BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018

Subject: Benji is turning into a nor'easter
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 02:48 PM

Well, the Weather Terrorists are at it again.

A chart of names has been made for this winter season
by the mass-media weatherpeoples who do this thing.
I took no notice whatever of Aiden.

But Benji took form on the US Mexico border,
just where "Hang-the-DeeJay" wants to build a wall;
and a swath of snow and ice has been laid down, from west to east,
across the southern US.

Now Benji is supposed to come up the Atlantic seaboard
and drop snow on the megalopolis-es there.

It occurred to me that there was no need to have a BS thread
for every winter storm, named or otherwise, this winter --
we could just have one ongoing thread for all of the monsters,
whether they get names or not.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 05:21 PM

Aiden was a Greater Metro Denver (CO) event,
which was why it escaped my notice in Massachusetts.

The other funny thing about the mass-weather-media names
is that they don't alternate genders, the way the hurricane names do.

If we get stormed on enough this winter,
the name Uma is on the winter storm name list.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 06:03 PM

the Australian meteorologist who started naming storms way back in the 1890s In the 1890s the English-born meteorologist Clement Wragge, who migrated to Australia in 1883, began naming storm events using letters of the Greek alphabet, characters from Greek mythology or girl?s names from the Pacific Islands. At times Wragge was employed as an government meteorologist but often argued with officials over what his functions should be. To get back at them he began using the names of politicians for storms.

The article does not mention his nickname - Inclement Wragge.

How Australia's first weather chart predicted a hunger for forecasts neither does this one tho it mentions he was known for his "mop of flaming red hair and explosive temper to match".

but his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography does!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 06:13 PM

There has been a sort of Neil Diamond thread going on over on Facebook: not-so-sweet Caroline, but it might be a while till we get to Crackling Rosie!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 06:40 PM

Oprah!

Uma!

Uma!

Oprah!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Dec 17 - 12:01 PM

Benji is here, all right.

At least, the wind is moderate,
and the other b-word -- blizzard --
does NOT describe the storm here.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Dec 17 - 04:15 PM

Benji's blessing is the wet heavy kind of snow
that the Weather Channel man (Jim Cantore?)
calls "white mud."

Just finished scraping some off the parked car.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: gnu
Date: 09 Dec 17 - 09:28 PM

Our first now is now underway. The TV and radio weather terrorists are agog with warnings. They haven't named it but I have done so. I call it "PFFFF! You call that a storm? Where did you grow up?"

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Dec 17 - 12:46 PM

Brilliant blue sky over head, and bright sunshine.
The only thing in the sky is a trail of airplane, er, whatever airplanes leave in their wake.
This heavy wet snow is a bugger to shovel.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 12:12 PM

Next name on the list is Chloe.

Remember that Spike Jones single called "Chloe"?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 03:58 PM

The Winter Terrorists at the Weather Channel
are now promoting, erm, I mean, warning about Winter Storm Chloe.

The snow belt which includes the Great Lakes
is in Chloe's sights.

Then Chloe moves to the Appalachian Mountains in their northern stretch,
in New York and Pennsylvania.

At this moment, on those enhanced maps with Doppler radar
available to illiterate civilians like me,
Chloe has swallowed Lower Michigan and is making herself known in Upper Michigan as well.
And Chicago is getting it.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 06:31 PM

I hear that Chloe had an impact on Rhode Island, near the airport;
but all that came to Massachusetts was that bitter wind,
which has since slowed down, thank goodness.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 08:38 PM

Another problem in RI is that some school buses were on the road picking up students when the roads got bad, arriving at schools late and being even later to pick up children waiting for the next run. Most buses do at least three runs--high school, middle school, and elementary. Some even make two runs to a school: a long inbound run picking up children living farther away, then a short run picking up children living closer. (The process is reversed at dismissal.) A delay during any run results in a delay in the rest of the runs with children waiting in the cold, wind, and snow. There wasn't a lot of snowfall, but the wind blowing the snow made visibility difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Dec 17 - 11:42 AM

The next named winter storm -- pause for effect   --

will be DYLAN.

Is a hard rain gonna fall?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Dec 17 - 01:37 PM

Hah, I thought it was just a joke . . .

so what has Dylan brought southern New England?
Freezing rain!

It's supposed to warm up to just above freezing,
at least this far south,
so that the ice melts.

(me and my big mouth)

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Dec 17 - 01:08 PM

The ice and freezing rain from Winter Storm Dylan
made surfaces treacherous.

