Snowicane? Frankenstorm?
 

Hey, folks,

Sometimes it feels like DC is in the center of some kind of cosmic demolition derby. For the past few years, we've gotten slammed with 'once in a century' storms at least twice a year. And here comes the next one.

Not that I mean to complain, or anything. I just wish they'd come up with better names. I mean, it's one thing to have one's power out for a week, while one literally freezes in the dark. But to name its cause Snowgasm? It seems beyond the pale. Then there was Snowpocalypse. And just a couple months ago, we all had to learn a new word: Derecho.

At least that name had a Castilian flair. Spanish is, after all, the loving tongue. But Frankenstorm? Snowicane? Seriously, who picks these things? ;)

Looks like this one is gonna hit right between DC and Philly. For those who know hurricanes, that means DC is on the dirty side. Again. Dang! And the track has been moving South all day:

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/w...x400-86202.gif

There must be some really awful Karma in this town. You know it's bad when people are starting to call it Beelzebub's bowling alley! ;)

Thanks,

Bill

Yikes. Looks bad, Bill. Once again, I'm concerned about NoVa, mid-Maryland, and about Boston.

(I blame the politicians and the lobbyists for all that bad karma.)

Funnily enough, I'm currently on the phone with United Airlines, trying to change my parents' return flight from Norfolk to Seattle. They were scheduled to leave on Monday morning at 10:00 AM. Guess what time the hurricane is supposed to hit Southeast Virginia? 10:00 AM Monday morning...

Part of me thinks all the hubbub about this storm is hyperbole, but it never hurts to take precautions. We live three blocks from the Elizabeth River, which leads directly to the Atlantic ocean. I'm a bit concerned about a possible storm surge. We'll see...

Looks like they've settled on calling it Frankenstorm. I blame the national weather service office in College Park, just a few miles from here. But protesting their naming practices is about as futile as Cuchulain standing at the shore and fighting the oncoming sea... ;)

Shaun, if the track follows the blue line below, your worries about flooding may be realized:

http://icons-ak.wunderground.com/dat...1218_model.gif

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Imagine all that water pushing into the Chesapeake with nowhere to go. Yikes! Now imagine being in downtown Alexandria!

For us, the flood plain of the Anacostia river is right behind our house. The riverbank itself is about sixty yards from our backyard. This whole thing could get way more exciting than I'd prefer. Quick calculations say the lip of the dam two miles downstream is below the level of our basement, but depending on my own mental calculations is obviously a fool's game. I love living close to the river. Most days...

Thanks,

Bill

Wonder what the Vegas odds are on these projections. Here's hoping the HWRF projection turns out to be the right one. That should make for the least displacement / damage etc.

A plethora of information here ---> http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Jef...?entrynum=2277

Patricia,

Thanks for that link. Here's the picture there that scares me:

http://icons.wxug.com/hurricane/2012...precip_fct.gif

If you look at where that image is 'pointing,' it looks like the center is heading straight for DC...

We're just back from buying the last of the batteries. Lots of empty shelves. And canned food: crabmeat, salmon, chicken... stuff we'd eat anyway, and will keep no matter what. We're getting pretty used to the drill. After the Derecho, it was hard to find open gas stations, so we're already seeing long lines at some places, even though others are fine. Kate is putting large containers of water in the freezer.

We took our generator in to get serviced. Should be ready for pickup by close of business today. After that, there'll be nothing to do but hunker down and watch the sky. We can already see the long, curving bands of clouds...

Thanks,

Bill

Bill ---

Here's a link to a video showing what Sandy looks like from space . . . as well as a brief article indicating that there are competing models for the path of the storm, one from Europe and one from the US, including a hyperlink:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...6pLid%3D226617

Hoping for the best for all Sphereans affected by this storm. Stay safe!

Snowicane? Frankenstorm? Snowgasm? Snowpocalypse? Beelzebub's bowling alley?

As you know Bill, these are names that make fun, or make light, of something that one can’t control and that can and will do harm. Apotropaic. Whistling while passing through the graveyard in the dead of night and such.

Also, they are great marketing devices. Frankenstorm, in a word, sells.

Wishing you safe passage, Bill, and everyone else affected by the coming storm.

Don

Indeed, safe passage to all. Keep in touch when you can, friends.

Absolutely. I'm hoping this doesn't worsen, and thinking of you all over there.

Charlotte

Hey, folks,

We got our generator back today, so we're feeling better about the next few days. All schools are cancelled from well south of here all the way north to Boston. The federal government's shut down, the metro's closed, nothing's going to be moving for a few days. James is thrilled he gets at least three days off school! ;)

I've seen more than my share of hurricanes, but never one like this. Who ever heard of a COLD hurricane? The day it hits, the high will be 44. Not only that, but it's making a left hook instead of a right one, and instead of travelling along the Atlantic coast, it's going to hit at a 90 degree angle. No-one knows exactly what to expect.

Just light rain and a few wind gusts here right now. We'll see how it shakes out...

Thanks,

Bill

Well, one and all

My wife and I were just in D.C. on our honeymoon (cut short due to illness) and it was absolutely hysterical there. At the Phillips collection we were chased from the outdoor cafe as they were tying down the tables and chairs — and this was Friday!

Here in Philly … not so bad so far. The grocery stores are crowded, but the conversation among strangers is refreshingly not about the storm. The hardware stores are out of things like flashlights and batteries I understand, but the one near us is purgatorial so I never go there.

We live on a hill — Fairmount — so there's little danger of flooding, but I was thinking on the train trip home of all those people with homes in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, not to mention coastal New Jersey.

Thanks so much Charlotte and Janice — "safe passage," I love that. Charley, good luck to you and yours and God's grace.

It's been blowing like hell on Long Island, all night, and the thing hasn't even turned inland yet.

Nemo

They're only calling it Frankenstorm because of Halloween.

Also, it's part hurricane, part nor'easter.

I just made a kind of cross-reference over on the "Elections" thread, but I will make more serious comments here. I'm grateful for people's reports on how things look in their area. I have a niece and nephew in the DC outskirts who are at least impacted by the closing of the rail service today. My relatives in PA are out of the country, but I don't think they live near enough to the coast for their house to be endangered. And of course, when storms hit Massachusetts I worry about Rhina and all the Pow-wow poets. As long as our Spherians have electricity, please keep us updated on how you are.

I'm also grateful for news. My daughter is in NYC though just on the edge of one of the green areas in the latest 'risk of evacuation' maps and my son-in-law was due in at JFK this afternoon - presumably cancelled. Thinking of you all.

Best,
Nigel

The wind and rain are really picking up now. Outside my window, the river is threatening its banks. The latest forecast has it coming along the southern track, right over Baltimore and DC. But at least we're elevated: the shoreline pictures are stunning. Look for pictures of Ocean City, Cape May, Brooklyn. Those are the folks who really need to worry.

There's actually a blizzard warning for the mountains less than a hundred miles from here! Flood warning in town, and they're closing the bay bridge.

There are lots of poets in the storm's path today. Perhaps we've angered The Muse? I'm lighting incense as supplication, and hoping for the best! ;)

Thanks,

Bill

It's not so bad here so far in Philly— on a par with Irene of last year. But I understand that the tidal surge is going to be very bad as there is a full moon (something I don't quite understand as the moon always has the same mass no matter how much of it you see) and because I-95 is below the level of the river it may close as well. New Jersey seems to be at the center of things, and there is so much coastal development that reckoning the storm's cost is going to be nightmarish.

No trees down on our street. We still have power and phones, just a leaky roof. In the middle of this, a campaign worker called and asked if I could volunteer sometime this week. I almost hung up on her, but laughed instead. "Call me when the hurricane has passed, will you?" They really are dedicated.

Rain and wind battering our apartment house in Baltimore. Worse to come tonight when the storm comes ashore near Atlantic City.

The following pic was allegedly taken this morning as Hurricane Sandy bears down on Manhattan but I think it's photoshopped... a hoax. Federal facilities are closed today so you would not have had those people on Liberty Island let alone see a speedboat out and about.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8...564443a4_o.jpg

Windy, cold and rainy in Delaware so far, rather like Irene except more sustained, I think (it started last night). I think the worst of it is supposed to be this evening and tonight? Our school expects to lose power (we have a generator) and is making plans to shelter in place. We are unlikely to suffer greatly from flooding but the wind will be the bad part. Not yet, though.

Chris

Tim Murphy bait:

This is a sign from God for the northeast to repent and vote for Romney!

The end-days are nigh!

Don (wink, nod, wink)

That "NYC" photo is certainly shopped, and there's no need for photoshop today.


Here's a picture of Ocean City (or what used to be Ocean City. Now it looks like it's just ocean. And the storm hasn't even arrived yet:

http://p.twimg.com/A6Y9dwnCMAAowl6.jpg

More here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...and-video.html

An amusing note: I keep hearing it's going to hit southern New Jersey. Ok, I said to myself, New Jersey is way north of us. It wasn't until this afternoon that I realized the southern tip of New Jersey is actually *South* of Baltimore!

Thanks,

Bill

Some good images here:

http://imgur.com/a/Q8sOl

Here's a reddit search string, which should update live. Careful, it's Reddit, so you never know what might appear. Please be forewarned, and don't click if you're sensitive. But this seems to have the latest crowdsourced pics:

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/search?...restrict_sr=on

Also, reddit is full of photoshoppers. The storm isn't washing over the statue of liberty, for example. Caveat Emptor, but it's usually pretty easy to tell... ;)


Thanks,

Bill

LIVE --- Hurricane Sandy Coverage --- The Weather Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXMU2...layer_embedded

So sad about Ocean City (Maryland, I'm assuming). My dad has a house there, and I hope it still stands.

On way to visit our daughter on Tues. 30 Oct., my wife & I were to fly from Los Angeles into Dulles outside D.C. to connect with a flight to Charlottesville, VA. Just notified flight canceled. Trying to work out alternatives, but images are really scary.

Guess hurricanes are not limited to the gulf coast where we survived several, including total loss of home & possessions once. We learned what it is like to be refugees like millions of people worldwide (only we had insurance and friends). Who can we blame?

Stay dry, all. wkg

It is Ocean City, New Jersey, not that there may be flooding in Ocean City, Maryland too.

I was last outside about an hour ago. A few trees are down, and most businesses are closed--the ones I saw open were the local Domino's, as well as a couple of bodegas (largely denuded of supplies) and a Mexican restaurant on Graham. Rainfall's been moderate so far, but the winds are quite strong. The residents of the gentrifying yuppie scumbag building visible from my window left their potted plants out. Is it wicked of me to hope that the wind knocks a few of them through those ridiculously large windows of theirs?

No, Quincy, it's not. But is it terrible of me to find comfort in knowing that residents of The Edge are in more danger than poorer people further inland?

Not in the slightest, Walter. Actually, thinking of that from the rather nondescript building on the Montrose stop of the L where I live makes me happy.

In any event, it warms my heart that New Yorkers won't let a small matter like a hurricane get in the way of complaining about gentrification and the bourgeois scum who are laming this place up at an alarming rate.

Report from south of Boston:

We've had lots of rain and wind here; there's been much more drama half an hour east and south (at the coast), including evacuations. We lost power here for about an hour--I was astonished when it came back on!

My university canceled classes today AND tomorrow. So I have a little time to write!

Hope everyone will stay safe.

Best,
Jean

As we've had no more messages from Bill, I wonder if power is out in the Beltway?

Gail, the Washington Post has been doing graphs of the DC area power outages. NoVa is getting it worse than the Maryland metro, it appears, but this is a broad-brush picture.

Where power is out. Click the appropriate link.

Gail,

We're ok so far. Wind is raging outside, car alarms going off (from tree impacts?), the rain is incredible, and we can't see the river to gauge its rising. But the power has held, although the flickers are troubling...

No matter what happens here, we're far more concerned for Kate's family in Connecticut. One house abuts the Long Island Sound, and things aren't looking good. We had to do substantial cleanup after Irene, and this one's way worse than Irene. I found this picture from earlier today:

.

http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/15/75/71.../3/628x471.jpg

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As you can tell, that one was taken sometime in the afternoon, well before the water really rose. The house is about a hundred yards out of sight, but at the same level. Kate's mother is safely ensconced (albeit powerless) in the Fairfield hills, we talked to her in the last hour. But I'm not holding out much hope for the house...

Thanks,

Bill

Of course it's wicked of you, Quincy. But glad to know you are safe. Best wishes to our East Coast friends.

Pictures and reports this morning are humbling. I hope our friends and their families are OK. Thoughts to you all.

David R.