How cold is it.....

It's 24°F right now in my neck of the woods (I'm up way north of AC).

Mountaineer cancelled races yesterday and the day before, so cold enough.

It was 30°F when I got up this morning in N. FL. Local newscasters/weathermen are freaking out. Yeah, it's cold for November in FL, but you (the news) don't have to keep telling me about it every 5 minutes in apocalyptic tones!

Don't know if it's just to put things in perspective, but W. NY weather made a spot on our local news. Hang in there, Face!

This is the view out my mom's back door. 7' in the yard, 15' drifts around the house. That's not a typo, I meant to use an apostrophe and not a quote. FEET. And it's still snowing.



My step-dad had a run in with the snowblower and lacerated his hand. Had to wait two days until the Sheriffs could reach him to get him to the ER. All sorts of businesses are caving in, buildings falling right down, walls and all.

I just commandeered a sled and am about to head out. Can one pray to Moses?

By all means pray to Moses. That would be fellow New Yorker Moses Harry Horwitz. :-) Nyuk, nyuk nyuk.

We're sending you some equipment from Connecticut, Face. Hope it helps.

Quote: Face

This is the view out my mom's back door. 7' in the yard, 15' drifts around the house.

It's having an extremely warm Great Lakes
and extremely cold air that's making so much
lake effect snow. In the 40's day after tomorrow.

buffalo and area are going to be flood city by monday

Quote: 1BB

We're sending you some equipment from Connecticut, Face. Hope it helps.

The National Guard's got all their Hummers buried. Dunno what you're sending, but here's hoping it's big.

I wonder why they don't fire up all these decommissioned tanks we got laying around at every VFW. They'd work a treat keeping the main arteries opened, at least. I know I'd volunteer.

I didn't make it. I made it about a town and a half, then boom, buried. Couldn't even get a sled down the road, it's that bad. Was kind of weird ripping down the main road in a sled. Was out for 3-ish hours, passed maybe 6 cars, 2 plows, and the County Sheriffs patrolling the streets on sled. Everywhere is just shut. Every town, every street, complete ghost mode.

I do have to say something, though. I've never been accused of having a kind word for Buffalo. I think I've voiced my opinion several times, you know where I stand. But when the SHTF, you have to hand it to them. State of Emergency, complete loss of authority, and some folks do mob up. But their mobs look like this...



Door to door, helping neighbors. Sure beats the typical reaction, which as we've seen...



So there. I said a nice thing about Buffalo. Hats off to them.

Quote: Face

...So there. I said a nice thing about Buffalo. Hats off to them.

Hehe.... That's it, It's so cold, Face has lost it...


I do have a serious question... What's up with the crawdads in the garage? Has the tank totally gone solid?

Quote: Ayecarumba

I do have a serious question... What's up with the crawdads in the garage? Has the tank totally gone solid?

Ha! They're gone. I kept all of them and the chub alive all winter, didn't lose a single one. Even the entombed one survived. But once it warmed up, they all went crazy. It was non-stop deathmatch every day for weeks, and I lost half of them to each other. I eventually scooped them all up and released them in the Spring.

No worries now. For one it's not near cold enough. That was a week+ of single digits. It's still in the 20's here now. Plus I got a sturdy bureau, so all thousand pounds of the tank is now in my dining room =D

Any power outages, Face?

Quote: 1BB

Any power outages, Face?

I lost it here for 15 seconds today. I am right on the fringe of the worst.

I think Derby, a town roughly 20 miles south of the city, lost power today finally. But so far, all outages have been short lived and infrequent. Nothing where anyone has had to leave for the firehall due to the cold or anything like that.

Face, when you say sled, do you mean snowmobile?

Quote: EvenBob

Face, when you say sled, do you mean snowmobile?

Indeed I do.

My cousin is still stuck at Timmy Ho's. He's been there since Monday. They got all the soup pots and sandwich makers out on the floor. Hit up the attached Noco for cases of beer. He and maybe 12 other random strangers have just been living together in a gas station for four days, unable to leave.

Surprisingly there's been but 10 deaths. Pretty amazing when you consider you literally cannot exit your house for any reason. Hundreds of thousands of people are literally helpless.

And they're calling for more.

Quote: Face

Indeed I do.