Now comes winter storm Ethan.
My area might be on the line between rain and snow/ice again,
so slippery stuff again.
But north of here it will certainly be
a snowy white Christmas.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Dec 17 - 09:48 AM

Winter Storm Ethan has brought a white Christmas to the greater Boston metro area.
The sky is low and dim. The snowplows are out in force.
I don't know how many inches of snow have fallen.

It's just awfully dim and dark. Merry?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Dec 17 - 07:48 PM

Winter Storm Frankie has now been made official.

The Black Hills will be white with snow,
but first it sounds like Frankie will be
blowing by Rapparee's neck of the woods.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Dec 17 - 03:01 PM

And the next named winter storm is listed as Grayson.

Oddly enough there was a Winter Storm Grayson
as recently as 2013.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Dec 17 - 12:25 PM

Winter Storm Frankie is in shreds now;
but some of the shreds will bring snow
to Long Island Sound and the shoreline thereabouts.

The unusual cold
is causing some cancellations, on the Atlantic coast,
of the New Year's Day annual Polar Bear plunges
by scantily dressed males into the ocean water.
No one wants anybody to die of their dip into the water.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 30 Dec 17 - 01:03 PM

We're about to be hit by Dylan - as if he hadn't done enough damage to folk song
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 30 Dec 17 - 03:14 PM

SW Scotland will be Blowin' in the Wind by early tomorrow.
Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh cancelled twice in the past because of high winds: the organisers this year will be hoping they have God on their side!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 04:14 AM

'This is the story of Hurricane'.....

Now that's something to look forward to!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Mr Red
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 05:44 AM

I thought the Irish had the job of naming the most recent storm. Even the naming of storms causes a political storm!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 07:03 AM

Our part of the world is a case of "Lord' Didn't it Rain", I'm afraid
My late friend, Tom Munnelly, was a Dub whose work as a folk song collector cause him to move to this town in West Clare
He immortally summed up our local weather when he said "It's the first time I ever saw sixty-mile-an-hour fog" - a wonderful description of the common combination of heavy sea mists driven by regular high wings
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Jan 18 - 06:35 PM

Boston, Massachusetts has a big ol' target sign on it,
in terms of
Winter Storm Grayson.

This storm is cranking up in the ocean off of Florida and the Carolinas,
which are going to get, erm, stormed on.

As Grayson rolls north up the Atlantic coast,
it may miss the other megalopolis concentrations of cities,
but it will definitely wallop Boston.

They're trotting out the meteorological term
BOMBOGENESIS -- something that bombastic merits caps, it seems to me.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 06:48 PM

We've been battered by an Atlantic storm called Eleanor in Cornwall today. Unfortunately, the big onshore blow coincided with high spring tides so we've had all sorts of mayhem on the coast today. No-one hurt as far as I know. I've had heavy clay plant pots blown all over my garden and a thick layer of salt all over my car and windows. I also had a cowl blown off my chimney. That'll cost me. No granddaughter of mine will ever be allowed to be called Eleanor!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 07:03 PM

Sheesh, keeping all these names straight.
Steve, I'm certain your report is accurate, not questioning it at all.

It's just that "Ethan" not "Eleanor" was the name of the winter storm that visited North America's east coast around Christmas time, and we still have snow on the ground/curbs/parking lots from that one.

Now dear little bombastic "Grayson" is supposed to show up in the morning
and drop snow at the rate of one or two inches PER HOUR ...
oh, the humanity ...
and high winds to blow it all about as well.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 08:27 PM

In thirty years living here, we've had just the one severe snowfall. Mrs Steve was booked on a course that day, thirty miles away. I'd heard the apocalyptic forecast and told her not to go, but, as the snow had yet to start falling, she ignored me. She got stranded and had to get a bed and breakfast in a remote village (which had no phone signal - great), leaving our precious car stuck in a drift on a one-in-six hill. I was less than well pleased. As it happens, the local authority which had sent her on the course paid the B&B bill. After that, she doesn't go anywhere any more unless she takes a sachet of shower gel and spare bra and knickers. Life is such a learning curve.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 08:29 PM

One-in-six --
is that something called "camber"?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 08:30 PM

It's just a very steep hill!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 09:07 AM

Well, if the reports so far are accurate,
then it may be a while before Mudcatters in the southeastern US
check in to tell us how they survived,
because Winter Storm Grayson seems to have
made an awful mess.
It may be a while before things are cleaned up enough
for our compadres to post.   

In the Greater Metro Boston area,
the storm is just now settling in but not settling down.
My parked car has no indoors to go to.
So my windshield wipers are sticking straight out,
and the car is in the parking space with
the rear end in, and the front end pointing out.

