Stormfly

What a mess!

Sleet/ZR mixed here, 28/28. Cleared the lane, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

About 5" here. Have not been outside to see how bad the crust is. Accurite anemometer cups frozen (nothing new there LOL) and one of the ultrasonic stations reporting crazy numbers due to rhimed over sensors. TEMPEST seems OK surprisingly enough and winds out of NE seem to be picking up. Looks like some nasty patches of ZR coming this way. Need to jump on the blower NOW as I'd rather clear three feet of snow than 5" with hard crust on top. That stuff is nasty! I really hope this doesn't turn into Carmageddon II where we get .3" accretion followed by over a foot of snow sticking to it. The tree damage and cleanup this way was probably one of the worst storms in recent history including 1999 and 1994. It does look very pretty, there's just something about a row of 85' tall spruce trees decorated with the white stuff.

30/11. Wow, Bob Chill is back, that means this system is legit!

Speaking of cars, this did NOT happen on the weekend (Wed IIRC) and was a nightmare for those caught in it. Its intensity and snowfall caught many off guard.

The big ones almost always happen on weekends.

Needs beans!

We had Gottleib's Flying carpet. Picked it up used in 1978. Lots of fun!

Raises hand... 966Mb (recorded). Enough said!

Nice flakes now. Driveway starting to cave. Roof and solar panels covered on shop. 28/27

We don't get them of significant intensity in our area (thank goodness!) but it's possible and has happened. The 1998 storm that hit Canada is probably the worst in somewhat recent times. I remember seeing pictures and videos on the news. I also worked with families that were in the middle of this and it was a life threatening and changing event they will never forget. RE: So naturally when talk of significant icing (> .25") comes up, I always think of those storms. Especially at night, the flashes, the humming, cracking branches, et al. This is probably the closest to what we experienced on Feb 04, 2014 here: And amazingly, our power never went completely out for significant time during that event! Lots of booms, humming, flashing. A friend of mine was out for 12 days due to that and it took 1 1/2 days to clear out the trees on his lane so he could get out! Anyone here have stories to share? Please do!

Yes I know it wasn't a widespread event. The 6 hours of ZR was actually pretty bad for us, still have tree limbs needing to be removed from that. I love the beauty of an ice storm event and even the sound especially at night. But the huge crack and thumping as large limbs succumb to the weight of the accreting ice come crashing down, the reality sets in of the cleanup that follows which isn't always fun. And the power flashes and surges that accompany them inconvenience many.

I'm thankful for the 10" we got in December because if we didn't we'd be in worse shape (snow-wise) than last year at this point. I guess if I really want it to snow I should sell the plow and blower. Isn't that how it always works?

They don't stop at stop signs either!

Is that ice accretion total?! Yeah last time we had anything close to that was Feb 2014.

Sad but true! Surprise events like January 25, 1985 and January 25, 2000 are the best! Something about the 25th of the first month and guess what? Looks like Jan 25 2021 may deliver something.

Is that with raincheck? I had over 2.82 (!) yesterday according to the sensor, actual was 1.02" and now raincheck is showing .81".

Light ZR, glaze forming on trees here. 31.6/31.4

Wind is a mixed bag TBH. Not necessarily on speed but I'm on the fence as to what numbers I'm seeing vs. time. In other words if the anemometer was next to me and if I put a fan in front of it what is shown on the app? Not just a delay but adulterated numbers? I wish there was a way to have access to a raw output of the (wind) sensor. I get it, it's wireless with limited power available. While I don't have a full blown wind tunnel to test at my disposal I do have fans and a smoke chamber used to test cooling systems. I've used this to validate some all in one stations (reasonably accurate but slow response) and professional ultrasonic instruments so I'm going to put this to rest. And on a funny ending, last night at midnight we had some, shall I say, private fireworks, aka noisy things that go up a few hundred feet and go boom! At midnight I did see an indication of moderate rain under a clear crisp sky with a nearly full moon! The sensor is like that and is known to register loud impulse type noises as drops of rain. No surprise there.

