Association Forum - Thundersnow in Southern New England

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Thundersnow in Southern New England

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Page: of 2

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
5378 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/25/2010 : 16:22:32

So the National Weather Service is predicting "Thundersnow" and dangerous winter storm predictions for Sunday evening and Monday morning for the southern New England coastal waters and local shoreline including areas adjacent to Long Island Sound, Block Island Sound, Nantucket Sound and Massachusetts Bay. New Jersey, Long Island and Delaware are also expecting storm conditions.

Some of you west coasters had a piece of this storm earlier this week with terrible floods and mudslides.

We haven't had a big nor'easter around here in quite a while. It promises to bring a whiteout with horizontal snowfall and blizzard conditions, as wind are expected to reach the mid-forty knots area in gusts.

Timing couldn't be worse with many travelers planning to make their return trips home from the holiday weekend at that time. Roads like the I-95, I-91, I-84 and I-90 should be a mess starting after lunch on Sunday.

It should remain all snow except in extreme southeasterly areas, where some mixing may take place, thereby creating about one foot of heavy, wet snow.

Further west and inland we should get lighter, fluffier snow, as temps will begin below freezing and go down into the 20s (-6C)overnight and into Monday. Snow is likely to continue into Monday along with high winds clocking to NW. Storm totals along the coast are expected to exceed 12" (30cm).

While I plan to remain safely in the house both days, we may lose power. The auxiliary generator may come in handy if that happens.

Welcome to winter!

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/25/2010 : 22:31:40

Yup--I was booked to fly into LGA at 6pm Sunday--that would be into the teeth of the thing. I was connecting from Steamboat Srings through DFW, so I would likely have spent as much as two days at DFW--I decided I'd rather spend the two additional days with my brand new (first) grandchild, so re-booked. Meanwhile, my lovely lady in CT will be hunkered down by her big fireplace...

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/25/2010 22:33:09

piseas
Former Treasurer

Members Avatar

USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2010 : 06:02:04

Bruce good luck there. The storm on my west coast brought up to 10" and more rain. We caught a break Christmas Eve and early Christmas but started up again around 6pm. Its quiet now however and I hope gone for good. Its had devastating effects and now time for clean up.
Steve A

Edited by - on

mmac
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
168 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2010 : 10:19:01

Time to batten down the hatches and lay in a good supply of rum. Good luck to everyone who has to endure this storm because it was sure nasty on the Left Coast.

Edited by - on

pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2402 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2010 : 17:19:01

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 Yup--I was booked to fly into LGA at 6pm Sunday--that would be into the teeth of the thing. I was connecting from Steamboat Srings through DFW, so I would likely have spent as much as two days at DFW--I decided I'd rather spend the two additional days with my brand new (first) grandchild, so re-booked. Meanwhile, my lovely lady in CT will be hunkered down by her big fireplace...

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I loved Steamboat when i was young; enjoy.

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2010 : 17:59:58

so...really...NY vs. FL...in one local, you are pretty certain to have 60 - 90 days of, well, basically (IMHO) of misery...while in the other, maybe the chance of severe winds, rain and flooding - lasting 12 - 18 hours, with a potential aftermath of loss of power and physical destruction - but really, on a person-to-person level, how certain and how often will it effect you???...I think I'm done w/ the North East and am going to set my sights elsewhere south ! ! !

Edited by - on

bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1778 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2010 : 19:35:25

I'd feel a whole lot worse if this snow (or any other type of bad weather) was happening when the boat was not on the hard. As it stands, it's Christmas, it's winter, and therefore, let it snow . . ..

Edited by - on

Jack Schafer
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
112 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2010 : 08:03:56

Welcome to Wisconsin!!

Edited by - on

PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2010 : 08:04:40

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 Yup--I was booked to fly into LGA at 6pm Sunday--that would be into the teeth of the thing. I was connecting from Steamboat Srings through DFW, so I would likely have spent as much as two days at DFW--I decided I'd rather spend the two additional days with my brand new (first) grandchild, so re-booked. Meanwhile, my lovely lady in CT will be hunkered down by her big fireplace...

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Ha! We could have gone sailing.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5378 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2010 : 08:09:37

I don't know the official snow totals (can't find them on weather.gov) but it looks like about a foot and a half in the driveway. The snow's not the whole story, as last night we got a wind gust at 56 kts, and it has been blowing between 20-30 continously with gusts to 40 this morning. That's really blowing the snow around.

I've been giving a lot of thought to doing the snowbird thing -- New England from Easter to Christmas and the Gulf Coast over the winter.... Now if I could only get the Admiral to come with.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2010 : 08:23:13

According to NOAA, in my neck of the woods, there was a period this morning with 42 steady gusting to 55 this morning. Neighbors report they're still in a blizzard there. Sorry I missed it.

