So this enormously huge storm swept (which I have dubbed Snowlapalooza 2011, in my ongoing hopes of pushing the word "snowlapalooza" into our cultural lexicon) across the country yesterday, burying many places in the heartland in snow and ice. It was supposed to do a number on Buffalo, too, but by the time it got here it had either expended too much of its energy or it had spread out over too wide an area or it was simply moving too fast to really hit us hard, so it appears that all we got was a couple of inches of snow and a manageable amount of ice. The Winter Storm Warning that was supposed to be in effect until 10:00 tonight has already, as of this writing (6:30 am), been downgraded to a Winter Weather Advisory which is in effect until 6:00 pm. Of course, this will lead to lots of crowing about Buffalo's meteorologists, who seem to miss the boat hugely on one big storm each winter. I'm not sure I can blame this on them, since weather events do carry with them a high degree of unpredictability, but still -- we were told "8 to 16 inches of snow, maybe a half inch of ice", and we got a fraction of that.
Anyway, if you were in Snowlapalooza 2011, how bad was it? Worst weather event you've ever experienced?
And come to that, what is the worst weather event you've ever experienced?
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
8 comments:
Down here in the Hudson Valley, on the west side of the river, we got enough snow to shut things down without having to apologize. Don't know about the ice yet. I'm afraid to look outside. I hear sleet like sounds spattering the windows.
The great storm that wasn't...I was given your blog address as I am a blogger based in Amherst... worst was Blizzard of 77 and the Ice Storm of..was it 2006....I am going to have to follow your blog..have a good (non-snow storm) day...Michelle
After spending a few years in Denver, this was cookies and milk. We were promised up to 15" but got only 6". No ice, some wind; nothing like what they predicted.
Tulsa (which is about 55 miles away) got hit pretty hard though. The roof of the brand new Hard Rock Hotel collapsed under the snow and ice. But then, that will probably be placed the the shoulders of the contractors.
Overall rating of Snowlapalooza 2011: Meh. As usual, all hype in search of ratings.
This is the biggest snowfall on record in Oklahoma. The previous record for Tulsa was 11 inches. They got 14 inches yesterday. Here where I am we got 20 inches. I never thought I would see the day when we got more snow that Buffalo and it's colder than in some parts of Alaska.
That Chicago coverage of the storm this morning was pretty cool -- they are "preparing for" 25 ft waves off Lake Michigan onto Lakeshore Blvd.! And I found myself thinking, "How is Oprah going to get to work??" It was 4 a.m. PST. No coffee yet.
The worst weather event I've experienced was here in the Pacific NW. The city of Portland owns, oh, maybe two or three snow plows. So when it snows more than an inch, things get really nutty. So four years ago, when I saw a UPS truck sliding perpendicularly down an icy hill toward my car, I thought to myself, "Hmm. This might be the worst weather event I've ever experienced." Luckily, the driver was able to maneuver into the curbside to stop the truck's momentum.
well, i'm in nc. i left albany monday in anticipation of the storm.
while the worst snowstorm was 26 inches in march 1993, the worst effect was 6 inches on october 4, 1987, that knocked out tree limbs in Albany - had no power for four days.
Being on the edge of the storm track, didn't get much more than 5 inches in southern Minnesota. The cold is getting a little annoying, though. I've had quite enough of sub-zero temps with wind; it takes all the enjoyment out of a bright blue sky over huge mounds of white stuff (snow so far this season has now exceeded my height).
When I lived in Waynesburg (due south of Pittsburgh) PA, there was a snowfall in 1993 that dumped ~30 inches in the area, phone, power was knocked out for 4 days at my neighborhood, in some areas it was over a week without power.
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