Lake Effect Snow

[AzureKnight]

So this is what I woke up to today.  That box is my caged in square foot garden and stands a little over 4 1/2 feet high.  We basically have 3-4 feet across my entire yard and it isn't even remotely slowing down.



For the record I live in the suburbs east of Buffalo (Cheektowaga).  My brother a few miles north has a dusting....gotta love when a lake effect band stalls in place.

I live on a corner and the main road hasn't seen a plow since yesterday, the secondary road I am on has yet to see a plow at all so my roads are just as bad.  Luckily I can work from home.

[Slippyblade]

Holy crap - sorry to hear.

We're getting pretty cold for this time of year as well.  This morning I had to put a jacket on!

[pbj]

Better you than me.

[Karpro]

That is amazing. I'm an hour up the road in Rochester and we have bare grass, sunny just cold.

[HaRuMaN]

No thanks, I'll take 118 in the summer over that crap.   

[yotsuya]

No thanks, I'll take 118 in the summer over that crap.   

Quoted For Mutherfucking Troof!

[ChadTower]

I'll take some snow over a rattlesnake under my chair and a scorpion in my boot.  Kthx.

[yotsuya]

I'll take some snow over a rattlesnake under my chair and a scorpion in my boot.  Kthx.

I've lived in Arizona for 41 years and have seen neither instance (nor do I wear boots). Enjoy scaping ice off your windshield and digging out your car while I grill burgers wearing shorts on Christmas Eve. 

[AzureKnight]

I lived in Sedona for a little over 2 years.  I hate bark scorpions, our first rental house was completely infested with some kind of big furry spider, almost the same body size as a tarantula but longer legs.  Bleh.  In the end we got really sick of the endless sun and missed the four seasons.

I was born in the Buffalo area and came home due to family.  It has it's ups and downs, today is a down....I'm about to go find my driveway.  Wish me luck, if I never post again they'll find my frozen remains in the spring.   

[yotsuya]

Wish me luck, if I never post again they'll find my frozen remains in the spring.   

Can I have your watch when you are dead?

[Karpro]

The beauty of buffalo is they announced the hockey game is still a go tonight!

[yotsuya]

The beauty of buffalo is they announced the hockey game is still a go tonight!

Brett Hull is STILL in the crease, eh.

[ChadTower]

There is no substitute for being able to keep beverages cold just by sticking them on the porch.  So handy.

[HaRuMaN]

I like baking cookies on my dashboard...

[jdbailey1206]

ChadTower for the win!  Here in Michigan we get every kind of weather during all the seasons.  You put up with it and it is nice not having to shuffle through all the wine coolers your wifes goofy friend brought to the party just to get to a cold one in your own fridge when you can go outside and pick up your beer from the snow and enjoy yourself.  Definitely a plus.  I've never heard anyone yell to their buddy out west "Grab me a beer from the sand.  This one just boiled away in my hand."   

[yotsuya]

ChadTower for the win!  Here in Michigan we get every kind of weather during all the seasons.  You put up with it and it is nice not having to shuffle through all the wine coolers your wifes goofy friend brought to the party just to get to a cold one in your own fridge when you can go outside and pick up your beer from the snow and enjoy yourself.  Definitely a plus.  I've never heard anyone yell to their buddy out west "Grab me a beer from the sand.  This one just boiled away in my hand."   

We don't have sand in the cities, dummy. We're not Saudi Arabia.

And if we want to play in the snow, we drive north 2 hours. Come home, strip down, and go swimming. Win. 

[Vigo]

ChadTower for the win!  Here in Michigan we get every kind of weather during all the seasons.  You put up with it and it is nice not having to shuffle through all the wine coolers your wifes goofy friend brought to the party just to get to a cold one in your own fridge when you can go outside and pick up your beer from the snow and enjoy yourself.  Definitely a plus.  I've never heard anyone yell to their buddy out west "Grab me a beer from the sand.  This one just boiled away in my hand."   

We don't have sand in the cities, dummy. We're not Saudi Arabia.

And if we want to play in the snow, we drive north 2 hours. Come home, strip down, and go swimming. Win. 

[yotsuya]

I think you ---maternal-smurfs--- need to sit down and get schooled by LeVar Burton.... 

[jdbailey1206]

[pbj]

Yeah, I remember snow.  We used to take my wife's Miata everywhere because it was lightweight enough for me to push it when it got stuck.

 

Friend of mine jokes that the only thing northerners do better is drink.  Every post on this thread defending snow cities involves the convenience of cold beer laying out in the open.  I'll stick with the beer fridge on the back porch.

[Karpro]

[AzureKnight]

I survived, my triceps hate me though....

I got to the road and it is under 5 feet of snow.  But at least now when they dig it out I will have a head start on the driveway.

As for cold cities...I've lived in Sedona, AZ as well as Seattle, WA. 

The dessert is alright, but I tired of the endless sun.  I also didn't care for having to run from AC location to AC location in the summer and to be honest I missed greenery, grass, trees (although the saguaro cactus are pretty cool).

Seattle was really nice, had seasons but they were milder.  The mold was the big drawback there, the endless humidity and rare freezes means they grow mold EVERYWHERE.

Buffalo...yeah, it has lake effect snow and that gives the city a bad rap.  It does suck, sometimes winter is really long.  But my family and friends are here.  So it wins.  As for the Sabres game, from what I have heard downtown has about an inch or two.  Absolutely nothing really.  That is the funny thing about lake effect, it is a snow machine and when a band stalls it just dumps and dumps on one spot.  Today I lost the game 

Karpro...that image is hilarious and true 

[Generic Eric]

Used to get lake effect from Lake Michigan

[yotsuya]

As for cold cities...I've lived in Sedona, AZ as well as Seattle, WA. 

See, living in Sedona isn't the same as living in Phoenix. Did you run a gift shop selling chakra enhancers or mental pyramids? Harmonic Convergence '87 t-shirts?

[Vigo]

Up here, we have had nothing but Sub-Zero weather

[AzureKnight]

As for cold cities...I've lived in Sedona, AZ as well as Seattle, WA. 

See, living in Sedona isn't the same as living in Phoenix. Did you run a gift shop selling chakra enhancers or mental pyramids? Harmonic Convergence '87 t-shirts?

Hehe no, I am a computer programmer so I was able to work for a company remotely.  I did a lot of mountain biking and hiking though.  Phenomenal trail system they have there and I got really spoiled. 

For those of you that don't know Sedona is a scenic resort town in northern Arizona surrounded by red rock walls and spires, it is nestled in a canyon of the plateau that holds the grand canyon.  Surrounded by national forest the town cannot get any bigger 10,000 people and estimated 5 million tourists a year.  Out of the 10k locals you have 1/3 new agers ( supposedly Sedona has vortexes and is the heart chakra of the planet), 1/3 is original locals that hate everyone else and the remaining 1/3 is split between illegal Mexicans and the ultra wealthy movie stars, CEOs, etc.  Property values were insane when I was there, a small standard 50 x 100 suburban lot with a 40 year old TRAILER was $400,000.  Rentals were cheap though.

My wife has strong leanings in the new age direction...she thought most of those people were largely insane.  She apparently doesn't lean all that far.

I'll let Google handle the images:


As for the snow here, it finally stopped over us at over 5 feet.  But we have warnings again tonight as the band just drifted north and is hitting the city/northtowns.  Last night I got a huge crack in my ceiling.



Some idiot who owned the house put in a 2x4 from the roof to an unsupported part of the ceiling.  I had to shovel a lot of snow off the roof last night and a lot more today.  Then I'll address the structural issues in the attic...

[yotsuya]

Be safe, bro! 

[deadmoney5]

The beauty of buffalo is they announced the hockey game is still a go tonight!

Brett Hull is STILL in the crease, eh.

Being from MN...this hurts.

Norm Green SUCKS!

[deadmoney5]

Yeah, I remember snow.  We used to take my wife's Miata everywhere because it was lightweight enough for me to push it when it got stuck.

 

Friend of mine jokes that the only thing northerners do better is drink.  Every post on this thread defending snow cities involves the convenience of cold beer laying out in the open.  I'll stick with the beer fridge on the back porch.

I've lived in MN my whole life..When I was growing up, i loved the winter.  Played hockey outside until I was around 25.  However now that I'm 44, I hate MN winters.  Unless you live 5 miles from work, driving is a ---smurfing--- disaster with ANY kind of precipitation.  Also nothing like not seeing the sun for 6 months because it's grey and cloudy all the time.  Throw in 6 months straight of being below 30 degrees, it'a just joyous.  Hell last year it was BELOW ZERO for 60 ---smurfing--- days..seriously?

If it wasn't for family, I would have left for Tampa with my friend 10 years ago.  He is still there and NEVER comes back to MN.

So yeah..not all of us defend the cold like it's some rite of passage...

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---smurfs---, though.

[yotsuya]

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---saint's minions---, though.

That's why we have all these ---maternal-smurfs--- from Boston and Detroit and Chicago moving here. Does the toughness just wear off?   

[deadmoney5]

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---saint's minions---, though.

That's why we have all these ---maternal-smurfs--- from Boston and Detroit and Chicago moving here. Does the toughness just wear off?   

yes...especially in MN when you could care less about hunting and fishing.

[pbj]

When we moved back from St. Louis, a desk clerk at a hotel in Hillsboro (we didn't quite make it to San Antonio in one shot) takes one look at my Missouri ID, asks if I'm from there, I say no, two years was enough for me.  She says, "yeah, I'm from Missouri.  I'LL NEVER GO BACK.  My family knows that if you want Deborah at your funeral, don't die in winter.  Here's your room key."

Man, as bad as St. Louis gets it, Chicago gets it worse in the same direction.  Winter and summer. 

But, hey, more Texas for me.

[jdbailey1206]

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---saint's minions---, though.

That's why we have all these ---maternal-saint's minions--- from ...Detroit...moving here. Does the toughness just wear off?   

No they were just never tough enough to handle the snow and ice and those were the little bitches that always ended up in the ditch at the first sign of snow.  They got in the way of those of us who had 4 wheel drive and knew how to handle 1/2 inch of snow.  Glad they moved out of the state.  Enjoy 'em Yots.   

[AzureKnight]

 

[Vigo]

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---saint's minions---, though.

That's why we have all these ---maternal-saint's minions--- from ...Detroit...moving here. Does the toughness just wear off?   

No they were just never tough enough to handle the snow and ice and those were the little bitches that always ended up in the ditch at the first sign of snow.  They got in the way of those of us who had 4 wheel drive and knew how to handle 1/2 inch of snow.  Glad they moved out of the state.  Enjoy 'em Yots.   

On the road, those kind of drivers are a much bigger hazard than the snow. There is not much you can do when you are at a stop light and the moron behind you assumes he can stop his car from only 20 feet away. Best defense is honestly having the bigger car with a strong bumper.

And speaking of cars, about the biggest thing I am jealous of you desert folk is the fact you can drive with classic cars year round. If you dare have a classic car up here, be prepared for it to turn to rust if you don't put it into storage during the winter. We are all forced to bathe our cars in a mixture of salt and ice for 6 months of the year.

[Slippyblade]

And speaking of cars, about the biggest thing I am jealous of you desert folk is the fact you can drive with classic cars year round. If you dare have a classic car up here, be prepared for it to turn to rust if you don't put it into storage during the winter. We are all forced to bathe our cars in a mixture of salt and ice for 6 months of the year.

You can ride a motorcycle year round here as well.  Don't lay it down in the summer though, the road  rash becomes a minor thing next to your flesh grilling on the asphalt.

[Vigo]

I do like riding my motorcycle as well and it is a thing of sadness when I have to winterize the bike and put it away for the next 6 months.

[deadmoney5]

we are much tougher than you West Coast ---saint's minions---, though.

That's why we have all these ---maternal-saint's minions--- from ...Detroit...moving here. Does the toughness just wear off?   

No they were just never tough enough to handle the snow and ice and those were the little bitches that always ended up in the ditch at the first sign of snow.  They got in the way of those of us who had 4 wheel drive and knew how to handle 1/2 inch of snow.  Glad they moved out of the state.  Enjoy 'em Yots.   

Actually the ---smurfs--- with 4 wheel drive think they can still drive 80 on the snow and ice...I see more of them in ditches here.

[jdbailey1206]

And speaking of cars, about the biggest thing I am jealous of you desert folk is the fact you can drive with classic cars year round. If you dare have a classic car up here, be prepared for it to turn to rust if you don't put it into storage during the winter. We are all forced to bathe our cars in a mixture of salt and ice for 6 months of the year.

This.

Actually the ---saint's minions--- with 4 wheel drive think they can still drive 80 on the snow and ice...I see more of them in ditches here.

Definitely.  People are either too cautious or not cautious enough. 

All this talk of snow is aggrevating.  I'll be back after a word from our sponsors.

[Vigo]

Only time I ever saw a vehicle fly Dukes of Hazard style was a 4WD truck over a median during a snowstorm.

[AzureKnight]

Rt 400 is notorious here, it runs through an area that generally gets a lot of snow and white outs.  Driving down that you will see a regular assortment of vehicles in the ditch.  I would have to say a large number of them are SUVs and a few cars.  Just because you can go doesn't mean you can stop or steer if the need arises...that to me is the biggest key to driving in the snow, as stated above, not too fast, not too slow.

[pbj]

Remember, it's never the guy talking, it's all the OTHER idiots on the road.  Always.

[AzureKnight]

Remember, it's never the guy talking, it's all the OTHER idiots on the road.  Always.

 

[eds1275]

I pulled a tow truck out of a snowbank after he got stuck trying to pull a car out of a snowbank last winter. My pickup truck is nothing special. But for some reason, everyone forgets how to drive safely in snow.

[dkersten]

The only problem with winter here is after the first snow, everyone drives about 2 mph because they forgot how to drive in icy conditions or haven't gotten their tires swapped out for the winter yet.  Well, either that or the idiots who got their first 4wd over the summer and think that just because they can accelerate faster means they can drive the speed limit. 

Where we are at in Montana is actually not too bad.  We get 4 seasons, although Spring and Fall are really just a couple weeks where Summer turns to Winter and vice versa.  Weather can change fast here though, so the motto is "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes".  Two weeks ago it was a solid 75 degrees every day.  Last week it was -17.

Thing is, as cold as it can get, it averages around 30 degrees in the winter, and it is dry here, so it isn't as bone chillingly cold as it is in MN at the same temp.  In the summer it is usually around 80, but late July and August 100 degree days are not unusual.  Again though, with 20-35% humidity it isn't all that bad.  May-June and usually September are the best times to just sit out on the deck for hours and soak in the perfect temperature.  Sometimes Thanksgiving is as wintery as it can be, and others it is still 60 degrees and a great day to be outside.

Ideally, I would love to find a place that is a little warmer when it comes time to retire, the cold affects me more each year.  But I really don't like AZ (folks got a winter home in Phoenix area), I don't like high humidity or bugs all that much, and while areas like northern California seem ideal for climate, there are just too damn many Liberals there, lol. 

So I figure every place has it's downsides, just make the most of where you live and enjoy it when you can.  I wish I loved hunting, fishing, and skiing because I would be way happier here.  But in the end I love staying home and holing up in my house more than just about anything, so it really doesn't matter much what the temp is outside.  A big snowfall just means we have to spend more time shoveling and leave earlier for work.  I mentioned in another thread that we had a few 2-3 foot falls last year but nothing closed and it barely slowed anyone down.  My Ford Edge drives on the worst ice like it is dry pavement, so aside from being more cautious and watching out for the idiots who think 4wd means they can go fast, I no longer sweat the icy stuff.

stay safe out there in NY..

[pbj]

A little chilly on the coast today.

 

[Locke141]

It was 93F today in Dar Es Salaam and will be above 91 all week and we are just getting in to the wet season. In a few week temp above 100F with unbearable humidity will be the norm. Being from Long Island originally and not seeing any snow for two years I can say I would rather be shoveling a driveway right now.

[dkstanson]

Up here, we have had nothing but Sub-Zero weather

Lol, this is funny ! Sunshine is still good here and it's warm here for last couple of days.

[yotsuya]

Lol, this is funny ! Sunshine is still good here and it's warm here for last couple of days.

Yeah, I put on pants today for the first time since Wednesday.