Edited by - on

DanM
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 06:10:29

Still mostly clear driving for the past few weeks in Western NY. There was that isolated (literally) squall 12/1 - 12/2 that socked a narrow band of suburbs and closed I90. But we were totally missed by this last one. Chilling cold, YES. I haven't even dared to go to check the boatyard on the harbor. Nice that we can see our boat while driving over the Skyway in the warmth of the car.

I'm sorry for the many whose flights out of Buffalo have been cancelled by the storms elswhere.

I'm looking forward to a brief visit to San Diego in January and hope my host's neighborhood and the marinas were not devistated.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 07:35:34

My cousin just moved from Rochester, New York to the SF Bay area at Thanksgiving. Seems like his timing was just right!

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 08:27:54

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GaryB
 My cousin just moved from Rochester, New York to the SF Bay area at Thanksgiving. Seems like his timing was just right!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Time's never wrong for that! ...unless you like snow a LOT!

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 10:15:34

We lucked out, only got about 1 inch of snow here at the house. Our biggest problem seems to be black ice on the streets. Woke up to a temp of 24 degrees this morning. Spent yesterday afternoon installing 4 rolls of insulation, 170 sq. ft., in the crawl space under the addition (re-do of master bedroom & bath and adding a walk-in closet, with a screened-in porch on the end) we did a few years ago. Didn't notice until a few weeks ago (well, I probably knew and forgot) that the builder didn't insulate the space. Anyway, I decided this Christmas to get under there and do it. Not much room - I was on my back much of the time. Glad to be done with it!
To warm up the air while I worked under there, I used one of those small construction style propane gas heaters, looks like a small cannon, connects to a 20 lb bottle and puts out about 35,000 BTU's.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3467 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 11:03:08

I had the sickies from last Thursday night and basically vegged out in front of the TV thru Saturday. Listening to the impending snow/sotrm warning predicting 2"-4" west of DC and 6" and higher from DC and east to start 4am on Sunday and go throughout the day and into the evening, that awakened me out of my veggy state. First, we went out for dinner Saturday night and then I planned to go first thing Sunday morning into DC and put my cover on my boat. I was at my marina as the sun was to rise...but if it did, you could not see it as the air had the signs of snow to soon fall. I got the cover on and still no snow. When I got home, still no snow and started thinking that I never really got a chance with it being real cold the past several weeks that I never did the last mowing of the lawn that would also scoop up the residual leaves that detracted a bit from the landscaping. So....I then spent the next 15 minutes or so trying to start my riding mower and after using the charger, I was off and running. (I always put stabil into the last gas of the mowing season but again because of the cold snap the past few weeks, I never did that. The mower gave me a hard time at first with it being cold and perhaps cranky. I had added the stabil and finished the mowing which must have looked kind of weird to neighbors (if any saw me) mowing in the middle of winter with snow about to fall and we still had a few patches of snow/ice on the backyard lawn areas from the last small snowfall. Finished the mowing and...still no snow !

I filled the bird feeders with seed - The birds are just as wimpy about snow as the Northern VA/DC general population - Closing schools with signs of first snowflake....and still no snow had fallen !

I then decided since I was not fully recovered from my sickies and getting a bit tired, why not spread rock salt/snow melt Supposedly snow melt is kinder to blacktop surfaces) all over my driveway and the connecting pipe stem driveway down to the street. By the way...no signs of neighbors outside doing any preps - They usually wait and let me do all the dirty work including most of the snowblowing and besides it was cold outside and still ...no snow ! This time, I was hoping the rock salt may delay any need for me to tackle snow removal ...well...that was the plan...and then get back to vegging out.

I was finally ready to go in. It was after 12noon and still no snow !
Our weather forecast was revised...No snow till 2pm but that time passed and still no snow !! Finally, sometime much later, some snowflakes appeared ! By 7-8 pm, My driveway and the pipestem were completely snow free but my neigbors had maybe 1/4" of snow.

Monday morning, I was up and ready to head for work ! Driveway was clear of all snow. Neighbors had maybe 1/4-1/2" but wind was picking up and blowing whatever was there around. Highways and all streets in DC to work....No snow ! Only unusual thing- All these snow trucks on the highway unloading rock salt/sand on perfectly dry surfaces and getting pelted by all of it driving at highway speeds.
....and so the Northern VA/DC area has once again proven it's resilience to standing up to a major snowstorm ! No doubt we have a lot of wimps here...but I somehow felt let down.

