Well goodness golly gracious that escalated quickly. Seriously I keep waiting for the numbers to drop severely and they just haven't. I promised you all a write-up today so here we go although this might be a tad rushed (I have class in half an hour).
The short and the long of this is, as I explained in the other thread, that we're looking at a winter storm of epic proportions. I've been holding off on pulling the trigger on this, to wait for it to really zero in but things are starting to align and frankly...its bad news for you snow haters in Blacksburg and up the Shenandoah valley. The Euro is still being a little bold with its predictions, throwing some numbers out there around 20"-30" of snow, which is usually shot down by the GFS but the GFS has jumped right on board as well; running predictions for our area around 20". If these numbers hold up, snowfall accumulation could easily hit this range, even if it tapers off a good bit, its still going to cause some serious issues. While it hasn't completely zeroed in quite yet (more on that in a second) its looking like the low is going to push most of the snowfall up our beloved Shenandoah valley making everyone from Blacksburg to DC ride the struggle bus for travel arrangements.
all aboard
There is a silver lining however, as the low has not made landfall yet
Here's an image of the storm we're keeping tabs on
look at that a pretty little track and everything! thanks NWS
As you can see he's (or she) is still chillin out in the Pacific ocean. Once this bad boy makes landfall is when we're really going to start seeing all of the data zero in and the models to really make some realistic and logical predictions. However don't expect the storm to suddenly disappear, the potential is all there for this to be a very bad system, from the track of the storm, the deep layer of saturation, the temperature...its all ready to be quite the doozy so I wouldn't bank on it falling through. The next run of model data (9 utcish) should have the system making landfall and giving me much more reliable numbers to really make a good forecast.
What this means for travelling... BAD ...very very very BAD. seriously anybody who thinks they can drive through 30" of snow is kidding themselves. even for areas that aren't falling on the bullseye (lookin at you virginia beach) you're still probably looking at a couple of inches of snow and a couple of inches of rain...yeah you read that correctly A FEW INCHES OF RAIN. (this is of course if you obey the overlord that is the European model)
hold on to your butts
The GFS paints a slightly different picture, its been see sawing on rain for most of the area (temperatures dont get low enough naturally) and painting the bullseye over Richmond (giving Richmond the largest snow event of recorded history). The Euro has been much more reliable for me in the past, and has now wavered much in its forecast this time around, I have a good deal of trust in it right now, and the GFS does seem to be trending towards snowfall just in a different region. By any means I completely and totally expect snow at this point next week, the number and just how out of hand and ridiculous this storm gets is another story. expect the big numbers to come out tonight and tomorrow that really paint a picture of what we're looking at but I'd definitely get that ramen and TP ready. Also PS if you dont have a damn snow shovel learn from my mistake and go get one, cleaning out your car in 30+" of snow is not fun with a freaking pizza dish
eshiben5 out!
one more quick blurb. Friend of mine just sent me this, the latest Euro ensemble run!
Quick edit, forgot to mention this puts us around the 20" of snow range!
Comments
Wooooohooooooooooooo!
As someone with AWD, the ability to work remote if need be, and no driveway, the more the merrier.
Bring it on!
Awd won't help much in 30". Need that 4wd with ground clearance and lockers. No Awd vehicle is gonna plow thru 30"
Silly question: what is the difference between AWD and 4WD?
Its not a silly question, its something many people misconceive. 4WD is power from the engine being delivered to all 4 wheels independently while AWD just has power sent to the front and rear drive axles independently. While AWD is typically better than front-wheel and most certainly rear-wheel in snow, 4WD is even better.
Another misconception is AWD versus good snow tires. A good set of snow tires on front wheel drive is much better than any AWD car with regular tires. A materials engineer could explain the difference in the freezing temperatures of the rubber types and its effects on traction with snow.
Thanks. Got a '15 Subaru Forester with Yokohama Geolanders. Handled perfectly and like a charm last year. Recently got the rear-right inflated and sealed (flat). Was thankful I didn't have to replace ALL of them.
I'm looking to get a Forester this year. Would you recommend?
Absolutely. Though I would not recommend the most basic or the Limited (unless that's your thing). I'd recommend premium.
Thanks McGruber! This weekend's storm could send me to get one sooner rather than later. Although last weekend was a good fuel for the argument - bottomed my Elantra out while trying to get to the parking lot for my hike.
I was in the market for a CSUV and I test drove the Forester. The tech in Subaru is awesome, their EyeSight technology (which slows you down if you get too close to someone if you're using cruise control) is amazing. I also have a buddy who was a VT ME who was on the Formula team and he swears by their value and off roading capabilities.
I don't like the look of the car, I'm not a big fan of the station wagon look, and I found the seats to be pretty uncomfortable, but they're definitely quality cars that perform very well in adverse conditions.
Thanks Hammer- yea, I was researching the EyeSight technology and it sounded pretty amazing stuff. 5 years ago, I wasn't much on the station wagon look, but now it has grown on me, along with the feasibility of having a large area when the seats are folded down.
Depends on what you're looking for of course, but my sister and I were both buying around the same time so we discussed most of the CSUVs in depth.
She works for St. Jude's and has a car stipend so she had more money to work with and ended up going with the Ford Escape with all the bells and whistles. I got the Mazda CX-5. She needed AWD to be able to get to the hospitals around VA that she works for and I needed room for my dog, snowboards, camping stuff etc. and decided to go with AWD since I travel quite a bit.
Good luck! Car shopping can be a huge pain in the ass but once you get through that new car smell makes it all worth it.
This is me too. Thanks for recommendations! Car buying can be a pain, but yes- well worth it once you find the one that works best.
what put the CX-5 over the top for you compared to the Forester? I've been doing a little research on small SUV's and the previous gen (2011-2013) Forester and the 2013-2015 CX-5 have both made the short list.
I set out to buy a '15 this year, as I was hoping to get a good deal as the '16s were coming in. The '15s were all gone but I ended up liking it so much that I got a '16.
My main issue with the Subaru was comfort, the seats were not comfortable at all in addition to not liking the station wagon look. All depends on what you need, Subaru has better off-roading capabilities and will probably be better in bad weather (though it probably has a lower clearance) and some really cool tech.
I can't really speak to the '15 model of the CX-5 but I would encourage getting the 2.5L if you go with the CX-5, the 2.0L needs a little more pickup.
Since you're in NOVA, I had a great experience at Browns Mazda (I went to Fairfax but there's an Arlington one as well). Avoid Rosenthal at all costs, they're horrible.
Thanks, I will keep that in mind when I do some test drives over the next couple weeks!
1994 JEEP Wrangler here with 33X12.50 Yokohama Geolander AT/S and they are hands down the best snow tire out there. I had to run the wife all over Roanoke in 13" of snow thinking I was in 4WD when low and behold i got stuck in a 3' drift and upon inspection my pressure switch was hangin loose under the hood. I plugged it back in and pulled right out in 4WD. I kicked it back into 2WD just for shits and giggles and more of the same. Never slipped or drifted. Its a 4 banger so I wasn't muscling my way around. They are calling for 16"-26" here in the valley so lets get it on!
I'm legitimately disappointed you don't drive a red miata like MacGruber.
"KFBR392"
This is mostly accurate. This might be lengthy, so take a deep breath before continuing.
The difference I'll add is this. 4WD vehicles don't actually send power to all 4 wheels independently. 4WD vehicles have differentials on both axles and a transfer case which can either send all of the power from the engine to one axle (most commonly the rear one) or send equal amounts of power to both the front and rear axle. This guarantees that at least one wheel on each axle will receive power. This is where differential lockers are a key part to a 4WD system. The differential locker prevents the differential on the axle from sending unequal amounts of power to both wheels on the axle. Without the lockers, or any limited slip system, theoretically all of the power can be sent to just one wheel. In this case, all of the power goes to 1 wheel per axle. Like most things, the power will seek the path of least resistance so when you're driving in slippery conditions (snow, ice, mud) if one wheel spins all of the power will go to that wheel instead of the wheel that has more traction. You need the power to go to the wheel with traction, not the one that is spinning.
AWD vehicles have a central differential instead of a transfer case. What this means, is that all of the power is distributed to each axle in un-equal amounts. I believe most AWD vehicles have central differentials which will limit the difference in power distribution to the axles but you're not going to get exactly even distribution without having a central diff locker. (I'll take a moment here to say that a lot of vehicles which boast "All Time 4WD" (like Toyota 4Runners) are really just AWD vehicles with a central diff locker...the locker, when locked, sends even amounts of power to both axles, just like a traditional 4WD vehicle would)...The theory here is that without any lockers or limited slip systems, theoretically, all of the power can be sent to just 1 of the 4 wheels. The key difference between AWD and 4WD is that AWD really only guarantees max power distribution to 1 wheel whereas 4WD guarantees max power distribution to 1 wheel PER AXLE, so 2 wheels total. Twice as many wheels guaranteed to get power. That's why 4WD is better for getting un-stuck in deep snow or muddy off-road tracks.
All that being said, the other key difference comes down mostly to semantics. Most companies who advertise AWD vehicles are putting cars with AWD systems on the road. They tend to be lower to the ground and lighter weight than typical 4WD trucks and SUVs. A 4WD vehicle is almost always going to have more size and weight and more ground clearance than vehicles billed as AWD. When it comes to driving in snow, or any off-road track, the more clearance you have over the ground, the better. Especially in deep, deep snow. At a certain point the amount of snow is so deep that you begin plowing through the snow as opposed to driving over top of it. When this happens, you need to have more power and that power needs to be distributed evenly to all the wheels if you want to maintain traction and keep forward progress. This is where 4WD vehicles have a distinct advantage over AWD vehicles. They generally have more ground clearance so they can handle deeper snow before getting to the point of plowing, and when they do get to that point they have more power distributed evenly to multiple wheels to maintain traction and forward progress.
