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<p>I did not have my drivers license at the time of that storm so I didn’t drive in that. You really couldn’t get around outside of walking, snowmobiling and skiing. I do think that the weather forecasting is a lot better today than it was back then.</p>
<p>Not only were weather forecasts less accurate in '78, but people knew they were less accurate, so despite predictions of a storm, when people got up in the morning and didn’t see snow falling they headed off to school and work. Combined with the facts that once the storm started it intensified earlier than expected, and that all forecasts available to the public came from the TV or radio news-there was no internet-that meant that by the time many people realized the magnitude of the storm it was too late to get home safely. No matter how well you drive in snow, even deep snow, you can’t drive through the disabled vehicle stuck on the highway in front of you.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly we’d already had school cancelled that year for a few big snowstorms in the Boston area, so schools were probably less likely to cancel than they might otherwise have been for fear of having to extend the school year. That meant that not only were there more kids at school, but more parents at work.</p>
<p>We were far less connected back then too so people didn’t wake up with detailed forecasts with hour-by-hour information.</p>
<p>I went to shovel last night and it was wet but this morning, the snow has far less moisture. I did a little shoveling this morning and really didn’t need to - I can drive right over it. I’m inclined to go into the office now - it’s about 32 or 33 here and snow is melting off pretty easily. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to work on the roof when I get home tonight.</p>
<p>I think that temperatures will be near 40 this weekend so this should clear up really fast.</p>
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I can relate to that mentality. I teach in MA and today is our 8th snow day! We have two more that we can use for a make-up in June but if we have more than that we will need to use April vacation or Saturdays. I live on the coast and we had no school yesterday because of potential flooding and evacuations. They decided yesterday to have a two hour delay today to get beyond the morning tide. Well, this storm had other ideas. It is blizzard conditions here and only an irresponsible superintendent would expect to get the day in.</p>
<p>I’m just praying that the power stays on.</p>
<p>We have about 8 inches of snow on the ground, and it’s still snowing lightly. </p>
<p>BC, you are lucky that you don’t have much. Check the weather before you leave…the talking heads here say southern NH and the Boston area still have a LOT of snow to come today.</p>
<p>Doesn’t seem like 8 though I shoveled last night. I see cars on the highways outside (took a short drive around to warm up the car). Most of my neighbors went to work between 6-8 AM so I’m actually late in leaving.</p>
<p>They just increased the potential totals. Boston and the south shore are now expecting 5-8 inches and the areas around Mansfield are getting up to 14. They said that the Northeast wind never brought in the warm air that was expected to mix in rain.</p>
<p>We have about 6 inches - parts of CT have 12 inches already. Have heard about several accidents on the highways, so closing schools was probably a good idea. This is snow day #11 for our local district, and #10 where my youngest attends a magnet school. For one of our high schools, this is cancellation #14, because they had to remain closed and extra 3 days following Sandy. They lost part of the roof, and in the process of making repairs they exposed asbestos-containing tiles. They lost an extra 3 days, then held classes in a local theater for 3 more.</p>
<p>We’ve already applied to the state for a waiver of up to 5 days - I expect the state to say no, not unless we’ve used all other options (as in cancel April Vacation). We had already cancelled 2 days in April before today, and last day of school is June 28 - that’s with 182 days so the other HS only has to make up 1 extra day. I suspect the state might waive the 3 days for them, but nothing else for the rest of the district - but at least that would give us back our 3 days in April, or possibly let us end a couple of days early. Complicate that with a need to replace roofs at several schools over the summer (which was why we started after labor day this year, and why we have little room to add snow days).</p>
<p>The thing is, IMO, that the time lost due to snow days never REALLY gets made up because the biggest impact of all these interruptions is the break in continuity. Between the four days for the Feb. blizzard, Feb. vacation and now this…well, everybody’s head is spinning. My students don’t remember what we are working on from week to week. It’s very disruptive. I think they should forgive the extra days off and call it a wash! Not much will get done on a day in April that was supposed to be a vacation week. You will probably get 2/3 of the regular staff and 1/2 the kids. It won’t be business as usual.</p>
