January 23, 2016

On the Outskirts of the Snowpocalypse.

Hampton Roads is right on the edge of where the snow and rain meet with this storm. Last night it actually warmed up and a torrential rain washed away the 2-3 inches of snow that we'd gotten during the afternoon. Forecasts called for much the same going into today, with high 30's and low 40's.


Around noon however the rain turned to sleet...these two pictures show, not a dusting of snow, but accumulated sleet.




With a storm surge expected, I needed to go and check on my parents sailboat so my dad would not be compelled to walk down the ice covered pier. By that time, it was snowing as well as sleeting and the wind had picked up quite a bit. It took forever to simply get into the van, which was quite efficiently encased in ice. I had to break the wipers loose (so they would not break when I lit off the engine as I'd stupidly left the wipers on when I parked). After an extensive defrosting and scraping I drove to the marina (just 5 miles distant) and took these pictures...


That is wet snow-slush...on top of ice.

Not pictured: just how slick this was...


The boat is still secured, and the lines did not need to be let in or out, which is fortuitous as given how treacherous the main pier was, fiddling about on the finger pier did not appeal to me at all. 

After my brief foray into the otherworldly mess that Pete and Wonderduck would describe as "Saturday", I got home and noted that my footprints had been completely filled in. As I type this there is about 2-3 inches on the ground, it is dark, snowing sideways and the house is shaking from the wind. 

Of course, this is NOTHING compared to what is happening north of us, but ice has a certain annoyance all its own. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we retain power through the night. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 07:41 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 333 words, total size 3 kb.

1 test?

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Jan 23 20:11:27 2016 (KiM/Y)

2 One good thing about New Mexico is the absence of natural disasters.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sat Jan 23 20:18:36 2016 (XOPVE)

3 All you have to worry about is the Colorado River having a bad year.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sat Jan 23 20:25:16 2016 (+rSRq)

4 Or the unlikely possibility of one of the 3 volcanic centers acting up.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jan 23 20:30:27 2016 (AaBUm)

5 After living in Minnesota for two winters, and Illinois for many more, I've learned two things about driving in winter weather:

1) Snow holds no worries for me.  Sure, I'm careful driving in it, and I'd rather not drive in a heavy snowfall, but I know I can drive safely in it if I have to.  I'm more concerned about the idiots around me.

2) Ice is a whole 'nother beast.  I'd rather get a foot of snow than a quarter-inch of ice... and I do NOT drive in an ice storm.  That's just a fast way to the ditch... or the morgue.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Jan 23 21:00:42 2016 (KiM/Y)

6 About ten years ago we had an off-the-charts hail storm where I was living in Sydney at the time - the ground was was completely covered with ice, maybe an inch deep of quarter- to half-inch hailstones.

Lasted long enough that kids were sledding in the park opposite my house.   Vehicular traffic didn't have quite as much fun...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sun Jan 24 01:02:06 2016 (PiXy!)

7 Nice boat. ;p

It dipped a touch below freezing here, no snow (we don't often get any, not really expecting any this year either). Hoping that it warms up, relatively speaking, for next week, since I'll be in San Antonio for PAX.

Good to hear everything's on the manageable end up there.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Sun Jan 24 02:50:09 2016 (v29Tn)

8 What's the latest from your neck of the woods, Muppet? 

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Jan 24 11:11:53 2016 (KiM/Y)

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