My cousin is still stuck at Timmy Ho's. He's been there since Monday. They got all the soup pots and sandwich makers out on the floor. Hit up the attached Noco for cases of beer. He and maybe 12 other random strangers have just been living together in a gas station for four days, unable to leave.

Surprisingly there's been but 10 deaths. Pretty amazing when you consider you literally cannot exit your house for any reason. Hundreds of thousands of people are literally helpless.

And they're calling for more.

I talked to the city today about my need to drain the pool. Being gunnite they are not suppose to be drained when its hot out. No snow, no rain, go anywhere, do anything [except sled] unless you go up to Flagstaff where about 6500 feet they are adding to their base and starting to make snow. Something for everyone this time of year.

I can say one thing about the group in the photo, although they are helping their neighbors as it should be, they don't know squat about what sno-shovel to have. I like a nice big grain shovel. Those push kind are worthless.

Have you ever heard of a product called Therma-care? They are wonderful and I have had them last twelve hours. http://www.auravita.com/brand/Thermacare.html?refid=450&Adid=brand12273

Quote: Face

Surprisingly there's been but 10 deaths. Pretty amazing when you consider you literally cannot exit your house for any reason. Hundreds of thousands of people are literally helpless.
.

How do they know how many deaths there
are if people can't leave. I'd be worried about
pets, some have to be in dire distress, maybe
starving if nobody is there to feed them.

Are you in any of these videos Face?
The moving bands of snow in the 4th
video are pretty cool.

http://www.weather.com/travel/commuter-conditions/news/buffalo-new-york-great-lakes-snow-20141119

Quote: EvenBob

How do they know how many deaths there
are if people can't leave. I'd be worried about
pets, some have to be in dire distress, maybe
starving if nobody is there to feed them.

At least with that much snow, dog [and cat] owners can't just let them crap in their neighbors yard.

When I plowed the local driveways I would make what I called a "great area" several hundred square yards just open area to park or bring in cord wood or whatever.

Wake up in the morning and when the sun came up there would be 10 to 20 piles of dog poop. The snow was to deep for them to go out in the snow so they would make their way down to my place to crap, like I couldn't tell where it came from, I didn't have a dog at the time. The piles as dog owners know can usually be identified by the owner if they wanted.

They are a little funny. They stay frozen for months sometimes and if you kick them they will slide for a long ways. Also, the people with multiple dogs,and team owners have tons of frozen pooh. It all thaws in a 3 week time period during "break up". Odoriferous and irritating, irresponsible pet owners.

Quote: EvenBob

Are you in any of these videos Face?

Just that one of the bands coming in off the lake. That was the first day, and I was in S. Buffalo when it hit. The lightning was crazy. 8mph all the way home, I didn't care. I been through this before; you stop and you're there for a week. No thanks.

Made it home Sunday, and other than my attempt to make it to Ma's by sled, I haven't left the house since.

Where will all the water go when the snow melts?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Where will all the water go when the snow melts?

Where does the rain go when it falls. They say
all the water and air that has ever been on the
planet is still here in one form or another. We
breath in the same air Jesus and Napoleon
and Hitler breathed in. The very same molecules
that kept them alive are keeping us alive.

Remind me not to move to Buffalo.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2841992/Round-2-Buffalo-braces-wintry-wallop.html

Quote: 1BB

We're sending you some equipment from Connecticut, Face. Hope it helps.

The RI legislature is holding a special session today to vote on whether or not to send a snow shovel to Buffalo in repayment for digging the state out during the blizzard of '78. :-)

Calling for a high of 61 on Monday. That snow is going to have a very rapid melting. Yikes. I'd start piling up sandbags now.

Got home last night driving via Detroit and Canada. There was a little bit of lake effect between St. Thomas (west of London) and Brantford. There was about 1.5" of snow to shovel when I got home, which took me about 20 minutes to do with my shovel.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Where will all the water go when the snow melts?

To the lake, silly =)

Buffalo traditionally doesn't have flood problems. Sure, there are a few places, especially in the older areas, that flood all the time. Usually it's a road that's been dug out to clear an overhead train bridge. These valleys pile up with water just about anytime it rains hard. But it's contained within the little dip. Mass flooding consisting of an entire town or even entire neighborhoods is largely unheard of. The cataclysmic flooding title is held by my town, and even with a flash melt, the conditions aren't right to produce it here.

I think the biggest worry is weight. Every one of these buildings and houses already have thousands if not tens of thousands of pounds of snow on them. How it melts is going to be key. If we get a steady melt caused by heat, I think it'll be ok. If instead the initial melt starts with rain, I predict a lot of buildings going down. That snow will hold a lot of water before it starts to melt itself, and it won't take long for a sprinkle to add several thousand more pounds to already overloaded roofs. There could be an added disaster if we run into a heat and freeze cycle, as it's the same overbearing weight, but becomes 10X's more difficult to remove.

With temps of 40's rising into the 60's, I predict a mess, but not an emergency.

Quote: Face

To the lake, silly =)

Buffalo traditionally doesn't have flood problems. Sure, there are a few places, especially in the older areas, that flood all the time. Usually it's a road that's been dug out to clear an overhead train bridge. These valleys pile up with water just about anytime it rains hard. But it's contained within the little dip. Mass flooding consisting of an entire town or even entire neighborhoods is largely unheard of. The cataclysmic flooding title is held by my town, and even with a flash melt, the conditions aren't right to produce it here.

I think the biggest worry is weight. Every one of these buildings and houses already have thousands if not tens of thousands of pounds of snow on them. How it melts is going to be key. If we get a steady melt caused by heat, I think it'll be ok. If instead the initial melt starts with rain, I predict a lot of buildings going down. That snow will hold a lot of water before it starts to melt itself, and it won't take long for a sprinkle to add several thousand more pounds to already overloaded roofs. There could be an added disaster if we run into a heat and freeze cycle, as it's the same overbearing weight, but becomes 10X's more difficult to remove.

With temps of 40's rising into the 60's, I predict a mess, but not an emergency.

In Cordova two years ago during epic snowfall, roof shovelers were going at a premium. They started at 10$per hour but two weeks later it was hard to find one that could still climb a ladder for 50 per.

There is race car money sitting on those roofs. Yay, Baha.

I live in a suburb of Buffalo, a tad north, called Williamsville. Through this mess we've only had a dusting of snow, its generally been cold and sunny. I work in the city proper, about a mile or two north of where the snow bands set up shop. You can easily see the 'line of demarcation' out a top floor window. I've had to do a few 24 hour shifts as we have a couple of partners who live in the affected areas and haven't been able to make it in, but other than that it hasn't affected me much. For us 'northtowners', its hard to truly imagine what the 'southtowners' are faced with.
That's not to say I'm not looking forward to my newly booked trip to Vegas in early January, or the trip to Orlando in February....

Quote: SOOPOO

I live in a suburb of Buffalo, a tad north, called Williamsville. Through this mess we've only had a dusting of snow, its generally been cold and sunny. I work in the city proper, about a mile or two north of where the snow bands set up shop. You can easily see the 'line of demarcation' out a top floor window. I've had to do a few 24 hour shifts as we have a couple of partners who live in the affected areas and haven't been able to make it in, but other than that it hasn't affected me much. For us 'northtowners', its hard to truly imagine what the 'southtowners' are faced with.
That's not to say I'm not looking forward to my newly booked trip to Vegas in early January, or the trip to Orlando in February....

So when the news talks about, "Lake Effect Snow", are they are referring to Lake Erie or Ontario? If Erie, is there a similar "Effect" for Ontario?

The reports here on the left coast make it seem like the entire city is buried under 15 feet of snow.

Quote: Ayecarumba

So when the news talks about, "Lake Effect Snow", are they are referring to Lake Erie or Ontario? If Erie, is there a similar "Effect" for Ontario?

The reports here on the left coast make it seem like the entire city is buried under 15 feet of snow.

The great majority of the time Buffalo gets its lake effect from Lake Erie. Watertown, NY, gets its lake effect from Lake Ontario. They tend to get double the amount of snow compared to Buffalo, but as a smaller burb very little press. Some areas, mostly south of the city, did get 7 feet or so in just a few days. Those mid city and north got almost none. It is amazing to be on a sunny street, knowing a mile south is in a blizzard.

Quote: Ayecarumba

So when the news talks about, "Lake Effect Snow", are they are referring to Lake Erie or Ontario? If Erie, is there a similar "Effect" for Ontario?

The reports here on the left coast make it seem like the entire city is buried under 15 feet of snow.

