The snow - she is a comin'

heiney9

dkg999 wrote:

About the same situation here in Belvidere as H9 has over in Rockford! As long as the high speed internet stays up I'll be working from home and listening to some good tunes. Of course I have to drive back to the farm in IA later today, so that should be a lot of fun!

Well, if you do go to Iowa Doug, be careful! I can handle driving around town in these conditions, but a long trip is pretty demanding in these types of conditions. I really didn't believe the forecasters, but I'm glad I prepared anyways. I just got the snow tries on the car on Wednesday. I was going to blow it off because I didn't believe we'd get this much snow. The summer only tires I had on would have left me stranded in my parking spot.

dkg999

H9 - hopefully they will have I-39 and I-88 cleared pretty well by early afternoon. I don't think the truck is getting out of 4wd today!

heiney9

I just walked out side and the snow was half way up to my knees and we are just getting started. I'm not sure if I'm fool enough to leave right now for work or not.

zombie boy 2000

No snow here, but hurricane-like winds and some rather odd weather quirks. I'm looking at double full rainbows right now -- bright as can be. And though not a drop of rain is falling to the ground, you can see a major rainstorm occuring against the backdrop of the rainbows. It's all going sideways.

This is beyond bizarre....

heiney9

Just got confirmation from the boss that we are going to close today. So I get my wish of staying home and chilling out and listening to some tunes.

It is coming down like gang busters right now they've up the amount to 3" an hour in some areas and we still have 3-4 hours to go.

McLoki

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

No snow here, but hurricane-like winds and some rather odd weather quirks. I'm looking at double full rainbows right now -- bright as can be. And though not a drop of rain is falling to the ground, you can see a major rainstorm occuring against the backdrop of the rainbows. It's all going sideways.

This is beyond bizarre....

love to see a picture of that.... snap one if you get a chance.

Michael

heiney9

God, if I was a kid I would be so excited not only to not have shcool but to go out and play in the snow. These are kind of days I remember having a few times a year growing up. Getting all the neighborhood kids together to build snow forts and go sledding, etc. Ah.........the good ole' days.

zombie boy 2000

Funny you should ask McLoki... I work at a paper and the publisher just ran out to see what pics he could get. We'll see when he gets back.

Lowell_M

I took some back roads to work and drove through some 4' drifts. Crazy. i haven't seen snow like this in Il. This is more like NW PA, which I thought I left behind me 5 years ago.

....Still snowing.........

Lowell_M

dkg999 wrote:

H9 - hopefully they will have I-39 and I-88 cleared pretty well by early afternoon. I don't think the truck is getting out of 4wd today!

Drive carefull if you are out there on the interstate today, Doug. Lot's o' crazies out there today that can't drive.

heiney9

a_mattison wrote:

I took some back roads to work and drove through some 4' drifts. Crazy. i haven't seen snow like this in Il. This is more like NW PA, which I thought I left behind me 5 years ago.

....Still snowing.........

Now fess up......you have an SUV . I'm not going out at all. I'm sure I could w/o too much difficulty, but you're right about the crazies being out there. Actually they are the same crazies you see everyday, just much worse in conditions like this.

Demiurge

It's got little to do with the amount of snow, and everything to do with the rate at which it falls. It's gridlock here, and we're used to it.

halo

I just saw some guy on the news who is stuck in Cicero. He's really pissed off that the city didn't get out earlier and clear the roads. He said he was fishtailing all morning until he turned off of the main road and got stuck - just happened to be where a news crew (FOX - I think) is filming.

What kind of car is he driving? A new Mustang. Duh! No wonder you were fishtailing all morning and no wonder you're stuck in the snow now! The newscastor said the city was out very early as they knew the storm was coming. So whose fault is it that the guy is stuck? :rolleyes:

heiney9

Demiurge wrote:

It's got little to do with the amount of snow, and everything to do with the rate at which it falls. It's gridlock here, and we're used to it.

Yes the amount/rate has a lot to do with it but down here in Rockford we have about 12-13" on the ground and most cars don't have that kind of clearance. Most people I've talked to this morning who have been out in it say they haven't even plowed the main streets.

I put Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires on my car rated for use in the mountains and because of the clearance issues I'm not going anywhere until the plows get out. The snow is piled over the front bumper of the car so I'd say I might have some clearance issues.

wodom1

It's pretty much stopped now at O'Hare airport. It took me 1.5 hours to get from Lincoln Park to O'Hare, whereas it usually takes about 20 minutes at 6 AM. I took Irving Park all the way out instead of the Kennedy, which I assumed would be a nightmare.

Lowell_M

heiney9 wrote:

Now fess up......you have an SUV . I'm not going out at all. I'm sure I could w/o too much difficulty, but you're right about the crazies being out there. Actually they are the same crazies you see everyday, just much worse in conditions like this.

heh heh.... Except for the wipers freezing up, the drive was actually entertaining. Nobody takes those roads when it snows, so for the most part, didn't have to worry about people.

heiney9

a_mattison wrote:

heh heh.... Except for the wipers freezing up, the drive was actually entertaining. Nobody takes those roads when it snows, so for the most part, didn't have to worry about people.

