The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Winter Storm

    By barefooted on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 5:25pm |

    There's a massive blizzard rapidly approaching the northeast. The worst conditions are expected to impact New York and Massachusetts beginning tomorrow (Monday) morning and continuing through Tuesday. Strong, gusty winds of 35+ mph will accompany snowfall accumulations forecasted to reach up to 36 inches. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the impending storm may be "one of the top two or three worst storms" in the state's history.

    None of the above is news to anyone who is likely to be affected by this. You folks are not unused to harsh winter weather, and I've no doubt that you're prepared. But there's also little doubt that some people, visitors or new residents, perhaps, are not. This is the time for emergency plans to be made and concrete steps taken to insure that everyone stays safe.

    I'm not the one to get the message out - here in NC, hurricanes are our expertise. So please, if you're an "old hand" at this, let the rest of us know what should be done, and what to expect. Your advice could be invaluable.

    One more thing ... I know many dagbloggers are in the direct path of this dangerous storm. Be safe .

    Comments

    I am sharpening the shovel as we speak.

    I was born to move recently solidified material into high heaping piles and start carving them into different shapes.


    by moat on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 6:53pm

    Anything like these?
     


    by wabby on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 7:55pm

    Thank  you for the link.  I really enjoyed the slide show.  The kids liked it too.  It was just like being there.


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 8:17pm

    Yes, that sort of thing.

    The Parthenon structure with the free standing columns will be pretty hard to top.


    by moat on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 9:19pm

    Well, it seems The Weather Channel is offering inspiration - they've named it "Juno".


    by barefooted on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 9:42pm

    The best advice I never follow when I know a bad storm is on the way is to run a bathtub full of water to be used for, ahem, flushing the toilet. After the third day with no electricity to run the well pump, THIS BECOMES IMPERATIVE.


    by wabby on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 8:01pm

    YES IT IS. I forgot that during a freak snow dump here, and got a frustrating lesson in how much snow it takes to fill a toilet tank.


    by barefooted on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 8:34pm

    I will add to that.  Fill some containers with drinking water. I usually use my large canner pot for that because it has a nice lid and I can hang my ladle on the side.

    Make a run to the store and get batteries, paper cups, paper plates, paper towels, baby wipes to clean up with, candles and matches.  

    Make sure you have a hand operated can opener and lots of canned items.  

    Do some baking ahead of the storm. If need too you can put food out side if you loose power. Make sure you have about 5 days worth of food because it can take the power company days to get lines up and working.

    Get all your washing done before the storm.  

    Generator or a kerosene heater,  In the 1970's I lived in the snow belt in Ohio and we had about 5 bad winters with storms and very low temps.  We used the kerosene heater and slept on the floor in the living room with it to stay warm. One year we went a week with out power. We moved the heater around to keep the pipes from freezing.  

    Have a buddy plan with friends and neighbors.  Keep in contact and help each other out.  Who ever gets power on first gets to hold the party camp out at their house. 


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 8:42pm

    Here is an interactive weather map that shows the storm. Just click on the arrow in the top right corner and it will show the movement of the storm and the blocks on top give the time in the next 48 hours.  It stays up dated so you can go back a look at it later.  Wow, New England States are going to be hammered with snow. 

    http://cci-reanalyzer.org/Forecasts/

    This one shows a daily rundown of weather information.  Just click on the items on the left menu. The most interesting right now is the jet stream.  It has dropped all the way to South Florida. We brought our orchids in and have the heat on.  I made a pot of chili and baked bread. 

    http://cci-reanalyzer.org/DailySummary/


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 9:09pm

    Momoe, the next time bad weather is heading my way, I'm going to your house.


    by barefooted on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 9:23pm

    I hang out a lot in climate blogs.  There is 2 winter Cyclones in the North Alantic. One is just south of Greenland and the other is just north of Iceland. The polar vortex is displaced again. England is going to be hard hit from it.  You can see it here:

    http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-88.20,63.74,318

    This is pulling all the moisture into the New England States. 


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 10:57pm

    I just saw your post when I put up my comments. You most likely understand this better than I do.


    by Oxy Mora on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 11:40pm

    This storm is being called a "nor'easter" , a contraction of " northeast". The form "noreast" goes as far back as 1600. There's a history of folks trying to define the contraction and its history. One man spent the better part of a lifetime trying to prove that the term was simply an affectation by folks who were trying to be salty but weren't---which is somewhat relates to the comments below. To me the mystery of a " nor'easter" is more in how the term describes, or not, a storm such as the one which is about to bear down on NJ and NY.

