2008/2009 Winter Storms

An aside, but within context of the thread -
I'm glad the Tiber didn't breach the built barriers of Rome..

The storm was initially forecast to bring us a few days of subfreezing weather. But, the last report predicted it will miss us and drag a warm front to the Houston area. At least one day this coming up week is now expected to reach near 80.

I live just west of Nashua NH near the Massachusetts Border. There are 1384 homes in my town and PSNH (Public Service New Hampshire) says that 1362 of them are without power as of 2pm Sunday afternoon (2. 5 days after the power first went out). Many major roads are still blocked and closed.



Several towns are reported to be completely without power (Derry and Londonderry are two of the larger ones), which means that they don't have any traffic lights or street lights at night.

Thank you, Rosborne. Reason I asked was because I lived in Rindge for quite a number of years in the 1980s and early 90s and know the area quite well. Still know some people up in the Jaffrey/Peterborough neck of the woods.

I think Jaffrey and Rindge got hit hard as well, but I don't know anyone out there to ask. The very rural areas could be without power for weeks, or so I've heard.

Now they are predicting it will get in the 30s and some of us are to expect freezing rain. The goobers.

One of the few times that I can honestly say I'm glad I moved back to Boston in 1995.

Gosh...ROS - hadn't seen this 'til today - so glad you are staying somewhere safe and warm. Take very good care. Keep us posted when you can.

Everyone.... take care.

Gah... it's cold and rainy here but seems basically fine. Reading so much about bad weather though that I thought I'd check my forecast.



Well dang. Hope nothing comes of it.

We went to bed with the temps in the mid-50s last night. Woke up around midnight to what was obviously ice/sleet pelting the house. The morning temp here at 6:00 was 7 degrees. There's about an inch of ice on the roads, Mr B's garage door is frozen shut and will remain so until it warms up. Fortunately, the CRV sits outside and was available for him to use to get to work (after he scraped away the ice).

Schools are in session here and I don't see any icy buildup on the trees, just the roads. No power outages that I've heard of. It's cold and messy but nothing compared to what the folks in the NE and NW are dealing with.

An inch of ice! Yikes.

Glad it didn't stick to trees and stuff though and that you're basically OK.

"Wintry mix" is the bane of my existence.

A guy from my office hasn't had power, phone or water since Thursday (he lives in Worcester). Fortunately he has a wood stove, and he and his family spent a lot of time (including showering) at his brother-in-law's. I'll ask him today if they have power yet.

It's 46 degrees F. in Boston at 8 a.m. today so any precip. that we get (and it's expected) will stay in liquid form and not freeze. This just in on the radio: about 77.000 people in MA still w/o power. Assume that NH can't be in any better shape. Stay strong, Ros.

So far so good -- the transition from warm temps to cold ones (it was 50 yesterday morning, 22 now) seems to have taken place in dry conditions. It was close. (It stopped raining at about 35-40 degrees.) Still sleet and freezing rain possible this afternoon though.

Thinking of everyone who's dealing with the bad stuff.

I've got relatives in Middleboro, Pembroke, Taunton and Hanover. Seeing this story explains why I still haven't heard from anyone. I guess they're dealing with power outages from wind rather than the ice. A few live over near the OceanSpray Company farm in the Middleboro area.


http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x420258095/No-ice-storm-here-but-rain-and-wind-does-some-damage

No ice storm here, but rain and wind does some damage

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By Maureen Boyle And Jessica Scarpati
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITERS
Posted Dec 12, 2008 @ 11:16 PM

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BROCKTON " Alan Dunham had two words for Friday morning’s wild storm.

“It’s nasty,” said the Taunton-based meteorologist with U.S. Weather Service.

Although southeastern Massachusetts was spared the ice storm that hit the central part of the state, gusting winds and rain damaged trees, power lines and a few cars in the region.

A tree crashed down on a car driven by a man on Carl Road in Raynham, but left him unscathed, said Police Chief Louis J. Pacheco. The tree also took down a telephone pole, he said.

A Norton school bus filled with students who escaped injuries after a tree crashed onto it, school officials and police said.

The district sent all students home early on Friday shortly after school began, after three schools lost power from the storm.

Scattered power outages were also reported in parts of Abington, Berkley, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanson, Lakeville, Middleboro, Pembroke, Randolph, Stoughton, Taunton, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

Among the hardest hit was Pembroke, which reported 2,725 outages to National Grid early Friday morning, followed by Randolph (1,241 outages) and Taunton (about 1,000).

Meanwhile, fallen tree limbs and power lines wreaked havoc on the area, leading to at least one serious accident in Brockton on West Chestnut Street.

A Jeep flipped over near Manley Street, bringing down a utility pole.

“It looked like the pole was cut in half,” said Heidi Balben, who drove by the accident scene minutes later.

The mayhem also forced police to shut down sections of Route 106 in Easton and York Street in Stoughton.

There was flooding in some coastal and low-lying areas, including sections of Wareham.

Dunham, the meteorologist, said winds were gusting up to 40 to 50 miles per hour and, as of 8 a.m., the area received up to 3 inches of rain.

It's amazing...... We have no residual effects at all, and just got rain to begin with. Just an hour's drive away it's a disaster area!

It is our turn tonight... brrr!


Weather Service issues freeze warning for overnight (12:45 p.m.)

By The Record
December 16, 2008 3:48 PM
STOCKTON " The National Weather Service in Sacramento just moments ago issued a freeze warning for much of Northern California.

The warning covers San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Tuolumne, Stanislaus and other Northern California counties. The warning will be in effect from 10 p.m. today to 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain showers that spread over much of the state over the weekend and today are expected to diminish and skies are expected to clear tonight. Temperatures will drop after the skies clear and there is a "strong potential" for a hard freeze late tonight into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures could drop below 28 degrees for three to five hours overnight, especially in rural areas.

The dude still has no power.

Well, still no power in Brookline (NH). Both my office and my house have been without power since 2am last Friday. I'm guessing we'll be lucky to get power back by Friday of this week.

It's been chaos trying to run my business through this. Although many people can now use our services (carpentry) due to storm damage, many of our customers have simply fled their homes and are living somewhere else (just like me). Many times now when we return customer calls, their phones just ring and ring with no answer (and no Answering Machines because there's no power). As the power comes back on and people return to their houses we're starting to get more calls to repair the damage they find when they return home. Water pipes which have started to burst due to freezing, and they begin leaking when the power comes back on and the systems pressurize (and nobody is home to stop it). One of my friends runs an insurance company and they've been swamped with calls from storm damage. Luckily they have power and can answer their phones. Many businesses do not have power and can not be run remotely. I'm not sure how long those can survive.

Just got this from a friend who lives near Bakersfield, CA - to the effect that Los Angeles is closed for now (although that was dated yesterday):

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/641391.html
It's still a snow blockade on routes to LA
The Bakersfield Californian
Wednesday, Dec 17 2008 1:41 PM

Need to drive to Los Angeles? Better be ready for a seven-hour road trip.

Interstate 5 has been closed in both directions from the base of the Grapevine to Castaic, as well as much used detours.

The interstate was closed early Wednesday afternoon because of heavy snow and icy conditions and remains closed Thursday morning, California Highway Patrol officers said.

At about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, officials shut down Highway 58 from Mojave to Towerline Road due to driving conditions " a 40 mile path. It remained closed Thursday morning.

At the same time, usual detours for Grapevine closures, Highway 14 and Highway 138 through Palmdale, are also shut down, as well as and the Cajon Pass, Highway 15 from Interstate 215 to Highway 395.

Also, Interstate I5 near Victorville is closed due to snow from US 395 to Interstate 215. This route on clear days could be used to get to Highway 58 westbound to Bakersfield.

Even more, officials have closed Highway 166 from the 101 to Highway 33 west of Maricopa due to snow, which is another possible detour. It remained closed Thursday morning.

That leaves few routes to take between Northern and Southern California " coastal route of US Route 101 to Highway 46 being one.

A drive from Los Angeles to Bakersfield taking that route can take up to seven hours.

CHP officer Joseph Miller said this is the first time he’s seen this many closures in the area due to snow.

“We’re just saying L.A. is closed,” Miller said jokingly. “It’s really pretty amazing.”

Highway 178 at Walker Pass had been closed, but it was reopened Thursday morning though chains were required, Caltrans reported.

Motorists are advised to call 1-800-427-ROAD for road conditions.