MickinMD ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #1 Posted March 21, 2018 Snow events in Central Maryland bring my late mother's voice to mind, "If you watch the TV weather news during a snowstorm, you'll never go outside!" On Tuesday evening, after a day of rain/snow/sleet melting everywhere except for a thin film on grass, when there were no snows on the roads anywhere near Baltimore, the TV news was warning we were going to get hammered overnight with up to 8" of snow. Accuweather, etc. online forecast, "Wet Roads." It is Wednesday and after 10 am. There is NO snow on the roads in city and suburbs of Baltimore. There's not even an inch of snow on the grass and it's melting due to the warm ground and 34F and rising temps. So the Baltimore TV News is shooting footage from past storms and has reporters "on the scene" - at places an hour's normal drive to the North and West of Baltimore. Every so often, they give up a shot of the Baltimore Beltway, where there's not even snow on the road shoulders but we're told, "The high volume of traffic is helping conditions there." Then there are reporters who drive to the distant suburbs and report, "We didn't see anything but wet roads on the drive here, but there have been accidents (there are almost ALWAYS a few accidents in the morning rush hour) so don't go out on the roads." I'm quoting as I'm listening to the TV news: They're telling us things like, "This is just one of those days NOT to be a rebel: don't go outdoors unless you have to." And, "The WHOLE area is going to be plastered with 6 to 8 inches of snow before this is over." Right now, the CBS Affiliate is reporting "Road crews are extremely busy," with a reporter standing in the 1/2" of road snow at Hereford, MD - halfway between Baltimore and York, PA. When Baltimore County Schools announce weather closings, the "Hereford Zone" is considered separate from the rest of the county because it gets worse weather! Now, there's a reporter with his hand on a snow plow: "These bad boys are ready for action." The plows are parked in a state roads parking lot and not preparing to plow the nonexistent snow! Another reporter near the PA border, "The market is open and we see people going in and out. Cars are driving by. We didn't have any trouble getting here (a long drive from Baltimore!)." Now, they're back in the studio showing a map, telling us we're getting 4" or 5" of snow total by 6 pm but saying, "these are radar estimates." Now the Baltimore County Executive is telling a reporter he hasn't had to use his snowblower all Winter, but he MIGHT need it today. The reporter doing the interview warns him the snow is so heavy (in other words it's melting slush!) that the snow may be too heavy for his snowblower. This is the fourth Nor'easter in the past two weeks, so they're calling it "The Four'easter." Clever - not. I did have to sprinkle a little salt on my front steps and sidewalk to make things more safe for the mailman later today. I got my grocery shopping yesterday, driving through the blizzard that melted on impact - just like it's doing today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #2 Posted March 21, 2018 It’s like the boy who cried wolf. They rave about these big storms that never happen and then when we have a storm nobody believed them and they were not ready. The interstate is closed between our exit and Ohio. The secondary roads will be next because of the traffic from the interstate crashing on the secondary roads. Getting home today will be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #3 Posted March 21, 2018 In NoVA, we're at 2"-3" so far. Last night, a fine layer of ice was dropped and stuck on cars, now it is a really nice snowball fluffy mix. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted March 21, 2018 It's now 11 am and we are getting a little slush on the roads, but anyone who knows how to drive in it has no problems - and there's significant traffic past my house. My guess is that by tomorrow the temps and Sun will get rid of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #5 Posted March 21, 2018 1 minute ago, MickinMD said: My guess is that by tomorrow the temps and Sun will get rid of it all. The sooner, the better! Good riddance to bad weather. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #6 Posted March 21, 2018 Would you rather have the opposite? They know a storm is coming and did nothing to prepare. They are giving you estimates and storms change as they develop. If you don't like the news, turn it off. Chain law is in effect here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted March 21, 2018 Share #7 Posted March 21, 2018 44 minutes ago, MickinMD said: Snow events in Central Maryland bring my late mother's voice to mind, "If you watch the TV weather news during a snowstorm, you'll never go outside!" On Tuesday evening, after a day of rain/snow/sleet melting everywhere except for a thin film on grass, when there were no snows on the roads anywhere near Baltimore, the TV news was warning we were going to get hammered overnight with up to 8" of snow. Accuweather, etc. online forecast, "Wet Roads." It is Wednesday and after 10 am. There is NO snow on the roads in city and suburbs of Baltimore. There's not even an inch of snow on the grass and it's melting due to the warm ground and 34F and rising temps. So the Baltimore TV News is shooting footage from past storms and has reporters "on the scene" - at places an hour's normal drive to the North and West of Baltimore. Every so often, they give up a shot of the Baltimore Beltway, where there's not even snow on the road shoulders but we're told, "The high volume of traffic is