# Major midwest snowstorm affects nations idiots



## billski (Dec 31, 2010)

Major midwest snowstorm affects nations idiots


----------



## billski (Jan 2, 2011)

fixed the link.


----------



## ERJ-145CA (Jan 2, 2011)

I love The Onion.:lol:


----------



## thetrailboss (Jan 2, 2011)

As much as I hate to say it, when it came to snow the worst I have seen were the two years I lived in Boston.  I have never seen as much hype/craziness as down there.  Honestly it snows EVERY year folks!  The media always made things sound like it was the end of the world.  We also had folks who would use 3 inches of snow as an excuse not to go to work.


----------



## billski (Jan 3, 2011)

thetrailboss said:


> As much as I hate to say it, when it came to snow the worst I have seen were the two years I lived in Boston.  I have never seen as much hype/craziness as down there.  Honestly it snows EVERY year folks!  The media always made things sound like it was the end of the world.  We also had folks who would use 3 inches of snow as an excuse not to go to work.



Sorry for repeating this, but I love Mercer's rant on this one.


----------



## St. Bear (Jan 3, 2011)

thetrailboss said:


> As much as I hate to say it, when it came to snow the worst I have seen were the two years I lived in Boston.  I have never seen as much hype/craziness as down there.  Honestly it snows EVERY year folks!  The media always made things sound like it was the end of the world.  We also had folks who would use 3 inches of snow as an excuse not to go to work.



Never lived in the NYC metro area, have you?

I'm not talking about the actual city, because 6" can be a major problem in Manhattan (nevermind 20+"!!!!).  But because we get NY stations here in NJ, people think that we're affected the same.

Last week, people where shocked when I showed up at work the day after we got a foot of snow, even though the roads were clear down to the pavement.


----------



## billski (Jan 3, 2011)

St. Bear said:


> Last week, people where shocked when I showed up at work the day after we got a foot of snow, even though the roads were clear down to the pavement.



maybe they thought you'd be skiing?


----------



## St. Bear (Jan 3, 2011)

billski said:


> maybe the thought you'd be skiing?



Funny you say that.  I actually did get that question a couple times.  I went on Tues, so it all worked out.


----------



## abc (Jan 5, 2011)

thetrailboss said:


> We also had folks who would use 3 inches of snow as an excuse not to go to work.


I resemble that remark! 

In this day of internet, I'd gladly work from home whenever I can find any excuse. And no one would even know I'm not in the office anyway. :wink:

Not that it's not justified this time around. Would you want to be that car that got stuck in the street and block the plow for 3 days?


----------



## billski (Jan 9, 2011)

abc said:


> Would you want to be that car that got stuck in the street and block the plow for 3 days?



I would be ultimately freaked if that happend.  Moral of the story: get out of town early just in case.   Same rationale as those who leave work early on a stormy day.  The only difference is that you are heading in a different direction!


----------



## bigbog (Jan 11, 2011)

HA...I'll tell ya, lived in Brighton, Mass for over 18yrs.  93' winter was just horrendous...mainly cuz I didn't ski I think.  Most time was spent casting the new flyrod on the flat apt. roof...waiting for trout season in VT to start...but that winter...took ~4days for plow to get to us.  Had like 24" of snow, what a mess...not to mention the games(ie warfare) of on-street parking that went on.


----------



## billski (Jan 11, 2011)

bigbog said:


> HA...I'll tell ya, lived in Brighton, Mass for over 18yrs.  93' winter was just horrendous...mainly cuz I didn't ski I think.  Most time was spent casting the new flyrod on the flat apt. roof...waiting for trout season in VT to start...but that winter...took ~4days for plow to get to us.  Had like 24" of snow, what a mess...not to mention the games(ie warfare) of on-street parking that went on.



If I ever thought a big storm was gonna lock me down, I'd get out of Dodge early, and ski my brains out some place.  :razz:


----------



## Mapnut (Jan 12, 2011)

billski said:


> If I ever thought a big storm was gonna lock me down, I'd get out of Dodge early, and ski my brains out some place.  :razz:



I don't think that would have worked during the blizzard of March 1969 at Sugarloaf.  They got 5 feet. I lived near Augusta where we got 3 feet with drifts, and we couldn't go anywhere for 5 days.  My father couldn't get to work because there were 8-foot drifts across Route 104; we heard that many of the state's big plows broke down trying to get through those drifts.

We finally got up to Sugarloaf on Day 6 and they were still plowing out the parking lots.  I think if you had been stranded there at the start of the storm, there wouldn't have been much skiing for the first few days - staff coudn't get there and the base was already deep, so they had to shovel out the lifts. And forget about hiking up in 5 feet of fresh.