The plows, salt and sand, and whatever-else trucks and jeeps
are in action. They will have a full day.
And the tow-truck people will profit from the misfortunes of others.
The rest of us have to hunker down for a while
and stay warm, dry, fed, and so on.
Please do wish us well.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 02:45 PM

This storm is being compared to Hurricane Sandy.

Is there such a thing as
a winter-cane?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 02:51 PM

Perhaps it's time we oiks were given the chance to name our own storms
From the amount of damage they are doing, Mad Maggie seems apposite fro us Brits
Wouldn't dream of choosing for our cousins across the pond, but Donald the Destroyer has a niche ring to it
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 04:16 PM

Weather terrorists, does that term reflect a knowledge of weather modification?
I am leaning toward an ongoing polar vortex that sweeps south as an extreme reaction to global warming. Follow the plunge of the winter Vortex this decade and you will see this deadly pattern descend south at all points of the northern latitudes.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 04:46 PM

As for "Winter Terrorists",
better ask Gnu what it means,
because I stole the term from one of his posts.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 12:20 PM

Greetings from a spot almost exactly halfway in between
Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston, Massachusetts,
as the proverbial crow flies.

The sun is shining,
the sky is cloudless blinding blue,
and a stiff icy wind is blowing flags and tree branches about.
And what is really blinding is the
I-don't-know-how-many-bleeping-inches of snow at ground level,
reflecting all that sunshine.

SNOW is a four-letter word in every sense of the word just now.

Thankfully the snow where I am/was
is mostly light powdery stuff.
Even the fluffy powder is a challenge
when the temperatures drop well below freezing, as they have done,
because that over-a-foot-of fluffy powder condenses into solid snow blocks.
The snowplowers have been up against this,
before, during, and long long after the storm itself. Ugh, Grayson.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Jan 18 - 04:37 PM

"Hunter" is the name reserved
for the winter storm which follows, in due course,
Winter Storm Grayson.

I could wish that the name
did not sound so predatory as to seem threatening,
while many of us are still adjusting
to the blows of that earlier storm.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jan 18 - 11:52 AM

And Winter Storm Hunter is now a story.
Today it's in the midsection of the continent.
What it does will depend on temperatures.

Southern New England is above freezing for the first time since, when, Christmas?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jan 18 - 11:00 AM

Winter Storm Hunter is headed for southeastern Canada, according to the Weather channel (which named the storm I believe).

The Great Lakes areas have been in Hunter's path.

The northeastern US will feel less from the storm itself
than it will feel the very cold temperatures
that arrive in the storm's wake.

Time to pull out the layered clothes and cold-weather gear
from the sub-freezing temps we had around New Year's Day.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Jan 18 - 12:16 PM

In answer to the obvious question:   

Inga Jaxon Kalami   Liam Mateo    Noah   Oliver   Polly   

Quinn Riley   Skylar    Toby   Uma   Violet   

Wilbur   Xanto    Yvonne   Zoey   



(not my idea)

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Jan 18 - 11:24 AM

It looks as though Winter Storm Inga
paid a visit to Acme's part of the world last night.

For a winter storm,
Inga is a long ways south.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Jan 18 - 06:23 PM

Inga is sounding like a split personality.
Part of her is wreaking havoc in the southern US.

Her northern portion is crunching across the Berkshires
in western Massachusetts,
and should reach Boston around midnight;
the snow she dumps on us is supposed to be sloppy heavy wet stuff.
Oh, joy.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Jan 18 - 03:48 PM

Many auto drivers did not find Inga a laughing matter today,
as their morning commutes were worse than usual.   

But compared to the blizzards of recent memory,
Inga is a damp -- VERY damp -- squib.
The snow is indeed the heavy wet stuff;
the temperature is at or above freezing;
and there is NO WIND!

School remained in session,
the postmen went on delivering mail,
and the plows and salt trucks did yeoman's work.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 01:11 PM

Winter Storm Jaxon is a thing, now.
This looks like a lot of wind, cold wind.

My Northeast corner of the lower 48
is thawing enough that when the storm gets here
it won't have really cold air to work with.

But between then and now, some places are going to be hard hit
over the weekend.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 04:25 PM

That next storm will bring downpours of something
after the weekend --
hopefully it stays above freezing here.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 01:10 PM

Winter Storm Jaxon,
whether you use the name or not,
is putting the airport in Denver to the test --
and they know from snow in Denver . . .

east of the Rocky Mountains,
parts of the Great Plains have blizzard warnings in anticipation
as the storm moves from west to east.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jan 18 - 11:24 AM

Don't know why the next Winter Storm in the wings
has a name that rhymes with Salami.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jan 18 - 06:45 PM

Apologies, sorry, my bad, one and all:

KALANI, not "kalami,"
is the next name up for a Winter Storm
according to the Weather Channel.