helping conditions there." Then there are reporters who drive to the distant suburbs and report, "We didn't see anything but wet roads on the drive here, but there have been accidents (there are almost ALWAYS a few accidents in the morning rush hour) so don't go out on the roads." I'm quoting as I'm listening to the TV news: They're telling us things like, "This is just one of those days NOT to be a rebel: don't go outdoors unless you have to." And, "The WHOLE area is going to be plastered with 6 to 8 inches of snow before this is over." Right now, the CBS Affiliate is reporting "Road crews are extremely busy," with a reporter standing in the 1/2" of road snow at Hereford, MD - halfway between Baltimore and York, PA. When Baltimore County Schools announce weather closings, the "Hereford Zone" is considered separate from the rest of the county because it gets worse weather! Now, there's a reporter with his hand on a snow plow: "These bad boys are ready for action." The plows are parked in a state roads parking lot and not preparing to plow the nonexistent snow! Another reporter near the PA border, "The market is open and we see people going in and out. Cars are driving by. We didn't have any trouble getting here (a long drive from Baltimore!)." Now, they're back in the studio showing a map, telling us we're getting 4" or 5" of snow total by 6 pm but saying, "these are radar estimates." Now the Baltimore County Executive is telling a reporter he hasn't had to use his snowblower all Winter, but he MIGHT need it today. The reporter doing the interview warns him the snow is so heavy (in other words it's melting slush!) that the snow may be too heavy for his snowblower. This is the fourth Nor'easter in the past two weeks, so they're calling it "The Four'easter." Clever - not. I did have to sprinkle a little salt on my front steps and sidewalk to make things more safe for the mailman later today. I got my grocery shopping yesterday, driving through the blizzard that melted on impact - just like it's doing today. Mick, Mick, Mick. You don't get the whole panic thing, do you? Embrace the panic. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted March 21, 2018 Share #8 Posted March 21, 2018 We have a local weather guy who does a good jon keeping it real. He explains the forecast and probability without creating drama. In fact he mocks the other network weather folks for stirring up the sheot. Odd thing is this is the same network news that has the girl in the field who likes to dress as a fire girl with the mask perched on her head or put her pretty golashes on when it's sprinkling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #9 Posted March 21, 2018 30 minutes ago, BuffJim said: Mick, Mick, Mick. You don't get the whole panic thing, do you? Embrace the panic. I think it is one of those classic situations of having TOO MUCH "information", too much time to fill, and too much need for ratings. I'm working from home today, but my TV hasn't been turned on yet. I have no idea what "they" are saying, but I can look out my window and see, and I can look at Intellicast or whatever and watch pretty radar. No hype, no worries, no drama. When I was a wee one, it was read the morning paper, then catch the evening news, maybe read the evening paper(!!!), and then that was it. No opportunity for hype Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 21, 2018 Share #10 Posted March 21, 2018 It's a Nor'Easter, those are nearly impossible to predict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share #11 Posted March 21, 2018 Actually I got it a little wrong. The street in front of my home has no snow on it and when the snow ends around 6 pm, I'll make a quick sweep of the about 1" of slushy snow on my porch, sidewalk and car to avoid more work if it somehow freezes over night. But my old schoolmate Mike, who lives about 2 miles from me, posted this picture on Facebook. The closeup-stuff looks like a drift but if you look in the distance you can see there's only a couple of inches on steps and vehicles, though his street got a little accumulation. But definitely not the 8" the TV news promised us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #12 Posted March 21, 2018 15 minutes ago, MickinMD said: Actually I got it a little wrong. The street in front of my home has no snow on it and when the snow ends around 6 pm, I'll make a quick sweep of the about 1" of slushy snow on my porch, sidewalk and car to avoid more work if it somehow freezes over night. But my old schoolmate Mike, who lives about 2 miles from me, posted this picture on Facebook. The closeup-stuff looks like a drift but if you look in the distance you can see there's only a couple of inches on steps and vehicles, though his street got a little accumulation. But definitely not the 8" the TV news promised us! Estimates are not promises. It's an educated guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted March 21, 2018 Share #13 Posted March 21, 2018 ...when I looked at CNN briefly, they had some poor guy on the White House lawn talking about politics. It looked like a pretty good accumulation for this late in the Springtime for D.C. to me, but it's been 40 years since I lived there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #14 Posted March 21, 2018 The snow was late but it's just starting pretty heavily now. New Haven, about a 60 mile drive from here already has 5 inches. The expected snow amounts however have been falling as the weather guessers refine their estimates. It seems that there is snow falling at about 2" per hour just south of Long Island and the difference will be if it crosses our coast and moves inland or not. We