Ironworker
Addicted to ArboristSite
Why is snow in January news, I mean really, I couldn't watch jeopardy because of a f____ing news conference, it's snow, it happens every f____ing year!!!
It's snowing, oh no!
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Why is snow in January news, I mean really, I couldn't watch jeopardy because of a f____ing news conference, it's snow, it happens every f____ing year!!!
Pruning@trunk
CO2 Lover
What's the name of this terrible snow storm?
Yes but the powers to be need their tv time to stay famous and feed their ego.
I totally hear you. I'm in the Midwest and even here every story on the news is about snowfall the NE *could* get. It's crazy. We lived out there (upstate NY) for two years and every predicted 18" snowfall never exceeded 6".
1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
The last time they didn't give a winter nor'easter it's due the storm was big enough to make movies out of. After all this screaming, though, they better get it right. 2001? 2002? Weather predicted crippling snow, everything was closed, next day had clouds for a few hours and a small squall. That gave weeks and weeks of discussion on whether or not weather forecasters could be sued for wrong predictions. Sheesh...
UpOnTheHill
ArboristSite Guru
There was one back in 97 or 98 that dropped 44 inches on us. I was snowed in at work well into the night until a big payloader came in to scoop out the driveway and parking lot. It also had to pull out the 2 plow trucks stuck in the lot that were attempting to plow us out. That was a real storm. And it all happened in about a 16 hour or so period. One of the big town plow trucks got stuck on my street which I've never seen happen.
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Blizzard ColbieWhat's the name of this terrible snow storm?
Joe Blackeby
ArboristSite Lurker
Snow storm 2015
Almost two years to the day of Super Storm Sandy.
Our pig authority governor says people still haven't been paid for that storm!
Almost two years to the day of Super Storm Sandy.
Our pig authority governor says people still haven't been paid for that storm!
People's Republic of mASSachusetts has declared a STATE of emergency (hysteria?).
Northwestern part of the state may only get 6-12 inches..............
How did those Yankees get by for hundreds of years before electricity and a nanny state?
Northwestern part of the state may only get 6-12 inches..............
How did those Yankees get by for hundreds of years before electricity and a nanny state?
nathon918
Addicted to ArboristSite
the people making those decisions are from the boston area which is all of Massachusetts...according to them, and most of which are not from here...bunch of prius driving, illegal loving morons that are likely afraid of their own shadows
was hoping Charlie Baker would make "better" calls than Devil Patrick did...didn't happen though
mu2bdriver
ArboristSite Guru
Yup. According to the Bostonites, western Mass is anything past Worcester. At least listening to Gov. Baker isn't as painful as listening to Mao-loy stumble, uuugh, uummm, stutter through a press conference reminding people to not touch power lines on the ground.
pennsywoodburnr
supreme scrounger
I'm telling you svk, we didn't get jack squat from this storm. Maybe 2 1/2, maybe 3 inches tops. Big whoop. I'd consider it a little more than a dusting. The way they hyped this storm up though was unbelievable. They had everyone convinced they'd be commuting to work Monday and Tuesday by snowmobile!
zogger
Tree Freak
I am going to 100% defend the professional weather guys over the armchair quarterbacks.
This is obvious why they do this, and it's because when they LOWBALL storms, it really does cause mass chaos and people freaking die from it. They *have* minimized storms in the past, and took severe criticism for it. They have to emphasize the potential high end effects, it is the only responsible thing to do.
I'll give you an example from last winter, down here. Polar vortex ice storm.
They lowballed it, resulting in thousands and thousands of people trying to drive on two inch deep black glare ice..it didn't work, people stuck all over, I mean, freeking disaster, thousands of accidents, thousands of cars sideways and backwards on the road and off the road, etc.. There was a lot of discussion and criticism of the government because they lowballed the potentials, leaving people stranded all over, whereas if they had emphasized the high end potential, most of those folks would have gone home just a few hours early and not gotten stuck and stranded. The outcome would have been much less severe over all with just pushing the higher end of the range of predictions.
Now the prediction potential area for the current storm involves roughly 1/5th of the total US population. One fifth. That's a lot of people. Now make the call "oh well, it won't amount to much, go ahead like nothing is unusual, no big deal". Or push the potential high end, just in case. Me, given the authority, I wouldn't hesitate, I'd say, "this is the potential worst case, because of this, we need to do the following". Because that is the responsible thing to do.
If it turns out to be not that bad, not much harm, a little extra time off from school and work for people, big deal. Going the opposite way and having millions stuck, freaking disaster, power off all over, all that stuff, think of the criticism then "Why didn't the government tell us, whine, etc.."
People put these meteorologists between a rock and a hard place constantly, just constantly, when it is a freekin hard task, they can't win no matter what, their best defense is to keep working on models and algorithms etc, and emphasize the higher end of the potential "bad news" range. That's the best they can do and people *still* kvetch about it.
It's not snowing here... just so ya' know.