AWD vehicles are terrific in bad weather conditions. In fact most AWD vehicles are better than most 4WD vehicles in normal driving conditions when it is raining. AWD is AWD all the time, whereas 4WD vehicles are only 2WD vehicles until the driver puts the vehicle into 4WD. It is bad to drive in normal conditions in 4WD so you don't want to be in that all the time. AWD vehicles will be just as good as any 4WD vehicle in snow all the way up until the snow gets so deep that the AWD vehicle starts to push the snow instead of drive over top. This is the point at which 4WD becomes better than AWD. When we're talking about 30" of snow you absolutely need 4WD instead of AWD.
Furthermore, 4WD vehicles are not all equipped with the "lockers" I keep referring to. In fact, most 4WD vehicles won't come stock with them. There are some auto-makers who have "automatic lockers" which are really just part time ultra-limited slip differentials and not true lockers. They do help performance to a point but they're not going to give the same advantages of a traditional locker. I think Jeep Wranglers come standard with lockers and I know that you can get them on the TRD Off-road packages on Toyota Tacomas (my preferred vehicle of choice). They can also be found on the high-end Range Rover and LR3. Outside of those 4 vehicles, though, I don't believe true traditional lockers are an option on very many other vehicles.
In summary, an AWD vehicle is absolutely great in the snow and certainly an equal to any 4WD platform until you start talking about really really deep snow (~12" or more). When the snow gets really deep and the going gets tough 4WD is going to be better for you than AWD but what you really really need is a 4WD vehicle with differential lockers to guarantee that all 4 wheels are getting equal amounts of power in order to maintain traction and forward progress through the really thick stuff. Obviously, tires play a much much more important role than most people will realize. Great tires on a front wheel drive civic could make that car a better snow car than crappy bald tires on a ford explorer.
Hope that helped.
TL;DR Tires are really important, but all things being equal AWD is great up to a point and 4WD is best suited for the really deep snow.
While you obviously sound like you know more about this subject than I do, my AWD car has two differentials, one front and one rear. It also has a transfer case. This conflicts with that you said...
Did you misspeak or am I confused?
What type of vehicle do you have? I may have to research your vehicle to figure out the difference.
The reason it's bad to drive in 4WD all the time is because when you take a turn all 4 wheels have to spin at different rates. The transfer case forces one wheel on each axle to spin at the same rate so when you take a turn it puts a ton of strain on the system. It's not ideal to drive like that in normal conditions. AWD systems get by this by having a central differential which will allow both axles to receive power in different amounts in order to more easily vary all 4 wheel speeds during a turn. Your vehicle may have a "transfer case" which has the capability to differentiate power distribution to the front and rear axles. In this case, it's acting effectively like a central differential even if the company doesn't refer to it as such.
EDIT: just looked (very very briefly) at the X-drive and BMW actually based the X-drive off of 4WD. They offered vehicles with 4WD in the 80s and the X-drive system replaced it. So it's probably more closely related to 4WD than AWD in that regard...again, I looked at it very quickly. Just thought that was kind of interesting.
I think its just a matter of definitions. I agree that the transfer case in my car more than likely differentiates the power distribution between front and rear while the differentials load the axles. I've got an x-drive bmw which is modeled to drive like a rear-wheel car and you can only feel the front wheels take over in less than ideal driving conditions (probably the transfer case redistributing power). My folks have a 4WD tacoma and I love that truck. If I had the choice, I'd drive that in the snow as it really helps getting in and out of 30"+ snow drift byproducts of VDOT's handy work.
Yeah I love my Tacoma. They're great 4WD vehicles. I have the 4 door with a short bed so the front-to-back weight distribution is better than most pick-ups (about 56-44) though it's no BMW. The Tacoma has
10"11.5" of ground clearance under the front skid-plate and about 9.3" under the rear differential. Without looking it up I'm guessing your BMW probably has about 3.5" of clearance...lol. Not all Tacomas have locking differentials, though. I have the TRD Off Road Package which offers a true mechanical locker on the rear axle (which is really all you need for most situations) and an electronic "modified" locker on the front. It's not a true locker but it works effectively the same way at low speeds. Jeep Wranglers are the only vehicles I know of off hand that still have solid front axles and mechanical lockers on both axles. They're not as comfortable to ride in but they're supposed to be more stout for off-road conditions. The shorter wheel-base is another advantage the Wranglers have. I would take a Tacoma over a Jeep every day of the week and twice on Sundays though. More reliable and less prone to breaking. Everyone I know who has owned a jeep and put more than 50K miles on it has had some issue with it. My truck, knock on wood, hasn't given me any serious problems and I've put almost 135K miles on it. Plus I can haul more stuff in the bed of my truck than you can in a jeep. For instance, last night on my way home from work I stopped to pick up a truck-load of firewood ahead of this snow storm we're getting. Couldn't have done that in a Jeep :POurs is the 2-door normal cab with the faux back seats. Its also the TRD off road package and I think has a Tacoma lift kit or something because it has extra clearance off the ground than the normal Tacoma. It was basically built for driving in snow and mud. I've never gotten stuck and believe you me, I've tried :)
I've had a few 4WD vehicles in my days of living in the mountains and towing boats, and I never saw any better truck in the snow than the '96 Dodge shortbed 1500 that I had until I moved away. The clearance was a good part of it, but the shorter wheel base was another big thing. I could climb a tree in the 4 Low granny gear, and I pulled several vehicles out of tough situations that had them stuck when I wasn't. When in Utah one year, I noticed the forest service had gone to that same truck for their back country patrols, for maneuverability and clearance reasons. Thing was a joy to own, usually, and I kept it for 13 years. Yeah, when things would be really dicey with deep snow, I'd add some firewood in the back to give it weight, but I lived on a gravel road off of a steep incline, and if anyone could get out for beer, it was me. Not sure what I'd drive today if I were to go back to a 4WD vehicle, but at the time, that Ram got me into and back out of anything I needed it to except for the one time I got hung up on a rock in my creek and had to beg for a neighbor's tractor to haul it out. That was on me, though.
Interesting
In Ford (late 2000's) AWD vehicles, like my Edge are 2WD and only switch to AWD when slip is detected.
http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/124-ford-edge-all-wheel-drive-awd/
The simplest way I've come with describing the difference between 4WD and AWD is this..
4WD = can be operated in a mode all four wheels get steady power, no matter how much slippage one wheel is having compared to the others.
AWD = all four wheels can get power, but how much each one gets varies based on which one(s) are slipping.
more detail....
Traditional 4WD vehicles have locked (or lockable) differentials that put a fixed % of total power to each wheel (e.g. 25% each). This allows jeeps to clamber over rocks when one wheel is off the ground and dig through mud where one or more wheels is spinning uselessly. Generally speaking 4WD vehicles can be operated in RWD mode for street driving, otherwise wheel hop would occur in turns. More advanced 4WD vehicles have fancy differentials that can toggle between locked mode for off-roading and open (or limited slip) mode for street driving, or even have limited slip differentials with adjustable amounts of "slip" (or openness).
AWD can mean a lot of things, but there's two main categories:
Full time AWD (Subaru, Audi Quattro) = all four wheels get power under normal conditions. Sounds kinda like 4WD right? Well these systems typically have "open" differentials front & rear to split power across the axle, plus a center differential to split power front & rear. This ensures each wheel can spin at different speeds (very helpful when going around a corner). A side effect of this is that if a wheel starts slipping (turns faster) it gets more power. Some more advanced versions of AWD systems have limited slip differentials that ensure that some minimum amount of power is going to each wheel, kind of like advanced 4WD, but usually this is aimed sports carts seeking performance gains on the road, not aimed at off-road peformance.
Part-time AWD (Honda, VW, etc) = only one axle is normally powered (usually the front) or there's a 95% - 5% split. This is accomplished with a multi-plate clutch system instead of a differential. This clutch can be controlled via mechanical means (see Honda CR-V early 2000's) or by computer using wheelspin sensors. Basically when the front wheels start slipping compared to the rear wheels, the clutch engages and gives power to the rear.
Traction control systems play a big role with AWD as well. Many open-differential cars (both FWD & AWD) utilize the ABS system to slow down a spinning wheel very quickly for very short periods of time to help it regain traction. This also has the effect of sending more power to the other drive wheel(s). Kind of a virtual limited slip differential. VW/Bosch calls this EDL or Electronic Differential Lock, even though it has nothing to do with the differential. These systems have varying levels of sophistication, and are generally great ways to avoid skids on slippery roads but not great in deep snow/mud.
oh yeah, I meant to say I agree 100% about tires... and winter/snow tires are so much better than all-seasons in snow/ice it's not even funny. I run a set of winter wheels & tires on my car, but unfortunately I only have 2" of ground clearance so it won't be much use this weekend :)
2" of ground clearance? What kind of car?
Indy racing car probably...those are RWD so I would advise against running that in the snow anyway
It's an '03 Jetta, lowered a good bit from the stock ride height on coilovers (among other modifications). Planning on picking up a small SUV for those "ground clearance required" type situations and eventually replacing the Jetta with more of a true sports car.
Nice. Back in the day, I ran a '97 Integra, Type R Swap with turbo, on Ground Control Coilovers.
I miss that beast of speed sometimes.