are at a point where 25 miles will make a large difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share #15 Posted March 21, 2018 11 minutes ago, Page Turner said: ...when I looked at CNN briefly, they had some poor guy on the White House lawn talking about politics. It looked like a pretty good accumulation for this late in the Springtime for D.C. to me, but it's been 40 years since I lived there. It's not unusual to get snow accumulation in late March here but, because temperatures are like to be around 50F the next day or so, it doesn't last. NO government weather source was expecting 8" of accumulation, they expected 8" of snow to fall and the vast majority to melt. That was reported at most of the online weather sources. But the TV stations went out of their way to avoid mentioning the 8" wasn't all going to accumulate! More people will keep tuning them in that way! We get snow in the first week of April more often than not - but it doesn't accumulate. Still, people say, "Can you believe it. It's snowing in April!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 21, 2018 Share #16 Posted March 21, 2018 April Fools Day 1997 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted March 21, 2018 Share #17 Posted March 21, 2018 2 hours ago, dennis said: Estimates are not promises. It's an educated guess. I am not one of the over-reactors, but I do love them. My commute home is always an hour after I get to the car. Today it was 30 minutes, I was doing 80 to keep up with the traffic. We were supposed to get 18 - 21 inches, as of now, the roads are bone dry. People fell for it, I won. I wish they would have a prediction like this every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted March 21, 2018 Share #18 Posted March 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: April Fools Day 1997 Yup, I worked that day. More than 2 feet of snow here. We all got a gift card to a restaurant for showing up. Many people didn't make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2018 Share #19 Posted March 22, 2018 I guess that depending on your exact location it was or wasn't "fake" snow. I ended up with about 2 inches on the cars and deck rails but 0 or dust on the driveway. (remember my various predictions ran from 3 to 16) I guess Long Island got hammered with as much as 20 inches. Can you pronounce Ronkonkoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 22, 2018 Share #20 Posted March 22, 2018 18 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: Can you pronounce Ronkonkoma. No please help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2018 Share #21 Posted March 22, 2018 2 minutes ago, Kzoo said: No please help I'm not sure that's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 22, 2018 Share #22 Posted March 22, 2018 1 minute ago, maddmaxx said: I'm not sure that's possible. Got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2018 Share #23 Posted March 22, 2018 In the wonderful world of words, my local weather guesser just called this storm an epic underproducer of snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 22, 2018 Share #24 Posted March 22, 2018 An old timer I used to work with always said “ there’s more time wasted waiting for the weather than because of it” lot of truth in that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted March 22, 2018 Share #25 Posted March 22, 2018 We got 8.7”. Yesterday morning’s commute was hell, but roads were cleared by evening rush hour. Heavy, wet snow. I shoveled my front steps and about half of my driveway. The rest can just melt this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted March 22, 2018 Share #26 Posted March 22, 2018 8 hours ago, maddmaxx said: I guess that depending on your exact location it was or wasn't "fake" snow. I ended up with about 2 inches on the cars and deck rails but 0 or dust on the driveway. (remember my various predictions ran from 3 to 16) I guess Long Island got hammered with as much as 20 inches. Can you pronounce Ronkonkoma. 8 hours ago, Kzoo said: No please help 8 hours ago, maddmaxx said: I'm not sure that's possible. ...is it anything like the Ronco Cap Snaffler ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2018 Share #27 Posted March 22, 2018 12 minutes ago, Page Turner said: ...is it anything like the Ronco Cap Snaffler ? Ron Con ka ma with the emphasis on the con Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 22, 2018 Share #28 Posted March 22, 2018 1 minute ago, maddmaxx said: Ron Con ka ma with the emphasis on the con So you help him out but not me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 22, 2018 Share #29 Posted March 22, 2018 Google is my friend. Ronkonkoma is a hamlet and census-designated place on Long Island in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 19,082 at the 2010 census. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2018 Share #30 Posted March 22, 2018 6 minutes ago, Kzoo said: So you help him out but not me? He's a hippie and you're an all powerful mod. And I just saw that you have a friend at last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 22, 2018 Share #31 Posted March 22, 2018 23 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: And I just saw that you have a friend at last Fake news. I need all the friends I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted March 22, 2018 Share #32 Posted March 22, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted March 22, 2018 Share #33 Posted March 22, 2018 ...that cap snaffler will set you back 15 bucks Canadian right now on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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