And even if it did, we likely wouldn't get near as much as you north-easterners do. Twelve inches is monster round here, we tend to get hit with clippers that drop 2-6 every second or third day instead. Heck, this year it's been almost snowless... I ain't even plowed my drive one time yet (although it could have been done once, but it melted a few days later).
Be safe out there.
*
And even if it did, we likely wouldn't get near as much as you north-easterners do. Twelve inches is monster round here, we tend to get hit with clippers that drop 2-6 every second or third day instead. Heck, this year it's been almost snowless... I ain't even plowed my drive one time yet (although it could have been done once, but it melted a few days later).
Be safe out there.
*
You've got a point, however over the last few years the NE weather reporters have gone from a message of "we could get some extreme weather so everyone should take caution" to a message of "OMFG the freakin world is going to end when we get 2' of snow". It's the 24/7 nonstop reports on every news channel about something that could happen. Well maybe I'm too toughened because I'm from the Midwest where we get real winter, but in reality people from the NE live in a climate that has the ability to dish out a bad storm or two every season and should be well aware and prepared that such a thing could happen. Totally different context than if say Georgia or Texas get a lot of snow.
zogger
Tree Freak
People from what I remember pretty much are prepared to ride out big snowstorms up there..if they are home and it isn't an ice storm with high winds. totally different story then, not only do the roads become impossible, even with 4wd. ice storms can be catastrophic because of the modern reality of electrified everything, and no juice, not much works. Even with generators, you can run out of fuel and not be able to get any more.
We have members here who are still cleaning up and scrounging from Sandy.
From what I have read this morning, one of the models nailed it, the bulk of the storm is still big, it is just a little further east. They had another model that showed it further to the west, impacting a lot more land area and people, and they had to go with that one from the potential. they have no other rational and responsible choice. With our current science and tech, this is the best we can get, which is loads better than decades ago, tons better. Still not perfect, but...
You still have to put yourself in their shoes, the weather guys and government, try to get people off the road just in case, or let millions go out and get stuck on the roads. The government has no choice, they are forced into erring on the side of caution when their best guesses/predictions are this close.
When I was in high school I experienced first hand what a lowball prediction from the government and meterologists can cause. We got told a little snow..right...48 inches in one day, plus high winds and massive drifts. Two weeks before travel. Roads closed two weeks, not two days, weeks. Nothing on the ground going to school, bare ground, by 8 am it was getting deep and they had to emergency panic and send everyone back home and *even then* it was too late. Lot of people didn't make it. I had two siblings didn't make it, stuck at their elementary school. Could have lost my dad, and as it was he got near frostbite after he got stuck and had to walk home in over the knee, thigh deep snow with leather shoes on. 16 miles to town, he walked around half way back. Changed his life, we never did a single winter "thing" again, winter hunting, ice fishing/sledding/camping and he couldn't wait to retire and move out of the snowbelt. Because the government and weather service lowballed the potential with their predictions. It changed my life and made me cautious on natural disasters, since that time I am always well, and I mean well, stocked on food water and fuel at least. Enough for long periods of "you can't get nuthin the regular way".
I am a big government critic, but not on natural disasters and them erring on the side of caution. Part of responsible preparedness is situational awareness, and when they have big potentials like this one, When their best models are showing some bad news possible, it is better to lean towards the just in case side.
1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
The Yankees get by just fine thank you very much. Those folks bannin' travel and closin' the state ain't Yankees.
I don't know what was predicted down there. The problem in the northeast is that weather heading east meets with weather heading north along the coast. Two different fronts combine and grab moisture off the Atlantic then circulate it back over land as precipitation.
I agree. I lived in an area with more extreme weather than New England. It was fairly easy to predict the weather there. If they said cold, it would be cold. If they said snow, we'd get snow. The storms can be very difficult to predict here. The seasoned residents never trust any station entirely. We get all the information we can then make our own guesses. I think the forecasts for doom and gloom are a direct result of increasing apathy and / or ignorance on the part of the population. The problem is too much doom and gloom leads to one one paying attention.
Visibility here is down to 100 yards. Snow didn't start until about 3:00 am and there's only about 4" of snow accumulated.
It's also a slow news day so of course the storm is getting top billing. Maybe a volcano will erupt in the PNW so they have something exciting to talk about.
nathon918
Addicted to ArboristSite
exactly! southern states getting snow is completely different, mostly because they don't have the equipment to deal with it...because its not something that happens often! places like NE that get snow EVERY year have gone ****ing insane over the weather forecasts!
if you don't have enough sense to tell yourself that going out in the snow with a vehicle designed to at the very worst drive on wet roads, never mind likely never having driven in the snow before, is a good idea, then you deserve what you get!
this crazy man killing blizzard has put a whopping 2 whole inches down in my area...even less west of me, good thing the entire state is shut down and there's a travel ban in effect...no idea how we are going to dig ourselves out of this one
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