All water creates "lake effect". It's similar to oceans and hurricanes. The (relatively) warm water is a huge source for moisture and energy. It's a sink that just feeds and feeds.

I reckon it's simple geographic location. The weather travels generally west to east. Almost all of the land on the eastern border of the Great Lakes is sparsely populated Canada. Other than Sault Ste Marie, there's not really a single Canadian metropolitan area in the path. Dump 10' on MacTier, ONT with its 2,000 people and no one hears about it.

Same goes for the Ontario lake effect that SOOPOO offered. Up there, you only have Oswego and Watertown, two towns of about 20k people each. After that, it's the vast openness of the Adirondacks. If Oswego or Watertown get nailed, you only have a few thousand people jammed up, and we just empty nearby Fort Drum to dig them out.

Michigan, same thing. Sure, Grand Rapids is large and in the path of lake effect. But the weather comes across Lake Michigan the short way, only crossing 50 miles of water. Buffalo, on the other hand, get what little remnants are left from Michigan, then everything from crossing 150 - 200 miles of open Lake Erie. All that energy, and Buffalo sits right at the end of the line. And when they get it, it's 20,000 people jammed up, or 200,000. That makes the news.

The reports of 15' are valid. Last I checked (4 days ago), the southtowns had 85". That's just what fell. You add a little bit of wind and the drifts get enormous. And forget "little bit", it was gusting 20-30. It is a mess.

I got out yesterday and was finally able to reach my kid and mother. The main arteries, like Rts 5 and 20, were clear. But it's eerie. You basically drive down a tunnel without a roof. In some places you couldn't even see the houses or stores from the streets, it's just giant walls of snow on either side. You can't make a turn out of an intersection without crawling into the road, because you can't see passed the drifts and piles. By the time I reached my mama, the snow was well above the roof of my pickup.

And shoveling? God almighty. We stopped at my g/f grandparents to check on them and her papa was sitting in a chair and shoveling (recent back surgery). Of course, that would not do. So we stayed to dig them out. Shoveling is bad enough, but when you're talking 6'? My god. Not only do you have 6' of snow to move, but everything you move has to be raised at least 6' to get it out. You're not just scooping it off to the side, you're hurling it up and over the wall. I'm 6', and from my eye line there was at least 18" more to the top of the pile. In 150 minutes, 3 of us had only cleared 4' of driveway, and I never took a break.

But this is WNY. Halfway through my shoveling it started to mist. That gave way to rain, and on my way home from hockey at 2a, it was still raining. It's supposed to remain in the 40's and get up to the 60's within the week. When I woke up today and looked out my window...

Our 2 feet of snow disappeared here in W MI
last night. Got up today to nothing. All night
the snow and ice kept falling from the second
story onto the front porch roof with a CRASH.
This house was built in 1854, it's seen worse.

For Aye, just to show the level (or lack) of exaggeration. These are adult men, and none of that snow up there is drifted. That's just what fell.



And right now, it's about 62*F lol. My neighbors just got done mowing their lawn.

When I started reading these posts about 20 minutes ago a friend called. I told him that its been a long time since I've seen it rain that hard. Now, less than half an hour later, it is a beautiful sunny day. I must have gotten Lake Effect rain......

Quote: Face

For Aye, just to show the level (or lack) of exaggeration. These are adult men, and none of that snow up there is drifted. That's just what fell.
.

Don't a lot of animals die when there's that much
snow? Deer especially can't move in it to find food.

They manage.




Even the strongest would suffer and struggle, but it didn't last long. It wasn't even a week so I imagine only the weakest would be killed off.

Quote: Face

For Aye, just to show the level (or lack) of exaggeration. These are adult men, and none of that snow up there is drifted. That's just what fell.



And right now, it's about 62*F lol. My neighbors just got done mowing their lawn.

Wow, that is insane! I am glad things are quickly returning to normal. Thanks for sharing!

For the most part, I just laugh at you guys dealing with snow and cold winters. The Mild winters isn't the reason, I relocated to Vegas, but it is a nice side benefit. I lift on the western side of the valley, which is close enough to see snow on Mt Charleston (when it is there) when I look out the window. That's just about as close as I want to get.