Awesome! Time to blast some number nine when the squalls come through! Although I'm def a fan of Ludwid, I must say nothing quite sets the stage for expecting a fortissimo of wind blast like Mussorgrsky's Bydlo from Pictures at An Exhibition!

11/11/95 event - remember it well! Warnings up, red screen banner on TWC. I remember seeing flashes to the west and at the same time faint white bands on the TV. Wasn't sure if it was lightning or power line flashes. It came like a derecho. Bright green flashes overhead. I was in Towson and it reminded me of that CNN video with Bernard Shaw reporting from Baghdad when the first operatives of Desert Storm initiated! (due to the phosphor green night vision lens) Our power went out big time and we had a few 70mph gusts. It was like a severe thunderstorm in the summer but the temps dropped from near 70 through the 40s. Then the sleet started, changing to snow. Could not believe the roads caved so fast. My wife and I remember this well, she does because I left the toilet seat up and she used the bathroom and fell in the bowl! Of course she would remember that! EDIT: If that wind model verifies (they rarely do) and we have 60+ gust or two between 2200 and 0000 here and my front door weatherstripping howls (sounds like a cow playing a kazoo!) I'll upload security cam footage to my youtube channel! And those snow rollers, TBH I would have thought those were bales of hay that were shellacked with snow! That's really cooi!

For some reason chairlift in tropical storm conditions (wind) reminds me of this! Yikes!

I have livestock (tropical fish, reptiles, et al) and don't have the liberty to "bug out" and stay in a hotel or friend that has power. Also have a mini datacenter for various systems we use. Reliable power is important! We only lose power for days when something bad happens which fortunately isn't often: Isabel: 4 days Irene: 2 days March '18 windstorm 2 days We did not lose power at all from "carmageddon" - 01.26.11 storm, Sandy or the Derecho in 2012. Go figure. Power reliability is based on many factors. I lived on a road that was next to a critical care facility and the power never went out as well where everyone else was so that's a possibility. Cable is a different story entirely! CATV/DOCSIS unlike fiber needs amplifiers every few miles at most. These are usually powered by a drop from a residential pole pig or potential transformer. They also are SUPPOSED to have a backup battery but lots of 'em need replacing. That annoying blinking red light on the grey box on a pole? Yep, that's an amp/node with bad back up battery. And if the power is interrupted to one and it happens to be feeding your area you lose TV/phone/internet. Annoying AF! When we had Armstrong it seemed like whenever there was a thunderstorm with just a clap of thunder we'd lose all three for a few hours. When Verizon (FiOS) came to our area in 2015, it's been rock solid since. FTTP FTW!

Wife already mentioned this regarding generator. While we do have a 45kW diesel standby and keep all the (Christmas) lights on until sunrise Christmas Day (it's a tradition both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve to run them dusk till dawn) I don't see running that HOG on high idle for stinkin' lights! The smaller 5kW will suffice fine. It's kind of funny here anyhow. We have three phase power on the street so our service is VERY reliable. But a clear sunny day it can just go *poof* for 3 seconds to a few minutes without warning which is annoying. GFS model showing a few gusts in upper 50s low 60s around supper time. That's not good. That's quality R&R time for me! I like the sound of the wind through the spruce forest, far better than the crack and woosh from last Wed night with all that ice! It's not even Jan and I've probably got a cord or two of mixed wood down from that storm. If that's not enough we have a fair amount of inflatables in the front yard. Those tend to not like winds over 30-40 mph either. I got them guyed well but the flapping tends to break the wires inside and the LEDs go dark.

I do remember the java based maps! Flash is going, good riddance! Since subbing to Radarscope Pro tier 2 I haven't used the web based as much. Also and don't forget COD! The downloadable animations with prior 200 frames in GIF format are nice.