<p>Emilybee, I though you were headed to the Sunshine State. If not, huddle by your nearest pot belly stove and warm up some “hard” cider. And I do mean hard. No sense in wasting a good storm with tea or god forbid, domestic beer.</p>
<h1>141 and #142…if you live in an area which will have bad winter storms it makes sense to assume that many many will be affected. As such - no matter how hard a power company tries or how many workers are put into play - it probably will take a considerable amount of time to bring everyone back on line. If wood and food is all that’s required to make you comfortable for an extended period then there’s no a problem.</h1>
<p>FWIW many lifetimes ago I dated a lineman. These guys are out there for very long shifts in very lousy conditions. They get called into other service areas and at least our power company here does it’s darnedest. However, there are limitations to manpower. And yes, regretfully some people do need to be reminded that personal responsibility is involved. As of yet, I’m not aware of any robo call system which can which person at the other end posses this quality and which does not…hence the blanket calls.</p>
<p>“Emilybee, I though you were headed to the Sunshine State. If not, huddle by your nearest pot belly stove and warm up some “hard” cider. And I do mean hard. No sense in wasting a good storm with tea or god forbid, domestic beer.”</p>
<p>I am but switched my flight from tonight to Sunday. </p>
<p>Pot belly stove? LOL.</p>
<p>Snow is pouring down now. I’m staying in.</p>
<p>Hear Logan is open but all flights cancelled. Amtrak last train midday, busses cancelled. Hear subway in NYC will stop.</p>
<p>That 78 storm, had nearly 3f in NJ. About 6 or 7 young adults (ie, shovelers) but who stocks that many shovels? We were using trays, pails, lids. Meanwhile, the guy across the street had heat rods under his driveway, came out to snicker.</p>
<p>Yeah, but the guy across the street missed out on a shared experience and probably ended up with a $5,000 electric bill!</p>
<p>My D says nothing is happening in her part of NYC yet. </p>
<p>Parts of the Detroit area were hit big, but in the part where I live, we were in some kind of weird bubble where it wasn’t icing/snowing for hours when it was in other places. Final result at my house- a light coating of ice with about 2 inches of snow. 649 schools closed in the Detroit area, but the 5 districts right around me are open. My S’14 was not happy…lol. I had already planned to work from home and am doing so. </p>
<p>The biggest issue when you lose power in the winter is heat. You don’t have to worry about your food… just put it outside and it will stay nice and cold.</p>
<p>I just filled some large ziploc bags with water and put them in the freezer. They help to keep things from thawing in the event of an outage and can be used for ice if needed. Fill the freezer as tight as possible.</p>
<p>Southern NH (Merrimack Valley). Snow is still very light. Building services end at 1 PM.</p>
<p>I couldn’t get video to load at the major TV stations in the area to get a forecast. I might have to resort to Broadcast Television (shudder). I had a look at the hour-by-hour static forecast and it looks like it will be fine up here, at least until 6 PM. We should have a whopping 2 inches on the ground at that time. There is no accumulation at all on our parking lot yet.</p>
<p>Noon and if this is the light stuff before the heavy stuff then we are in for a doozy. It is snowing steadily and we probably have an inch on the porch railing in the last hour. I baked brownies for the boys. Ok who am I trying to kid; the pan has a serious divot already and everybody else is upstairs. /blush.</p>
<p>Storm update from the fabulous Matt Noyes <a href=“http://www.mattnoyes.net/new_england_weather/2013/02/tips-for-the-storm-intense-wind-to-cause-power-outages-pounding-surf-blowing-snow-and-zero-visibilit.html[/url]”>http://www.mattnoyes.net/new_england_weather/2013/02/tips-for-the-storm-intense-wind-to-cause-power-outages-pounding-surf-blowing-snow-and-zero-visibilit.html</a></p>
<p>MBTA shutting down at 3:30. Full travel ban starts at 4:00 in Massachusetts, meaning only emergency vehicles will be allowed on the roads. So far we have an inch or so of plain old snow, but it’s supposed to pick up in the next few hours.</p>
<p>Re: underground utilities…your neighborhood may be underground but your substations and switching stations are not. Typically damage to these is what causes extended power outages. We have all underground utilities. Our power goes out every time there is a BIG storm. Also, when there is damage to the underground utility…it is a huge PITA to fix and can take longer than above ground. It does LOOK nicer than having utility poles and wires.</p>
<p>I’m here in Ohio until Sunday…hoping that this mess is long gone and cleaned up before my flight is supposed to arrive in CT at 2:40. It snowed lightly here and the streets are covered again with a slushy layer of snow. Glad I brought boots!</p>
<p>Matt Noyes: Broadcast Meteorologist
“Massachusetts Governor Press Conference Update: Extremely dangerous conditions ahead. Safe travel nearly impossible. State of Emergency effective today noon. T still slated to cease operations at 3:30 today. VEHICLE TRAFFIC BANNED at 4 PM today. MA Trans Sec’y: 1500 pieces of equip out, 4000 total at heart of storm. No tolls starting at 2pm on any MA roads. MA Trans Secy: Last train from Boston leaves at 3:30pm. MA Energy Sec’y: All utility companies have representatives at @MassEMA bunker. MA Gov: Recovery will be slow. People should prepare for that. MA Gov: If told to evacuate at coast due to flooding, do so quickly - waters will rise rapidly. MA Gov: Get a full tank gas, have flashlights, batteries, bottled water, non-perishables. Check battery in smoke/CO detector. MA Gov: Power restoration will not even begin until after storm is over Sat afternoon. MA Gov: Set fridge and freezer to coldest setting in case of outage. Check on neighbors. MA Gov: When storm ends, temptation will be to run out and see…exercise caution & common sense. MA Gov: Secondary roads will take awhile to clear. Power lines will be down after the storm, use caution. MA Travel Ban STATEWIDE, exemptions for critical services - public safety, health, works workers, utility & media workers. MA Gov: MA STATEWIDE TRAVEL BAN is FIRST issued since just after Blizzard of 1978!!”</p>
<p>raining right now in midtown NYC.</p>
<p>I recall the 1978 ban. I was at BC and camped out in Fulton (classroom building) overnight and walked home (6 miles) the next day because the T was out. It was somewhat surreal. My shopping list is now gasoline, beef, and a 20 pound dumbbell.</p>
<p>I’m so sick of the endlessly repeating crawl at the bottom of the screen listing that everything is closed. Yes, everything is closed. The one person in New England who doesn’t know that isn’t watching your station. </p>
<p>They should rethink this style of information presentation. When every school is closed, just say that. They could do a quick database query to determine what is open. So for example, if Lincoln and Concord schools are open on Monday and the rest of the region is closed, it would be simpler to say “All schools are closed except Lincoln and Concord. Check with your district to be sure.” </p>
<p>This is just an idea but the point is there are better ways to present data. Now of course their real interest is not in presenting data but in making you watch for 15 minutes to see if your thing is closed. That is a case where the incentives of the market don’t align with the needs of consumers: we want data quick and with the minimum convenience but the market wants eyeballs to stick. That of course is why websites run so many individual page slideshows: more page impressions has some pathetic value to them.</p>
<p>Yeah, 1978 was cool if you weren’t in a car on 128. I remember an oil tanker buried in the middle of Elm Street in New Haven. After the storm it was just a nearly 2 story lump. City workers poked long sticks into the pile to figure out what if anything was in there. Took them a long time to dig it out. The story, true or not, was that was the first time Yale closed since when the British burned New Haven in the War of 1812. I guess canceling finals in 1971 because of anti-war rioting didn’t count.</p>
<p>I’m curious how many people today watch TV to see if their school is closed and how many just look online.</p>
<p>My daughter said in Burlington VT there was 3 inches of snow on the plane this morning at 6am. Then again, they are used to snow there. Apparently, deicing is built into the airline schedule, they were still on time.</p>
<p>Bought her shorts on the way home from the airport. We are playing tennis outdoors today!</p>
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It was easier while laying in bed in the morning to flip on the TV, than get up and turn on a computer to check.</p>
<p>Less than an inch on the ground here so far.</p>
<p>Got a reverse-911 a little while ago advising us that there is an impending storm. Really? Thanks! I hadn’t heard. :D</p>
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<p>We did the exact same thing when we knew we would probably lose power for a couple of days when Sandy blew threw here. We took everything out of the freezer compartment of our refrigerator and put it in our freezer in the basement. It was almost completely full. We lost power for 3 days, but only had to throw out some ice cream.</p>
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<p>Oh absolutely! I always know when bad weather is heading our way when our bird feeders are packed with birds hours before the snow or sleet arrives.</p>
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<p>Hope that tree limb isn’t hanging over your house!</p>
<p>I’d like to share a story about a snowstorm here in 79. I was in college and living in an apartment. We didn’t have any idea it was supposed to snow. When I woke up and looked out the window, snow drifts covered all the cars in the parking lot. I had never seen anything like it. Of course, we didn’t have a snow shovel. As I recall, we couldn’t even get out of our parking lot for at least 5 days after the storm.</p>