some unexpected snow here, looks like it will surpass expected totals. still coming down heavy

 

First thing I put on was the radio, and it was all brimstone and fire -- in terms of how strongly they were warning us against going out and driving in the snow -- looked outside, it wasn't snowing yet, so immediately went and ran the one errand I needed to run today.  By the time I got home about an hour later, one couldn't see the streets or parking lots -- the ground was cold enough from the past two days of single digit temperatures that it started sticking immediately, even when being driven on.  And I was skidding all over the place, so went straight home and am staying here.  Will cook some, clean some, practice some, and laze some.  Started with the lazing.

Got home at 2am today.  Went food shopping late this morning, and after lunch Andrew and I shoveled out our walkway, which was covered in ~4 feet of snow from our roof being cleaned.  Oh, and it was frozen snow, tough as shit to get through, and heavier than the soft fluffy stuff.

 

But we cleared a good path....just in time for the next snowstorm to start up.  Already ~1-2" on the ground.

 

Tonight....movie and a fire, if Karen and I can agree what to watch.

how much more snow in MA?

^ Not much, just few more inches.  The big worry is that it'll be above freezing tomorrow morning combined with rain in some areas, weighing down the snow on roof and possibly collapsing it.

 

BTW, cute dog you got there, Justin.  Makes me miss one of the dogs we had in Japan.

Edited February 22, 201511 yr by Salt Peanuts

I had removed some of the snow on our deck, but with our roof being cleared, a "little extra" piled on.....some neighborhood kids will work on it today, too much for just Andrew and me....

 

 

Crikey, Todd.

 

We got another 4" or so overnight but so far no rain, which is a good thing.  Looks like it's basically over for now and there's no real snow in the immediate future.  

That's a lot of fucking snow.

Lollers @ penis

Crikey, Todd.

This.

Meanwhile ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2964505/Britain-braced-50ft-supertides-flooding-snowstorms-ice-winter-roars-vengeance.html

today i learned that the UK receives more than rain and cool weather, including an average of 45 inches/year in Aberdeen

It really depends on where you live.  Down near Oxford it was 7C (45F) and a stiff breeze today.  But get further North and it is like Graeme's link.  By further North I mean three hours drive.  It is no joke that you can get four seasons in a day at a fixed place, or four seasons simultaneously separated by a couple of hundred miles.

 

The real killer for us is where the jet stream ends up.  If it kinks up above the UK it brings in warm air from southern europe, which usually means loads of rain at this time of year and warmer temperatures.  But if it kinks off the south of the UK it pulls air from Russia and Scandinavia.  When that happens I've seen it go down to -20C (-4F) overnight and a couple of feet of snow.  Very unpredictable weather here in the tiny UK.

 

The other weird thing is that we have more tornadoes in the UK per land area than anywhere else in the world.  Say what?  Yup - we get on average 100 tornadoes .  Not many by comparison with 1,200 in the US, but the area of which those are distributed is much larger.  Ours are also less destructive - nothing like the monsters I've seen in documentaries in the US - but the odd one can destroy a row of houses.

The other weird thing is that we have more tornadoes in the UK per land area than anywhere else in the world.  Say what?  Yup - we get on average 100 tornadoes .  Not many by comparison with 1,200 in the US, but the area of which those are distributed is much larger.  Ours are also less destructive - nothing like the monsters I've seen in documentaries in the US - but the odd one can destroy a row of houses.

 

That I did not know! Not telling my daughter, who only agreed to move to England on the basis that it had no volcanos. Why this was her primary concern, again, I do not know.

So... no trips to Iceland then?     We still have an active one in the highlands that has pumped out more pollution in the last six months that all of Europe combined... 

Wait, Wat, Iceland's Green Geothermal Energy is a Lie?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Iceland

Some would believe so due to the sulfur dioxide in the air.  The same people have no idea what coal plants are spewing out though...

This is after we went to play in the snow earlier. The car had been cleared mostly off a few hours ago. My driveway is at the bottom of 3 hills. So far, work is delayed 2 hours and school is called off.

I don't think I'll be going in tomorrow.

**BRENT**

Wow, Brent, I can't imagine the havoc that'll cause.

7 inches this morning in my driveway. I thought about parking on the side of the road so I could get in and out if I need to, but I got groceries last night, plenty of stuff to eat cold if we had to. We have tons of blankets and all our devices are charged, just in case.

They shut down traffic up and down the mountains at one point (where my mom and a handful of my friends live.) As of last night, with a solid 3-4" on the ground (the MOST we were expected to have), work was delayed until 10am. At 8am, with 7-8" in the lower elevations, and even more at higher, they called off work today. An extra day of hanging out with the kids and playing in the snow works for me.

FWIW, with a little snow/a little ice, and some very cold days, the kids have only gone to school for 1.5 days in the past two weeks. Good times.

**BRENT**

only 2" here, but enough to close all the schools. and that should be it for the year

http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-with-push-button-igniter-91037.html

I was seriously considering buying a Searzal but this  /\   /\   /\   /\  /\ seems to be much more cost effective with the added benefit of a rattlesnake repellant.   

Snow. sleet, freezing rain and rain has made big frggin mess.

Snow. sleet, freezing rain and rain has made big frggin mess.

from what I hear this is now headed our way and is supposed to arrive overnight. Could make tomorrow morning's commute pretty interesting.

Good luck with that.

They closed two of the major highways in the area and all that traffic being routed onto the scondary roads turned the evening commute into a bumper to bumper fiasco....