----------



## billski (Jan 12, 2011)

Mapnut said:


> I don't think that would have worked during the blizzard of March 1969 at Sugarloaf.  They got 5 feet. I lived near Augusta where we got 3 feet with drifts, and we couldn't go anywhere for 5 days.  My father couldn't get to work because there were 8-foot drifts across Route 104; we heard that many of the state's big plows broke down trying to get through those drifts.
> 
> We finally got up to Sugarloaf on Day 6 and they were still plowing out the parking lots.  I think if you had been stranded there at the start of the storm, there wouldn't have been much skiing for the first few days - staff coudn't get there and the base was already deep, so they had to shovel out the lifts. And forget about hiking up in 5 feet of fresh.



The problem is that we don't get storms like that any longer.  The roads are always passable within a day.  If we get another one like that in my lifetime, I'll be thrilled.


----------



## Mapnut (Jan 12, 2011)

Prepare to be thrilled. That was probaby a once-in-10-years storm for New England as a whole, once-in-50-years for any specific location.  There was a four-footer in 1978 IIRC that was centered over Rhode Island, and I think there have been a couple of 4-footers since - can anyone provide dates? Parts of Vermont and the Catskills got 4-5 feet last February, right? So guessing you're in your 50s and healthy, and live in Lexington, you've got a 50-50 chance of getting a 4-footer in your lifetime right where you live, and 3 or 4 chances to anticipate such a storm at some ski area, if you read the forecasts right.

I don't think climate change means we're less likely to get huge blizzards in the future.  The trends are to more extreme weather, and in New England, I think there's a measured trend to more precipitation on an annual basis.  Certainly we've had some unusual midwinter rainstorms; I don't see any reason why we won't have more 4-foot blizzards.

Oh, wait, were you kidding?


----------



## billski (Jan 12, 2011)

Mapnut said:


> Prepare to be thrilled. That was probaby a once-in-10-years storm for New England as a whole, once-in-50-years for any specific location.  There was a four-footer in 1978 IIRC that was centered over Rhode Island, and I think there have been a couple of 4-footers since - can anyone provide dates? Parts of Vermont and the Catskills got 4-5 feet last February, right? So guessing you're in your 50s and healthy, and live in Lexington, you've got a 50-50 chance of getting a 4-footer in your lifetime right where you live, and 3 or 4 chances to anticipate such a storm at some ski area, if you read the forecasts right.
> 
> I don't think climate change means we're less likely to get huge blizzards in the future.  The trends are to more extreme weather, and in New England, I think there's a measured trend to more precipitation on an annual basis.  Certainly we've had some unusual midwinter rainstorms; I don't see any reason why we won't have more 4-foot blizzards.
> 
> Oh, wait, were you kidding?



I was pretty serious.  I will agree with the odds you present, but not with the certainty I will see one.  A coin flip at best.  So tell me, I wasn't there, were the Cats. blocked in as long as you were?  From what I can see, the snow clearing prowess has improved quite a bit, as the "safety first" generation makes it a priority.  

I'm not even arguing climate change, just talking odds and recent trends.  But, if you want to give me a four footer, I can guarantee you I won't be able to get into work for a week.  

Back to your regularly scheduled snowstorm


----------



## deadheadskier (Jan 12, 2011)

billski said:


> The problem is that we don't get storms like that any longer.  The roads are always passable within a day.  If we get another one like that in my lifetime, I'll be thrilled.



The Catskills got 6 feet in a storm last winter.

People who say it doesn't snow like it used to are severely misremembering things.  As a data junky Bill you should know this.

The facts don't suggest it snowed any more or any less at any point in time over the past 50 years.


----------



## billski (Jan 12, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> The Catskills got 6 feet in a storm last winter.
> 
> People who say it doesn't snow like it used to are severely misremembering things.  As a data junky Bill you should know this.
> 
> The facts don't suggest it snowed any more or any less at any point in time over the past 50 years.



I agree, but we are not bounding the data set.  I'm thinking specifically about New England; Catskills is not on my radar, so my comments only apply to New England.

If we expand the geographic realm to the United States, we'd have to say we get one every year.  So we are talking apples and oranges.


----------



## legalskier (Jan 12, 2011)

St. Bear said:


> Last week, people where shocked when I showed up at work the day after we got a foot of snow, even though the roads were clear down to the pavement.



How much has Vernon gotten off these two storms? Were they inside the line that got pounded?


----------



## deadheadskier (Jan 12, 2011)

Sugarloaf got a 5 foot dump in April of 2007.  I remember getting 6 feet in Stowe over the period of about 4 days during March of 2001

I stand by my stance that you are wrong about New England not getting the storms they used to.  They were just a lot harder to deal with 40 years ago due to far inferior snow removal technique as to what we have today.

There is no data to back up your claim that it doesn't snow like it used to.


----------



## ERJ-145CA (Jan 18, 2011)

legalskier said:


> How much has Vernon gotten off these two storms? Were they inside the line that got pounded?



Here is a late response, today was the first time I looked past the first page of this thread.  I live one town over from Vernon and we got about 18" from the first storm and 7" from the second storm.  Unfortunately after the warmup that occurred after the first storm we had about 4`" left.  We also got 2" inches last night and currently sleet and freezing rain falling.  Probably about 8" currently on my front lawn.  All these figures are estimates from my front lawn and back porch.


----------