    This is how I understand this storm. A very large counter clockwise pattern develops with cold wind blowing down from the N.E. on the left hand side of the circle, meeting up with the jet stream which has dipped south but then heads N.E. along the coast on the right hand side of the circle. The continental cold air mixes with warmer Gulf air over the ocean, a vortex develops, and snow is precipitated.

    So, technically, the snow is not coming from the "nor'east". This is why if you are in Vermont at this time of year and you hear there is a nor'easter coming, don't automatically conclude that you should high tail it back to New York to get out the storm because you are likely to drive right into the worst storm of a lifetime coming up from the South--even though at other times of the year this strategy might work for storms actually coming out the N.E. and being called nor'easters.

    It is also correct, with this storm, to say that the cold winds blowing down from Maine and Canada are a nor'easter even though they may not be packing snow.

    Disclaimer. Oxy Mora, and Dagblog accept no liability for the circular logic and possible inaccuracy of this blog. Please check with your local weather service before traveling.   


    by Oxy Mora on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 11:22pm

    Not bad, Oxy. Our beach is south facing (the bottom island on the Outer Banks chain), so when a nor'easter blows through, unlike other coastal beaches that suffer erosion, we usually gain sand. It's the so'easters that hurt us. Of course, no storm is ever predictable, no matter what it's called.

    This one is looking like it may be pretty spectacular. At least from a distance - up close and personal, not so much.


    by barefooted on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 1:06am

    Oxy, right now there is a high centered in Canada just above Vermont.  That wind is cold and going clockwise.  It is bringing in the moist air that is being pulled up from the south by the strong low in the North Atlantic, so all of the snow and ice blows in from the north east. The wind swings around and mixes with the wet warmer air headed north along the coast.  With all the evaporation of water caused by global warming makes the atmosphere moister and we get more rain and deeper snow dumps. 

    The jet stream is the dividing line between cold air and warm air. It always drops down in the winter allowing colder winter air in North America. Because of global warming the jet stream is weaker and oscillates in deeper waves. This causes storms to move slower across the country and can do more damage. 

    The polar vortex right now looks like a figure 8. One loop is big and in it's normal place, a little loop is over the Scandinavian countries.  Last year the polar vortex broke up into 3 loops with one in upper Minnesota and Canada. The vortex used to be very stable but it like the jet stream can wander all over the place in the winter do to warming. 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 3:40am

    This has been confusing to the Mora clan for many generations as we tend to invert things.

    To get myself in deeper, is it correct to say that all of the snow and ice blows in from the nor' east when Maine, NH, Vt are clear and sunny right now? Or should we say the wind is coming from the nor'east, but the snow is forming to the south (NY and NJ) as the warmer air moves in a nor'east direction.

    "Flatlander" (i.e., from New York) Skiers in North Vermont now should should stay put, about a foot of snow predicted (when I checked last night). 


    by Oxy Mora on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 9:19am

    A strong low has formed off the coast and the high is the steering current.  The high will move and the low will follow.  With all the energy it is gathering the pressure is dropping.  That means high wind.  The low came through here the other day and with rain. It is riding along the jet stream. It has gathered up lots of moisture from the south. Tonight will be bad as the storm moves by. It will end up churning around in the North Atlantic and plowing into Europe. 

    You are right about the counter clock wise wind around a low. It is like a tropical storm that starts out with the wind coming in one direction and shifting to the other as the low comes in. 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 2:43pm

    My skis have been yearning for a blizzard all winter. Central Park, here I come!


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 11:22pm

    Okay, knucklehead, have at it.

    By the way, who inherits Dag if something ... um ...untoward happens to you?


    by barefooted on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 12:48am

    Après moi, le déluge. Or should I say, la tempête de neige.

    ​But don't fret, NYC is the safest place to be in a blizzard. We've got subways, and they plow the avenues with hours, so we don't get stranded. The power lines are buried, so we don't get blacked out. We live in large buildings, so we don't get crushed in our sleep by falling trees. The biggest threat is probably a skidding cab. (Fortunately, we don't have many big hills.)

    Nervous New Yorkers are rushing out for emergency supplies like everyone else, but having lived through five of the city's top ten snowstorms (since 1869), and I've yet to see the grocery stores closed the day after a blizzard.

    I'll post up some pics when the white peril cometh. Currently, it's just a little fluffery.


    by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 9:16am

    ​But don't fret, NYC is the safest place to be in a blizzard.

