The event of the season - 2 days of hell!

[Sn0waddict]

Blizzard warning currently in northern Maine for 1 inch of snow lol

[wxeyeNH]

I'm looking at these temperatures up here.   CF comes through early enough that it is -10F by 8am and stays well below 0F all day.  Do you think the kids should have a "snow" day?  Seriously bitter cold waiting for the buses if they start.  Am I over reacting?

[dendrite]

5 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

I'm looking at these temperatures up here.   CF comes through early enough that it is -10F by 8am and stays well below 0F all day.  Do you think the kids should have a "snow" day?  Seriously bitter cold waiting for the buses if they start.  Am I over reacting?

I was just talking about it with my coworker. I'd be kinda shocked if schools don't cancel knowing how it is today. The caveat is the morning highs swaying their judgment.

[klw]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

What is that in kevins?

Kevins is only used as a scale for the measurement of dews.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

5 minutes ago, dendrite said:

I was just talking about it with my coworker. I'd be kinda shocked if schools don't cancel knowing how it is today. The caveat is the morning highs swaying their judgment.

All of the Greenfield Public school’s are in neighborhoods or near downtown so many kids walk to school instead of taking buses. I would be a little concerned for the walk home tomorrow.

[ORH_wxman]

8 minutes ago, dendrite said:

I was just talking about it with my coworker. I'd be kinda shocked if schools don't cancel knowing how it is today. The caveat is the morning highs swaying their judgment.

If you don't cancel for this type of cold, then you will never cancel for any type of cold. It really doesn't get much worse than this from a historical perspective. But yeah, the morning not being as bad as afternoon/early evening might fool administrators into thinking it's not that bad.

Down here, the timing is late enough I could see them having school...but anyone north into CNE/NNE, it gets bad pretty quickly on Friday.

[ORH_wxman]

Although they didn't cancel school for 1/16/94 or 2/6/95 down here....so maybe they just never will. I walked to school over a mile both of those outbreaks.

 

edit: meant 1/19/94....1/16 was the first one that month which came on a weekend

[Cyclone-68]

I just hope nobody loses power. That’s a scary prospect with temps like that 

[HIPPYVALLEY]

1 minute ago, Cyclone-68 said:

I just hope nobody loses power. That’s a scary prospect with temps like that 

That’s exactly why I could never live in a house that doesn’t have a woodstove.

[ORH_wxman]

Just now, HIPPYVALLEY said:

That’s exactly why I could never live in a house that doesn’t have a woodstove.

Or keep your gas stove pilot lit. We actually have both....woodstove in the back room and a gas fireplace insert in the living room, but as long as the pilot is lit, you can still turn it on with no power. Had to do that in the first March 2018 snowstorm when we were without power for 60 hours. Definitely essential to have another heating source if you are in any type of place that is prone to losing power.

[mahk_webstah]

5 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

At any rate hopefully we can squeeze a squall out of the Arctic front. Something historical in a sea of meh.

They’re not playing up the idea of squalls too much up here but you have to take a situation like this. Bring some heavy ones

[weathafella]

1 minute ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

That’s exactly why I could never live in a house that doesn’t have a woodstove.

Or maybe a generator?  I suspect a full house generator would add more resale value and adding a wood stove is icing on the cake.

[FXWX]

5 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

If you don't cancel for this type of cold, then you will never cancel for any type of cold. It really doesn't get much worse than this from a historical perspective. But yeah, the morning not being as bad as afternoon/early evening might fool administrators into thinking it's not that bad.

Down here, the timing is late enough I could see them having school...but anyone north into CNE/NNE, it gets bad pretty quickly on Friday.

I deal with lots of CT districts and the morning numbers Friday are driving the decision not to cancel.  I think across northern New England it should be an easy cancelation call.  As for the afternoon period, unless they have lots of  walkers the concern is not high.  But there are some large city districts that are contemplating it given the number of walkers.  The afternoon bus deal is a drop off and quick short walk into your house or a waiting car.  Mornings that feature kids standing around for a bus to arrive is are different story.  If Saturday was a school day, lots of delays and closures would be in play for CT.

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, FXWX said:

I deal with lots of CT districts and the morning numbers Friday are driving the decision not to cancel.  I think across northern New England it should be an easy cancelation call.  As for the afternoon period, unless they have lots of  walkers the concern is not high.  But there are some large city districts that are contemplating it given the number of walkers.  The afternoon bus deal is a drop off and quick short walk into your house or a waiting car.  Mornings that feature kids standing around for a bus to arrive is are different story.  If Saturday was a school day, lots of delays and closures would be in play for CT.

Yeah it’s definitely worse timing up north. Down here it doesn’t really get bad until afternoon and even then, the real nasty stuff is prob not until after sunset…esp down in CT. Up in NNE it could be just starting to get bad in morning but it’s full-on dangerous by the time school is out. 

[SJonesWX]

22 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Although they didn't cancel school for 1/16/94 or 2/6/95 down here....so maybe they just never will. I walked to school over a mile both of those outbreaks.

 

edit: meant 1/19/94....1/16 was the first one that month which came on a weekend

barefoot, uphill both ways?

[Cyclone-68]

17 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

That’s exactly why I could never live in a house that doesn’t have a woodstove.

I’d love to but the condo committee might frown on that  lol 

[tunafish]

9 minutes ago, FXWX said:

I deal with lots of CT districts and the morning numbers Friday are driving the decision not to cancel.  I think across northern New England it should be an easy cancelation call.  As for the afternoon period, unless they have lots of  walkers the concern is not high.  But there are some large city districts that are contemplating it given the number of walkers.  The afternoon bus deal is a drop off and quick short walk into your house or a waiting car.  Mornings that feature kids standing around for a bus to arrive is are different story.  If Saturday was a school day, lots of delays and closures would be in play for CT.

Just got an email from our super - they will not be cancelling school.  Discussed with surrounding superintendents and all are not cancelling.  South Portland & Portland have a ton of walkers, so I can understand it for the more suburban communities, but for PWM that makes no sense.

[tunafish]

50 minutes ago, Sn0waddict said:

Blizzard warning currently in northern Maine for 1 inch of snow lol

You do realize that's about visibility, not about snow amounts, right?  There roads up there are akin to South Dakota, not SNE.

[CoastalWx]

Pretty sure we had school in Jan 2004 cancelled. I certainly remember districts cancelling because of cold. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

I don’t think my district in N ORH will cancel or have an early release.   
 

My household has 3 different districts to worry about in the N ORH county. So it might be interesting.   2 are very rural. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

1 minute ago, CoastalWx said:

Pretty sure we had school in Jan 2004 cancelled. I certainly remember districts cancelling because of cold. 

That was the first time I ever had experienced that either as a student or as a teacher.  

[HIPPYVALLEY]

3 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Just got an email from our super - they will not be cancelling school.  Discussed with surrounding superintendents and all are not cancelling.  South Portland & Portland have a ton of walkers, so I can understand it for the more suburban communities, but for PWM that makes no sense.

Yeah, Portland should burn a snow day since they haven’t been that many of them. It’s going to be terrible conditions by the time School gets out tomorrow.

[WinterWolf]

2 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Pretty sure we had school in Jan 2004 cancelled. I certainly remember districts cancelling because of cold. 

Ya we cancelled in 04. 

[MaineJayhawk]

My kids have about a 3/4 mile walk home from the bus stop .. we're letting 'em stay home tomorrow

[ORH_wxman]

8 minutes ago, SJonesWX said:

barefoot, uphill both ways?

Lol....it was uphill on the way, downhill way back. I was in middle school, so you only got a bus if you were pretty far away. I think it had to be at least 2 miles.

[WxWatcher007]

Euro basically held. Nasty stuff tomorrow afternoon. 
 

[tunafish]

11 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

Yeah, Portland should burn a snow day since they haven’t been that many of them. It’s going to be terrible conditions by the time School gets out tomorrow.

Agree.  The real concern is that many students don't even have proper clothing for 20 degrees, let alone -20 wind chills.  

[beavis1729]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

A day (actually, 2 days) to remember.  Our staff biologist and I made a 3-day trip to see northern Maine sites with BPL's North region foresters.  The afternoon of the 14th we were on the Soper Mountain public lot, next to Big Eagle Lake in Allagash country.  It was mild - low 30s - when a snow squall arrived and the temp began to fall.  We then drove to Portage Lake as we were staying at the Maine Forest Service building on the east shore of the lake.  By the time we got back there from dinner it was -2 with howling wind.  Next morning the temp was -32 there and the wind gauge was hovering above/below 30 mph.  (MFS has quality instruments, important for fire control purposes.)  CAR reported -20 with WCI -85 (old scale - probably near -60 on the new).  When one drives 250 miles to see something, one goes out, or as one UM forestry professor used to say, "There's no such thing as inclement weather, only improper clothing."
In the morning we were mostly sheltered from the wind.  Not so after noon, at the Bald Mountain public lot about 20 miles west of Ashland and 800-1000 feet higher than CAR, where the max was -9.  We were okay in the woods, but about 4 when we got back to the sleds, the wind was still roaring with the temp likely in the -15 range.  The ride back included 2 miles on plowed road due to the only place we could park, and I was riding 2nd up on a tundra behind a regional forester about 5'1" tall - no place for me to hide.  1988 Tundras maxed out at maybe 45 mph and the quartering headwind probably meant an apparent speed closer to 60.  I held my fists against my cheeks, which helped but left me with hourglass-shaped white spots, fortunately 1st degree frostbite with no lasting impact.  Day 3, at Deboullie, was cold but not very windy, just another cold day in N. Maine.

See below:

 

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Caribou ME
1258 PM EST Thu Feb 2 2023

.SYNOPSIS...
High pressure will move south of the region today. A
powerful arctic cold front will cross the area Friday morning.
Frigid arctic high pressure will build in from the west Friday into
Saturday. A warm front will lift across the area Sunday. Weak low
pressure will track north of the area Monday.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/...
1230pm update...
The Blizzard Warning was issued in response to the blowing snow
and whiteout threat in the warned area. Snow accumulations will
be an inch or less. The blowing snow threat will be in open
terrain where whiteouts are most likely to affect motorists.
Discussions with state and county authorities involved in
public safety this week, and after similar events in past years,
have favored this stronger alert/messaging.

The arctic front arrives later tonight with plunging
temperatures, blowing snow and dangerous wind chills. The front
crosses after midnight and is expected to be exiting the state
by 4am. Temperatures plummet with the frontal passage and
continue to fall relentlessly into Friday night. Winds kick up
immediately with frontal passage with gusts reaching the 35 to
45 mph range. Blowing snow will start with the frontal passage
and continue all day and into Friday night. The worst will be in
Aroostook County where the Blizzard Warning was issued due to
the blowing snow/ground blizzard threat in open terrain. Wind
chills drop steadily all day into the evening, reaching below
minus 50F by late afternoon in the Saint John Valley and
dropping towards minus 45F at Bangor by late evening.

Interestingly, using CIPS analogs, a top analog is the Jan 14,
1988 event when Caribou last experienced a wind chill of less
than minus 50F. The lowest recorded wind chill at Caribou was
minus 58.6F in 1951.

[FXWX]

19 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Just got an email from our super - they will not be cancelling school.  Discussed with surrounding superintendents and all are not cancelling.  South Portland & Portland have a ton of walkers, so I can understand it for the more suburban communities, but for PWM that makes no sense.

Agree

[mahk_webstah]

33 minutes ago, weathafella said:

Or maybe a generator?  I suspect a full house generator would add more resale value and adding a wood stove is icing on the cake.

exactly my living situation.  perfetto.