Preparing for a big storm here

Left work at lunch time and hit LI Hardware for 2 bags of salt... pet & rock. Glad I did, because I had less left over from last year than I thought I did (wonder how that happened ?? ). I'm also working on the ash can, which should be full Saturday, so I can sprinkle it if needed.

Right now they are calling for 6" here, but with that number "uncertain", currently.

I loaded another wheel barrow full, and pushed it up by the back deck. Tomorrow nights forecast will tell if I pull that and what's on the landing into the house, or just restock the house. Going to upper thirties the next day, si it hopefully should be OK.

Either way, I hit the liquor store tonight

begreen said:

I am super impressed with the snow clearing crews back east. Out here in a rural area we are lucky to see the main road plowed. Side roads, fahgetaboutit. A serious snowstorm like the one predicted would paralyze this area for a week.

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Anything under 30 inches will paralyze our area for about... 4 hours. A 30"+ storm will take a half day to get the roads open and passable.

Folks still run out to buy bread, milk, and eggs before the storm, and I really don't understand why. In my 40+ years of living here, I've been snowed in for more than a few hours precisely once (Jan.1996 = 3 feet). I live on a cul de sac with only five houses, and they still plow it about every 4 hours throughout the longest storms.

Power outages are another story. We can be without power a few days, after a good ice storm. Most of the damage is from trees falling on the lines.

Dix said:

Left work at lunch time and... hit the liquor store tonight

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Sipping on some Maker's 46 right now.

begreen said:

I was in a 2 day, 36" snowstorm in rural CT back in the early 70s. Eventually a large 4x4 truck or two went by. Plows didn't show up for 5 days.

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Wow... probably has improved in the last 40 - 45 years, I imagine. Or at least, maybe less rural!

Ashful said:

. . .

Folks still run out to buy bread, milk, and eggs before the storm, and I really don't understand why. In my 40+ years of living here, I've been snowed in for more than a few hours precisely once (Jan.1996 = 3 feet). I live on a cul de sac with only five houses, and they still plow it about every 4 hours throughout the longest storms.
. ..

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Beer, bread and batteries . . . up here they do the same thing . . . every major storm folks are rushing around stocking up on these things . . . never can figure it out since I pretty much always have bread and batteries on hand any time of the year . . . and I don't drink beer so I'm all set on that front.

firefighterjake said:

Beer, bread and batteries . . . up here they do the same thing . . . every major storm folks are rushing around stocking up on these things . . . never can figure it out since I pretty much always have bread and batteries on hand any time of the year . . . and I don't drink beer so I'm all set on that front.

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I thought it was an urban legend til I saw it for myself. Milk, bread, eggs here (no alcohol in grocery stores). Shelves emptied, people scrambling before a storm.

Anything under 12" is a yawn after the last couple years. 18" is the official point where it becomes a PITA. Calling for 6+ at the moment.

Got enough wood in the house, could use a little more. Snow blower ready, need to get the shovels and gas outta the shed. At least the days following the storm are predicted to be warmish (38-42). That's a change from last year where everything that fell stayed until mid March.

Last Friday we had a 3-6" forecasted storm. It was a dud, we got maybe 2" at best. I went to the market during the snow on Saturday morning. It looked like the place had been looted. 90% of the milk and bread were gone, eggs, cheese, and for some reason produce was ravaged as well. It took the store 3 days to get it stocked back up. I don't get it.

My buddy got back from a vacation that sunday. Went to the market and was thoroughly confused as to why it was ransacked. Funny.

I grew up in snow country. Snow (sometimes lots of it) was part of life. Food? the 'rents always had a nicely stocked larder (as do I) and while they may've picked up eggs and milk there certainly was no panicked rush for those items. The biggest threat was loss of electricity (the well pump!); we had a stove and there was no way we were going to be "cold". In retrospect, I blanche at the memory of that stove; it violated every sensible set-back from combustibles, every sensible hearth recommendation, and there was no fire extinguisher in the house (let alone smoke/CO2 detectors).

It made a very big impression on me, you guys. A lot of ladies dislike wood stoves because they're afraid of them (Mum was one of them, for good reason). I love them, but I am the PITA who schedules chimney sweeping, boiler/furnace maintenance, routine stove maintenance and all those details. And I'm the one who maintains the Aladdins and makes sure we have the necessary replacement items on hand at all times. (is there a hyphen in "anal retentive"?)

Also: cat food and cat litter... heaven forbid we run out of either!

begreen said:

I am super impressed with the snow clearing crews back east. Out here in a rural area we are lucky to see the main road plowed. Side roads, fahgetaboutit. A serious snowstorm like the one predicted would paralyze this area for a week.

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They do a very good job around here. I live in the country and they almost always have my road plowed by 6:30am, even during a storm.

Though Long Island is not a snow capital we are not amateurs when it comes to snow removal. But this is what >30" of snow at the wrong time can do.



This storm hit during the day into rush hour leaving scenes like this all over the Island and closed a 26 mi stretch of the Long Island Expressway! (it also collapsed my garage which was kind of a POS anyway).



Stay safe everyone!

BrotherBart said:

Congress has shut down and gone home and the buildings locked up. It is reported that productivity increased by 60%

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BWA HA HA HA HA !

Done rearranging vehicles, double weighting the tarps, and bringing in 75% of the firewood off of the landing (remainder is a days worth, and covered in an old shower curtain at the moment )

J, I'm seeing 6 - 15" on News 12. Coastal areas are going to take a hit. The same ones that Sandy hit

So far looks like the only thing we will get up here from this storm is +6c temps on Tuesday. Thankful for that.

Hunker down & snuggle up folks.

We may see some flurries. I'll be interested in how the surf changes as the storm moves by and out to sea. The tides are very high now (full moon) and the forecast is for gusty winds later today.

So how is it snowing down there everybody?

Seriously

webfish said:

So those of you getting hit with the big snow, Do you plow as it comes or just hunker down and do it all at once?

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I like to wait till the end, unless I'm expecting company, or something. Back when I ran smaller equipment, I'd have to go out and clear every 6" to 10", but now I'm good for 3 feet plus, in one shot.

Woke up to my patio at 16", maybe 18" now. They had forecast only 6" by this morning, and 12" by tomorrow morning, but we're obviously getting more than double that prediction.

Windy and drifting, so the yard varies from just an inch or two to 24"+. The patio is enclosed on three sides, so that's my "real snow" gauge.