Nice, ricers dream right there. Only thing missing was the JDM/type R front end swap. I was a '94 myself had originally planned to frankenstein my motor but funds fell through. Wow that was well over 10 years ago.
the only way all 4 wheels can get steady power is through use of diff lockers....which you allude to here
but unfortunately most 4WD vehicles don't actually have locking differentials. Almost all 4WD vehicles on the market today can still be billed as 4WD because they send power to both axles and many (if not all) have some form of limited slip (referred to as all sorts of things like EDM or Auto-locking diffs) but they do not have true mechanical lockers. This is an important point because with the limited slip (or anything similar..they're all effectively the same) you still get a difference in wheel spin rate on the same axle (the "limit" refers to the maximum spin rate differential allowed before the diff locks temporarily to send power to the 'stuck' wheel) resulting in inconsistent wheel spin across all the wheels. When all of your wheels are spinning, but at different rates, you can still get stuck. Having true mechanical lockers (pretty much only found on Wranglers and Tacomas that I know of but can be purchased as an after-market addition for virtually any vehicle) eliminates that problem.
If you drive a vehicle made after 2000 and it has 4WD the chances are very good that you don't actually have the ability to send equal amounts of power to all 4 wheels simultaneously. You'll see those vehicles get stuck in a foot of snow and they'll have a wheel spinning on each axle. OR, if they have some variation of the limited slip differential they'll have a wheel start to spin and then stop spinning as the wheel on the other side of the same axle receives more power and then begins to slip itself. Now you have all four wheels alternatively spinning but none of them are getting STEADY power. The true mechanical differential locker is absolutely critical to have in these situations because it is the only way you can guarantee steady un-interrupted power going to all 4 wheels simultaneously, which is what you need for your best chance to get un-stuck.
The reason you don't see diff lockers very often anymore is because they're really only useful in very specific situations. They are heavier, more expensive, prone to having problems (more moving parts = more potential for failures) and if the user accidentally leaves the lockers locked they can cause some serious wear and tear and even damage the vehicle. The market for vehicles requiring such a mechanism is very small and the likelihood that a user is going to use that feature in the life-span of the vehicle is very low. Almost all 4WD and AWD vehicles will perform admirably in the snow and with the technology we have today with chemicals being put on roads to treat them and snow plows its pretty rare for someone to be driving in more than a foot of virgin snow. There isn't really a need for the lockers these days. BUT, if you find yourself faced with 20-30" of snow and need a vehicle that will get you through it your best bet is going to be a 4WD vehicle with true mechanical differential lockers. So you're pretty limited there.
there is a plow joke in there somewhere
Did you say Plow?
Double post, drink.
Well, yeah I'm not planning on taking on 30" of snow, it'll get plowed (at some point) and my AWD CX-5 is going to be a lot more useful than the Camry I traded in :)
Only TKP could go OT by talking about weather...then go further OT by discussion AWD vs 4WD....then go further, further OT by making car recommendations.
God I love this pla....WAIT...was that the ice cream truck??!!
nice Heisman house reference.
Hopefully all the recruits come Thursday or early Friday! If they get snowed in then they enjoy the facilities more!
Just in time for UVA to make their annual snow angel competition.
Did someone say #JustinTime??
AKA spring practice?
Any recruits from Buffalo or Minneapolis or Anchorage going to be in town this might help get them on board.
Pridgeon is from NY. Everyonse else is from the South IIRC
damn... the Shenandoah valley is about to get pummeled!
I might get a day or two off work. Nah, just write the water treatment plant report from the house.
You work water treatment in VA? I used to work water and wastewater in VA.
Consulting Civil Engineer. I work at all kinds of water and wastewater treatment plants evaluating conditions and designing improvements. Bluefield wants to go from 1.5 MGD to 2.0 MDG in next couple of years.
Oh ok, I know a couple of people who worked at Bluefield. I'm now on the regulatory side over in TN. DEQ equivalent
ALL ABOARD THE SNOWMAGEDDON HYPE TRAIN
I WANT A PREDICTION TO THE NEAREST INCH DAMMIT! Just kidding, I love this type of no BS weather reporting.
I'm calling 16" in Rockingham County and most of the valley.
Me right now....
Wow, thanks for this eshiben5!! I'm excited about watching all come together!!
And for a SNOW DAY!! :)
Do you predict major flooding in the Valley(s) in two weeks time?
Yes very good point with the up and down nature of temperatures this winter it could melt pretty quick. Also one of the severe weather guys thinks there might be a bad tornado outbreak in Texas preceding the storm
can we expect an update when the next euro model runs? 12 hour cycles are a killer...
oh hellz yeah
How does this effect the basketball game this weekend? On one hand I think it helps us bc maybe all students will get in free which creates a louder environment and more unc folks wouldn't be able to make the drive up to Blacksburg. On the other hand, we would also have folks that would not be able to make the trip up. Also, how much snow would cause the acc to consider a postponement?
Sorry Eshiben, you can take a break- we have Frankie on it ...
https://youtu.be/JYdmJDQKYcw
I seriously busted a gut on watching this one....funny as hell!
My God, seeing that video alone, made it worth visiting this thread!
Oh man, he spit on me...
I'm genuinely impressed how he can just keep on without even taking a breath.
So the storm has officially been named Winter Storm Jonas....
Jonas was always an asshole...
But it's also my favorite Guitar Hero song of all time.
That being said, it's probably going to be a good weekend for some Guitar Hero
Jonas , gonna be a biiitttchhh!
looks like just rain for me
You can play outside too! it'll look more like this though.
lol, we did end up getting about a half inch, most of it melted by noon yesterday though
As a kid, I loved snow days. My thoughts on the current situation:
Same here. Plus, isn't this really bad for recruiting? How else would we get these guys on campus with many of them having other visits lined up?
Yeah I think this is going to be bad for recruiting. They'll have a rough time getting to Blacksburg, I'm thinking.
We put a lot of eggs in this weekend's basket. It will be a complete nightmare; I honestly expect none of the recruits to make the trip. If some manage to get there, great, but I'm really bracing for a complete failure thanks to weather.
Agreed. This weekend was supposed to be special but I'll be shocked if anything comes out of it now.
It actually pisses me off.
Yup, the older you get the less magical it becomes.
Until you retire, then you say bring it on. I got an open agenda today.
It finally comes full circle
I'm a teacher coming back from 2 weeks off for Christmas Break, 4 day weekend for Lee-Jackson/ MLK Holidays and now this. I'm not doing shit for a week! Choo Choo Mother Freaker
Do we have an idea of when its going to start in the DC area?
Early afternoon on Friday
Here's hoping that Bristol will get some of this! There are major perks that come with being an occupational therapist in the county schools. I just hope none of the recruits have to cancel their trips or have an extreme aversion to occasional snow storms.
Maybe my nice Bermuda grass will turn green again when it rains all next week in South Carolina...
My area in NC is RIGHT where the blue and pink areas meet.
Our current forecast? 100% chance of snow, temps in the mid to high 30s. That is what I call "useless."
When is first snow fall expected in NOVA? Friday morning? Friday evening rush hour? How much do you think we would have on ground by Saturday morning?
I'm keeping an eye on this too - I commute from North Bethesda to Herndon for work. Depending on when the snow is scheduled to start, it may make more sense for me to work from home as opposed to dealing with the bridge back into bad driver land.
I also work in Herndon but commute from DC. I've already decided to not even try and drive to work on Friday, with a chance of being stuck out here. Snow or no snow, Friday will be a work from home day for me.
Herndon- Nice!
Yea, you're drive back into the city on Friday could be insane should you commute that day. Heck, the 1" they're calling for today will send people scrambling tonight.
In Leesburg they are expecting 24" by 5:30 pm Saturday.
Me and my Altima are ready!! In all seriousness it's a hell of a time to be starting a new job, can't miss that orientation.
waiting to answer questions for about another half an hour, next run should be out by then
Edit: I lied next run for the euro comes in at 11:50 for me CT check in the morning folks. For those of you still up I'll have a full post by midnight
My car slides even when its dry outside, think its best for everyone if I stay in.
20-30 inches? That's sounds gross, have fun with that.
- cheers from south Dakota
Ohio seconds that motion.
According to long range forecasts you should be veeeeery careful speaking up...
Gonna leave that as cryptic as I possibly can
When will the next model for the weekend storm run?
Already run, it's every 12 hours. It's sticking to its guns basically the only major update is Tennessee is getting a little more love from the storm
Hokie girl the threat has been upgraded to a foot in your direction
Everything else is maintaining previous numbers. Roughly 30" in da burg and 24ish in DC
If this tells you how sharp the cutoff is...
Richmond is currently looking at 16" roughly whereas Hampton is looking at 2" of rain I'd prepare for the worst either way. You guys are right on that cutoff
I'm in Greensboro area, family in Raleigh. Hard to tell where the lines are in NC. Any idea what what we get in each area?
Sounds like it's perfect setup for WinterWar 2016. Give them cadets hell!
It has already been scheduled on facebook for Saturday at 2pm!
Scheduled???
Such a battle is not scheduled...it just happens.
That is really disappointing. Part of the fun is the spontaneity of it and having the battle swing depending on word of mouth getting around...
If all the kids show up at one time they'll outnumber the cadets right from the start.
Yea, it's like the corp was the organized group that would come out and attack a few students, the students call for backup, and then the battle grows from there.
the spontaneity was the best part.
Tell that to the 1.5k people who rsvp'd.
Some drone footage from the event:
Back in my day, we didn't have drones to film the drillfield battles! Come to think of it, we didn't have many good snowdays, period, when I was undergrad...
Cool shots, and every time I see our campus, I wonder why I ever thought of graduating.
So this could get historic. Hold on to your butts....
DAT EURO.
As soon as I saw it my jaw straight dropped haha
holy hell took it long enough, alright sorry for the delay folks trust me ive been as frustrated as you....
This got ugly though, the storm didnt weaken at all, infact it seems to have strengthened what we already thought might happen and increased the "bullseye" radius
The euro's max model is punching out numbers around 33" for most of the state of Virginia (aside from chesapeake/VA Beach), on an average run its saying roughly 23" for most of the shenandoah valley. Hold onto your pants folks this thing is officially dangerous, look for news reporters to be losing their damn minds tomorrow.
Richmond is right on the cusp of "holy hell we got a foot of snow" and "ew wintery mix makes power line go down" DC and most of the shenandoah valley region is looking at 20+ inches of snow
Sorry hokie girl tennessee isnt getting pummeled quite like Virginia you're looking at roughly 7.5" of snow which is still respectable around the nashville area but nothing the scale and magnitude virginia is looking at right now
I'd expect the snow to start falling thursday evening probably aroooooound midnightish might be a reasonable guess with the real brunt of the storm hitting friday afternoon in da burg
In the DC NOVA area the Euro has the storm starting around 1 or 2 AM and even threw a little ice in once the snow passed to totally ruin everyones day (because who doesnt love some ice too right?)
as for the basketball game, wouldnt be surprised at all if it was rescheduled this is going to be brutal snow
as for peeps in NC look for snow on the western part of the state and as you transition further eastward a nice wintery mix to ice transition. Charlotte is looking at an inch of ice along with a few inches of snow according to my favorite model
I think that sums everyones questions up sorry for the delay! please post mucho pictures for me and keep me posted!
Holy hell indeed! Thanks for staying up and breaking down this impending super snowstorm, really appreciate it.
Almost wish I was still an undergrad to experience this one! The magnitude is just insane. Straight ridiculousness
Blacksburg had a massive 20"+ snowstorm in Feb. 2014. People were skiing down the streets in Foxridge!
my senior year, final semseter... good times were had by all!
This is my last semester! Hoping to go out with a another huge storm!
well enjoy it! IIRC, we had two or three "snow days" and a 4 or 5 day weekend in total. it was so dope. definitely stock up on drinks haha
I have a little frost in St Augustine this a.m. First time in 2 years. It's a little traumatic but I think we'll be okay.
I'm in Hampton roads (Langley AFB). What are we looking at? Thanks!
Sorry totes McGotes missed this. You guys will be mostly rainy sleety gross stuff. It might transition to snow at some point but I doubt you'll get more than an inch or two. Just A LOT of rain
Thanks for the reply!...but I'm said now.
Me too. I don't know why they won't let us play with the big kids :(
I know we must be the only college sports forum with our own real weather forecaster.
It's funny now, I see the forecasts on TV and such and I immediately think "Ah, I'll wait to see what eshiben5 says."
LOL!!! I have the exact same thoughts...I find myself looking at NOAA as just a courtesy more than anything. I've basically only been paying attention to what eshiben5 has to say.
Ditto for me., Weather Underground used to be really a good source, but since the Weather Channel bought them, they just aren't as good.
Eshiben, we appreciate you, man. Thanks
via GIPHY
Thank youuuuu.
I feel like they've taken a nose dive in reliability ever since, I noticed it even before I knew they were bought out.
and Underground used to just have this emo tone to it, it was like "I liked weather before it was cool", now its wearing its brothers leaterman jacket and smoking cigs just to fit in.
In beer terms, Weather Channel is like AB InBev, and they purchased Weather Underground, who is like Breckenridge Brewery or Blue Point or someone...
You guys are to kind
[Find eshiben post, click upvote]
Looks like State College is on the upper band of less snow than all y'all. Forecasts for us show significantly lower accumulation than those for y'all back in the fatherland, I think it's looking like 6 inches or so for us. Too bad, I was hoping to have at least a foot, it's been a while since I've seen a real solid snowfall.
As an adult, I still find snow fun.
Too late, I got them all!
Why does everyone make French Toast when it snows?
Because we need something French to show we surrender to the snow (no disrespect to my man 60wasp) and also it's delicious.
So I really do need some milk and eggs, among other things. I think I will try to hit the store this evening before the bulk of the crazies come out tomorrow.
I went last night to Kroger and Wal-Mart...both were damn near empty
Ok so I know plenty of you will hate me for saying this, but I think it's horse shit that va beach is going to get nothing. It's cold as balls out, we've already seen some snow, snowpocalypse is pounding the entire state, and we're not even getting a dusting. Dammit...
Absolutely do not hate you for that. I'm pissed as hell too. I freaking love the snow. It looks like the line is somewhere between Richmond and Williamsburg, so all of Hampton Roads is missing out on it. I'm hoping something happens to push the line further South East and out of VA.
x2 from here in Hampton!
Middle Peninsula here, we don't want no stinkin' snow. We still got some around from the other day. We live on a private lane that nobody plows and a decent snow just makes for a big mess. Besides that, nobody knows how to drive in the stuff.
Yeah...I grew up in Hampton and this is one of the times that make me glad I moved to Manassas.
I assume by your username you live on/near Langley? I grew up living < 5 min walking distance from the Armistead gate
I would be happy with a 'chance of ice' just to have an excuse to work from home. I could hopefully just use the excuse 'wellp Tunnel Traffic, you know' that seems to get by 30% of the time.
I'm 100% with you on the working from home angle. Throw in a dash of "I have a rear wheel drive car" and looks like I'm in the recliner all day
My philosophy: "My deductible is $500. I make less than $500 a day. One day of sick leave is way cheaper than wrecking my car plus I get to play. See you guys tomorrow!"
Edit: If that doesn't work, I throw in the tunnel traffic excuse too.
What sucks is that Mrs. HokieMcGruber and I are scheduled to depart from RIC this Sat to Orlando for our 3rd yr anni. Last time we departed RIC during a snowstorm it took nearly a damn 3-4 hrs for de plane to be de-iced.
Come earlier, stay later! Nights of Lights still going in St Aug. Come up and spend a night at a B&B off St George Street. Walk on the beach at Anastasia. Check out World Golf Village.
We (FL) need (and are happy to take) your money!
We're already staying there from the 23-31. That's what ya get.
Too slow on my edit above...
Hope you can get out safely and on time and have a great trip.
I should be sitting on a cruise ship when the heaviest part of the snow hits. Good thing we are leaving out on Friday, just ahead of the storm. Cheers to all and have fun and stay safe.
Insert Jack from Titanic joke here....
Already told my boss to not expect to see me Friday. Even if I could make it out (and I couldn't in all likelihood) I've driven in Roanoke when we've had an inch or so on the groundbefore, and I don't plan to fight the collective lunacy that gets into winter drivers here again.
All fun and games till you're one of the only guys in the neighborhood with a decent snow shovel
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I live in Shawsville. I'm hoping some of my new neighbors have some spare time to bring their farm tractors over to help a guy out.
Haha I work in Elliston. Hey Neighbor!! Sorry no tractor though...
Mine are sneaky pains in the ass. I have two that literally come out using their body to move the snow every year and one who uses a regular shovel and garden rake. My neighbor across the street shovels two tire wide lines the width of his car then goes up and down his driveway till he can get out.
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Oh and one genius uses a high grade leaf blower and blows his driveway!!
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My house and carport are an A frame...this happens on
a regular basis when it snows...sigh...
Back when Georgia got hit with record-setting snow in winter 2011? That guy right there was me.
Georgia is the only state where I have seen people abandon their cars in the middle of the road. No attempt to get it to the shoulder. Just abandoned. I'm not sure I will ever adjust to living in this state.
reminds me of this scene from Raleigh a couple years ago
How the heck does your car go up in flames in the middle of the snowstorm?!?
Burning rubber still happens on ice... don't spin your tires too long or else they will catch on fire.
I think we all know the real culprit
If you need something lit on fire in any conditions...
... I may be able to help.
/
I remember that day! Lived in Raleigh at the time about 3 minutes from where this picture was taken. I left work as soon as the flakes started falling as my coworkers laughed at the Yankee who's afraid of the snow. I felt completely justified after this picture came out.
I saw something like that yesterday on eastbound 40 in Raleigh - must have been in anticipation of the snow. Probably a toilet paper run gone awry.
Was supposed to fly back to DC from Raleigh on Friday evening. Needless to say I've changed my flight...
Not going to lie, after all the shit people say about Raleigh drivers and the snow, especially seeing a thread like this yesterday morning makes it especially gratifying to see this happen on your alls drive home at the end of that day due to a 1 inch dusting
Had a friend that left work in Reston at 7pm, commuting to Arlington (Clarendon) and it took her 6.5 hours to get home last night.
I left Herndon at 6pm and it took me 2 hours to make it to North Bethesda.
I grew up in Herndon/Reston with everyone commuting closer in to the city, so it blows my mind that people live closer in and commute OUT to Herndon. Since when did this become a thing?
I've been up here for 13+ years now and at least 5 of that was 'reverse commuting' out to Herndon from Crystal City. The beltway bandits have all put up office buildings in Reston, Herndon plus a number of office campuses along 28. A lot of times it is just a matter of where the client is based out of.
I work for a software company, so Herndon/Reston has become like a miniature Silicon Valley for the east. A lot of my coworkers live in Arlington, Tysons, DC, Alexandria, but just about an equal number live in Leesburg, Chantilly, or Centreville. It's an easy area to commute to given the reverse flow if you live in DC.
Hell, it apparently even took an hour to drive Obama the 13 miles from Andrews to the White House yesterday.
And that's against the traffic...
I went for a run yesterday evening and caught the very beginning of the snow. I was amazed (although I know I shouldn't be) at how quickly traffic backed up. Crossed the bridge from Rosslyn into Georgetown before the snow: normal traffic. Came back the other way as the snow started: traffic snarled up real quick.
Those snow flurries, they'll get after ya.
What's weird is that a one inch dusting happens at least half a dozen times a year in NOVA. This is nothing new at all.
Yep.
I've noticed that by the end of winter folks have somewhat adapted to it, but for some reason their memory banks get completely erased in the spring and the learning curve starts all over again every winter.
I live in Augusta Co. Looks like we're going to be ground zero. Good thing I have a Jeep!
Here here! I'm originally from Augusta Co. Stuarts Draft to be exact.
AC represent y'all!
May I recommend sledding at Coyner Springs Park near Waynesboro. It was always fun to watch all the near misses, bail-outs, and occasional head-ons playing dodge the chimneys on the hill down to the spring house. Or did they take those out when they remade the park?
I guess its safe to say no recruits will be coming in this weekend...
They will be in heart and spirit.
So glad I purchased that F150 in December...
you better stay at home, then. Would be a shame to slide that brand new truck into a ditch :p
That being said, it is a lot of fun to drive my 18 year old Mazda B4000 through 20" of snow. I wasn't sure it could do it until I tried. It was a BLAST!
I go to Roanoke College right down the road and am originally from good ole Martinsville so I love snow. Sadly we never cancel classes because a majority of our admin and student body are yankees. We didn't cancel at all last year. I'm hoping this will be divine intervention for everyone down here.
As a Salemite I have to remind you that our roads are heated and our road crews are top notch.
Wow, didn't even know that. I'm not on campus either, close to it though. I will say though the crews are awesome, the workers on the campus are too. I just enjoy snow days!
Martinsville represent. Cheers!
Once they declare a State of Emergency then no one has to go anywhere!
eshiben5, your forecasting is in line with WXRisk.com. Do you follow his forecasting? The way you 2 explain the models and everything is very similar. That and how you guys are predicting a much bigger event than the local news here in Richmond.
Don't follow him but I know of his stuff he's a pretty sharp dude
HAHA just checked out his page we use a lot of the same sources for our models...explains a whole lot, not sure if I'm allowed to post the images seeing as the euro site is behind a paywall but check out his most recent facebook post for the same images im looking at. compare and contrast
He posts them to facebook so pull them off facebook and its from a free source??
Man, my fiance's grandmother lives alone in Chesterfield and if power goes out, we have to go get her. It might be the smart move to just go get her before the power goes out when there could be plenty of snow on the roads.
It would definitely be smart to go get her before the snow!
That, and there's literally no good way from point A to point B in Chesterfield....everywhere you go, you're on a minimum of three roads. The folks that planned the county out did not believe in straight lines. (Who am I kidding, there was no planning around here...)
Anyone need to borrow this?
I think here in SC it be horrible!! It will be like 30 degrees!!! The humanity.
Nah, we need the Snowbine Harvester from Top Gear.
I could just dive right back into that show. One of my all time favorite TV shows.
"Ooooowwwwwww!" --Jeremy Clarkson
Endless upvotes for Top Gear. One of my all time favorites.
Just a superb, and highly entertaining show. I can't wait to see its Amazon incarnation. Their antics and banter are unlike anything else.
You could choose this heavily modified Hilux instead
ensemble model (average of several comp models) as of 3pm on 1/20.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZMOuRvUkAA7wuP.png:large
serious stuff
so, if I'm reading that correctly, 18-20" for DC?
That map is very hard to read. Maybe that's the point.
"All our pinks are very close in hue! Because we don't know what's going to happen!"
I'm still on board the high 20s in Nova mid 20s in southwest VA one redeveloping snowband could push it into the 30s REALLY easily
Augusta County: 18" to 24"?
I'm basically in DC. Might as well be. I'm on land that VA originally loaned to DC but later took back (which is why DC is no longer shaped like a nice diamond) but if I'm interpreting all of your comments correctly, I could be looking at over 2 feet of snow potentially?
zoinks!
You guys enjoy! Half an inch now, but my time will come!
Esiben5 how far south will the wintery mix go? Weather channel is saying it will be in upper 50's here in Myrtle Beach area but local channels are saying just west of us will see ice?
Doubt it'll get much further east than central SC and NC the coast I think gets a bunch of rain and that's it. You don't have anything to worry about
Eshiben, any update?
..... how bout now?
I'll do another update after another model run!
So.... How bout now?
i might be oversimplifying... but the NAM model is meh this far out (time wise), GFS is better, but the real deal will be when the EURO model comes out. probs in about 1.5 - 2 hours IIRC
Frankly im just not crazy over the NAM, its absolutely awful in winter weather stuff too
FINAL UPDATE: Welp here we go. The low is floating across Texas as we speak and should begin making its way through Louisiana and into the Carolinas/Virginia here in the next 24 hours or so. The Euro really hasn't shifted its forecast at all, and thus I'm not either in the Blacksburg area with snow coming in the mid 20s but easily topping 30" if things adjust properly (the storm reorganizes properly), storm will still hit late thursday night early friday morning, think after midnight kinda stuff. Its pretty impressive to me that its original forecast (numbers and all) have held up thus far
The storm is basically gonna completely poop on the I-81 corridor and leave a wake of snow in the mid 20s that once again could easily break 30 in the right conditions
The storm should get central tennessee pretty good and most of kentucky as well leaving possibly a foot of snow in areas
Central virginia will also get hit pretty hard, looking at a foot and a halfish maybe more. Richmond is still right on the cusp of totally screwed and rainy wintry mix so I'm really curious to see how that plays out. I would go with snow there as of now (foot plus) Hampton roads is in the clear still as of now and will probably see lots of rain with a nice chance of some wintry mixes thrown in.
The Carolinas might get a little ice in places but I expect it to be basically all rain, and a lot of it as that low hugs up the coast.
I tried to cover everywhere that people mentioned. If I forgot you please leave a comment and I'll be sure to give you a good forecast. The models are basically zeroed in at this point and itd take something extremely weird to throw them off! Stay warm and stay off the roads guys!
Also slight shoutout to the stormchaser up here, he totally called the potential for severe weather tomorrow (theres a moderate risk in Louisiana which is super rare for this time of the year). Dude knows his stuff...even if he is a hurricane alum...
also I just found this, god i miss blacksburg
1996 baby! was a killer storm
Blizzard of '96 was awesome. I remember it like it was only 19 years ago...
It was glorious! I sledded for at least a week straight!!
No school for a week or more. I feel old all the sudden tho...
Only a week? Blizzard of '96....I think New Year's was a Monday, so we went to school for the four days following (2nd-5th), and then we didn't go back until February.
I guess it depended on your location...All I remember is
a week. Also this was 20 yrs ago so my memory may not be
quite correct.
We had a week off up in here in PWC. I'll never forget it. We still laugh about "Martin Luther King
DayWeek."If I remember correctly, Prince William County schools had a full week off and then a week of two hour delays. I was in middle school at Stonewall at the time.
However, I also seem to recall a rainstorm coming in and wiping out most of the snow all at once, and I thought that the rain came pretty soon after the snow, so I might be hazy on the details.
I think there were a few days of delays, not sure if it was a whole week, though. It did rain like crazy the latter half of the second week and suddenly the snow was gone.
Looks like Loudon is the king of snow days:
per https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/04/18/s...
I remember riding around in my Eagle Premier with snow tires laughing at all the 4WD in the snow banks. Then heard a radio report that if you didn't have chains or a 4WD you shouldn't be on the road. I put in a tape.
DC?
With cars still stuck all over from a 1 inch storm, I don't think it matters how much or how little that area gets you are screwed.
lol...yeah as badly as I'd love to play in the snow with my truck, I'm not going to venture out in it. Everything will be grid-locked and I won't have any chance to really have any fun. I'll be sitting by the fire drinking alcohol and watching Netflix, probably.
That being said, I'm still curious how much eshiben5 thinks we're going to get. Afterall, the fiance entered a "guess-the total-snow-fall-amount" competition at work and there is a free cup of coffee on the line for her. She'd like to be the closest and anything over 26" will guarantee a win for her.
Yep. 295 was like a graveyard of ditched/wrecked cars this morning. Made traffic a nightmare.
Why pick two pinks so close together! Is that two circles of 36"+ or will it drop back down below 30" in those two areas?!? So frustrating. I may as well be color blind for most of these maps.
if you're referring to the two areas inside the red area, those are both 36-40" range. The pink area immediately surrounding the red is in the 24-30" range. Red, obviously, is 30-36"
36" plus for H'burg. The wife will freak!
You may well be, or more likely your screen isn't showing the colors properly. Mine shows the two circles clearly being more of a tan color for 36" with less than 30" being pinkish.
Huh, that's weird. To me, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg are in the same color, or pretty damn close to it. Both look like silly puddy.
The fact that any weather service relies on people to distinguish "salmon" from "medium beige" (going by the 128-color box of Crayola crayons I had as a kid) to determine several inches of difference in snowfall is absurd. The colors are different, but I can see how they are hard to distinguish. Why we don't have standard rainbow gradients for everything is beyond my comprehension.
I didn't get home last night. I got within 2 miles of my house (after a couple hours of driving), and there were too many accidents, treacherous roads, etc. Ended up going to my buddy's in who live right at I66/28 and put me up for the night. I gotta tell you folks, after living here a year, I've never seen anything like it.
The Virginia State Police reported this morning that they responded to 767 crashes across Virginia last night. Insane. Not sure how many of those were in NoVA vs. the rest of the state, but it's still amazing. And they were already on the scene of 33 crashes by 6 AM today, 24 of which were in NoVA.
Everybody seems to be shocked that such a small accumulation could be so severe. However, those conditions are about as bad as it gets, similar to freezing rain. A few inches would have been better. Add to it that it fell at rush hour and voila, chaos!
Yeah, the timing was brutal. Came through right during rush hour. The light, fluffy snow is also very slick to drive on and makes for chaos. The narrative is all "haha, idiots can't drive in 1 inch of snow" but there are a lot of other considerations. We do have tons of bad drivers around here, but it really was a "perfect storm" of bad events.
Yeah, ice is ice - it doesn't matter that it started out as an inch of snow.
Took me almost 7 hours to get home last night. 5 hours were spent on the 267 E Access Road, just trying to get onto 66. Watched a dude in a Pontiac Solstice spin out behind me - felt bad for him
In my experience, a good chunk of that was probably on 81 if they got hit with anything.
I find that as soon as the first snowflakes start falling, people driving on 81 suddenly decide they want new bumpers on their cars and choose the guardrails to be said bumpers. And their method of attaching them is to just slam into them.
Welp. Living in Hampton Roads/va beach, the good news is I got to work safe this morning. The bad news is I got to work
:( I'm still salty that we are missing out on the fun.
Right there with ya...
It's crazy how many wrecks there were in Virginia last night.
It was definitely slick last night. I drove in it and it was definitely dangerous. It didn't help that there were a ton of people driving in the treacherous conditions. I saw a lot of drivers make very typical mistakes which can lead to accidents in these conditions. The most common mistake I saw was people locking up their brakes and sliding. It is frustrating when you see a car sliding and see the wheels locked up and they just sit there braking and hanging on for dear life. I think poorly educated drivers has to be the biggest reason for accidents in snowy conditions, especially around here. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to travel 1.5 miles. I was absolutely blown away that half an inch of snow on the road can completely shut down an entire region. I will not be driving in it this weekend.
The show late last night and this morning is great though. All the finger pointing between different government agencies in the same city/county of who was responsible for treating the roads, then add in the county vs state road debate and it's entertaining.
yeah I did notice that the roads weren't treated. I'm not sure who is responsible for that. I just figured whoever was in charge of treating them didn't realize we were supposed to get an inch of snow last night. The focus has been on this Blizzard Watch that isn't supposed to hit until mid-day Friday. I just assumed last night was a bit of an oversight given this weekend's big event.
Kind of like the ECU game before the regular season starts?
eshiben5 and DC area residents - I am in a tight spot and need some advice. Here's the deal. My wife got us tickets to the Caps game Friday night as a Christmas gift. Great seats a couple rows off the ice. We have our hotel booked for Friday night within walking distance to the Verizon Center. I have accepted that we will likely need to stay more than one night. My question - if we leave Richmond by noon Friday do we have any chance or making it for a 7 pm game? Or, should we leave first thing tomorrow morning or even tonight?
I wish the Caps would just reschedule the game, but I know that is easier said than done. The tickets were extremely expensive (like could have almost renewed our VT season tickets expensive) and we are trying to figure out how to make this work since I refuse to eat the cost of the tickets. Hotels and parking near the Verizon Center aren't cheap so I am trying to avoid having a nice one night trip balloon into a mini vacation stuck in a hotel staring out the window.
I drive a 4wd full size truck and I am comfortable driving in the snow. However, based on the screenshot above from 1 inch of snow it looks like I would be better off walking...
Here's the thing: you may make it here okay by leaving tomorrow morning, but be prepared to remain in the hotel until Monday. If you do plan on going, definitely bring essentials to make meals with and of course beer, as i am not sure how many places will be able to open to provide food. I dont think there is any way around the fact that you're going to be in a hotel for a long time.
Stuck in the hotel with the wife for a couple nights isn't always a bad scenario...
I will be curious to look at the birth rate in October.
Dammit that explains everything
Definitely not necessarily a bad thing to be stuck with the wife for a couple days in a hotel
Plus, bring cards against humanities, some beer, wine, liquor, and have a party with all of the other hotel guests that will be in the same situation.
Keep in mind that a lot of places may shut down early tomorrow to let people get home. So the normal Friday rush hour that starts around 3 PM will probably start earlier in the afternoon. If it were me, I'd leave early, plan for lots of traffic no matter what, and be prepared to stay a couple of days. The city is going to shut down Saturday and probably much of Sunday. You may be able to escape by Sunday night.
Don't know what your deal is with the hotel (whether you can cancel last minute or not). Might be worth finding a hotel further out and taking the metro in for the game. If you're coming up from Richmond you may want to check out Hotels near the Franconia-Springfield metro station. Take the metro into DC for the game and then back to your hotel. Then you might be able to make an exit out of the madness late Saturday or early Sunday since you'll be outside the beltway and closer to the outskirts. That's probably what I would do.
Don't stay in Springfield. The metro only runs underground when there is > 8 inches of snow. Stay in Chinatown, Ballston, or Clarendon for the weekend and you'll be able to enjoy the city via metro instead of being stuck in Springfield. Unless you feel comfortable driving.
Metro Snow Map
good to know. I did not know that. I also have never been up here when we've had more than 8" of snow. Either way, as others have said I would strongly recommend leaving earlier rather than later. Tonight or early tomorrow morning would be ideal.
Greatly appreciate everyone's help/advice. I think our best bit will be to leave Richmond around 9 tomorrow morning. That gives us plenty of time to get settled before the madness fully sets in. I considered the Metro, but I think we will just plan on sticking around DC. Assuming everything is shut down Saturday it will be kind of cool to trudge around DC and do some sightseeing without the normal crowds. Or, just get drunk and watch movies all day. Tonight we will be packing all of the essentials for at least two nights. I already made the bourbon and beer run and I am going to bring supplies to try out a new crock pot BBQ recipe. It will be quite a scene when we check in tomorrow with crock pot, toaster over and a 100 quart cooler. Thanks again guys
Hundred quart cooler and BBQ? Errr, hey buddy, what room are you in?
Just so you are aware but Metro will be closing 11 pm on Friday night and not restarting service until sometime on Monday. I think you should fully expect that nothing will be open this weekend.
Take the train?
Frankly I'd leave tonight and plan on staying a few extra nights too!
Hey, just so you know, be careful what you wish for. My wife told me they rescheduled the Caps game for 5 pm instead of 7.
Better leave even earlier than you thought.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/blizzard-forces-washington-...
Man, I hope you didn't get all the way up here. NBC just announced that the game has been postponed.
Make your ABC store runs tonight folks!
THIS.... I live and work in Tysons corner and witnessed the pandemonium last night. Took me 25 minutes to get a mile to my house. My company and several of my friends companies are doing half days tomorrow. If you get here before noon I think you will be fine. If you get here from 2pm on, I would guess you are going to live that map posted above. Just personal opinion, but I think it depends on what time we actually see snow which is still up in the air.
EDIT: it's too early for me to reply directly apparently. This was for the Capitals game post
Several estimates I'm seeing indicate the snow will start around 5 PM, therefore hitting rush hour again, and worse. Would be curious to know what eshiben5 thinks of the timing for us in the NoVA/DC/MD area.
you had it good
Agreed. There is a reason I moved out here from Arlington. Sucks on the weekends, but I am saving some hair and some sanity. I will be walking to work tomorrow.
I'll leave this here
http://youtu.be/_dWKUJXFi00
"I got about 8" on my honeymoon"
lol
Oh hey, it won't be so bad
Oh...wait...
Damn Central PA is down to the 1-2" range. I was hoping for actual snow, dammit!
its after noon. What is their update?
Official Blizzard Warning issued for us in the greater DC area.
Blizzard Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1209 PM EST THU JAN 21 2016
DCZ001-MDZ013-014-503>506-VAZ053-054-505-506-220115-
/O.UPG.KLWX.BZ.A.0001.160122T1700Z-160124T1100Z/
/O.NEW.KLWX.BZ.W.0001.160122T2000Z-160124T1100Z/
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-PRINCE GEORGES-ANNE ARUNDEL-
NORTHWEST MONTGOMERY-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTGOMERY-
NORTHWEST HOWARD-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST HOWARD-FAIRFAX-
ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-WESTERN LOUDOUN-EASTERN LOUDOUN-
1209 PM EST THU JAN 21 2016
...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM FRIDAY TO 6 AM EST
SUNDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON HAS
ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM FRIDAY
TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. THE BLIZZARD WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY SNOW AND WIND WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING
SNOW FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. SLEET MAY MIX WITH
THE SNOW FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING EAST OF INTERSTATE
95 BEFORE CHANGING BACK TO ALL SNOW BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
* ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 18 TO 24 INCHES IN THE
EASTERN SUBURBS OF WASHINGTON DC...AND 24 TO 30 INCHES IN THE
WESTERN SUBURBS. THE CITY OF WASHINGTON DC IS EXPECTED TO
RECEIVE AROUND 24 INCHES.
* TIMING...HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND
CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO
DETERIORATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW...STRONGEST
WINDS...AND POTENTIAL LIFE THREATENING CONDITIONS EXPECTED
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.
* IMPACTS...HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS
CONDITIONS AND WILL BE A THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY. TRAVEL
IS EXPECTED TO BE SEVERELY LIMITED IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE DURING
THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. VISIBILITY
WILL BE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES IN WHITEOUT CONDITIONS.
* WINDS...NORTHEAST 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50
MPH...BECOMING NORTH SATURDAY.
* TEMPERATURES...MID TO UPPER 20S.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE. PREPARE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
POWER OUTAGES DURING SNOWY AND COLD CONDITIONS.
The Washington Post states that Thundersnow is possible... and Jim Cantore is in town... Perhaps this in a 2.0?
snow storm right after someone won a fat powerball jackpot? I guess we're in for some thundersnow then
I bet him and Jim Harbaugh could have a great sleep over at their respective tree houses during a snow storm or hurricane.
That makes me happier than it probably should
It is pretty awesome!
The skift we got last night was enough to make a passenger van wreck up into the median on S Hayes Street by my apartment this morning. I wonder what kind of carnage I'll have front row seats for this weekend.
I spy the Pentagon
Good eye, it's kinda hard to miss.
Be careful with your word choice.
I bet looping gifs probably freak out Humans in the Matrix...deja vu to the max
Gah...the worst part is the waiting. Clear blue skies right now in Richmond, knowing that at some point tomorrow, semi-liquid hell will be falling down.
UPDATE: well guys, Ma Nature has successfully bent my wife & I over and fisted us with a smile. All flights out of RIC on Sat CANCELLED. Had to spend an hr on the phone w/ JetBlue getting a connection from RIC-Logan-Orlando. Praying that the connect in Logan does NOT get cancelled. I've said it before....f-k dammit.
New updated DC is gonna get boned...looking like biggest snow EVER more on that once dynamics finishes crushing my soul
This goes out to all you NOVA/DC people.
I thought this gif was reserved for he who shall not be named?
You mean Rich Rod?
In terms of additional 6 packs of beer... how many are we talking for the DC area?
As many as you can get your hands on update being typed up now
RIP Alan Rickman
So with VT canceling classes Friday and Blacksburg Transit closing Friday and Saturday the basketball game will get postponed won't it?
Not necessarily, since the game is on Sunday. As I understand it, the storm is supposed to be over by then isn't it?
I mean, technically the game is on Sunday, but there's supposed to be almost 2 feet of snow on the ground. Not sure how many people will be getting to Cassell.
One of the best student sections I recall is a home game against Clemson during the 09-10 season. They just opened the doors to any students that wanted in because no one could drive to the game and the students had nothing better to do.
Most entertaining sporting event I attended at Tech happened against Maryland in basketball.
Ice storm, most ticket holders couldn't make it, they threw open the doors to students and we packed that bitch. They played Enter Sandman and we all went crazy. Helluva game. Went into overtime. Greivis Vasquez was getting booed literally everytime he touched the ball and he flicked off the crowd. It was great. Tech ended up winning. Would love to see that happen again.
Yeah one of my favorite events as well. That building was deafening the entire game. Really showed the potential Cassell does have to be a brutally intimidating arena. Unfortunately, we just don't have the following in basketball, yet to really make that happen. That's a stadium that could be deafening from start to finish just by packing it in every night, which is a shame when you see it half filled at best on most nights.
I can't remember if I was at a particular game or not (may have only seen it on TV, but I think I was there), but I do recall my favorite basketball game. We made DJ Strawberry's night a living hell when Maryland came to town. That was fun.
HAH... yeah, I remember being at that one, too. We completely got in his head. Gosh those years were fun, and saw numerous guys come in and completely melt down in front of our fans. Hope to get back to that level soon under Buzz.
Another one that sticks out is the 2003 game against UVa. The Hoos had no idea what they were walking into and Cassell was amped that evening.
I hated Vasquez with a burning passion
The only way the game is getting postponed is if UNC can't make it up here. They were originally scheduled for Saturday evening and doing their shootaround at noon on Sunday, but I'm sure they are just playing it by ear at the moment. Same with our girls who have to get out of here to get to Notre Dame for their game on Sunday.
Look for Hokiesports to update it soon, but the game is being moved up to a 3 pm tip.
My hope is that the UNC players will make it up safely, but have a very long, tiring trip up and won't be quite as sharp for the game. That, coupled with hopefully a Cassell packed with students is a recipe for upset conditions. I drove up Thursday from Chapel Hill and am enjoying the snow in Blacksburg before the game on Sunday. I'd be very sad if the Tar Holes couldn't make the trip
Fort Belvoir just announced it is closing the post tomorrow at noon. No update on when they intend to reopen.
Hello Ladies and Gents! Let me go ahead and say thank you for all of the support and love on this post and the other threads it makes this all much more worth doing and I really appreciate knowing that you guys read this stuff!
But lets crack down on the most recent model run, the most accurate # forecasts will be coming this evening and while I do predict that my numbers may have been a little overzealous at first I do still think a lot of this is going to hold true. A lot of the forecasters (professionals included) are predicting a dry slot will form up just south of Blacksburg cutting off a lot of the snow and accounting for a lot of the shortened forecasts. (Hence why some have backed off to about a foot). Let me reiterate, youre going to get a foot, dry slot or not. However every system has a dry slot which is basically a pool of cold dry air that forms in the system and can basically leave you snowless. Should that be the case Blacksburg's numbers would be greatly decreased (they're really freaking hard to predict). However a lot of the storms have the dry slot forming just southwest of da burg (A worst case scenario for snow lovers). I'm sticking to my guns however and think itll form elsewhere due to my faith in the euro and a gut instinct. still think you guys are getting upwards of 20". In the betting pool in the met club at VT I think I put down 24.1" and I still think thats not completely outlandish, just much more likely than it was say a day ago
the storm has stretched further east however, meaning hampton and those areas might be looking at a few inches of snow to go with their icy wintry mix. Richmond, its not looking good for you either.
Now for the final piece. OHHHH NOVA things just keep gettin worse. Somebody is getting roughly 3' up there, whether it be Winchester, Harrisonburg, DC...somebody is gonna get pummeled. The bullseye has fallen directly into the area, buy all the beer you can and be prepared to hunker down. I expect DC to be more in the 20" range, but Harrisonburg and the surrounding area is gonna be out of commission for a while. (if the euro bullseye holds true) regardless this looks to be a historic storm! One last update tonight and then i can sleep like a normal person again!
Feel free to pop any questions ill try to answer em
ESHIBEN5 SIGNIN OUT!
Some forecasts have stated Salem is on the edge of a bigger storm, but I only trust you, so what are your expectations?
Lynchburg total prediction?
eshiben5, you are awesome. I love your work and I really appreciate all that you've put into it. I can really tell that you are genuinely passionate about meteorology which makes reading your posts that much more enjoyable. I pretty much only rely on you for major weather updates. You're awesome; don't stop being awesome.
thank you so much for keeping us all up-to-date on this blizzard of epic proportions!!
eshiben5 are you on the twitter? Because is follow the shit out if you on twitter for weather updates and other musings. You da man.
I am but i hardly use it, hokieshibe (stole it from my brother haha)
Here in the Tri-cities, freezing rain has started. My sidewalk is slick as can be!
Here in the Charlotte area (west side), getting the same. Going to be nuts on the highways in a few hours when the brave attempt to go to work.
so the euro literally crashed while i was trying to check for the latest run... so took a little longer than i wouldve liked, im keeping an eye out for the dry slot, one of the runs has it rearing its ugly head around in southwest virginia. However the overall accumulation totals have jumped back up, meaning i guess the euro is less concerned about it than i am. Interesting 24 hours coming up. according to the euro as far as the lynchburg question goes earlier, Blacksburg should be getting more precip than lynchburg, however they'll be in the same ball park and again I wonder if the model is accounting for the dryslot which could significantly shorten the amount of snowfall in the burg
Snow has arrived about 3 hrs earlier than anticipated in Augusta.
As one of the ignorant few who dared to try to go to work today I can tell you one thing. Son of a bitch, do not I repeat DO NOT go out unless you have too. This is not a drill.
My power is out. Built a fire and staying home. Kids are crying. FML.
Sending a virtual bourbon to you.
It's 9:30am and is perfectly okay to start drinking bourbon.
Hello weekend! And alchohol induced euphoria!
Driving into work this morning in Fairfax, it seems like VDOT is really skimping on the budget. Hardly any roads are pre-treated. Even major roads are just treated in the middle lane. Its like they decided "F-this" its not worth it we'll just keep one lane plowed every where for the ambulances. Hold on everybody, Nova's gettin' boned.
Virginians just don't want to fund the road crews, so we get what we deserve. Stay home, stay safe.
2 years ago we got snow. For 3 days the road wasn't cleared on our neighborhood.
The man that lives across the street from me was a quadrapalegic. The local ambulance crew normally needed to come about once a week.
A guy from the neighborhood had a plow so we all pitched in and cleared the roads.
2 days later a plow came through for the first time. A couple hours later a foreman came from the county. He told us that if we did it again, he would would have the cops come and make arrests. Apparent,y it is not legal to self plow the streets.
We told him that his crews didn't come and it was a hazard for ambulances and if he wanted to plow it, he needed to get it done. If they delayed that long again, we would document it and present it to the county attorney and the council and the paper.
Next time it snowed a decent amount, a plow came though that evening. At about 40 mph and his plow in the air. I went outside to shake my head in amazement and he came back doing the same. I filmed it with my phone.and sent the film to the county attorney, who happens to be a friend and I had relayed the story. See, the trucks now have GPS trackers so they know where the trucks had been.
You know a plow came back next morning and did an excellent job.
Lived in Giles County for 26 years until 2012 and saw a buttload of snow in those years. We had a great hill for sledding on the gravel road that we lived on. For the first several years, we had a ball when it would snow because gravel roads were always the last to be cleared. After a while, though, some farmers up the road started plowing the road with their tractors. Not sure whether they were contracted to do so, although I suspect so, but the good thing was they would clear the ridge of plowed snow out of the driveway so I didn't have to deal with what sometimes was a major hassle.