So it doesn't rhyme with Salami after all.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Jan 18 - 11:29 AM

And after Kalani,
which name has yet to be assigned to a weather system,

the next winter storm is LIAM.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Jan 18 - 07:22 PM

Winter Storm Kalani is here:

is it snowing where you are?
or just raining?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 30 Jan 18 - 07:50 PM

8.3 inches of snow in my town, significantly more than was predicted, but, hey, it could have been worse!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 01 Feb 18 - 07:44 PM

The best name ever was Hurricane Bawbag a year or so ago; it did have an 'official' name appropriate to the scariness/windpower - but the Scottish way is to be derogatory!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Feb 18 - 11:54 AM

Here comes Winter Storm Liam.
They are talking of ice and freezing rain,
so this is one for the Weather Terrorists, and make no mistake.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Feb 18 - 01:14 PM

Liam has arrived.
The snow is falling thick and fast.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Feb 18 - 07:50 PM

. . . changed over to rain, thankfully.
Further north it might be a different story.
Did you get mostly rain, Chantey Lass?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 12:05 PM

These storm systems are forming too fast for me to stay current.
Liam is old news now.
Winter Storm Mateo is on the way,
and Noah will not be far behind . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 06:09 PM

Winter Storm Mateo is headed for the Great Lakes region,
and the big metropolis-es there,
looks heavy.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 07:31 PM

Keberoxu, Liam gave us a little snow between 11 and 1 on Wednesday. Then it switched over to rain. The amazing thing is that the timing of the storm was almost exactly what local tv forecasters had announced.

I was supposed to drive to the Worcester area on Wednesday to see my daughter-in-law while my son is on a business trip for a few days, but when I heard the forecast we rescheduled for today. This morning she sent a message telling me that roads and walkways are glazed over so we should put it off until tomorrow (Friday)!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Feb 18 - 04:47 PM

Another snowmaker is forecast,
don't yet know if this will be named
Winter Storm Noah.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Feb 18 - 06:41 PM

This has the makings of a one-two punch.

Winter Storm Noah has rolled across the northern tier of states
and will be crunching down upon the Boston area in a matter of minutes.

Winter Storm Oliver will be a day or two behind Noah,
it may already be taking shape in the Pacific Northwest.

Noah is going to hit us with the kind of heavy wet snow
that is dangerous to tackle with a shovel.
Then the temperature shoots 'way up above thawing.
Then comes Oliver . . .

the winter terrorists must be having fun at our expense.

(BUT: is there snow in Pocatello?)

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 17 Feb 18 - 07:50 PM

I held off buying a ticket to hear music in northern RI on Sunday evening, hoping the venue wouldn't sell out before I made my reservation. It didn't, so a few nights ago I checked the forecast which said rain. I ordered my ticket and agreed to meet friends for dinner near the venue. Now I'm mildly anxious. The snow should end and streets should be safe well before the time I'll leave home, but it's the shoveling I'm worried about if my car is plowed in. When snow is heavy, I work in small spurts, usually 15 minutes of work followed by 45 minutes of rest. I hope I get my car out in time.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 17 Feb 18 - 11:46 PM

2 inches already in my town. We are in the 3-7 inch zone.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 18 Feb 18 - 08:11 AM

It's done. 4.5 inches here. As soon as I hear the plow I'll move my car.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 18 Feb 18 - 12:28 PM

Must have been six inches at least on my outdoor-parked car this morning.
Tonight the hazard is re-freezing as the temperatures drop;
it's warm enough in today's direct sun to start a lot of melting and thawing.

And then this week is forecast to be unseasonably warm for February --
so the roller-coaster continues to roll.
Oh, and then comes Oliver . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 06:12 PM

and Oliver is bringing heavy precip, by the reports I'm watching.
Just depends on temperature:
could be heavy snow, heavy rain, a big partially freezing trend
where the temperature changes. What a mess . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 18 - 10:14 PM

Four to six inches of rain here today. Flash flood watch for a couple of days. In Texas it's rain, but as this moves north and east, I imagine it will translate into snow and ice. No name to this one that I know of.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 12:39 PM

Just viewed the Weather Channel update,
where the storms are named
and who Gnu calls the "weather terrorists" live.

