In Like a Lion And 10" Strong So Far

Yep, we have a good ten inches of snow so far, actually more between the time I took the photo of the snow depth up until the time I started writing this piece. There has got to be another 1/2" to 1" more out there by now. A lot of white stuff, certainly for Western Long Island and the New York City area. Of course, my job is open and I will soon be leaving for work. Not too long ago I finished digging out my government car so I can drive it into work, now I am waiting for my back to stop hurting, seems I twisted or pulled it while shoveling out the G ride. That drive should be a joy today as my guess is that 90% of folks have either banged in sick, or on a vacation or personal day, or were lucky enough to have their bosses tell them to take the day off. As for we Feds, well as I have been told by those who work for or with other agencies, at least 2 other major federal agencies have given their people off today because of the weather. Not ICE though because, well because of who runs the show I would guess. We were told all offices open for business as usual. Of course we were given an option to working at an office closer to home, but I would rather avoid JFK Airport if possible on a day like today and would rather brave the LIE into Manhattan.

One thing keeps bugging me, I had not heard that Al Gore was doing a tour of the SE up through the NE from yesterday through today, but I am almost willing to bet he is somewhere close by. This weather seems to follow him almost everywhere!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Weather Has Not Got Me Down...

...but the weatherman certainly is trying to do so. I got finished shoveling about 4 inches of wet snow an hour ago. I am a little achy since I did not only my small sidewalk but also my neighbors pretty large corner sidewalk (he is in Florida - and is apparently happier with the weather he is enjoying than am I with mine).

My wife and I need to go today to get grocery shopping done, the weekly stuff we get from either COSTCO or BJ's. We are also going to visit my mom who once again is in the hospital due to a bad fall on Monday night or early Tuesday morning (she was found unconscious in her room, but at least nothing was broken). Because we are going out, I decided to check on the weather. According to the radio weather reports we are to get continued freezing rain, sleet and more snow throughout the day and evening. Being an Internet junky, I also checked online with MSN. Their weather report said this under "Today's Forecast":

TODAY - SPRINKLES

Well, I hate to tell them but sprinkles do not deposit 4 inches of that cold and wet white stuff on the ground. Nor do sprinkles come down in the form of steady fairly heavy rain, as it has now being doing over the past couple of hours or so; unless of course the word sprinkles means something different to them than it does to me. I think though they know what the word sprinkles means, and it is not heavy snow, nor is it fairly heavy and constant rain. Then again, isn't it the folks at MSN who went right along with that pompous buffoon Al Gore on Global Warming. Yep it was them at least as I remember, them and most of the rest of the media and the companies associated with them! Maybe the globe is warming, maybe all of this snow and cold we are experiencing is a result of the ice cap melting and all that cold coming down this way - and maybe they are all full of themselves in their inability to even report the weather while it is actually taking place. Sprinkles indeed - balderdash!

All the best,
Glenn B

They Promised The Worst Snow Storm of the Season...

...but all we got was about 1/4 inch of snow and frozen rain as far as accumulations went. I suppose that is a good thing too, especially since I have to drive into work today. Of course, plenty of you got hit by much worse in the storm of yesterday and the day before. Chicago and Cleavland and surround areas seem to have been whacked badly as it seems so too was northern PA. With more snow promised for some places tomorrow and Tuesday, it sounds like getting to work then will not be a joy. For me today, it should be pretty easy on the highways. The local streets will be another story as they are pretty icy - yes even a 1/4 inch of ice can make it tough to drive. I always get a kick out of the nuts in their SUVs. They think they can drive faster because they have 4 wheel drive. As my brother pointed out years ago, these folks in SUVs seem to forget that they may have to stop on dusty, wet, snowy or icy conditions and it just will be harder, much harder, to do so because they were driving too fast. So if you ever wondered why you hear about so many accidents involving SUVs, well it's probably not the fault of the vehicle.

Me I plan to be careful driving today. Stay safe.

All the best,
Glenn B

For Around Here It Snowed A Lot...

...but looks like a little, I guess because it started to rain a few hours ago. When I got up at o515 hours this morning the snow had to have been about 4 inches deep, and everything around my house was completely covered even the pine tree in the pic to the right. (The pic was taken hours later after it had rained for awhile and lots of the snow had melted.). It was coming down hard too, straight down no wind, not even much of a breeze. I took one look and figured it was steady and hard enough to mean that there would be at least several more inches on the ground before it stopped. So since I was already up at that ungodly hour, I decided to take shovel in hand and get to it. I don't have all that much to shovel, but I make sure I do a good job and get as much as I can off the sidewalk, driveway, front and side walkways, stoops, and side patio. Took me a while, so thank goodness it was cold enough for the snow to be on the lighter side. Once I was done with my property, I did the side of my neighbors house. Shovelling that is probably as much as all of my property combined. I was going to do the sidewalk along the front of his house too, but the old back injury started to pain me, so I figured it was time for a break. I went inside, and took a rest.