So, I do make a couple trips east each year to visit friends and play blackjack in the Pa casinos. One is at thanksgiving time. I specifically pick thanksgiving, so as not to visit any later in the winter when I might have to encounter any snow or serious cold weather. So we arrived yesterday. Today my first day here in Pa.....a snow storm! Just can't win. Lol. It's only supposed to be a few inches, but that's a few inches too much for me (that's what she said...Michael Scott). Oh, well. It is pretty to look at.

Quote: kewlj

For the most part, I just laugh at you guys dealing with snow and cold winters.

Yeah, well, I spent $0 on a/c last year. I even got my mail at noon in July without medical attention.

Enjoy Nov - Apr! =p

Quote: Face

Yeah, well, I spent $0 on a/c last year.

I hear ya......but.....want to compare heating bills, Face? Lol.

Quote: kewlj

For the most part, I just laugh at you guys dealing with snow and cold winters. The Mild winters isn't the reason, I relocated to Vegas, but it is a nice side benefit. I lift on the western side of the valley, which is close enough to see snow on Mt Charleston (when it is there) when I look out the window. That's just about as close as I want to get.

So, I do make a couple trips east each year to visit friends and play blackjack in the Pa casinos. One is at thanksgiving time. I specifically pick thanksgiving, so as not to visit any later in the winter when I might have to encounter any snow or serious cold weather. So we arrived yesterday. Today my first day here in Pa.....a snow storm! Just can't win. Lol. It's only supposed to be a few inches, but that's a few inches too much for me (that's what she said...Michael Scott). Oh, well. It is pretty to look at.

in exchange we have the most illegal immigrants in our state. so there's a trade off.

Quote: djatc

in exchange we have the most illegal immigrants in our state. so there's a trade off.

And one has what to do with the other?

Quote: kewlj

And one has what to do with the other?

yeah, snow melts and goes away.

Quote: kewlj

I hear ya......but.....want to compare heating bills, Face? Lol.

Vegas is as attractive as Big Foots
backside. It's what stops me from moving
there. All I say to myself when I'm in
Vegas now is, god this is an ugly place to
live. If you don't see that, you're in denial.

Quote: kewlj

And one has what to do with the other?

You take the good with the bad and you have the facts of life

Quote: EvenBob

Vegas is as attractive as Big Foots
backside. It's what stops me from moving
there. All I say to myself when I'm in
Vegas now is, god this is an ugly place to
live. If you don't see that, you're in denial.

If you're an illegal or ap its a great place to live. Who cares about the scenery?

Quote: EvenBob

Vegas is as attractive as Big Foots
backside. It's what stops me from moving
there. All I say to myself when I'm in
Vegas now is, god this is an ugly place to
live. If you don't see that, you're in denial.

It's not really a matter of denial Bob. It's about what you find beauty in and how much these things even matter to you. I actually find Vegas to be very beautiful and when I am away for a bit as I am now, I can not wait to get back.

There is no doubt that there is some lack of color as far as trees and grass, but I make an effort to seek out parks, lakes, Red Rock canyon and other recreation areas regularly.

Quote: kewlj

but I make an effort to seek out parks,

This is what I see 100 ft from my door summer
and winter, no effort involved. All I see in Vegas
is red tile roofs, stucco, and dirt brown desert.

It is a little after noon here and 84*. I have been on the patio this morning shirtless and shoeless watching the new bird feeder I installed.

When the auto watering came on for the citrus trees it took the birds less than a minute to take advantage of the free shower.

We had 8 little birds "motorboating" in there at one time, it is precious. House sparrows, rosy finches, ring neck and ruddy doves and now some exceptionally stupid pigeons. But they eat the entire husks from the seeds, so its great they don't blow in the pool.

@Bob, I hope you have extra suet out for your birds? It has been snowy and cold and they will appreciate the extra fat/calories.

That is some beautiful photos above, reminds me of where I was raised in the PNW.

ps; we have at least one specie of hummingbird wintering here, the mockingbirds are doing their thing, and a kestrel just landed on the power pole to survey his domain. Life is good.

MINUS 40 windchills overnight ..... working in southwest corner of Manitoba the past few nights (north of Minot ND )


Can't wait till Dec 11 flight out of here 63*F will be shorts weather

Big difference from my last post...

All that snow is gone and has been gone for awhile now. Neighbors are out raking, kids are running around outside, everyone is out for a walk. I'm about to cut the rear off my race car, the big garage door is wide open, and I'm just wearing a hoody.

The sun is shining and I put it at about 55*F right now.