The name Oliver, at the Weather Channel,
has been attached to the storm that is bringing
ice through the midsection of the lower 48.

Deliver us, Lord.
Snow I can tolerate, but ice storms ... expletive deleted.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 05:22 PM

my car says it is 87 in the shade today. (DC)
It snowed last Sat.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 02:27 PM

The latest from the Weather Terrorists is that
Winter Storm Polly is official.

She is bringing snow and ice, where it is cold enough;
where it is well above freezing, rain.

it's about that all-important temperature line.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Feb 18 - 01:48 PM

Well, we've had a winter storm named Dylan,
which was a hazardous mess of freezing rain
-- ha! I joked about A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall!

And next is Winter Storm Quinn, heaven help us.

Come all without,
Come all within,
You've not seen nothing like
The Mighty Quinn . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 27 Feb 18 - 07:59 PM

While we have " The beast from the East" bringing snow from Siberia to Scotland and England! Today it was just a pussycat, by tomorrow maybe a snow leopard.
Then there's that Emma down near Portugal.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 28 Feb 18 - 12:06 PM

It might be a pussy cat for you but I am snowed in now and expecting more!
That is despite the 4x4. I walked down the lane and turned back at the first 2'6" one that stretched for at least 80'.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Feb 18 - 12:30 PM

Scotland is now on Red Alert. Very dangerous conditions.
We're snowed in here in Norfolk. All schools closed, main routes blocked (A11, A47 and the Norwich ring road)
People elsewhere who are used to a bit of snow are laughing at us calling this the 'Beast from the East'. They're saying it's merely 'Hysteria from Siberia'!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Feb 18 - 07:36 PM

Oh yes, BBCW, the snow leopard has definitely arrived here now! Snowed pretty well all day, and still ongoing tonight and more tomorrow. Drifting against doors and windows. Trains stopped at 6pm, buses at 7pm, and many were re-routed throughout the day. A friend got stuck for 6 hours on a trunk road: took him that long to do 9 miles!
We are 600ft above sea level so always get more snow than down in the city.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Feb 18 - 07:45 PM

Check out the Snowplough thread and its link to the map.

Here in the northeastern US
we are bracing for a "nor'easter" with high winds,
but we have a day or two to get ready for it.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Mar 18 - 11:14 AM

Now Wales and the South West are on Red Alert too. Emma is blasting her way through the UK causing blizzards and pile-ups of very deep snow.
I keep thinking of my mother-in-law sitting in the hot sun in W Africa. Think I'll pay her a visit. Trouble is, most of our airports are closed. Sigh...

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 04:04 PM

The West Coast has Winter Storm Quinn.
The East Coast has Bomb-cyclone Riley.
Like bookends -- NOT.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 06:47 PM

Can't speak for those who lived where there was snow.
Here it was too warm for snow or ice, thankfully.

The power outages
and the downed trees blocking the roads
were all due to the high winds.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 09:06 PM

Here in Rhode Island the forecast says the rain may become wet, heavy snow later tonight. I've raised the windshield wipers into the snow salute, just in case. My condo community rarely loses power and lights haven't flickered, but my flashlight is wound and in my pocket just in case. The sump pump in my cellar has turned on a few times, which it rarely does.

This morning I got an email from my penpal-since-childhood in Lincolnshire. Her area was hit with the snowstorm and many activities have been canceled, including a luncheon she helped organize for her Trefoil Guild. Also, some good friends returned from a trip to visit relatives in the South Pacific. Their flight landed, but they ran into difficulties driving to Lincolnshire from Heathrow and couldn't get into their driveway until it'd been shoveled.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Mar 18 - 05:42 AM

Airports and bus routes gradually coming back on stream here. Daughter + 2 small kids on one of the very few flights out from Edinburgh yesterday, to Belfast. Worst part was getting TO the airport: normally she would drive out to us, leave car here, and we would drive them to airport: none of that possible with both of our roads being snowed in. Buses barely started running, taxis allocated to "priority cases", whatever that means. They finally did manage to get a taxi and got their flight, but would almost rather have had it cancelled!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Mar 18 - 11:46 AM

The wind remains something fierce,
and the sky is all clouded over.
But here, inland, well away from the coast,
the rain at least has stopped falling
AND there is no snow or ice.