Edited by - OLarryR on 12/28/2010 11:16:19

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 12:24:15

Of course you realize Larry that if you'd done nothing it would have been a massive snow fall!

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3467 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 13:20:56

LOL

Edited by - on

pfduffy
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 13:43:52

I just checked the USGS weather beacon thatI rely on for conditions at the Barnegat Light which is just south of where I most often sail. I can't vouch for the accuracy, but it shows a wind gust of over 80 mph during the height of the storm on Sunday night.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/uv/?site_no=394540074062901&PARA_cd=00045,00021,00052,00025,00035,61728,00036

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5378 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 17:01:59

Yes, as far as I could tell, NJ was hit the hardest around these parts, however NYC was pretty well clobbered, especially out in Staten Island.

Elizabeth NJ won the title for the most snowfall in the area, with 30"+. Not surprised that Barnegat Bay saw the highest wind gust.

Edited by - on

skybird
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
135 Posts

Response Posted - 12/28/2010 : 20:35:42

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dmpilc
 We lucked out, only got about 1 inch of snow here at the house. Our biggest problem seems to be black ice on the streets. Woke up to a temp of 24 degrees this morning. Spent yesterday afternoon installing 4 rolls of insulation, 170 sq. ft., in the crawl space under the addition (re-do of master bedroom & bath and adding a walk-in closet, with a screened-in porch on the end) we did a few years ago. Didn't notice until a few weeks ago (well, I probably knew and forgot) that the builder didn't insulate the space. Anyway, I decided this Christmas to get under there and do it. Not much room - I was on my back much of the time. Glad to be done with it!
To warm up the air while I worked under there, I used one of those small construction style propane gas heaters, looks like a small cannon, connects to a 20 lb bottle and puts out about 35,000 BTU's.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Good timing to prevent chance meeting with a rattlesnake if you have them there. My brother heard one rattling under his house Christmas eve--not going in there to find it!!

Edited by - skybird on 12/28/2010 20:38:01

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 12/29/2010 : 15:46:47

We have rattlers in the area, but all I've seen around the house is garden and rat snakes. Killed one a few years ago that nested under our doghouse, about 6 ft. long, not sure if it was poisonous or not, didn't want to get close enough to check before killing it. This was also a good time of year to avoid nasty spiders like the brown recluse. I did see spider webs under there.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/29/2010 : 22:48:08

I flew into LaGuardia last night--a refugee camp... I drove out of Queens thru the Bronx up to CT... There wasn't a foot of snow anywhere in that realm. I seriously doubt the NJ figures--I think they were measuring drifts, as is often the case when people want to magnify their own situation. Elizabeth isn't that far from anything I was in. On the other hand, NYC really screwed up--they were paralyzed by less than a foot of admittedly wet snow, and the airports were closed for two days. There's going to be a lot of explaining to do. Boston got more snow and was in much better shape from all I've heard.

In 1978 we had three times this much snow in a couple of days, and there was reason to be paralyzed. But this?? NO! I think it was because more snow was expected, so everyone assumed they could treat it as a disaster. APRIL FOOLS in December!

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/29/2010 22:52:08

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5378 Posts

Response Posted - 12/30/2010 : 11:36:51

No, really Dave it must have melted (?)

Edited by - Voyager on 12/30/2010 11:37:51

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 12/30/2010 : 17:51:41

There's no way I'm going to sit in an airport for more than 12 hours!

I could have rented a car and driven home to Texas in the time some of these people have been sitting in an airport waiting for the airlines to get them home. I'm not waiting for someone else to solve my problem and I'm not blaming the airlines. They can only do so much. If nothing else drive to another airport that is open(it might be a state or two away)and catch a flight home from there.

I'm sick and tired of people sitting around and/or getting on TV whining about how bad things are and waiting for someone else to fix their problems!

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/30/2010 : 22:06:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GaryB
 ...I'm sick and tired of people sitting around and/or getting on TV whining about how bad things are and waiting for someone else to fix their problems!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Well, maybe not everyone can rent a car (at one-way rates) and drive to another airport (or country) that's out of the storm path (?), where there probably are no flights with open seats anyway. Flights in the entire eastern part of the country were cancelled for days because aircraft couldn't move to where they were supposed to be. An 18-year-old going to SFO (via connection out of LGA) just might be out of luck.

I was fortunate to change my booking well in advance... NYC airports were closed for two days, and the folks who were stuck trying to get out or in were trying to get on flights that were already full before the storm. I got on one that had two seats open at that time. Happily, I saw the forecast, predicted the effects, and changed my booking two days before the storm. I don't know their stories...

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/30/2010 22:07:19

Page: of 2

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.