Sounds like you just had a dick to deal with. Hopefully, it has been done. I must admit though, through the years, the biggest problems on the road after a heavy snowfall wasn't the lack of plowing but the idiocy of drivers that insisted on, or forced for whatever reasons, driving in it. We're on the edge here at the Bay, don't expect much, but I'm staying home anyway.
My business partner is old family from Giles. Very pretty country. He's got a few hundred acres there. Big fisherman as well. He's got his favorite weight fly line as his license plate number.
Dollars to doughnuts, he ain't fishin' today.
I bet he's sledding today.
10 AM, Christiansburg, 7 inches so far and still coming down. I can see the dry spot eshiben speaks of on the radar to our SW. Not sure it gets here or stays to west as it goes by. Still snowing heavily. I did some shoveling so the dogs (Pomeranians) can do their business - its light and dry snow so far. I said to the wife, if we could get to Snowshow Thurs eve and stay thru Monday the powder would be epic... and no one would be there. Hats off to the lucky dogs that are there already. Stay safe and warm everybody.
11 AM, Christiansburg. Looks like the dry hole is here. Snow rates have slowed and the radar shows the dry hole just getting to the Roanoke area. So, for the next hour or so we will get much less snow. We will see what this afternoon will bring. I have a yardstick set up in the yard. We are at 8+ inches right now. Its 19 degrees right now, snow is very lite and dry.
Update: Still no snow in Christiansburg just this mornings. The kids have been sledding in the stormwater dry pond since about 7 am. I haven't seen a plow yet.
The dog has discovered running next to the fence there is less now and her spot under the deck also is pretty clear. She runs around like mad, try's to discover who is getting her butt cold when she squats, rolls in the snow then comes in to lie in front of the woodstove.
Snow started falling here in the 804, just before 10am. Now it's getting heavy, and has been building on the roads for the past hour or so.
Yeah da burg got the dry slot. For all you snow lovers out there...I'm sorry :( for all you snow haters out there enjoy getting much less than you shouldve!!!
Are we going to get back in the snow, or should I start shoveling?
depends if the low redevelops over south carolina (looking like it might) in which case yeah youd get a second wave. The next hour will be really telling. shoots down my 24" forecast though
Eshi can you explain a dry slot? These people are talking about it like it's a monster. Are they joking?
cold air sinks right? So essentially you get all of this cold descending air from above that forces evaporation and clears the skies in a system. One forms in every mid-latitude cyclone and they're very tough to predict the exact location of and can absolutely crush a forecast. I still think the low will reintensify and redevelop enough to fill in the dry slot (which does happen) but it definitely puts a dent in the betting pool for me
As a snow enthusiast now sitting peacefully at home with no plans to leave for a couple of days, is the dry slot going to miss DC? Is DC still expected to get 2+ feet?
You can expect dc to get more than 20" probably close to 30" the dry slot ought to be done by then.
Sweet! Thank You!!
Noon. 1/22/2016. State College, PA:
The barn is closed up, and I am in my horsecoat. The farmer brought a new layer of hay for the stall. It is comfortable.
I saw a snowflake a minute ago. It may have fallen off of a tree.
The cows won't shut up. The farmer is keeping them inside. So begins the weekend of my discontent. There will be little snow to enjoy.
I've had a few carrots and an apple. It is too little to sate my hunger. My food trough is only half-full.
The cows won't shut up. They are driving me mad.
This may be my final entry...
Quit whinneying about it Horse, and hitch up to an open sleigh. Get those bells tied in your bob tail, and you know the rest. Laughing all the way, ha, ha, ha.
I spent the night in a blizzard in State College. In a Ford Escort. I made it all the way to the sister's driveway from Saratoga Springs, NY.
The houses are well insulated enough that knocking on the door is apparently not always effective.
From the sound of it, the building codes for barns are much less stringent. Stay calm... This too shall pass.
~3 PM, Christiansburg. 20 degrees, Snow starting up again. Not as heavy as this AM yet. Wind is starting to pick up and change directions as well. All signs I expected from eshiben's great work and my review of the radar. Seems the hole is moving NNE of this area. We are at 9+ inches in my back yard (a block from downtown). Heaviest snow moving into this area is just east of us right now.
3:10, last update for a while. Snow has picked up in earnest. Really coming down hard here in Christiansburg. Getting very gusty! Nearing 10" depth so far. Stay safe out there.
In Roanoke. 3:10 PM Friday. Snowfall rate has been increasing for the past hour.
Visibility now is about 200 ft.
total accumulation about 6-7".
These updates are amazing thanks guys
I'm in Annandale, VA and honestly I'm surprised at how little snow we've gotten. Just a few inches on the ground now and it started 4+ hours ago.
My sister is in Charlottesville and she had 6-8" hours ago.
5 PM. It has gotten noticeably colder.
visibility is about 300 ft.
Smaller flakes, individually falling with more velocity. slight breeze from the normal prevailing direction.
5:30 Wintry mix.
I prefer just snow, this is going to whack the roads here.
yall might get some thunder, dunno if that really constitutes thunder snow, but go ahead and knock it off your bucket list anyway haha
we had thunder snow just north of annapolis in the veterans day storm in 1987...weird
10 pm Baltimore. Winds are howling non-stop, snow falling pretty good, visibility rapidly decreasing. We'll see what tomorrow has in store!
I just drove all over Richmond and stopped for a drink at a bar with a friend. No problem here. I'd guess 6 inches of snow and sleeting now. Not living up to the hype so far!
Midnight here, Christiansburg has somewhere between 10 inches and a foot.
State College, 645AM Saturday, about 2-3 inches on the ground
We are just about done with snow for the day, maybe some minor flurries in the next few hours. My earlier estimate was off by a bit, and after shoveling the driveway I think we probably hit six inches. A new dusting covered everything since then (9 AM).
Update: At 0815 there was snow found on my car and in two spots in the mulch bed. SC has declared a state of Emergency*, everyone is advised to stay home and prepare to eat those who die in the massive snow we have received.
We have snowflakes in the air here in the Myrtle Beach area. Now everything will shut down.
0741 Arlington, VA. Hard to tell from my apartment (not on the ground floor...) but looks like we might have close to a foot and still snowing steadily.
0851 Arlington, VA. I just blazed a trail out of the parking garage and drove around the apartment complex. The snow is very thick. I had to work it up the hill out of the garage and again in a turn that hasn't been plowed yet. We have approximately 16" and like I said it is very very thick. There are only a handful of vehicles that can handle these conditions. I got a good chuckle out of a Jeep stuck in the snow on the news this morning. Don't go out. It's not worth it. I made it safely back to my parking space but I wouldn't recommend trying what I did.
What do you drive? Need to have a lot of clearance to handle 16"
4Door Short Bed Toyota Tacoma with a TRD Off Road package and a 6 Speed Manual Transmission. It's stock but it came with lockers and I was in 4WD Low. Toyota's low range is about the best on the market. I have Michelin LTX AT/2 tires but they have over 70K miles on them so they're not ideal (great tires, though. Michelin's best all terrain tire and does great in snow)
I'm trying to figure out how to upload a video my fiance took from our apartment as I drove out of the garage, but I'm failing miserably. Any help would be appreciated.
9am- East Windsor, central New Jersey.....Snow started around 8 last night......it's coming down very heavy this morning.....fine dry snow coming down sideways in sustained winds of I'd say 30-40 mph with gusts to 60........my house is next to open farmland so its hard to tell exactly how much snow we have from all the blowing and drifting, but id guess we're near a foot so far......I've got spots in my yard ranging from almost blown down to bare ground, to drifts in the 2 foot range.....will update later today as well.......
Stay safe y'all........
Looks to be just over a foot here in Silver Spring. Neither of the dogs is particularly happy. But I was thrilled that power stayed on through the night. Looks like we'll hit 20" or more easily if the projections for today are true. Meteorologists in our area pretty much nailed this one so far.
Eshiben just saw a video from a fellow firefighter in Jacksonville FL, they got snowflakes this morning, is that from this same storm?
yuuuuup
Damn.
flakes in St Augustine yesterday as well; also Gainesville
That's not nice to say.
My Dad's down in the Gainesville area. How do I know you aren't referring to my Dad. /s
Lol!!! But it is true...there are a lot of flakes in St Augustine and Gainesville...and it takes one to know one! : )
http://www.mysuncoast.com/mobile/blizzard-of-brings-snow-as-far-south-as...
People in Gainesville react to snowflakes.
My dog does not like how hard it is to tell a deep drift of snow from just a bit of snow. He's bouncing around to get through it, and every once in a while it surprises him and goes over his head.
The panic is pretty funny though.
how we looking eshiben?
looks like blacksburg is done, NOVA has a waaaays to go
Probably final report from Christiansburg. Shoveled the driveway already , 12-14 inches total
Looks to me like it's letting up. I'm expecting it to stop soon. Can't really tell exactly how much we got but I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 20"
In Arlington it's worse right now than it's been all weekend. We're looking at 3 feet in Pentagon City.
Today is the first time in my lifetime I can remember seeing whiteout conditions in Richmond. I will have to break out the shovel again tomorrow, for sure. Close to a foot of snow and sleet has accumulated where I am. Could be worse
I'm amazed it's still coming down strong in ARL. I thought it was stopping hours ago. It doesn't look like it's really accumulated very much though. Seems to just be blowing around. I ran down stairs with a tape measure about 30 min ago and measured anywhere between 13-18 inches depending on where I took measurements. I'm pretty certain there was about 16" on the ground earlier this morning. I don't know where it's all going....
A true tragedy, as reported by Moriah Balingit in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/liveblog-live/liveblog/updates-wint...
My 4Runner performed admirably on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Kudos, to the Toyota engineers.
Eshiben5 is it true it could snow again this week for VA?
not buying into that