Winter weather thread 2009-2010

[hawing]

Thundersnow is pretty awesome (I guess as long as you're not struck by lightning).

 

Take care on the roads tomorrow, RoCo.

[temke]

I wonder what the odds are UWM cancels classes.

not good. not nearly as much snow closer to the lake. bay view only has about 2" so far...wet and heavy as you know what though.

[owbc]

Over 10" of snow down in Madison now. Over a foot in some areas. It is a heavy wet snow and has been sticking to the trees. We also had a large (~6" diameter) tree limb come down in front of our house. I am concerned that there will be widespread power outages if the winds pick up.

[fondybrewfan]

I guess I am a little dissappointed with the snow total so far here in FDL, just doesn't look like we have gotten all that much. I would guess that we have about 6 inches right now and we were projected for 14-15. Still time I guess but I think we will be lucky to crack double digits by the time this thing is done.

 

I have no idea why I am up right now

[NeedMoreFans]

Looks like the Madison area picked up 15-17 inches as of this AM. I looked outside, and there is a LOT of snow.

[adamb100]

Milwaukee got off easy on this one with mostly rain.

[hawing]

I woke up to find the following buried (no pun intended) in a Capital Times article;

 

In response to the blizzard that has impacted the state, Gov. Jim Doyle has ordered the closure of all state government and University of Wisconsin campuses for public business.

The governor's order directs that state employees are not to report to work, unless their job duties include the provision or support of an emergency response, public health, or public safety function, and their absence would compromise delivery of essential public health, public safety, or emergency response functions that are required to continue despite weather conditions.

So although I haven't seen this information anywhere more official yet, I am taking this to mean that even (non-essential) state employees are staying home.

This is good, since Madison Metro isn't running (yet) and the talk of downed power lines possibly lurking under the 12-15" of snow make me not at all inclined to even make the walk to downtown.

 

This is still really, really unusual, though.

 

Edit: It's also quite beautiful, looking from the inside, that is. Snow is clinging to everything with branches. Like OWBC, though, I'll like it a lot less if we lose power and/or trees.

[davego]

Man, winter is stupid.

[ewizabeff]

UWM is defying the governor's orders and holding classes (there's like, maybe an inch of snow on the East side). Off to work I go.

[davebobn]

No accumulation here in Shorewood. NONE! What a nutty storm.

[fondybrewfan]

I revise my snowfall total to atleast a foot in FDL. Luckily the snow is so wet that it really isn't blowing around at all. I think I threw my back out about 4 different times trying to dig my car out this morning.

 

I will agree that it is a beautiful snow. There is an inch or two sitting on every tree limb

[Invader3K]

No accumulation here in Shorewood. NONE! What a nutty storm.

I hate you. I haven't even attempted to go outside and take care of our driveway yet here in Fort. I would guess we have about 6 inches, which I admit isn't as bad as some expected.

[adamb100]

UWM is defying the governor's orders and holding classes (there's like, maybe an inch of snow on the East side). Off to work I go.

 

The governor has given UWM an exception the closing of all state campuses and offices, so morning classes will be held as scheduled. Campus administration will be monitoring the weather throughout the day. Per uwm

[DuWayne Steurer]

Given no choice but to attempt to get to work this morning, the worst, of course, happened. I was fine, going about 45 mph, when a semi doing easily 65 tried to pass me. Being that the snowfall is wet, heavy, slushy crap, my car was thrown sideways from the force of the slush and snow. I was pushed out of the track, lost control, spun, and went into a ditch. $152.00 to get pulled out.

 

I called my supervisor, told her the roads were ridiculous. She said "you have to assess your situation and decide if it's safe to come in".

 

ASSESS THE SITUATION!?!? I'M BACKWARDS IN A DITCH ON THE HIGHWAY!!!'

 

It's fine and well to say 'it's at your discretion' but when you say 'if you don't come in, it's an unexcused absence', you're really forcing people to make poor decisions, which I did. So now I'm out 150 bucks for a tow, and I'm out a days wages.

 

Winter sucks. If property value hadn't plummeted here after GM closed, I'd put my house on the market tomorrow and get the hell out of here.

[Menotti80]

wow RoCo, that sucks. sorry to hear that...

[JimH5]

We will be returning home next week.. .hope that my birch trees survived this. .

 

 

.http://bl136w.blu136.mail.live.com/att/GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=0&messageId=0cd4ba4c-e4d1-11de-ad66-00237de4a738&Aux=44%7C0%7C8CC46F4F3B112B0%7C%7C

[chuckiehacks]

Awoke this morning, only to see green grass and puddles in downtown Milwaukee. A little disappointing after hearing all the dire projections (8-12 inches of snow, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria).

[NeedMoreFans]

My snow blower broke while clearing the end of the driveway. A weld on the auger broke, so now I'm going to have to shovel by hand. I did get most of the driveway done, though, which helped.

[pretendastronaut]

My driveway is slush. I'd much rather prefer real snow. The slush is the worst.

[Invader3K]

The snow here was real thick and heavy. It was like trying to go through concrete with the snow blower...the chute kept getting stuck up. Fortunately was able to get the whole thing done.

[bensheeps]

Just finished the driveway with about 10" here in SW Wisconsin. So much for a "day off" for my wife and I.

 

Our basement is now full of neighborhood kids (along with ours) after the first sledding party of the day is interrupted with the first hot chocolate break.

[PeaveyFury]

I'll defer official totals to someone in Madison that has actually been outside this morning since I've haven't been brave enough yet, but there's at least a foot and a half of snow outside my patio door.

[fondybrewfan]

Offical snow total in Madison is 17.5 inches to date.

 

Still don't know FDL but I would guess around 14 or so

[DuWayne Steurer]

I have lost another tree. This storm sucks. Sucks big time.

[Hammer]

We will never really know how much snow fell in our neighborhood. The wind is whipping so much of the crap around that some spots have bare grass and some spots have 4'-5' drifts. Fun stuff....