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The Blizzard of 2010 (UPDATED)
President Obama calls this Snowmaggedon. Whatever it's called, it's the biggest snow to hit DC in history but maybe not according to the airport figures. It's still snowing and we have about 30 inches on the ground. I'm very lucky to have power because over 200,000 homes are without power in the region, mostly in the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, and 5,000 in DC. Some major roads in the area are blocked by fallen trees due to heavy snow and wind. A private jet hangar at Dulles airport had the roof collapse and a small old wooden church collapsed under the weight of the snow.
Here are a couple of iPhone photos I took earlier today looking out my front and rear upstairs windows:
My mom lost power last night at midnight but she was asleep and didn't know it until she woke up and the temp was 59°. When it went down to 58°, she called 911 and asked to be taken to the hospital where she's scheduled to have an operation to remove her gallbladder Wednesday morning. With 30 inches of snow on the ground, the ambulance could only get within a half block of her house which is a little uphill. They had to carry her in a stretcher to the truck. Even a fire engine couldn't get to her. She called from the hospital from the emergency room. She can't get around too well because of severe hip pain in a hip that had been replaced so they're trying to find out what's wrong. There are too many people in the emergency room so they're stacked up in the foyer. Lots of cases of missing fingers from snowblower mishaps.
There's a huge snowball fight going on at Dupont Circle in DC involving 2,000 people. You can see some photos of it here: Photos from The Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight, 2pm Sat. Feb. 6, 2010 | Facebook
Live streaming Web cams, Dupont Circle and US Capitol:
TrafficLand.com -- Dupont Circle @ Connecticut Ave
U.S. Senate: Visitor Center Home > Capitol Camera
UPDATE:
Just got an updated forecast for Tuesday's snowstorm. We're in the bullseye that stretches from DC to Philadelphia for 14 to 25 inches of new snow. Some areas still don't have power from the weekend storm and many of us are still digging out. Stores and gas stations are running out. Another reinforcing cold front coming Sunday into Monday bringing the possibility for snow showers.
It seems my mom's gallbladder surgery has been moved up and may have already happened this afternoon. She called while we were out shoveling and now I can't reach her.
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Just after posting this, Ron emailed me that his power had gone out. So now, Ron joins the 200,000 in D.C. who are as powerless as Democrats.
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
My power came back on at 7:14 PM. Whew! We were planning to stuff the fridge with bags of snow and trying to figure out how to keep the pipes from freezing. Going down to 14° here tonight.
I"m a HUGE fan of electricity! I was busy cranking my emergency radio, listening to classical music, when the lights came on. Hallelujah!
he stole that "snowmageddon" phrase from a weather person. I heard that quite a bit earlier in the day. But then what's new- he never has anything original.
I lost my Internet connection last night and only got it back this afternoon. So many power outages in the area, I'll bet my ISP server was down.
No sign of a plow, no cars on the road, just 2 1/2 feet of snow in the road and footprints.
My car is behind the cardinal. The little black thing above the cardinal's comb is the tip of my windshield wiper that I left up in the vertical position.
My mom has a room at the hospital now. Still no power at her house. A neighbor came over and turned off her water and drained the pipes. He also emptied her refrigerator and freezer and took the food over to a friend's house for a Super Bowl party.
I'd clean the car off before it becomes ice rather than snow
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
Best way to clean off tons of snow, unless it's a mercedes you baby. Use a big push broom.
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
We're under a new winter storm watch for Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. They say 5 or more inches of new snow expected.
I plan to back my car halfway into the street before pushing the snow off with the push broom. Sure am glad i have that thing. Probably won't have mail delivery or trash pickup on Monday.
If it turns out out Obama stole "snowmageddon", I'm just gonna curl up into a ball and lose all hope...
From Wikipedia:
Snowmageddon
Snowmageddon is a portmanteau of the words snow and armageddonthat may refer to:
click the photo for fullsize and more at NASA
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
We're really buried. This was a very heavy snow with high moisture content that froze so it's very hard to move. Very slow going getting dug out and another big storm on the way. We're under a Winter Storm Warning for another 10 to 20 inches of new snow.
I hope you and Mrs Ron keep warm and that your mom has a successful surgery. (Pushbroom is the way to go; that's what we use for big snows.)
We're fine so far but we'd really be in bad shape if we didn't have power. It'll take days to get a car onto the snow packed road.
Lots of happy birds around on the two feeders I put up. We have bluejays, cardinals, striped sparrows, wrens, mockingbirds, doves, chickadees, titmice, and others.