Hunkering down in Michigan, bike is perched on the trainer, cupboards are full and a stack of good books is waiting.
Let it snow.
Now if we lose power in these frigid temps, well that won't be good. If we get another 10-15" of snow it'll be a long time before my bike sees outdoor riding.
Stay safe and warm in the northern part of the country. We're just in for rain down here, but warm temps tomorrow. (I'll take the rain to get the forcast 70 degree weather tomorrow). Of course they're expecting more normal 40 degree weather after tomorrow.
I'm so desperate to ride my new bike outdoors...almost 300 miles logged, all on the trainer. I am also in MI. Praying for an early Spring!
Stay warm and safe, everyone!
We are on storm #2 in 2 days. There's about 3 feet on the ground; yesterday we had 8 inches. Today less; I'm in the area where there will be about 3-6 inches, with sleet and ice pellets. Just south of Boston there is a significant concern for ice/freezing rain.
I haven't been anywhere, except down my 700 ft. driveway to get the newspaper, since Monday. Today I'll study, do a trainer work out, and maybe get out and do a ski or snow shoe in the woods if it clears up early enough.
I love this weather. Actually, I love the changing weather. 23 years in Florida and AZ made me appreciate it. The outdoor cycling season always starts for me around March 5-15. I might not get out as much as I do later in the spring, but it's been pretty much the same date since I started riding in 2000.
We had our mini-dump and cold freeze. We couldn't go snowshoeing in Banff this past weekend..it was -30 degrees C.
Now it's almost -5 degrees C...the chinook winds are blowing through. So maybe from no snowshoeing to maybe some cycling by end of this week.
Be safe, everyone, and try not to let the cabin fever get to you too much!
we got a foot of snow yesterday. It will shut this city down for days. Temps won't be above freezing until Saturday, so no hope for melting. If I have to go to work tomorrow, I'll probably be better off walking in my yak trax than trying to drive (and if I were brave enough I'd put zip ties on my mtn bike tires and ride to work- but I'm not that brave).
Tonight is supposed to be -5. That will break over 100 years of records for the low. We're just not used to this kind of cold in OKC.
What a mess.
Stay safe everyone.
18 inches and 9 ft drifts here in Chi-town and it's still coming down. The weather people are saying it's the 4th worst storm in recorded history for the area. My and DH's offices are closed. We already had a foot on on the ground before this storm...
Be careful everyone!
I'm originally from Canada and used to the "lake effect" snow storms I remember fondly from my childhood (you know - back when there were no such things as snow days???).
That said, I have HAD IT with the snow here in MA this year. We were at 60.3 inches BEFORE yesterday/today hit us with another foot +. We've shoveled the roof multiple times (including dragging the snowblower up there over the weekend), and our snow shoeing consists of stomping down the banks along the drive/walk ways to make room for more snow.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the snow. But I am pretty darned sick of dealing with it! I am glad that Puxatawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning.
Oh, and with the piles of snow in my yard and the sidewalks (many thanks to the town for pushing all of the banks into our sidewalks last night), we won't be riding until June.
SheFly
our newscasters this morning were commenting that Chicago has 250 snow plows and the city covers an area of 230 sq. miles. Oklahoma City has 60 snow plows and covers an area of 620 sq. miles. No wonder you guys can get a foot and be out and about in no time. We'll be digging out for weeks. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ASammy1
I used to live in Chicago, tho, and winter is just bitter and WRONG up there. No matter how many snow plows you have, it's just too dang cold. ;)
That's got to be the worst. To have a new bike and not be able to ride it outside for months. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by zoom-zoom
I'm feeling for those receiving the ice. Having flashbacks from our devastating ice storm 2 years ago when the power was out at my house for 9 days.
An SUV (next to the stop sign) completely buried.
That SUV picture is crazy! We don't have much snow here but the temps are ridiculously cold. My office was 45 degrees yesterday (inside!) so I just stayed home.
We have a couple of semi-feral cats that I've become attached to - I was so worried about them that I left my garage door cracked with food, water, heat, and blankets for them. Silly, and I don't know if they found it, but I had to do something!
SheFly, we have been in roof hell. We had a new roof put on 2 years ago, after severe ice dam issues/water coming in. Since we don't have an attic and no vents or soffits, it started all over. I thought DH was going to really go off the deep end when the water started leaking in the kitchen, after raking some of the spots. Finally, we called a guy who used to clean our house in Boxborough who now has a general contracting business. He is the most trustworthy person I know! He sent 5 guys over on Sunday, who got up on the roof and cleared every inch of snow, all the icicles, and the 2 decks. I was petrified watching them, running around up there, no harnesses, etc. My house is 4 stories high, with lots of roof lines.
