelosi missed the opportunity to address the “crowds” last year because of the snow.
Can’t we have a green power DC? Wind mills and solar power! That’s the way to go
– if you want to kill a lot of people for sure.
Dumb Ass Turkeys and Enviro Mentals: People have HAD IT with your “green” crap – you’re dead in the water with your stupid-ass “global warming” garbage and I guarantee.”
And this is within bounds????
So nasty, right wing, no useful content,editorializing is OK, but fair observation, with a slight, self deprecating liberal bent and a correct observation isn’t. This is supposed to be a science blog, fair and impartial, – NO??
O/T but we might want to take a look at EU Referendum website in an hour or two (http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/).
“Another major “mistake” in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report has been identified, easily of the same magnitude of the “Glaciergate” error. A lead IPCC author of the report has admitted that he cannot find any supporting evidence for the claim made.
Over the last few days, I have been working flat out to prepare a report, which will be posted later today – about 10pm GMT. Watch this space”
Hey, I got 18 inches of “global warming ash” outside right now.
Global Cooling is the new Global Warming
Yawn.
I lived in Annapolis, MD, during the “Blizzard of 1983:”
“February 11-12, 1983: The Blizzard of 1983 beat the Presidents’ Day Storm and was the second greatest snowfall for Baltimore since records began. It covered an unusually large area of Virginia and Maryland with more than a foot of snow. Two feet of snow lay in a band across Washinton, Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Howard and Baltimore Counties. The storm set a new 24 hour snowfall record at Baltimore with 22.8 inches. Parts of Northern Virginia up into western Maryland measured as much as 30 inches on the ground. Hagerstown reported 25 inches of snow (its second greatest storm behind the January 1996 snowstorm). For a couple hours of the storm, snow fall at an amazing rate of 3.5 inches per hour. Thunderstorms intensified the snowfall in some areas.Winds gusted over 25 mph all day on February 11 causing drifts up to five feet. The heavy snow and winds paralyzed the region. The cost of clearing the snow from roads was in the millions of dollars.”
This week’s storm ranks up there, but it is not like this has never happened before.
Anthony’s headline, however, was a tease: “Capitol is crippled…” We could only wish it would last.
Basil
Looking on the bright side of this….
For every day D.C. is shut down, taxpayers save a billion dollars.
I can’t afford a sophisticated weather station, and I figure a meaningful “barometer” (pardon the pun) of weather is to watch accumulation on mountains east of where I live by using a ski resort that offers snow accumulation numbers to their skiing customers. That’s where most of our water comes from during the summertime. Here’s the link to Grand Targhee:
http://www.grandtarghee.com/the-mountain/conditions/index.php
I know Grand Targhee gets ~500 inches of snow per year and based on 5.5 months of snow accumulation (which is very close to 3 inches per day on average), I can tell if they’re behind or ahead of the curve. (This year they were behind until the last 3-4 weeks and now they’re catching up; they may make 500 inches yet!)
Note: I have no vested interest or stock in the business; I just appreciate their web site for the information they provide. I have it saved in my Favorites for quick access.
You all may want to find a ski resort near you that offers the same information.
To the poster who said precipitation is where it usually isn’t and isn’t where it used to be–guess what?
This snow in DC is just what I remember from my childhood in the 60s. Snow every year and occasionally some whoppers.
This whole idea that if WEATHER moves 6″ to the right or left of where the measuring tool is, and therefore massive change is permanently occurring, seems total BS.
Particularly when the sanctimonious doomsday preaching is accompanied by stridently arrogant claims that if we just give all our money to the man behind the curtain and swear to never use energy or food again, WE CAN CHANGE THE WEATHER BACK.
Stick around.
It seems to change on its own, all the time.
For free.
(Schools already cancelled in suburban VA county outside DC for Monday AND Tuesday. Yikes. lol)
OT
And like a good stew over time, the plot thickens!
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/climategate_is_it_criminal_1.html
I’m just outside the beltway in Northern Virginia. According to my unofficial tape measure we got over 21″ here.
You are completely out of bounds. This post reported only what was going on using news sources and NOAA/NWS. There’s no editorialization. – Anthony
Oh, right. So this is just a harmless little weather post? The proximity of it to large numbers of posts devoted climate-change skepticism has no significance whatsoever?
Don’t insult my intelligence any more than the rest of this blog already does.
REPLY:…and don’t insult ours by claiming something specific like this article is for the purpose of insulting “liberal idiots” (your words) when it does nothing but report the facts of the event and no insults were levied by me. As I said, your criticism is out of bounds and not supported by your claims nor by the actual content. – A
Chris (11:35:44) – Perhaps you could provide a link ?
Steve M. (11:03:47) :
Er, dude? I’m here in Manhattan and there’s been NO SNOW WHATSOEVER. There’s no snow north of here — y’know, in upstate New York, where it’s supposed to snow a lot in February? And in New England, ditto?
I know that the point you want to make is IDIOT LIBERALS THINK IT’S GETTING LESS WINTRY WHEN IT’S ACTUALLY GETTING MORE WINTRY!!!!1!!!!1!!!
But, in fact, it’s snowy where it usually isn’t and it’s not snowy where it usually is. Which just means the weather patterns are a bit askew.
Which really just means we’re getting back into the 30 year cool half-cycle of our normal climate. Can’t blame people for not seeing it when a full climate cycle is better than two generations long. Nice of you to share your snow with our DC rulers, who need the reminder.
Others here beat me to the correction of
This is the biggest event since 1922 is all. The sky is not falling. Every once in a while local conditions set up for a big weather event in any place you can imagine — that’s what they call a perfect storm, cousin. A hurricane in New England, or a tornado in Salt Lake City, or a February thaw with flooding in North Dakota — better plan for them all. After a century of “unprecedented change” the weather continues to operate much as it always has.
Once spent 5 days, after 3 feet of wet snow, no power and 2 miles from the nearest plowed road. I live in California below the normal snow line. NO fun, survival, glad I had a wood stove which the ecos are trying to outlaw. 🙁
A little late, but it was encouraging to read the news report yesterday that NASA will use the new Solar Dynamics Observatory to find out why the Sun is a variable star:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/05feb_sdo.htm?list1073366
Your study won’t win NASA any favors from the NAS President, climatologist Dr. Ralph Cicerone, but the global warming hypothesis is collapsing anyway.
Congratulations, NASA!
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA PI for Apollo
How about one loud group shout:
“WARMER IS BETTER”
It’s official, Obama’s named the storm “Snowmageddon”!
Snowmaggedon, the epic snow storms of 2010, descends up on the east coast of the USA. Snowmaggedon is just a few categories below The Day After Tomorrow as far as snow disasters go. [:)]
http://pathstoknowledge.net/2010/02/06/snowmageddon-2010-hits-east-coast-of-usa