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January 3, 2022 CAPE Storm Obs/Nowcast


WxUSAF
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I have been without electric for about 24 hours now, and very little (if any) cell service here in Spotsy. Yesterdays total measurement was 13 inches, but that was not done by wiping board so compacted total. I have some amazing pictures to share when I get some services back. Stay safe everyone. 

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2 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Still no plow in my neighborhood here in Burke. Likely that all available resources are being diverted to get 95 and other roads in the Fredericksburg area open, so I'm not complaining.

Let me offer my congratulations to your kids on an extra week long winter break!

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20 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Still no plow in my neighborhood here in Burke. Likely that all available resources are being diverted to get 95 and other roads in the Fredericksburg area open, so I'm not complaining.

If you need any deliveries just holler.  I don't mind driving the truck.  I have reasonable delivery fees.

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28 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Still no plow in my neighborhood here in Burke. Likely that all available resources are being diverted to get 95 and other roads in the Fredericksburg area open, so I'm not complaining.

VDOT screwed this one up bad. You cant have people sitting still on I95 for 18 hours. Completely unacceptable. 

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3 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

VDOT screwed this one up bad. You cant have people sitting still on I95 for 18 hours. Completely unacceptable. 

I don't know if you can put all the blame on VDOT. If you get high volume of traffic - including tractor trailers - trying to drive in 2"/hr rates, accidents will happen. That starts the chain of events that closes down the highway. How many resources are available to move multiple 18-wheelers off of entrance and exit ramps in 12" of hardpacked snow along a 50-mile stretch of highway? If you can't move them and get people off the road, then you can't plow.

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2 minutes ago, mattie g said:

I don't know if you can put all the blame on VDOT. If you get high volume of traffic - including tractor trailers - trying to drive in 2"/hr rates, accidents will happen. That starts the chain of events that closes down the highway. How many resources are available to move multiple 18-wheelers off of entrance and exit ramps in 12" of hardpacked snow along a 50-mile stretch of highway? If you can't move them and get people off the road, then you can't plow.

I get what you are saying. But no response for 18 hours? Especially with the express lanes completely clear. Not acceptable at all. 

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 In the southern end of the area, it was still mixed precipitation at 530 to 630 am when many people commit to driving for their morning destinations. The rain prior to the changeover kept brine from being used.  I experienced the January 26, 2011 disaster at Oxon Hill and the same thing in southern MD the day prior to the January 2016 blizzard. 
                                                                                                                                                                                     

 I believe this situation was largely unavoidable. Many people are going to get out on the roads and think they can make it up an incline because they are a good driver and have a vehicle equipped for the conditions, all it takes is a few others that can't make it to start the chain reaction.

 Also, I drove down to North Carolina about 4 or 5 days after the January 25 2000 snowstorm and I85 was absolutely littered with abandoned 18 wheelers on any incline. Yesterday it snowed on average 2 to 3 inches per hour from 630am to almost 1pm in the area impacted around Fredericksburg and southern MD.

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1 hour ago, mattie g said:

Honestly, I'm fine with it at this time...

Same. While my kid enjoys her "snow days" its two less days in school with everyone coming back from break and that thing that is still happening worldwide

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3 hours ago, T. August said:

The 15.5” is unreal. 

It's strange because I only got 9.3", while Huntingtown is only a few miles north of me and got 15.5". Someone in Dunkirk reported 13" so it must have been a sharp cutoff between the northern and southern half of the county. Further south of me only reported about 6". 

Zooming out at the map, it looks like a jackpot lolli than ran southwest to northeast, starting at Waldorf and ending at Northern Calvert and Southern Anne Arundel.

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Lost power early (and still out) in the storm and couldn't report, so summarizing now.  Temp was 32.5 for most of the snow event.  Winds were highly variable in both speed and direction, est. gusts to 20-25 mph.  We got about 1" of sleet prior to snow.  Rates had to be 2-3"/hr from 9 to 11 am and 1"/hr after that, small to medium flakesResized_20220103_115555_9358.thumb.jpeg.8d1c93e4239a31bd1216d9021ae44d88.jpeg.  Wind made it hard to gauge depth, but we are in the 10-12" range based on averages in the yard.  No snow plows in the neighborhoods. Lots of pine and holly trees down, anything with leaves really took a beating.   Pic from my MBY during storm, the holly is snapped about midway.

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6 hours ago, mattie g said:

I don't know if you can put all the blame on VDOT. If you get high volume of traffic - including tractor trailers - trying to drive in 2"/hr rates, accidents will happen. That starts the chain of events that closes down the highway. How many resources are available to move multiple 18-wheelers off of entrance and exit ramps in 12" of hardpacked snow along a 50-mile stretch of highway? If you can't move them and get people off the road, then you can't plow.

I was right in the middle of that mess from 1030 am into 630 am this morning. Took me 20 hours to travel less than 50 miles from around mile marker 106 to 156 on I-95 N (between Ladysmith and Woodbridge, VA).  The predominant issue was countless tractor-trailers getting stuck and/or being unable to get traction to move on the icy roads.  
 

The secondary issue was the typical impatient and reckless drivers causing unnecessary accidents when they inevitably got stuck.  This doesn’t include the few plows we saw that closed one lane by unconsciously plowing snow into said lane making it impossible for tractor-trailers to move.  
 

The other things you noted obviously contributed to this disaster, but I’m simply sharing firsthand observations that made it 10x worse. 

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8 minutes ago, ncforecaster89 said:

I was right in the middle of that mess from 1030 am into 630 am this morning. Took me 20 hours to travel less than 50 miles from around mile marker 106 to 156 on I-95 N (between Ladysmith and Woodbridge, VA).  The predominant issue was countless tractor-trailers getting stuck and/or being unable to get traction to move on the icy roads.  
 

The secondary issue were the typical impatient and reckless drivers causing unnecessary accidents when they inevitably got stuck.  

Used to chase lake snow up in Oswego County NY when I went to Syracuse. Would always avoid I 81 for this reason as tractor trailers would jackknife and get stuck in the lake storms and they’d need NY state police to rescue them on snowmobiles. On local roads the towns would keep them passable and you could always turn around if there was a incident. 

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