<p>The moisture is sitting off the coast so I guess that it didn’t come in. That’s probably good as it means more of the light, powdery stuff which is overall easier to deal with.</p>
<p>the forecasters certainly blew this one…woke up to 3-4" of snow at 5:30am. Pulled car out of garage to head to the gym and realized no plows or salt trucks have been on our side street or county road at top of street. After 90 minutes in the gym I came out to another 1.5-2" of snow on what had been a clean car. </p>
<p>clearly my decision to stay w sneakers and not hiking boots for the commute was a bad one.</p>
<p>I think we got about six" around Albany and it’s still snowing but just lightly. They say the sun will be out later today. :)</p>
<p>I recently read an informative article about the great difficulty involved in forecasting snow. Despite improvements in storm prediction, snowfall totals are notoriously hard to nail down. A forecaster has to track the amount of precipitation, the intensity of precipitation, the air temperature, the surface temperature, the atmospheric structure, the timing of everything, and the migration of the rain/snow line.</p>
<p>This storm, which began last Monday out in the Rockies, has dropped anywhere from 1-36 inches of snow in MT, WY, CO, ND, SD, MN, IA, WI, IL, MI, IN, OH, KY, PA, MD, DC, VA, NJ, NY CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, NC, TN, and GA.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some of the forecasted snow totals have been way off (either too high or too low).</p>
<p>We have about 6-8 inches. My morning commute took an extra 7 or 8 minutes. The major annoyance was a car in front of me doing 35 in the high-speed lane (we had clear pavement for tires). Traction control lights came on several times (I got off the highway early as it was slowing down a few exits before mine). It is warm out there and I can just push the snow and ice off the car.</p>
<p>This is supposed to stop in several hours so maybe another 3-4 inches at this rate.</p>
<p>I wore sneakers too - no problems. I haven’t worn boots for a few years. My understanding on the forecast is that we were predicted to get 3-6 early on. That was revised from 4-8 last night and it’s probably going to wind up from 8-12. Folks in northern New England should be able to handle up to a foot pretty easily.</p>
<p>I went in late today, and it actually took me about the same amount of time as normal because there was no traffic around my house. Getting to the highway is normally the slowest part of my commute.</p>
<p>128N and rte 3N were each down a lane because the far left lane wasn’t plowed enough to drive on, but the volume was light. I was able to hit 50-55mph except when the scaredy-cats doing 30 got in the way. :D</p>
<p>Couple of spin-outs, otherwise not too big of a seal.</p>
<p>They definitely blew the forecast amounts.</p>
<p>Every town around mine closed their schools today. My town didn’t even delay the opening, bless 'em.</p>
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<p>That was my feeling too. I could not get above 45 on the highway and most of it was slower. We had all three lanes on the highway where you could see the pavement up here (Route 3).</p>
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<p>I saw no accidents, no cars on the side of the road, no spin-outs.</p>
<p>We probably don’t have school today. I didn’t see any buses on the way in. It’s fairly quiet in the office. Just the usual bunch that’s always in whether the weather is good or bad.</p>
<p>Just saw the updated totals map:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www1.whdh.com/images/weather/producer_uploads/special-560x389.jpg?03081014[/url]”>http://www1.whdh.com/images/weather/producer_uploads/special-560x389.jpg?03081014</a></p>
<p>This turned into quite the storm…</p>
<p>I’m not sure taht map is even accurate. A friend of mine in Quincy (which is in the 8-12 area) measured 14 inches in her yard and that was a couple of hours ago.</p>
<p>We have about six inches here today. In its wisdom, our department of sanitation prepared for this storm on Wednesday, took the plows off the trucks last night, and had 80 percent of the force on the night shift before the storm started, so there were no plows and only 20 percent of the force to drive salt spreaders today. Needless to say, the roads are a disaster and there are accidents everywhere. My husband’s car is stuck sideways in our driveway right now. If you can. All hear him cursing, don’t worry, it’s not really serious!</p>
<p>But if the spring doesn’t come son I am going to lose my mind.</p>
<p>We’re just east of Hartford, CT and got alot more snow than they forecasted. So far, we have about a foot of snow and it’s still snowing. Nearby areas have in the 14-18" range so far. </p>
<p>S1 is supposed to fly home to Boston tonight from upstate NY. He’s not sure yet what the status is of his flight.</p>
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