Snowblogging

Liam out in the February 25/26 storm, a record breaker, read on

I have been snowblogging. You know what blogging is-
A blog , shortened from web log is usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Snowblogging is a form of blogging done before, during, and after a snow storm. My way of imitating the Olympic sport of snowboarding while remaining physically grounded and soaring on a virtual snowblog.

Another snowstorm last week. Yes! I admit it, I get chills as we brace for any impending storm. The threat of snow to others is a promise of snow to me. I still have the thrill of seeing those school closings scroll across the bottom of my TV which is naturally set on the weather channel. Last week we got the warning again. Those of us on a special weather mailing list received this message from a seasoned storm synthesist/summarist mid -week last.

"SPECTACULAR WINTER STORM ON THE WAY FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY AFTERNOON

There’s no other way to put it. This storm will stall and back in from the west, and this is the reason we are looking at a huge turnaround in the forecasts (and the overview), and quite possibly, the worst storm of this winter season.

12-20 inches, with locally higher amounts are anticipated for north and west of the city and coast. Areas north of the City could see drifting of up to 2 feet in places, making roads impassable.

The city and coast will see some wetter snow, or even a rain/snow mix, but even they won’t escape, with most areas seeing 6-10 inches. Areas from NYC east could still see amounts near a foot, even with all the mixing….

Eastern Suffolk county will wind up with the lowest totals, with mostly rain there.

Winds will be much stronger than the last big storm on 2/10/10, especially on Long Island. The storm’s fury will last for days because the winds will be slow to die down, possibly lasting through the weekend. Remember, the storm will move west and be basically trapped for a day or two!! Snow showers could persist through Sunday, but the heart of the accumulating snows should be gone by Friday afternoon.

stay tuned...this is another dangerous storm, and probably not the last winter storm of the season"

However, the above description was not a common one last week. The meteorologists, I noticed ( no weather girls or boys any more) seemed a tad cautious this time. I love that they try to hide their storm excitement by feigning anxiety, delivering their storm predictions with apologies and furrowed brows. I am sure that Jim Cantore, Janice Huff, Lee Goldberg all want the storm just as much as King Kullen wants its customers to storm the bread and milk aisles before the storm. The entire CNN situation room was on alert about the oncoming snow as were the teams on all the major networks.

With the popularity of the Internet, I am now aware of the huge amount of interest out there about weather. There are other regular folks like me, those who are fascinated by weather, and we are not paid meteorologists. One has to be careful in revealing this weather/storm quirk. Most folks ostensibly loathe the inconvenience, delays, cancellations and disruptions of routine that a storm might bring. However, there are those of us who find it a welcome shakeup in the world and a natural break from human violence. We must be covert in showing our interest. We watch the expressions of others as storm stories are exchanged. From these encounters we know how to act; sympathy and empathy for those terrorized by the first flake, a wink and a conspiratorial smile for those who share the expectant joy of an impending storm and its effects.

I believe my fascination began with Hurricane Carol. This was a memory from my very young days,. Water pouring through the windows, unstopped by towels, my mother turning to me and saying. "This hurricane is named after you. Look at all the damage you are causing."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Carol
"The name Carol was planned for use again during the 1969 hurricane season, before it was replaced with the name Camille. Due to serious destruction during 1954, however, the name will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. Carol was the first Atlantic hurricane name in history to be retired."

Hurricane Carol looking in at me, trying to lash me, only saw this much of my faceas I barely reached the windowsill. I had just turned 4.
I never forgot my first storm. And there was born my wonder of weather.

And we weather people love breaking the records. If there is going to be a storm, hey, let's go for it. Check this out for records:
http://www.wunderground.com/US/NY/New_York.html
.. Record monthly maximum snowfall set at Central Park... which is
also the record maximum snowfall for February at Central Park
NY... record daily maximum snowfall set at Central Park NY for Friday
February 26 2010.
An all time monthly record snowfall of 36.9 inches was set at
Central Park NY. This breaks the all time snowiest month record for
Central Park. The old record was 30.5 inches set back in March 1896.
This 36.9 inches of snow at Central Park in February also breaks the
old record snowfall in February of 27.9 inches set in 1934.
Lastly... a record daily snowfall of 11.5 inches was also set at
Central Park NY Friday. This breaks the old record of 8.4 set in 1991.

The February 25/26 storm one was not sneaky, just played down a bit by all, except for our writer above. Hoey tree pictured next

The author of the "Spectacular" storm story explains himself this way:

"I'm a "clearing house" of forecasts. I've learned to use and apply good judgment when reading over seemingly hours of information -- sometimes contradictory -- about the week's weather, especially the more complex and challenging. Moreover, I've learned to read technical forecast discussions by meteorologists and bloggers alike. In doing so, I've acquired the tendencies and biases of both individual forecasters and computer forecast models alike. This has taken some years to develop, as with all "hobbyists" that are not professionals. The one thing I've realized is that getting a forecast REQUIRES time and patience. I understand that it's not always possible to do this if you don't have the interest that i do, but the endless confusion experienced by people largely comes from the "rush" to know what the forecast is going to be."

Liam is okay with this featured "clearinghouse" person. They share the same birthday 8/01 as well as the love of a good storm.

For me, I have come out of hiding. I do have the Weather Channel on quite often. I do know all the names of the reporters on the Weather Channel. I use it as background decoration, like one would a fish tank or a glowing fire.
Liam out after last Friday's storm
Liam racing a squirrel in his sights

Tonight we have a 30% chance of a wintry mix which continues into Friday
Woof, woof