I don't believe I have ever seen a storm like this. The wind woke us up this morning in central Texas at 4:00 AM. We got out of the bedroom, because the wind was blowing so hard, I was afraid for the windows to the northwest! There are high wind warnings all across the US.
There must be massive weather events across the globe, since there may be a cyclone in Australia!
Hi Claycat - something I was taught in engineering was that storms beget storms. Basically a lot of energy is released during storms and this energy creates the conditions for more storms to form. So the idea that "it must be fine elsewhere since it's raining here" doesn't hold true.
And another thing I was taught is that there is no such thing as "flood free".
Oh, and it is better to say that the chance of a flood is 1 in x, not a 1 in x years flood event because people invariably take this to mean that a flood of that magnitude will not occur again for x years. The reality is that you can have two "1 in 100 year" flood events back to back and then not see another one like it for several hundred years.
Thanks for the good information, Laetitia!
My hope is Australia does not have two 1 in 100 year floods!
Claycat, I was looking at your weather forecast. What a mess for your area. I hope your power stays on so you can stay warm.
Claycat, my daughter and I read "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder recently, and your description of the storm sounds like hers. I hope you don't run out of food like the Ingalls family!
Usually I am very cynical about storm warnings because so often they make it sound terrible and then we get a couple of inches of snow and a little wind. But this one sounds bad enough that I bought some firewood, and I'm going to pick up more bread and milk this morning. It's supposed to hit us this afternoon. If we do get snowed in, I can unclutter my pantry and freezer!
We are having a pretty good ice storm in Ohio. Yesterday, when they announced the Winter Storm Watch, I thought the newscasters were over reacting with their "ensure you have a full tank of gas, bottled water at home, blankets in the car, run all your errands today" etc. Well, we are pretty much shut down today! Good thing DH took heed and went grocery shopping last night, we have plenty of wood for the fire and we have gas heat just in case we do lose power like other parts of our city.
Claycat, we're a bit south of you, I think, and it hit us at about 4:30 -- up to 50 MPH winds, they say. And it might go down to 20 F tomorrow, but back up in the 60s by Friday (if it doesn't snow, which I haven't seen in the almost 20 years we've lived here.) The weather is INSANE.
Gypsie, ooo same here! Everything is iced over at the momment and it was advised during the previous few days to prepare for it (I'm in Pennsylvania). No college today too which is good, because we're stuck! It's so peaceful right now since there isn't any wind. I havn't seen/heard a single car drive by the house yet lol.
The storm started in Houston about 6AM- raining sideways and the wind sounded like a hurricane. Now its just very, very windy.
We're battening down the hatches here in Michigan, too. It's supposed to roll into my area in about 7 hours. They are predicting 16 inches of snow overnight. I've got my water jugs filled, my cupboards stocked, my flashlights out and extra fuel for my mini camping stove in case the power goes out.
Storms do not inspire minimalism!
This is one of the mornings I'm glad we aren't up in the Canyons -- the wind gusts up there are unbelievable! Hooray for storm windows!
Here in St. Louis we've been having freezing rain and ice pellets yesterday and this morning. We're supposed to have thundersnow and high winds later!
This is definitely a day I'm happy to be in Hawaii! I checked the weather at home and it's in the 20's F and supposed to have 1-2" of snow. We were out on a boat last night and one guy was supposed to fly home to New York today, and was a little concerned. But what can you do except go with the flow in those circumstances? In 2008 I got bumped from a flight from Minneapolis to Boston for my fill's funeral due to snow in a connecting city. The only way they could get me there in time was to fly me to Las Vegas! And th from there to Boston. I flew all night and mt DH - who had gone earlier - picked me up at 6 am. It was a nightmare, but worth it to me.
Started to snow here over an hour ago. We're supposed to get up to 17 inches by tomorrow a.m. All schools and many county gov. and commercial offices (incl. my work) are closed, and will be tomorrow. Take care, everyone!
Gypsie, I'm in Ohio, too (near Cleveland, but the non-snowbelt side). We got a few inches of snow overnight, and we're supposed to get socked with some more later, but for the moment it's pretty calm.
pkilmain, I used to live in Honolulu. Days like this, I really miss it. :-)
JuliaJayne, we will be fine unless we lose power. The wind isn't as strong as it was at 4:00 AM. We were worried about our north window blowing in, because it already has a crack.
I live east of Austin. I'm more worried about people to the north and northeast of us. I'm sad for the animals out in this, too!
My thoughts are with all of you who are braving this storm!
The East Coast is getting it bad too. A friend in Boston is battling snow and ice.
Phooey - half the schools have already announced closings for tomorrow. Even the malls are closing. But neither my college nor my volunteer organization has made an announcement. Guess I better finish studying for my test for my night class and get lunch and dress clothes ready for the volunteering.
I want an uncluttered snow day, just like elementary school!
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