The coast and the islands had a very bad time of it.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 03 Mar 18 - 10:43 PM

My son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter traveled to India. They departed Friday night, or maybe it was Saturday morning after a delay of at least 2 hours at Boston's Logan Airport. At some point they were switched from Lufthansa to Qatar Airlines, which I guess meant a stopover in Qatar instead of Munich. Before they got off the plane in Qatar, there was an announcement that their flight to India was boarding. I know they spent some time in the airport in Qatar, so I guess they caught a later flight. I know they arrived safely in India but must have been exhausted. I don't know if the airport in India is close to their destination or if they will have to travel much farther from there.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 06:04 PM

The vagaries of weather systems,
some of which move from west to east
and some of which follow the warm Gulf Stream from south to north,
have resulted in an odd sequence on the East Coast:

we are still recovering from R-for-Riley,
and now we are due for Q-for-Quinn,
with, heaven help us, more snow.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 01:11 PM

Well, the people that Mudcatter Gnu calls the Weather Terrorists
are having a field day with this one.

For the northeastern US, the storm that has been named Quinn
is so threatening that the severe weather alerts
have been altered from Winter Storm Watches into Winter Storm Warnings.

As I post, Quinn is moving east of the Dakota states where it has been a blizzard.
The storm is going to grace the Snow Belt that covers the Great Lakes area, west to east, in familiar style. Detroit is going to get it. Then the state of Pennsylvania.

The big uncertainty is what Quinn will do when it arrives at the Atlantic Ocean, and where Quinn will do it. It's a classic "nor'easter" set-up, the forecasters agree, but where will it be snow and where will it be freezing rain (EEWWWW)?

None of Riley's monster high tides (there was a full moon),
but Quinn's combination of snow and wind
threatens more downed trees and power lines . . .
so, HERE WE GO AGAIN.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 04:30 PM

The snow is melting fast now, about 1/2 of the depth of the drifts gone. I did a lot of digging (all good exercise) and managed to get the 2 wheel drive car up the hill yesterday evening. Tarmac all the way to our track today.

Very pleased that when I revised the heating and water systems that I managed to eliminate all four water tanks from the loft. Still managed to have the outflow pipe from the mascerator in our en suite freeze but no damage to it as it is plastic, and this is with insulation on the inside of the roof space as well as on the loft floor.

Had to abandon going to a practice with the trio and missed the East Lancashire Railway Spring Steam Gala!

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Mar 18 - 01:27 PM

And it is on top of us now, although most of the snow has yet to fall,
it will fall for the next twelve hours or so. So the car is strategically parked with the windscreen wiper "salute" as ChanteyLass calls it, and the GoreText gloves, snow boots, and ice scraper are near the front door.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 07 Mar 18 - 08:21 PM

Rain here changed to snow at about 6 PM, and it's accumulating quickly. I hope the previous storm took down all the branches and uprooted all the trees that could knock down power lines and that power stays on. One of my friends and her whole neighborhood, tucked between a country club, Narragansett Bay, and an old Navy base, were without power for about 72 hours. Her town didn't open any emergency shelters! She used her gas oven to keep her house at a warm 90 degrees. (Wait until she gets that gas bill!) She showered and charged her phone at the home of a neighbor who has a generator. I know of someone else who was without power for about 96 hours! I was lucky: my power stayed on.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Senoufou
Date: 08 Mar 18 - 01:55 PM

Just watched the weather forecast for Eastern England, and we're due 14 degrees on Saturday! Hooray! (That's 57 Fahrenheit) I'm getting my bikini out of the drawer ready.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 18 - 11:15 PM

If the Winter Terrorists christen yet another storm,
its name will be Skylar, Heaven deliver us.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Mar 18 - 11:14 AM

Skylar, Skylar, stay away,
Move out West
and dump some snow on the US Western mountain ranges
where there are drought monitors ...
we have enough snow in the Atlantic maritimes.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 10:10 AM

Yes, the Weather Terrorists have spoken, and Skylar is official.
It's going to be another bomb-cyclone of a storm,
and a blizzard is anticipated,
with high winds and concentrated snowfall leading to
"white-out [visual] conditions."

It is time to HUNKER DOWN.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Mar 18 - 09:34 AM

We are under Winter Storm Skylar. Nothing else to say.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Senoufou
Date: 13 Mar 18 - 12:22 PM

Stay safe keberoxu!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Mar 18 - 09:04 PM

Just was reminded of how hard-up some households are.
Nothing to complain about, myself, but:
I overheard a conversation between a married couple. A grumpy one.

"...this only happens to US."
"I'll take care of it."
"We have a home."
"Yes. We have a home. With a big-ass tree on it." Marches off without her.   ooooh.