This is what I get for buying an unusual house. We are going to have vents and soffits put in, before going to the last resort tactic of a commercial grade ice dam prevention system.
So much snow! :)
Limewave, what beautiful pictures. Reminds me of how exciting snow is for children.
We aren't so badly off this time, with mostly sleet. In fact, we don't suffer too much in Manhattan because the sidewalks are cleared and the subways are running.
Much as I enjoy snow (and the parks have been beautiful) I'm really getting cabin fever. With ice today, I'm not even going for a walk.
Everyone in the hard-hit areas, please stay safe. I hope you are all stocked up with food and your power stays on.
I just can't even imagine cold that deep. It reminds me of that movie, The Day After Tomorrow, where global warming has created freakish weather, including extreme cold.
How does your community keep going? I mean, can you go to the grocery store? Are the clerks there to check you out? And is an $18/hour job really worth risking life and limb to get to? I'm sure emergency personnel have to be where they have to be, but the less critical jobs -- I have to think the malls, libraries, non-critical medical centers/doctors' offices, movie theaters, restaurants, and so on, are all shut down for the duration, aren't they?
And really, what is this weather going to do to the traditionally huge bump in TV sales in advance of the Super Bowl? Priorities, people.
I wish I could have you all come visit me here. (itwas80degreesinthesunonmyfrontporchyesterdayandIwentona12-mileridearoundFiestaIslandandactuallygotalittlesunburned)
Roxy
Hopefully everyone went to the grocery store before the storm. Pretty much everything is closed. On the news they said they were sending out trucks to pick up doctors/nurses/etc. that were stranded and to help relieve staff that had been working all night. Mail is not being delivered today either.Quote:
Originally Posted by channlluv
My husband is a moron and insisted upon going to work, this AM (he's a mechanical engineer...so not a "crucial" service provider). He had to spend nearly an hour shoveling to get my car (the one with snow tires) out of the driveway. His drive is 30 minutes on GOOD roads. Took him 40 or so, this AM...he said the highway was actually good, so once he got the 3-4 miles from our house to the hwy things were good.
Crankin' - sorry to hear about the roof woes. I just saw on NECN that a number of roofs in the area are collapsing under the weight of the snow, and now the added weight of rain and ice on top.
We just came in from clearing (again). We have ice here now, and it is HEAVY to move. Lifting onto the already too high banks is taking a toll on both us, and the snowblower.
And to think just mid-month I was complaining because I was in sunny Florida and it was ONLY 55 degrees ... :D
SheFly
This snow is super heavy! It's a major workout just digging your car out! I'm in Philly, not as bad as Mass but I'm still soooooo over this friggin' snow! Would LOVE to ride my bike somewhere besides the living room. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SheFly
Braggart :) Sounds delightful though and I wish we were there too!Quote:
Originally Posted by channlluv
Yikes on the roof problem and I hope you don't have to go the commercial grade route - that sounds quite expensive. I bet it is a beautiful house though!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
Yesterday I spent 45 minutes cleaning enough ice off my car to change parking spots closer to my apt door. Considering the amount of ice, and ice mountains, that I had to walk over this morning to even get to my car it was a good thing.
This morning I spend 75 minutes cleaning enough ice off my car to drive to work....wild day. I am the office ice weenie, so if we are having an ice storm or threat of one, I stay home. The day after, once they have time to treat the roads, I come in and most everyone else stays home. Interesting how that works.
I had to drive to a nearby town today, and it's a good thing I know every bump and bend in that road, because I couldn't see where the road WAS!
I didn't want to drive, so I walked 3 miles round trip to the grocery store today. I needed a few things for dinner, but would much rather walk than drive with all the loony drivers out.
It was 8 degrees with a wind chill of -12F. It was chilly, but I dressed warmly and actually was a little too warm. 4 layers on my head, 4 on top, 2 on bottom and 3 pairs of socks (most all layers were wool).
It was actually fun! I kinda felt like a pioneer woman- walking in snow to get my food. :p
The second pics are from yesterday when it snowed all day. We got 12 inches with drifts up to 4 feet.
Everything is shut down today. We finally dug out our cars after 2 hours of shoveling with the help of our neighbors. It's supposed to get below 0 tonight, so we had to make sure the cars got dug out while the sun was still shining.
Overall, we got 22 inches total with 9 ft drifts in some places. I'm gonna be sore...
My DH & I (with the help from a VERY kind neighbor with a bad@ss Toro snowblower) finally got our driveway cleared. Hubby is still out there shoveling a bit. The snow was waist deep outside of our side door (which we could not open without a really hard shove) and in our driveway. It took us over 2 hours to carve a narrow pathway down to the pavement. Had to do it in "layers"...shovel a layer off, then the next layer, and so on until you reach pavement. It was simply overwhelming and I truly thought we would not be able to get it done. When suddenly, our neighbor across the street comes over with his snowblower and starts chipping away at our driveway. Even with his help, it was a major effort to clear our 80 foot driveway. DH was so grateful for the help, that he gave him $50 for his troubles. The streets in my area are actually in good shape, so getting around the immediate area shouldn't be a problem. My gym was closed today (not that I could get there anyways), but I'm sure everything will be up and running by tomorrow.
The snow/sleet has stopped. I just saw on TV that it's close to 50 degrees on the Cape. But here, it's 19.4 degrees. For the first time, I didn't help DH with the final clean up... used studying neuroanatomy as my excuse.
Catrin, yea, my house is great, but there have been way more surprises than we expected, since we moved in here, in 2005. We will pay for whatever fix is necessary, because by the time you go through the "sort of" fixes, it seems like you've spent even more money. And, sometimes, even with lots of research and experience, you are not sure who to trust.
I have no idea if we had mail delivery today, since I have not done the 700 foot walk down the hill; most of the time they surprise me that it does come. I think since I've lived back in MA I can count 5 or less times that it hasn't been delivered. I wouldn't blame the mailman, though. Even SheFly calls my street Aneurysm Hill Rd.
Grocery stores and such are open, but lots of the smaller shops are not. Restaurants have taken a beating in this weather, too.
Here things pretty much stay open (other than the schools, of course) during our usual snow storms...now if we get three feet at once, it's a little different. The YMCA where I work part-time almost never closes due to weather, which means I've been getting to drive in there in the snow at 5am (or home later in the morning, with all the morons on the road and pedestrians who walk in the street because the sidewalks aren't cleared, and walk on the wrong side) quite often this year. I enjoy the snow in general, but digging out cars and getting stuck at the bottom of the driveway is getting annoying.Quote:
Originally Posted by channlluv
It was snowing again when I took Chloe out for her walk. We can expect about an inch more tonight before things quiet down until Saturday (woo hoo! More snow forecasted!)
Chloe's a little flummoxed over the loss of her yard to the heaping mounds of snow.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...elle/005-1.jpg
The icy view from one of my windows.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...le/006-1-1.jpg
Zoom-Zoom, limewave and beccaB - fellow Michiganders sounds like the mid and western part of the state got hit harder. Our actual snowfalls were far short of the predictions and after seeing pictures of out west, Chicago, Indiana, Illinois and hearing the tales of Massachusetts here on this forum I am very glad we did not get what was predicted. The freezing rain and ice storms are awful just like those huge accumulations of snow. Well it's one wintery winter.
I'm just north of Ann Arbor but about 20 miles north of where I live the snowfalls were much higher.
Thoughts go out to all of you who are suffering from this and for enduring the ordeal.
It will be interesting to see the economic impact from this when the numbers start coming in. It's going to be very high.
Link to an online article with photos of abandoned vehicles on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. Yikes! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110202/..._on_lake_shore
Stay safe and warm!
Yep, my brother lives IN Chicago...in the middle of the city they measured 22 official inches...with 9 foot drifts. We measured 13" over the course of 24 hours. A lot of snow, for sure, but not the sort of event that will be all that memorable (I think I have seen at least one 16+" storm since I've lived in West MI). What is memorable is how it slammed so many other areas.
In the northern wintery states people become accustomed to it, I feel worse for those who live in the states that usually don't see any snow because they are not equipped to deal with it, either with actual snow removal equipment or mentally they are just not prepared to deal with it either. It takes a different attitude, a kind of slow down and not be in such a hurry and the ability to suddenly change your plans and not let that rock your world. That plus not having warm coats, hats, boots etc. makes it more of a struggle. Of course those in the warmer climes have their own claim to fame with sunny year round mild temps ;) and year round biking weather.Quote:
Originally Posted by channlluv
Me, I spent time on the trainer today :( made a pot of split pea soup and cornbread, read a bit and enjoyed being indoors and watching the weather from a nice warm place.
Just reporting that all four of the outdoor cats survived the -19 temps last night. I'm leaving the door open for tonight too, just in case.
That's just it. And I feel bad for places like Dallas where snow is even more rare. 12" to Chicago is no big deal, but to us Okies, 12" is completely devastating. We usually get a couple snowstorms of 2-3 inches a year (and at least one ice event). A foot of snow is world-rocking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bike Writer
Most businesses were closed for the last 2 days. Schools will be out for 4 days this week. They sent my hubs home from work (he's a postal carrier) at noon on the day of the blizzard for safety reasons- in 18 years at the Post Office, that's NEVER happened.
We just can't handle it. Even the streets that are emergency snow routes aren't clear. With 60 plows, we can't take care of the 600 sq. miles of the city.
I lived in Chicago for a few years and the attitude about it is totally different. People know how to drive safely in it, how to take their time and react sooner. Not so much here. I admire Northeners for their mental toughness through the long winters. I live south for a reason... but when storms like this come through I wish I were even further south- like in the middle of the Caribbean. ;)
I find that in the greater Boston area, it feels like people have become less "hardy" as compared to when I was a kid. I remember several horrific rides home on a school bus, in blizzards, because school wasn't cancelled, then they decided to let us out early. We used to sled down the street for at least a day after a storm, because it wasn't plowed that well. I am pretty sure it's due to better weather forecasting. This year, the forecasts have been extremely accurate. People get to prepare and schools make decisions earlier. The roads are plowed rather quickly, at least in the areas where I drive. Of course, right now, we are just running out of room to put the snow.
Learning to drive in the snow at age 37 was perhaps one of the scariest things I've done. I used to work 40 miles from home at one point, and I had many horrible drives that took 2 hours. I don't drive in the snow, unless I really have to. I cancelled my clients on Tuesday; no one would come to begin with, and Wednesday, the clinic was closed. Even though i have had an AWD car since 1992, and I know what to do, I avoid it if I can.
I'm glad everyone surviving. That article about Lake Shore Drive blew my mind. I have to say that Central Indiana got off relatively easy. Some areas got a bit more freezing rain/sleet than others, but all in all, we did not have the widespread power outages and property loss that was first predicted. It really would have sucked to have been without power in this.
I have, however, worked from home the last three days. I live 25 miles south of my office. Even when the roads are relatively navigable, but really slow, I often just opt to stay home. I get more done than I would with an hour and a half to two-hour commute. We were basically closed yesterday and part of Tuesday anyway. So, it's been kind of vacation like in some ways. I haven't even had to shovel, because we got so little actual snow. My house is melting at the moment. Well, not literally, but it looks that way from my office window. It would be pretty if it weren't so darn cold. The kitties and are I enjoyed the squirrels and birds whom we made a point of feeding.
I love to trek down to town in the blizzards too. My round trip is only a mile, but there's a big long 1/4 hill up to our house. you know the saying- No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. :cool: I've got enough real wool layers for tackling the North Pole.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tri Girl
Yesterday I bundled up and went down for 'supplies'- stuff like fresh spinach, 1/2 & 1/2, dark chocolate.... lol! Most of the stores were closed even though we only got about 6", but on top of what was there before.
Lots of snow around now, but thankfully no wind or ice storm. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bike Writer
This is so true. I grew up in the north and I have lived through some horrific winters. When we moved here (far north, but it rarely snows because the ocean keeps us temperate) I didn't expect to see much but rain in the winter. The first year we were here, there was an odd weather pattern and we got snow on top of snow, on top of snow. There are no plows (or not many). No one knows how to drive in it. Around here, they normally just wait for it to melt, but that year, it wasn't melting! Schools were closed for over a week, mail stopped running (a week before Christmas!), it was a nightmare. And OMG, talk about bad roads! I've never seen roads in conditions like they were here. Take 8" of snow, don't plow it, let cars drive over it when temps are near 32F during the day and then wait as it freezes into 8" ruts overnight and then snows 5" again on top of it. It was like something out of a movie scene!! This was on the main roads too...the secondary roads were actually better because there was less traffic on them to mess them up.
Like I said, I'm a northern girl who learned to drive in the snow the very first time I got behind a wheel. Even I give up when it snows here. It's just not worth it! In fact, it's one the main reasons we have a well-stocked pantry and a wood-stove. No need to go out when things get that bad!
Yes! I think to escape the snow we're going to have to meet in the Virgin Islands. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Muirenn