NEW ENGLAND BRACES FOR ANOTHER BIG STORM, MAYBE FOOT OF SNOW

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BY BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON (AP) -- Winter-weary New England saw more snow flurries on Saturday and braced for several days of heavy snowfall, possibly totaling a foot or more.

A winter storm warning posted by the National Weather Service was to begin at 10 p.m. and remain in effect for a large swath of southern New England, including in Boston, in Providence, Rhode Island, and in Hartford, Connecticut, until the early morning hours of Tuesday. Light snow began falling in the Boston area earlier in the day, but what forecasters are calling a "long duration" storm is expected to become more intense on Sunday.

By Monday night, 12 to 18 inches of fresh snow could be on the ground in parts of the region, which is still coping with the aftereffects of storms that hit over the last couple of weeks and dumped record-high snowfall totals in some places.

Michelle Currie, a mother of five whose kids have already missed several days of school, posted on her Facebook page a photo of a weather map showing up to 18 inches of snow could fall on her home in Dracut, less than an hour's drive north of Boston.

FULL story at link.



A worker uses a front-end loader to remove piled snow Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, from a street in Marlborough, Mass. A long duration winter storm was forecast to begin Saturday night and remain in effect for a large swath of southern New England until the early morning hours Tuesday. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINTER_WEATHER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-07-20-22-12

[Fearless]

1. Pure journalistic sensationalism

We're getting up to a foot over three days. That's nothing for New England.

[NutmegYankee]

2. Thanfully, this is over several days.

Because I'd go freaking nuts if I had yet another foot of snow in one day. I've already had 44" since January.

[Agschmid]

5. It's not.

But go on with your bad self.

[Fearless]

6. It really is. We have around six of these storms each winter, every winter.

In heavier winters we have nearer a dozen.

Two actual noteworthy storms of the quarter century do come to mind... in 1997 the April Fools Day Blizzard which dumped 36 inches of heavy wet snow on me and which maintained a snow pile in my front yard until late May. And the Blizzard of 2005 which dumped a full 40 inches on me, luckily much lighter snow, but with 15 foot drifts in places. It closed schools for a week and there was snow piled on a town baseball field (transported and dumped there from around the city) into JUNE. Both storms occurred over only a 24 hour period. The latter broke the record for most snow accumulation in 24hrs in many cities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that had stood for 27 years.

A foot does not scare me or change my three day period in any way, except for getting up a little earlier to brush off the car.

[Agschmid]

7. Well I live here too and I'm used to the winters as well.

But snow is dangerous, roads become slick, and people lack driving skills for this kind of weather. Also it's incredibly hard to see around corners in Cambridge, there is no parking, surface lots are not clear... parking garages are full... and the MBTA has been a mess the last few days.

It's not about fear for me, it's about the ability of people to make it to work safely. Kids getting to school if it's not cancelled and just the pain in the ass the snow causes.

[Fearless]

9. Unfortunately people do not understand how to drive responsibly

More often than not. It is a skill and people really should take care to learn it. Everyone rushes around last minute and that's how accidents happen.

EDIT TO ADD:

I have also noticed a trend as of late involving clearing roads... Cities and towns seem to be trying to time when they start plowing so that they only need to plow once (especially if the storm hits overnight). You'll see the main roads get cleared off about two hours before dawn, but because they weren't properly sanded/salted, lesser traveled roads aren't clear for days, or in the case of mine currently... it's been more than two weeks since I've seen pavement.

Even the MA Pike wasn't cleared well during the last storm, at least in my area.

[duhneece]

21. Is it true that more domestic violence, child abuse happens

...when folks are cooped up day after day?
Seems like when I heard that, it made sense to me.

[smirkymonkey]

24. Ugh! I hear you. I live in Boston and just getting to and from

work is such a hassle. Another reason I am tired of it is the fact that I hate being out in this weather so I pretty much just go to work and come right back home. No social life right now.

[Agschmid]

29. Yup!

For me what's normally a 35min commute has been up to 2 hours lately! I'm ready for some Spring!

Also we have some pretty dramatic icicles on the house which are getting hard to get down safely and pose some risk to our cars!

[matt819]

27. However much snow we're getting

I'm pretty tired of it. Today's storm doesn't really deserve the name. It's a snowfall. It's a pain in the neck. But, hey, it's winter. It happens every year around this time. That said, this has been the most "normal" winter in probably 10 years up here in northern New England. I still don't like it, but it's really not much to write home about.

[handmade34]

3. well

I'm running out of places to put snow... not that there isn't plenty of land around my place but there are 6 foot piles around my drive that I have to throw the snow over to get it out of the way... I didn't plan well enough


this photo was taken before the last 2 snowfalls

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[MannyGoldstein]

8. We're just outside of Boston

And there really is no room for it.

[Agschmid]

4. 18-24 inside Rte. 128... So basically all of Boston.

Yipes...

[MannyGoldstein]

10. I'm thoroughly sick of this

over a month or two is OK, but 40" so far in a little more than a week, now this?

Ack!

[former9thward]

11. You could always move to Arizona.

Like so many from your region have done. It is 80 here today in Phoenix.

[rjsquirrel]

17. I'll take

piles up f snow over drought and 110 degree blazing heat any day of the year. You could not pay me enough to live in Arizona. I love snow.

[former9thward]

20. The number of 110 days are relatively few.

And we have no "drought". We have plenty of water.

[brooklynite]

12. My sister has 3 feet on the ground, and 10 foot piles where they've been plowing...

[Thor_MN]

13. Weather, if it's either coast, is apparently accepatble as News...

What's next, Sports?

[sheshe2]

14. sadly kicking~

sigh. more snow.......

[Skittles]

15. anything over 8" is usually too much for me

[Lars39]

18. Makes me think of Maine Mary's lounge thread of long ago...

"I'm expecting 8" tonight"

[Bohunk68]

16. Been keeping my own weather records since 1980

here in Upstate NY about an hour wsw of Albany. Over the time period, the average seasonal snowfall is 92. As of the end of January, we have gotten 28.7" when we would usually have 49" by that time. In the past week, we have gotten another 12", which still puts us way under for the season. Even if we get the amount predicted, it will still be close to average. We are halfway through winter and it's the Great Northeast. It snows. Get used to it.

[Historic NY]

19. I don't mind it just as long as it goes, but its sticking around because its .....

cold...brrrrrrrr.

[JohnnyRingo]

22. I have a sudden urge to run out and buy three gallons of milk.

I don't even live there, but that's what we do now. Here in Ohio we saw a few inches fall one day this last week. I went to the store for a couple things and discovered the milk was completely sold out. I imagine I'd have had an equally hard time finding a gas can or a snow shovel in stock that day.

I think it's because of a confluence of better forecasting science and the 24 hour news tendency to over hype. While in days of yore we had scant warning of much worse snow storms and coped as it arrived, now we hear about coming blizzards days in advance and fall into the unfounded fear that we may be somehow stranded and suffer a frigid death, with our fingernail scratches on the frozen window panes serving as our final testament.

[Baclava]

23. it's all covered in white where I'm at too

woot

[HomerRamone]

25. Some of us are older and have health problems

and plowing is expensive and there aren't teenagers roaming around with shovels anymore and help from senior agencies is maxed out. So we can't be as cavalier as some of you...

[Arcadiasix]

26. My wife is from MA. We have scores of family up there

We live in the Houston area. I facebooked pictures of my daughter at her softball camp to all of them yesterday. It was 70 degrees here. I'm just that kind of guy.

[4139]

28. Maine is a Purple state, may turn red soon...

http://www.weatherstreet.com/weather-forecast/maine-snow-cover.htm

[swilton]

30. Hi from the Monadnock region of NH!

I have DU
I have NETFLIX
I have two pugs and a Chihuahua mix on the sofa with me
and last but not least, a glass of wine.

Don't know where to put all the shoveled snow, but I'm certain between now and then an inspiration will arrive.