The snow at this point ... ought to be measured in hours. Not inches. Hours. I know that it's been snowing for over twelve hours, is it closer to eighteen hours? And most of the time, with the high winds and the intensity of the snowfall,
visibility could be measured by the merest fraction of a mile.

Cue Little Orphan Annie:
The sun 'll come out, to-morrow . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Mar 18 - 04:46 AM

Oh keberoxu, all that blooming snow! How depressing! We only had a week of it ('The Beast From The East') and we were climbing the walls. And you have blizzards too, Lord, I'd be terrified.
I feel quite ashamed at our feebleness here in UK, but everything grinds to a halt when it snows a few measly inches. How you all cope 'over there' I can't imagine.
Stay safe won't you, and keep your spirits up. It can't be all that long until Spring arrives.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Mar 18 - 09:10 AM

State by State, Eliza/Senoufou,
each region includes in their budget
provisions for a veritable army of staff
-- Department of Public Works, or DPW --
to clear the roads and highways, not to speak of sidewalks in public places.

It is quite wonderful to watch all those trucks with salt and sand,
and the snowplows, sweeping down on of the big roads
like the Providence Highway that follows the seacoast
through Boston down to Rhode Island.
I always want to cheer for those workers.
They do a yeoman's job.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 06:52 PM

I wonder how Gnu and his mother are holding up:
they are in Canada's Atlantic maritimes,
and that region was very hard hit by the recent storms.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 17 Mar 18 - 09:41 PM

He shared a post to a Facebook group early Thursday morning. I hope all has been well since then.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 18 Mar 18 - 07:24 AM

Well, I'm snowed in again. Still drifting with strong winds so not worth the bother of trying to dig out yet. I walked across the field and by the time I got back my footprints had been obliterated.
Drifts are up to 4 foot high across our track and stretch along it for tens of yards. I don't need to get out until Tuesday so I'm not worried yet.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Mar 18 - 06:19 PM

Winter Storm TOBY is now on the Weather Terrorist's watchlist,
and forecast to be yet another nor'easter
and a dumper of snow.

Just in time for the first day of spring ... right.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 01:36 PM

A one-two punch is the latest
sales pitch from the Weather Terrorists at the Weather Channel:

Winter Storm Toby tomorrow,
and for the weekend,
Winter Storm Uma.

Both snowmakers, by forecast.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 10:16 PM

And the latest sales pitch from the Weather Terrorists
is that Winter Storm Toby is going to break records.

Not amusing. Not even. In fact it is silliness.
This late in the winter/spring,
of course records are going to be broken.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 07:50 PM

That prediction about Toby breaking records must be for the entire storm area. Here it started about 3 hours later than expected and the tv evening news forecast said the predicted 4-8 inches will probably be on the lower end of those numbers. I hope that's correct.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 12:53 PM

Boston was let off far more lightly by Toby
than in previous recent winter storms.
No blizzard, no fierce winds, no reduced visibility.
Last time I looked out the window,
the snow was still coming down lightly.
Temperatures are above freezing,
the snow is very damp slushy stuff,
and we have more problems
from the existing re-frozen pre-existing snowfall
than from this most recent storm.

Of course they are talking about
another winter storm before Easter . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 08:14 PM

Toby was a big fizzle here, too. I could use more fizzles like that!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 09:56 AM

Slice Toby thinly. I only just found out that was a hoax, that is to say I thought it was a real internet hoax.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 06:35 PM

Near the beginning of this thread, checking out the names,
I echoed David Letterman the one time he hosted the Academy Awards:

Oprah! Uma!   Uma!   Oprah!

And here is Winter Storm Uma.

Except, by most reports,
the North Atlantic Coast and southern New England
will not be much troubled by Uma.
But I read that she is bringing heavy snows to the heartland.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 01:32 PM

...but will we have a Winter Storm Violet ?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 11:33 AM

That's ironic.
Violet is a name better suited to spring, or summer,
than winter.
We are at least one week into spring,
past the vernal equinox,
and if we DO get a storm
it is likely not to be a winter storm but a spring one.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Mar 18 - 06:30 PM

Leeneia, is Winter Storm Violet coming to call?
The forecast says this storm will hit the north and midwest.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 31 Mar 18 - 07:14 PM

The Weather Terrorists report that
Minnesota bore the brunt of Winter Storm Violet's wrath, with heavy snowfall.

And after Easter, another storm --
will they name it Wilbur?
-- could bring snow to the East Coast AGAIN.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Apr 18 - 11:47 AM

Yes, Winter Storm Wilbur is now a Thing.
And Minnesota can't catch a break, it is one snowstorm after another.
I wonder what that means for New Brunswick,
the home of our irreplaceable mudcatter Gnu.