I'm very familiar with the Roscoe area and it is very pretty out there especially out by the Ledges golf course and farther east of town. I bet it was an enjoyable trip this morning. I love the first snow fall especially if you can drive thru a nice wooded area that hasn't had much activity yet.

dkg999

I just ran a few errands in Belvidere, you know, the important stuff like getting a couple of bottles of Diet Dew, etc. Not much plowing going on, lots of city snow plows at Kelly's Market having coffee and donuts! I have locking front and rear differentials on the truck, so not much problem even in the deep stuff. Funniest thing I saw was a Subaru Outback that someone really believed the marketing and thought they could go through anything. Must of hit the big drift pretty hard because it buckled the hood!

I'm counting on the process of natural selection to make my drive back to IA safer. I figure the really stupid drivers will all be in the ditch by early afternoon and won't have gotten their vehicles back on the road!

Strong Bad

Hitting low 70s with rain today in Baltimore.

I bought my Explorer XLT V8 4WD in Feb '04 and have been waiting ever since for a good snow to atleast challenge me. WTF, I think the best we've had in that period of time is 6-8".

I want a foot and a half so I can go 4WD crunchin!


John

Lowell_M

Strong Bad wrote:

Hitting low 70s with rain today in Baltimore.

I bought my Explorer XLT V8 4WD in Feb '04 and have been waiting ever since for a good snow to atleast challenge me. WTF, I think the best we've had in that period of time is 6-8".

I want a foot and a half so I can go 4WD crunchin!


John

Take a weekend drive a few hours north into NY state.

I always get a kick out of the first couple of big snow falls of the winter because I get the chance to play, but after that, man do I get tired of winter.

bobman1235

Those Subaru's can go through anything... assuming they have the ground clearance for it! I've driven a few of them in nasty weather, and they have great traction, but they're still only 6 inches off the ground. Great on a slippery road, but of no use going through a big drift

Demiurge

heiney9 wrote:

Yes the amount/rate has a lot to do with it but down here in Rockford we have about 12-13" on the ground and most cars don't have that kind of clearance. Most people I've talked to this morning who have been out in it say they haven't even plowed the main streets.

I put Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires on my car rated for use in the mountains and because of the clearance issues I'm not going anywhere until the plows get out. The snow is piled over the front bumper of the car so I'd say I might have some clearance issues.

Sorry, I wasn't responding directly to your comment, but just a general comment in this thread since I didn't quote you.

I was just saying it's nuts here where I am, and we've seen way more snow than this in the past. The rate at which it is falling they cannot keep up with plowing it. Not to mention we're getting Thunder Snow (I saw it), which means the snow is falling at a rate of at least 2" per hour in blizzard conditions.

Lowell_M

Subaru has pretty much lost their little niche in the AWD arena. there are plenty of alternatives with AWD now. I can't think of any reason that I would want to buy one.

Jockos

It's cold here. My wife's toes were freezing. The new's said the therm. hit the lower 60's!!

Aloha

heiney9

Demi, I was basically agreeing with you . Northern Il and Wisconsin residents, if you lived here long enough, should know enough to stay in on a day like today if you don't have a vehicle that can get you around. But, I've seen a large population of drivers who can't drive on a clear summer day. I'm so glad I don't have to venture out in this mess because stupidity does run rampant this time of year.

You guys are getting almost as bad as we are. Right now the flakes have let up, but the blowing is starting and it's hard to tell where the snow ends and the blowing begins. Even this afternoon when the weather advisory has ended it's going to be slow going because the snow will just keep drifting no matter how many times an area is plowed.

Lunch is tomato soup and grilled cheese, as today is a perfect day for the comfort food.

zombie boy 2000

I lived in Rockford, IL for one year and it was all I could handle.

I think the year before, Time magazine actually ranked it in the bottom five for worst weather in the US.

Lowell_M

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

I lived in Rockford, IL for one year and it was all I could handle.

I think the year before, Time magazine actually ranked it in the bottom five for worst weather in the US.

I moved here in 2001. Since then I haven't seen a snow fall like this one and no others really to be too worried about. I see a lot more sunshine in the winter here than I did in NW PA. The year after I left PA there was record snow fall in the area I lived in of 189" for the winter, they broke the record the next two years running. sucks for them!!!!! Of course, the snow there is nothing like living in Buffalo. I don't know why anybody lives there.

zombie boy 2000

I think it ranked so high (or low) on the list because of a combination of factors... I seem to remember a lot of rain, overcast days, and of course, cold.

Lowell_M

Definately cold!

cfrizz

It's a windy 65 degrees here in Boston!:eek: :eek: We are breaking records all over the place. Now tomorrow when I wake up, it will have dropped (hopefully) down to 45.

My poor sinuses are beyond confused & taking it out on ME!:eek: