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Tom Mann
Guru
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Thank you for the concern, Paul. All is well with us. We are all fat and happy down here in the DC area -- the only minor annoyance is that the temperatures are in the teens (F).
We used to live in the general area that was hit by these snows. We typically visit that area a couple of times per year because we still have relatives that live there, or we have to attend some work-related event. In fact, our last visit was only a few weeks ago. We had one great day for fall colors, and, as is typical, one cold damp day, right around freezing, with occasional flurries, but nothing serious. This is one of the pix I took on the good day:
The amount of snow they have received in the past couple of days is just surreal. This is not some ski area up at high altitudes. This is essentially flat farm land, only slightly above sea level. Some areas have received 6.5 feet (2 m) and are expecting another 2-3 feet in the next couple of days! Also, note that the depths being reported are not the heights of drifts -- they are true un-drifted snow depths. To make matters worse, this stupendous amount of snow is supposed to be quickly followed by a rapid warming spell. This will be a relief in some ways, but can easily cause problems like flooding, "ice dams" clogging the gutters of houses causing water to enter, etc..
As a comparison, one of the worst snow storms that I experienced in that area was back in the early 1970's. We got hit by 2.5 feet, and even that paralyzed the area, at least for a day or two. Three times that amount is virtually incomprehensible to me.
Anyway, for fun, I dug out a few of my old Kodachrome slides from the 1970's storm, both during it, and in its aftermath. Now just imagine 3x that much snow!
Again, thanks for asking, Paul.
Tom
PS - The weird lighting in some of the night shots is not photoshopped. Except for some exposure blending, these are pretty much directly out of the camera. However, because I was shooting with either ASA / ISO 12 or 25 film, the night shots were all long exposures, and the blowing snow got averaged out into weird soft patterns, especially in the sky.
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We used to live in the general area that was hit by these snows. We typically visit that area a couple of times per year because we still have relatives that live there, or we have to attend some work-related event. In fact, our last visit was only a few weeks ago. We had one great day for fall colors, and, as is typical, one cold damp day, right around freezing, with occasional flurries, but nothing serious. This is one of the pix I took on the good day:
The amount of snow they have received in the past couple of days is just surreal. This is not some ski area up at high altitudes. This is essentially flat farm land, only slightly above sea level. Some areas have received 6.5 feet (2 m) and are expecting another 2-3 feet in the next couple of days! Also, note that the depths being reported are not the heights of drifts -- they are true un-drifted snow depths. To make matters worse, this stupendous amount of snow is supposed to be quickly followed by a rapid warming spell. This will be a relief in some ways, but can easily cause problems like flooding, "ice dams" clogging the gutters of houses causing water to enter, etc..
As a comparison, one of the worst snow storms that I experienced in that area was back in the early 1970's. We got hit by 2.5 feet, and even that paralyzed the area, at least for a day or two. Three times that amount is virtually incomprehensible to me.
Anyway, for fun, I dug out a few of my old Kodachrome slides from the 1970's storm, both during it, and in its aftermath. Now just imagine 3x that much snow!
Again, thanks for asking, Paul.
Tom
PS - The weird lighting in some of the night shots is not photoshopped. Except for some exposure blending, these are pretty much directly out of the camera. However, because I was shooting with either ASA / ISO 12 or 25 film, the night shots were all long exposures, and the blowing snow got averaged out into weird soft patterns, especially in the sky.
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dv8_fx
Retired Administrator
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Lizzie in an igloo shifting snow, his poor little paws will be like popsicles
What? Freeze my tail off? No way.
Nah.... I need to be there so I can guide the Icebreaker in.......
Tom Mann
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Hi Hershy - Thanks for the compliment on the old photos. I'm really happy that just about all of my 40+ year old Kodachromes have withstood the passage of that much time without any major degradation. However, being worried that I was pushing my luck too far, several years ago, I digitized quite a few of them, and I am now in the process of distributing digitized collections to other, younger family members.
With respect to dealing with lots of snow, western NY state is used to lake effect storms and have the equipment and people to easily deal with 12-18 inch storms without much difficulty. People all have good snow tires (and chains, if needed), and are experienced in driving in such conditions. At least when I lived up there, school and work was never cancelled or even delayed if it snowed 6-8 inches overnight.
However, 24-30 inches gets problematic, even for them, and this current series of storms that will likely dump around 100 inches by the time it is all done is without precedent. Fortunately, the area hit is fairly small, and they move in help from surrounding areas, but it will still take days to dig out.
BTW, in contrast to upper NY State, the Washington DC area is absolutely horrible when it comes to dealing with snow. Just like you described in your area, an inch or two sends everyone on the road into spins. I've seen numerous cars abandoned by the side of the road with just a couple of inches on the ground! The other characteristic behavior of people around here is to stock up on milk, toilet paper and batteries when even the smallest amount of snow is forecast -- they buy as if they will be trapped in their houses for the next week or two.. Arghhh!
It would be interesting to hear from Chris on this. My experience in the Alps and in northern Germany in winter has always been very, very positive.
Tom M
ibclare
Queen Bee
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I have just returned from a memorial/family reunion in Minneapolis. It was below 10 degrees F most of the time and they had received several inches of snow. NOt exactly snowed in, but that snow is not going to melt by much for the rest of the year. And not even Thanksgiving yet.
BTW, have we lost iDad under the pile of it yet? Like this from a couple years ago:
BTW, have we lost iDad under the pile of it yet? Like this from a couple years ago: