Colossal storm roars through nation's heartland

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MICHAEL TARM

CHICAGO (AP) - A winter weather colossus roared into the nation's heartland Tuesday, laying down a paralyzing punch of dangerous ice and whiteout snow that served notice from Texas to Maine that the storm billed as the worst in decades could live up to the hype.

Ice-covered streets were deserted in Super Bowl host city Dallas. Whiteouts shut down Oklahoma City and Tulsa. And more was on the way. Chicago expected 2 feet of snow, Indianapolis an inch of ice, and the Northeast still more ice and snow in what's shaping up to be a record winter for the region.

The system that stretched more than 2,000 miles across a third of the country promised to leave in its aftermath a chilly cloak of teeth-chattering cold, with temperatures in the single digits or lower.

Winds topped 60 mph in Texas. The newspaper in Tulsa, Okla., canceled its print edition for the first time in more than a century. In Chicago, public schools called a snow day for the first time in 12 years, and both major airports gave up on flying until at least Wednesday afternoon.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110202/D9L4C45G0.html

[47of74]

1. I'm here in Iowa

And the Snowpocalypse is in full swing up here. I didn't even make it home from work tonight, I'm at a hotel now.

Here's a short video from my hotel room window of said Snowpocalypse.

[Old and In the Way]

2. That's a bummer...

I'm sure you'd rather be holed up at your house than having to sit it out in your hotel. Oh well, I hope they have a bar there were you can at least commiserate with your fellow srandees. Hang in there...we'll probably get our present up here in Maine tomorrow...

[47of74]

34. At least it's a nice place I'm holed up at

No bar there, they have a reception with beer served but I was at work at the time. I had gotten stocked up on essentials before work (beer, Capriottis, water, etc) and had them in my room's fridge for when I got back from work. There are a lot worse places to wait out snowpocalypse than the hotel I stayed at. I'm glad I got back to the hotel safe. I'll be even gladder to go home tomorrow night and get reacquainted with my own bed tomorrow night.

[Hardrada]

8. South of you in Iowa. A phenomenal snowdrift in front of our house.

I'm glad I don't really have to venture out tomorrow. (But of course I will). And i thought it was wretched weather on Sunday!!

[Rhiannon12866]

9. Yikes! It sure looks nasty out there!

At least you're safe and warm, no sense taking chances out on those roads... I'm in NY, just took my dog out, and it's already started here. The worst is supposed to be between 9 and 3 tomorrow, 100% chance of heavy snow, so I tried to plan accordingly today. We got a preview this afternoon, roads still not great after the last two (three? four?) storms, but they're predicting that we're really going to get hit tomorrow... :( Stay safe! :hug:

[tpsbmam]

26. I'm sorry, just have to comment on

your little furbaby. Adorable! My furbaby thought bubble instantly read his/her facial expression as "seriously, Mom? You're going to put this goofy hat on me and THEN take a picture? I bet you're going to put it online, too, make my humiliation complete! It's a good thing I adore you -- that's why I put up with your silly human stuff!"

:rofl:

(I do the same to my two. One is very glad the pictures didn't come out of her as a skunk for the annual Humane Society Dog Festival downtown. And I definitely put thought bubbles over their heads, too!)

Totally kidding -- great pic of a beauty!

[Rhiannon12866]

38. LOL! You are right on all counts...

But that is not actually my dog, though I chose it because it looked so much like him. I couldn't get my little guy to sit still for that long, let alone dress him up... He hates going out in the snow, refuse to walk in/on it, so I considered getting doggy boots for him, but my SO pointed out that then I'd probably never get him out! x( :rofl:

Here's my little "devil dog..." His name is Jack and he's rescue, too... :loveya: :hi:

[tpsbmam]

39. Awwwww, love at first sight! Jack is adorable! I can see his wheels spinning....

I lived in NYC with a wonderful dog. NY at the time used rock salt on the sidewalks (don't know if they still do). Well, the little guy would occasionally yelp (scream!) in pain if he got some between his pads. So, I went out and got him a set of little red booties to protect his little feet. (This was long enough ago that they didn't have all of the cool alternatives they do now.) He was a rescued mixed breed -- about the size and shape of a corgi. I had to cut even the small boots off at the top because his little legs were so stubby. :rofl: I lived in a walk-up. No way could he go down the stairs in those boots, so I took him down to the hall to the front door and put them on, much to his chagrin. I wanted to get him to at least walk a few steps in the hall before we got outside. He wouldn't budge. I then picked him up and carried him out to the sidewalk which was, indeed, covered with rock salt. I put him down and tried to make no big deal of it as I urged him to walk in my best "isn't this exciting" voice, even bribing him by suggesting we go to the "FISH" store. We had one on the corner and they delighted in giving him fish -- they were intrigued because he liked everything they gave him. Yeah, nice try -- "FISH!" had zero effect -- he wasn't buying. (He was an incredibly smart dog!) Little shit literally lay down on the sidewalk and practically tried to chew his feet off. :rofl: He was having NONE of it. So I muttered under my breath, "FINE. Suffer!" as I took the boots off. And then of course I turned into a total coddling, soothing mom when he yelped at rock salt pain later down the block. Oy. :rofl:

So I guess your SO has a point -- some dogs act like we're torturing them when we do this crap to them and they're just not going to cooperate withe the nutty human! :P

:hi:

[justgamma]

17. I'm between you and Hardrada.

Checked at midnight and thought I had it made in the shade. The wind had kept the front of the car clear. Got up at 5 and checked. Car is completely buried. Snow is at car roof level half way across the street and up to the end of the block. It'll take me forever just to dig my way to the car.

[midnight]

3. I'm in Wisconsin... We're in blizzard mode...

[old mark]

4. Freezing rain and sleet here in PA at 2:22 AM, and has been since about 10 l;ast night...

Everything is coated with thick ice. Temp is around 30, and going down, high Wednesday around 26-everything will freeze hard.


mark

[defendandprotect]

5. NJ -- everything outside is a huge sheet of ice covering everything -- more icy rain tomorrow --

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. Oregon: slightly chilly, the sun was out almost all day, no sheets of ice or snow banks

(/me ducks from the snowballs being hurled in my direction from The Frozen Ones)

[here_is_to_hope]

24. Lol, I am on the South Coast, 71 in

Port Orford yesterday while I was surfing!

[abq e streeter]

7. Albuquerque checking in. It is, at this moment, 4 with a wind chill of -21

Will get down to at least zero.I'm guessing about 5 inches of snow and more on the way. A friend from the other side of the mountains (about 6,000 feet) earlier this evening estimated about a foot and a half there.

If it does dip below zero, it'll be the first time in 21 years.

[Dover]

10. Central Texas - tonight/tomorrow night low teens, daytime temps in the 20's. Windchills below zero.

And brutally gusty winds. No snow or precip., though possibly some snow on Thursday.

Stay warm everyone and enjoy your day off if you can. :hi:

[Skittles]

13. I'm in north Texas

yesterday when I left work at 05:30 AM, it was like I was back in Minnesota :o

[TBF]

25. South Texas - we have rolling blackouts here to help out the rest of the state

Sounds like it's bad in the dallas area. Stay warm DUers.

It's not bad here in south houston - 25 degrees and wind has died down. The dog keeps poking me to go out - Labradors like this weather.

[Kurovski]

11. Northern Illinois

my neighbor's garage has drifts 6feet high blocking the door. drifts are up chest-high, midway up first floor windows, and then there are patches of driveway or patio exposed.

The winds are wild to watch. And it's still coming down.

[JDPriestly]

12. Beautiful day in Burbank, California.

But, what I'm wondering is what will happen when the snow storms in the midwest turn to floods. Or do you think you will be spared that. I remember huge snow drifts way up to the windows in my Iowa childhood, so that is not all that unusual. But I hear that this year's storms are really bad. Thanks for the information. Makes me appreciate being in California.

[Frustratedlady]

16. They were predicting the probability of floods before this storm.

They said the rivers (Des Moines, especially) had held high levels of water compared to past winters, and that if this continued, there would be 1993 or 2008-type flooding this spring. This storm will add a ton of water. The Mississippi River never did recede that much through the summer and fall.

I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to get out of my driveway this YEAR!

[JDPriestly]

30. This is what the climate change/global warming scientists are warning about.

Many Americans do not understand that the very snowstorms they think indicate a cooling earth are the result of global warming. How can we get this across? How many floods in Des Moines, how many forest fires in California, how many level five hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast will it take? And will it then be too late?

[WillParkinson]

14. Wisconsin....

I took the dogs out last night and my hands froze from opening the door. It was brutal. Even the dogs didn't want to stay out. Ran out, did their stuff and straight back in.

[liberal N proud]

15. I think we dodged the worst of this storm here on west of Cleveland

I have 1" thick layer of ice on my driveway but the trees were not coated. We had 40 degrees at 5:30am and will drop to 12 overnight. Looks like the low will go right over us and keep the rest of the storm to the north.

[postulater]

18. 14" in Milwaukee. Cardinals, chickadees, juncos, goldfinches, and nuthatches don't give a shit.

They are out at the feeder like any other day.

[postulater]

20. Red-bellied woodpecker.

[postulater]

21. House finch.

[postulater]

22. Downy woodpecker.

[Alhena]

27. What? no titmice?

[postulater]

28. No titmice. Boo.

I'd love to see some evening grosbeaks though.

I like their style.

[starroute]

19. We just had a willow tree come down in our back yard

We're in southeastern PA -- have maybe a half inch of icing, and looking out the window, I don't see any significant damage on our block. But willows are shallow-rooted, and this one just toppled over onto the garage-turned-shed at the back of our house.

[cate94]

23. Chicago suburbs

3 - 4 foot drifts all around the house. Had to go out this AM and shovel out the vent for the water heater. We are lucky to have power. I think we have about 15" where it hasn't drifted. We had over 50 mile an hour winds last night.

It is snowing again. They are talking lake effect for our area. The wind has also picked up again. Looks like more fun for today.

[brooklynite]

29. Pretty wimpy in NYC...

Got about 1/2 of ice, now turning to slush in the rain.

[sarcasmo]

31. 19 inches here in Western Michigan.

[Missy Vixen]

32. IMHO, but this is going to severely impact the Super Bowl

We have a sports columnist friend. He says this is the worst Super Bowl week ever, and the continuing ice and cold will significantly cut into those traveling from other parts of the country to see the game.

My thoughts are with those who are currently cold, may not have power, and are looking forward to Spring.

[CreekDog]

35. that's 80,000 people, the storm is affecting tens of millions

the Super Bowl will fill its seats.

[Missy Vixen]

37. Yes, I understand the storm affects tens of millions

I attempted to make the point that a multi-billion dollar event is derailed as well.

Considering the fact the Super Bowl is also a huge moneymaking opportunity for the merchants and hoteliers in the cities it's held in, they'll be feeling the pinch, too.

[Thor_MN]

33. Minnesota, cold, but Meh...

Storm passed south of us, no big deal.

[Hardrada]

36. Yah, when I lived up there in MinneSNOWta we had blizzards

at Halloween. I remember one winter when it seemed to be snowing every single day! or sleeting. But I was young and took it all in stride.