    Ha! Unless you are one of the few nuts like yours truly with a reverse commute back to Manhattan today!   But you gotta love a good blanketing snow storm that reminds you that nature remains the boss.


    by Bruce Levine on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 10:03am

    True, NYC isn't safe for nuts, rain or shine (or snow). Try not to let nature boss you off the road on your way home.


    by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 11:37am

    Safe and sound, thank you.  All was good.


    by Bruce Levine on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 4:47pm

    It's the quiet. The soft silence that filters out the noise. No other weather event has the power to mute quite so effectively. Maybe it's nature's way of telling us to shut up.


    by barefooted on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 2:29pm

    Something like that barefooted, but it sure is purty.


    by Bruce Levine on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 4:46pm

    Since all roads and the subway will shut down at 11:00, hopefully everyone will be wherever they need to be by then (preferably sooner). Oh, and de Blasio is closing the parks, so can you wait a few days to fire up those skis?

    I do fret for those who don't have a place to go. I guess it's a good time to count our blessings.


    by barefooted on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 5:23pm

    A few days? I don't think so. If they don't re-open the parks once the wind subsides, there will be a riot of snowball throwing children at City Hall. (I assume that the danger is falling trees. Some guy died that way in a park a year or two ago.)

    PS I recently learned at a Harlem community board meeting that NYC sends teams to try to persuade the homeless to come to the shelters in bad weather. And if the temperature drops below freezing, they're authorized to force people into the shelters. So hopefully, there aren't many homeless out in the snow tonight.


    by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 6:27pm

    A riot of snowball throwing kids ... now that's a happy visual! Extra! Extra! Armed Little Rascals Gang Storms City Hall! Snowball-ridden Mayor Opens Parks!


    by barefooted on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 7:28pm

    I hope everyone stays safe and warm.  It is starting to look bad by the radar. 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 8:41pm

    After the "blizzard"...


    by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 2:54pm

    Very nice! Glad to see that NY found the Goldilocks sweet spot - not too much, not too little. Snow day! It does sound like there are grumblings about "overreaction", but I have to think that it's always better to be safe than sorry when lives are at stake.


    by barefooted on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 3:30pm

    Great picture!  Framed just right and a little color where needed.  Glad you got out to ski, Michael.  Now we don't have to hear you whining about it anymore.


    by Ramona on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 4:06pm

    Glad I checked the news and am even more gladder that I could fast-forward through it. I now know that it is winter time because Hays, Maddow, and O'Donnell spent the entirety of their three hours telling us that it was  about to snow in the Northeast.  I haven't spent a winter there, is it the first time for a snow storm in January?

     Quite a few years back I moved from a sailboat in the Caribbean to a high Valley in Utah. It is a beautiful place in the spring and summer. Many, probably most, feel the same way about winter time. Having made my choice to move after a few summer visits though, I then spent a few winters that make me relate sympathetically to the word picture this guy paints and to get a good chuckle. Bet you do too. Chuckle, that is.

    http://www.sun-gazing.com/guy-gets-angry-shoveling-snow-wrote-diary-hila...


    by A Guy Called LULU on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 5:23pm

    That diary is indeed a good laugh. I lived in Vermont and around New England for quite some time and there are those long periods of snow and ice with no relief which can really get to you. The thing about Vermont though is that the people are really prepared and resilient. In the rural areas---which describes most of Vermont---Just about everyone has a pickup or a tractor or knows someone who does, which makes it all work.(plus people know how to drive in ice and snow).


    by Oxy Mora on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 5:55pm

    The stranger who took it for us with my iphone was carrying some kind of fancy camera, so I guess she know what she was doing.

    Related trivia: we were married not far from this spot on the other side of the arch that you see in the background.


    by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 01/27/2015 - 5:24pm

    I have problems with my pc that have nothing to do with your blog site.

    All I wanted to say was that you have managed to make lemons into lemonade.

    Your spouse is beautiful.

    I am happy for you and yours.

    I LOVE THIS!

    This weather could have been devastating, even though I know that others in the NE have been devestated.

    WONDERFUL.

    I had more but my PC is mad at me, and probably for good reason.

    hhahahahaah

    We get 30 mph winds and blizzards and all sorts of stuff, but I am reaching February and we are all right, too.

    HAVE FUN.

    The weather outside is frightful.

    But the fire is so delightful....

    LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

    WONDERFUL

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 01/28/2015 - 4:37pm

    I guess everybody can let the water out of their tubs now. wink


    by wabby on Wed, 01/28/2015 - 1:35pm

    Well, where in the hell would I get my beer?


    by Richard Day on Wed, 01/28/2015 - 4:35pm