After a few more hours or so I headed back out to shovel some more. How nice, someone had been out there and done most of it for me a second time, so it left me with only an inch or two of snow on my sidewalk. I got to it, got that off, and then hit my neighbor's house and got all of his done (someone had also done his and he only had about an inch on the ground). Looking at it all I realized there must have been 7 to 9 inches on the ground where no one had shoveled. I also realized something else, it was raining, probably had been for a while, a steady light rain or drizzle. The little bit of snow that was left was heavy. Ouch there went the back again. I called my boss and banged in sick. Heck it was noon already by the time I got back inside to call! Whoops.

Later on I decided to go out and take another look, and try to see how deep the snow was in a few places where no one had shoveled. I dipped a ruler a few times, and each time it came up between 6 to 7 inches. Since that it had warmed up a bit and rained for several hours already a lot of the snow had already melted. I suppose my earlier guess of an overall snowfall of 7-9 inches was correct. I'll have to see what I can get out of the weatherman later on this evening.

Tonight promises more snow, or at least the weatherman promises more. More on the way for tomorrow too. I only hope the wet ground does not freeze hard, and then get snowed on. That makes for difficult shoveling, slippery footing, and treacherous driving conditions. As for right now, the rain has stopped, the temp seems steady, and it looks like a winter wonderland outside. So am I out there having snowball fights, building snowmen, or sleigh riding - heck no. I am inside where I can enjoy the warmth, have a cold one, and let the Aleve do its wonders for my aching back. With any luck my son will be home before anymore white stuff covers the ground, and it will be his turn to shovel next.

All the best,

Glenn B

Global Warming Slamming Us This Winter

I suppose that is what the warming theorists, and the politicos like Al Gore, would have us believe. Then again, just the other day I heard the head of Green Peace (I think that is who they had on a FoxNews video), saying that global warming was quite possibly responsible for the ice storm in the Midwest of the USA. Tomorrow here in western Long Island we are expected to get some bad weather. Now according to whom it is that you listen, such as 1010 WINS Radio, we are going to get 'from 1 to 5 inches of snow between 0900 (9AM) and about 18900 (7PM), frozen, rain and snow' - or, if you read MSN's weather report we are going to have: "Day: Definite light rain with snow and ice pellets (sleet) and patchy fog. High 35F, humidity 65%. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Night: Chance of light freezing rain with snow and ice pellets (sleet). Low 31F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Boy that sounds pretty much alike. Two different media outlets are saying we will have a crappy day, and they both say that a bit further north will be worse. Even the National Weather Service (see: http://www.weather.com/maps/news/forecastsummary/36hrfloaterqpf_large.html?from=wxcenter_maps) predicts at least 1-3 inches of snow on the ground in NYC and western Long Island (and up to about 6 inches in some places on Western LI), and from 6 up to 12 inches of white stuff on the ground just north of NYC; and guess what - the date of this winter storm (as they are calling it) is predicted to be December 13, 2007.

Now from 52 years of experience, most of which I have had a grasp of after 4 or 5 years of age, I can say without a doubt that snow this early in the season, in these amounts, is pretty unusual for our area. So on what can we blame this phenomenon - I would imagine we can blame it on Global Warming, but then again I am no junk scientist, I am not a failed politician, I am not the head of an ultra kooky green group - but I'd bet that would be their explanation. Heck, I am just a regular guy who is surprised that it is going to snow before Christmas; and one who hopes it does snow just about an inch on Christmas. That would be nice; and if such is what we can expect due to Global Warming, then I am all for climate change. Bear in mind - snow over the winter is good. In the spring it melts, the melted water runs off to streams, and into lakes and reservoirs, and into the oceans. Full lakes are good for fish, and for human fun. Full reservoirs are good places to get drinking water. A full ocean is good for fishing, swimming, surfing, and boating, and plenty of other fun things. It seems we cannot go wrong if Global Warming is causing all this snow and ice, let's hope it keeps it up all winter (well not so much so that it screws people over in the Midwest, but enough so there is plenty of melting water in the spring to feed our reservoirs).

Now Global Warming may be for real, and its causing snow may be the result, but if such is the case, there is something very strange about all of this for which I as a rational sort of a guy just do not understand when I re-listen to the Global Warming theories of a year ago, even 6 months ago, or 3 months ago - and then compare those to the ones of very recent days that try to explain away this white cold stuff. Go figure, I guess I should have paid better attention in science class in my school days.

All the best,
Glenn B