D has a college friend visiting for a few days before heading back to upstate NY to work her admissions work study job at the school. She 'll leave early to avoid the storm and travel issues (I hope). Too bad, its D’s good friend that she might not see again for a long time. On the bright side, I was worried about the weather in Budapest where we are headed a week from today. The 10 day forecast actually has it 20 degrees warmer there than here!
D is on call for her residency and lives just 2 blocks from the hospital in Boston.
What if she has to walk that in the wind and snow? Maybe in the dark?
She told me not to worry and I told her I already was worrying.
Waiting to hear from DD who headed up to Portland today with a group of friends and are scheduled to drive home on Thursday. We’re in the high 12-15 inch area right now in SE Mass. she texted earlier that they’re making a plan and will probably drive home Wednesday night - and that they’d gotten texts from all the moms. At least I’m not the only one!
I was stuck in Providence for 4 days during the Blizzard of 78. Took our high school carpool 3 hours to go about a mile trying to go home the afternoon of the storm. We ended up spending the first night in one father’s office building right near the highway. People kept coming in off the highway to use the phones to call their homes. We were rescued the next day and brought back to our school and then walked partway home down the highway 3 days later before getting a ride the rest of the way home. It was quite an adventure! Lots of kids were stranded at our K-12 school including a number of elementary students. Luckily there was still a small boarding department at that time and they managed to house and feed us all in the school and a couple of faculty houses right near the school. We had about 15 or so of us that were stranded from my town.
@oregon101 you are kidding right ?
@akmom124 I’m glad they are paying attention and have a plan 
Slightly interior northern New England here. I feel for those of you with family traveling. My mother has a checkup scheduled with her doctor Thursday that she had moved over from November so I could visit one of my sons. I’ll feel bad if she ends up moving it again, but it’s a small inconvenience compared to other problems. All my holiday visitors had returned to their homes by yesterday.
Our utility company went through the last year or two trimming limbs over the power lines. We’d gotten hit hard with both Sandy and Irene plus a bad Thanksgiving weekend storm in there. Haven’t lost power with the most recent storms.
We don’t have a generator, but do have a very well-insulated house and a wood stove for both heat and cooking. Plenty of bottled water stockpiled since we have a well.
My dog cannot get enough of this. We’re taking two or three twenty-minute walks a day in temps around zero. I’ll have to keep us inside if the winds are taking down branches. My explanations will not go over well, I’m sure.
Stay safe, all!
Looks like JetBlue is waiving change fees http://www.wcvb.com/article/jetblue-waives-fees-fare-differences-ahead-of-noreaster/14534706
NEPG, no. I am not worried about snow or dark. If, in fact, there are 75 mile an hour winds I am worried.
She would go and she should but it is still not a wonderful thing to walk in winds that they are calling
hurricane level.
If winds are 75MPH, they have hospital staff stay over to be there just in case others can’t get in for their shifts. Hospitals and other critical services are used to having contigency plans, especially hospitals that are in an area where blizzards aren’t that rare like Boston. Plus, based on current weather reports, they are expecting gusts to 50MPH not 75.
Thanks, 50 is better than 75! But you supported my concern–she is on call and lives close by and others may not
make it in. I would be happy if she said she was required to stay there during the storm.
Remember this is mom worrying --NOT HER!
I used X-country’s skis to get to my hospital in Boston during that snowstorm. I wish I had packed better clothes. I didn’t leave for 3 or,4 days. They fed us for free. Single people like me were truly needed. (I’m not saying that I wore dirty clothes, just that I didn’t expect to stay there so long). A very strong feeling of comraderie
@bookworm Wow. What a trooper. Like a weather war.
I remember that storm!! It brought the first time I ever had a snow day in college!!!
We’re not looking for much from this storm-- 3-6 inches near me, 6-10 in Suffolk county where my brother and sister live.
I know this is silly, since today is my first day back at school… but I love a good snow day!!! And with technology, we can absolutely give our kids work to do online, so it wouldn’t mean the loss of a full day of teaching time.
Spoons under pillows tonight, and PJs worn inside out 
@bjkmom - I had forgotten about spoons under pillows and pjs inside out!
The head of DDs old high school is a weather forecasting fan. I’ve been watching her forecasts online for the past couple of years because she’s been more accurate than the news! She told us to watch out for this storm last week and predicted it becoming a major storm a couple of days ago. It’s kind of fun to be in the know because of her!
I also recall the storm of Feb. 6, 1978. While many of the employees at the hospital I worked at stayed overnight rather than brave the elements, I decided to risk the drive home because (a) I was the ride for a student from my city who was interning in my department, (b) I was coming down with a cold and felt quite unwell, and I knew if I stayed at work I would have to pull an all-nighter subbing for evening and night shift nurses aides who would not be able to come in to work, and I wasn’t up to it and © I wanted to be home to celebrate a family birthday.
I didn’t realize how hard the drive would be. I passed one stuck car after another on the Parkway. What was normally a 50 minute drive took 2.5 hours. I got stuck myself a block from my house and walked the rest of the way. My father, who worked only 2 miles from home, took 5 hours to get home-- the car in front of his kept getting stuck and he had to keep helping the man dig out.
The National Guard was called to CT to assist in clearing the snow.
I want my son to try and get on a flight today. My DH seems to think it’s all going to be OK for a 5 am departure tomorrow. I’m staying out of it.
Storm of 78. It was like musical homes. Many of us didn’t make it home from work that day…because in northern NH, at that time, there were never early releases from work. I lived in Lancaster, but stays in Gorham with friends. A friend of mine couldn’t make it back from N Conway to Jefferson…and the Gorham friend stayed at her house.
My good news on that one…I had my laundry in my car…and had planned to go to the laundromat after work. Instead, I washed all my clothes at my friends house. We never lost power.
I worked at three schools that day…and everytime I left a site, I was brushing 6 inches or more off of the car.
But it was FUN…mostly because I was a 20 something at the time!
I’m worried about getting a few miles to the U, tomorrow afternoon. I don’t think the indoor parking will be open.
My theory us that it feels so cold inside because this sort of frigid weather usually comes later, when there’s a bigger layer of snow up against the foundation, insulating it a bit.
Meanwhile, another quote on replacing the boiler, this am. The gas co can’t run a new line until April, when the ground isn’t frozen. Dang. I thought this was the chance to convert.
Best to those of you with kid travel plans.
Regarding the Blizzard of 1978. Weather forecasting has come a long way in the past 40 years. In Boston that first morning they were predicting 6-12 inches of snow starting around 6 PM. There was no mention of hurricane force winds. Instead the storm started at 1 PM. By 3 PM businesses started letting people off resulting in Route 128 (I 95 now) becoming a parking lot as tractor trailers jackknifed. Thousands were stranded and rescued by the National Guard and taken to suburban schools and churches. The entire metro area was shut down for a week.
In the winter of 2015 in Boston with storm after storm after storm the area coped with it much better.
This reminds me of what my piano teacher said. She was at Julliard living in Long Island. One winter there was so much snow, you had to get out of a second floor window to get out of house. She called her teacher that she could come. He wouldn’t have any of that and demanded that she show up, on time.
It looks like the storm is veering further off to east. In my area they lowered the chance of snow to 50%, wind to 23mph. Unlike 2014 when all dire predictions were materialized and we got massive snow week after week.
All. This. Togetherness. The whole family was off since mid December. And now we have snow days.
:))