What can you do on a Snow Day besides hang out on PF?

[Astronuc]

So far we've managed sleet mixed with freezing rain. There is a thick layer of ice granules on the ground. Not sure what's next - rain or snow depending on how the front moves.

 

[hypatia]

Its a Nor-easter! {I just love saying that}!

 

[hypatia]

snow gripe #2...my husband is going snow blow the world. I ran out and gave him coffee, he and the mug are now somewhere near 6 mile road.

 

[ZapperZ]

snow gripe #2...my husband is going snow blow the world. I ran out and gave him coffee, he and the mug are now somewhere near 6 mile road.

Any estimate on when he will make it to my garage?

:)

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

So far is pouring ice - sleet. Maybe snow later today or this evening.

Temp is 8°F.

 

[Moonbear]

Any estimate on when he will make it to my garage?

:)

Zz.

Do you have a second snow day? I'm staying home again today. I might go in late if it clears up like it did yesterday in the afternoon, but right now, it's snow again. Currently, temperatures have stayed above freezing, but I've heard that to the west of us, they're already getting freezing rain and plummeting temperatures, so it really sounds like it's only going to get worse.

 

[mattmns]

In New Mexico we are on a 2 hour delay due to a couple inches of snow (); *chants*close, close, close*chants*

 

[hypatia]

Any estimate on when he will make it to my garage?

:)

Zz.

He should be there, by 4 pm.

 

[Moonbear]

He should be there, by 4 pm.

*note to self: If I ever move back to MI, plan to live close to hypatia.* Neighbors who love to show off their snowblowers are the best!

 

[russ_watters]

So now I officially have a snow day too. This morning I was more or less just being lazy (I did do a little work from my bed - [gawd, I love the internet]), but then after lunch I foolishly tried to leave my house. I live in a townhouse complex which was well salted, I shoveled my driveway, and drove out to a meeting. I got a hundred yards, trying to climb a shallow hill just outside my development and got stuck. I was hoping to just back up all the way to my development (it is pretty much all downhill), but there was a truck coming, so I backed-up into an unplowed driveway and got stuck there. With no curbs and a slight hill, I slowly slithered my car around until it would go no further (except, possibly off the road). Fortunately, I got stuck right in front of my local fire station and a fire chief was driving by in his jeep. That 250lb guy got more traction than my 1500lb car and was able to get me back onto the road and moving, and I got back to my development.

But jeez, could my car have any less traction in the snow? I should have known - coming home last night, I slid on the same road and jumped the curve after missing the turn into my development. Miraculously, there was no damage. Tomorrow, I'm getting new tires. And today, I guess it's movie day!

 

[scorpa]

Sigh no snow day for me guess I'm writing that micro midterm today. I hate walking to school in -30 it puts me in a bad frame of mind.

 

[Astronuc]

You're fortunate Russ. We've got lots of cars off the road around here - at least 20 accidents so far.

We have sleet. Several inches now on the ground. I won't even try to drive. I need new tires too.

Now it's turning to snow and there is a warning of white out and power outages.

Our local forecast -

This Afternoon...Sleet...Snow. Snow May be heavy at Times this afternoon. Additional snow and sleet accumulation of 5 to 10 inches. Blustery and cold with highs around 19. North winds 15 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 40 mph this afternoon. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

Tonight...Snow likely in the evening...Then a chance of snow after midnight. Snow May be heavy at Times in the evening. Total accumulation of 10 to 20 inches. Windy and cold with lows around 8 above. Northwest winds 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 45 mph in the evening. Chance of snow 60 percent.

North of us and over to main - they have blizzard warnings - so don't go out!

 

[BobG]

You poor folks.

Our here in Colorado, we got the kind of snow we usually get. Around an inch of incredibly light snow. Just enough to make for a beautiful, sunny winter day.

You don't even have to clean the snow off your car in the morning. The wipers will get enough of it to get you started and the rest blows off as soon as you get on the road.

 

[turbo]

The fluffy stuff is piling up here at a rate of well over an inch an hour. I waded out to the compost bin a couple of hours ago, and I can barely make out my tracks now. The state's Emergency Management Agency has us under a blizzard watch until early tomorrow morning and we're looking at total accumulations in the 2-foot range. Even more interesting, thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon and this evening. I'm glad I've got a generator and a wood stove. Losing power in 0-10 deg F temps with 30-40 mph winds isn't fun if you're not prepared.

 

[Astronuc]

For some, dining by candle light was a cold necessity, not a romantic option. Power companies said 100,000 customers were left without electricity from Virginia to New Jersey, and outages were reported in Ohio.

Blizzard warnings were up for parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and New York -- including areas south of Lake Ontario already buried deep in snow. About 70 National Guard troops were activated in Oswego County, 250 miles (402.3 km) northwest of New York City, where about 10 feet (3.048 meters) of snow had already fallen.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070214/us_nm/usa_weather_dc

Be careful out there.

 

[Moonbear]

Yeesh, I just got an email sent from the provost to all the faculty basically telling us we DON'T have a snow day, but please be understanding of absences, because one of the roads to campus from an area where a large number of students live was closed, there's no bus service from that area, and the van service for students with disabilities wasn't running. This was quickly followed by another note that evening classes weren't cancelled, and they wouldn't be closing early...because the town has told them the sudden traffic on the roads if they close would hinder the plowing and salting efforts. Perhaps if they cancel the classes, people won't have to GET on the roads? I just went out and cleared my driveway and walked down to get my mail, and it is SLICK.

If I had to teach today, I'd have emailed all my students and told them don't bother trying to get in, because I won't be there either. It's only going to get worse as night falls, and it's not worth risking people's necks over the one or two days a year we get snowfall that's heavy enough to hinder driving.

If they're worried about too many people on the roads at once, they should cancel all evening classes and evening shifts for maintenance/custodial staff (they arrive at 3 PM, so if they announced it now, it would keep those folks from having to get on the road). I can guarantee that any faculty who don't have to teach have already left for the day, if they even came in.

Just keep the grounds crews on who need to keep parking lots and walkways cleared. They'll have an easier job if they don't have to maneuver around parked cars.

 

[Astronuc]

Yeesh, I just got an email sent from the provost to all the faculty basically telling us we DON'T have a snow day, . . .

Time to find a new provost. No sense in risking peoples safety.

 

[Cyrus]

I think I just broke my back shoveling that "snow"- which was more like ice. The snow was so solid that I was able to walk on it without sinking in.

 

[russ_watters]

You poor folks.

Our here in Colorado, we got the kind of snow we usually get. Around an inch of incredibly light snow. Just enough to make for a beautiful, sunny winter day.

I only had 3-4 inches on my driveway, but it must have been 5x the normal density for us, which would make it 10x the normal density for you. Crunchy, but not quite as solid as cyrus's.

 

[turbo]

I just got in from clearing the driveway for the first time. The snow is over a foot deep - in 7 hours worth of accumulation. The blizzard warning is in effect until 14 hours from now, so we'll easily beat the 2 feet that were forecast.

 

[Moonbear]

Aww...I have a new visitor helping herself to some of the birdseed I put out.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9417/visitorbb3.jpg

Yes, she's a rat, and yes, I think she's cute. This development is on land that used to be a cattle pasture, and there's still cattle adjacent to us, so it's not surprising there are rats around. I had suspected for a while that there was one under the deck (ever since the tomatoes kept disappearing this summer). Some of the neighbors had seen her by their place and freaked out and put out rat poison, so I guess she moved in at my place. And here I thought Ember was just bird watching while sitting at that window.

 

[turbo]

My friend's son had a pet rat when he was a kid - named "Al" after his grandfather. He loved to be held when he was snoozy and he liked climbing up on your shoulder, licking your neck and ears. You could barely feel his tongue, though his whiskers tickled some. After getting to know Al, I learned to appreciate rats a bit better. I always liked squirrels, so what's the deal with a lack of tail hair?

 

[Moonbear]

The idiots around here! The kids have had all these days off from school because it was...cold. So, I guess now they've used up too many days off, so when we have such horrid weather like today, the dingbats in the county had a full day of school for them. And, sure enough, the evening news is reporting a school bus accident that was a result of the weather. There's no way buses should have been out in today's weather!

 

[Astronuc]

I just took a break from shoveling the driveway - all the end where the municipal plows have put a 1 foot burm of ice and ice. Otherwise I removed a block of several inches of packed sleet which was under several inches of snow. I'll to the rest later.

 

[G01]

Well, I was off all today and now for some reason I have a snow day tomorrow...and my university NEVER closes(thats Never with a big NEVER)...Yahoo! another day off!.........I'm bored...

 

[Dr Transport]

Do you live in DC too!?

No, west of there. To me anyone who didn't grow up driving in the snow can't drive very well. The day I got my learners permit Mom made me do donuts in the 6 inches of snow in the school parking lot, then she made me the rest of the way home. I didn't really drive on clear roads for the first 5 months I was learning.

 

[turbo]

The idiots around here! The kids have had all these days off from school because it was...cold. So, I guess now they've used up too many days off, so when we have such horrid weather like today, the dingbats in the county had a full day of school for them. And, sure enough, the evening news is reporting a school bus accident that was a result of the weather. There's no way buses should have been out in today's weather!

That happens here, too. The administrators act like the snow days are perks for the teachers and staff and use them frivolously, but then when the snow days are all used up and some REAL storms show up, they get really brave about making the buses run because they don't want to have to tack on extra days to the school year and work a little extra during the nice weather in June. It's quite predictable.