In eastern Massachusetts
it mostly means above-freezing precip.
This very morning, however,
the air was alive with white flakes of slush,
as the storm tried to make snow but it was just THAT much above freezing
that serious snow didn't have a chance.
For a while, though, visibility was an issue,
as there was all this white stuff falling down and
it was difficult to see very far as you drove your car.

There is still stuff visibly falling
but it's easier to see through it now.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Apr 18 - 11:20 AM

... leaving Xanto, Yvonne, and Zoey. Sigh.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Apr 18 - 12:43 PM

Snow on Saturday?
The Saturday after Easter?
Say it ain't so . . .

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 05 Apr 18 - 02:55 PM

Snowed all day yesterday where I live, just outside Edinburgh, but 200m above sea level. Everything ground to a halt as usual, events cancelled etc.
Lovely sunny day today, max temp 10c: rivers and puddles everywhere as the snow melts. What a difference a day can make!

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 08:07 PM

Snowed here in Rhode Island today. To be accurate, rain, snow, rain, sunshine briefly before sunset.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 09:37 PM

Massachusetts had snow as well,
actually slush, fat flakes of slush very thick in the air,
and then -- as ChanteyLass says --
it got too warm for snow. So now it's wet
and we have some chilly clear days coming.

I guess I can understand the Weather Terrorist protocol here.
Official Spring is several weeks in,
so, no official naming of storms,
even if the storms are more wintry than anything else.
So, we end the named storms with ol' Wilbur,
and there is no Xanto, Yvonne, or Zoey.
Just more, erm, storms.

As a Swiss-German of my acquaintance says:

Im April thut das Wetter, was es will.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Apr 18 - 10:08 PM

NOOOO! I was mistaken ...
there is now a Winter Storm Xanto, for reals.

It's forming over the mountains in the western US
and is going to move slowly,
so that its snowfall (rain in places)
will be heavy precipitation.

In fact it's going to be on top of Boston
the day before the Boston Marathon....

and Minnesota, which can't catch a break, is going to get snowed on.

The forecast map for this storm
shows this hideous red blob
which is where there could be TORNADOES.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Apr 18 - 12:24 PM

Winter Storm Xanto, where it does not bring heavy snow,
may instead bring FREEZING rain with accumulating ice,
as far as the Easternmost states. In April.
That would be hideous. We've had enough power outages.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 08:54 AM

Blizzard warnings in six states?

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 09:55 PM

The Xanto blizzard is on top of the Dakotas now. And it is a blizzard.

Beware the freezing rain.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Apr 18 - 06:08 PM

Xanto is a killer storm now, with two deaths reported, and it may not be finished in that regard.

Maybe Rapparee's part of Idaho is still, erm, doing what his outrageous post say the weather there is doing;
but Bozeman, Montana, got some twenty-five inches of snow from this storm.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Apr 18 - 08:03 AM

Death toll is now three, if you count
the downed tree in Louisiana yesterday.
The tree landed on a mobile home.
They don't say, in the news soundbite, about the rest of the family,
if there were injuries;
only that the fatality was a small child inside the caravan.

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Apr 18 - 11:03 AM

Xanto left over thirty inches of new snow in some places.
Please heaven,
no Winter Storm Yvonne or Zoey ... please ...

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Apr 18 - 11:20 AM

Winter Storm Xanto claimed another life:
a fatal heart attack for a man shoveling snow.

And Xanto is STILL going,
by now it ought to have reached New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, the Gaspe, the Newfoundland island ...

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 18 Apr 18 - 02:21 PM

What is Winter Storm Evelyn ??

Subject: RE: BS: named Winter storms, 2017 - 2018
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 07:18 PM

Okay, I wanted to know what this Winter Storm Evelyn was
when Winter Storm Xanto was going on at the same time.

Xanto is from the naming system at the
Atlanta, Georgia-based Weather Channel cable network.

Evelyn is from a Fox network,
also part of Sinclair Broadcast Group,
television station.
This one is Fox 11, WLUK (must be both radio and television).

A feature story at this Fox station's website discloses that
"the winter of 1987 - 1988" was when storm-naming
began at that particular station, with its meteorologist.
This station is in the state of Wisconsin, can't tell you which city.
perhaps the city is Green Bay, Wisconsin?

For 2018, the Fox/WLUK winter storm names are:
Abigail
Brooks
Clare
Dan
Evelyn
Forrest
Gabby
Hudson
Ivy
Juli