snow!

[cellio]

If Pittsburgh got DC's (predicted) snow, what did DC get? (National news seems to be saying ~20 inches; what say the locals?)

I haven't measured, but this morning when I left I estimated 18" average, with drifts up to hip-level and snow still falling. It took about 40 minutes to walk to my synagogue rather than the usual 20, and I mostly walked in the streets (which were at least flattened-down if not actually plowed). I passed one person on skis, which struck me as an excellent idea. (I saw several more skiers later while shovelling.) I lamented not having a pair of snowshoes.

When I got to my synagogue I found one other person there. We later learned that services had been officially cancelled, but I had left the house before the phone call came. On the way home I contemplated going somewhere else, though I was dressed casually (per my minyan's custom). I figured I would try Young People's Synagogue; my plan was to talk to the first person I encountered, acknowledge the inappropriate dress for their community, and ask if it would be disruptive for me to come in anyway as my own minyan had cancelled. Maybe I'd win and maybe I wouldn't, but I'd never know if I didn't ask. However, their snow-covered walkway and steps were undisturbed by traffic, so I assume they cancelled too. Next up the street was New Light, which had a lone set of tracks and no evidence of any activity. So I went home.

Dani and I took the shovelling in shifts and it took a few hours. Two people parked in front of our house were digging out their cars; one heeded my directive about where (not) to put the snow and the other semi-did. So the walkway to the street is curvy, but it's there.

We usually go out for dinner on Saturday night, but even if the city and county hadn't declared a state of emergency I don't think we would have tonight. Perhaps I will make French toast for dinner.

Pictures tomorrow, I expect.

Comments

[ticklethepear.livejournal.com]

I confirm the 20 inches!

[cellio]

Thanks.

We were supposed to get 8-14, not the 18-20 we probably got (I haven't found an official number yet). So I wondered how well you had fared versus prediction.

[arabella23.livejournal.com]

I live out near Dulles and we have 27-30ish inches.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Here in Springfield (VA), we got 24 or so inches in our yard.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

I haven't been outside my hospital room to measure for sure, but the folks I've talked to in the DC area have said they got about 28-29 inches.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

here's some official data (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=MD&prodtype=public)

The airports saw 32.4 (IAD), 24.8 (BWI), and 17.8 (DCA).

The closest station to my house got 23.1.

I had a flight scheduled for early Sunday morning - they called me to cancel it (I should add that I haven't called to reschedule yet because they don't even know if people are going to fly on Sunday (http://www.metwashairports.com/snow.htm)!).

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

I know my wife is worried, because she's supposed to fly via IAD Monday morning. So hopefully either things will be back to normal by then or they'll be able to change her tickets to connect elsewhere.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

As I thought, our six inches earlier this year was nothing! This is impressive.

[goljerp]

My part of NYC got a bit of snow in the morning, no accumulation.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

IAD is open this morning for "limited operations", so it might be okay Monday. She should probably call the airline; it would probably be easier for all concerned if she connected elsewhere.

DCA (where I'm flying out of) is still closed for the foreseeable future. Lovely.

[cellio]

That's going to take a while to dig out from.

[cellio]

Here's hoping you can walk or take public transit where you need to go for the next few days.

[cellio]

I would not expect you to be outside measuring. :-) (Sorry to hear you're still in there.)

[cellio]

Wait, IAD had nearly twice as much snow as DCA, but DCA is closed and IAD is open?

[cellio]

Do you ever get snowfalls this deep? (To be clear, we rarely do here.)

[cellio]

A "southern" storm feels pretty weird to me. DC is buried and NYC is barely touched? That's wrong. :-)

[alienor.livejournal.com]

I suspect that IAD has MUCH more equipment, and I read (somewhere!) that IAD is only operating one runway.

Here are some statistics to give the perspective on the two airports:

IAD has 4 runways, each somewhere between 9-11,000 feet in length.

DCA has 3 runways, a long one about 7,000 feet and two short ones about 5,000 feet.

So, since DCA has (roughly!) half as much runway total to maintain (so an assumably smaller operations budget), I'm totally not surprised that they don't have their first runway open yet.

BWI opened one runway about mid-day on Sunday; they have 2 short runways (5,000 and 6,000 feet) and two long (about 10,000).

DCA seems to think that they'll be open sometime on Monday, but all 3 airlines are telling people to confirm with the airline if they're going to be flying.

Nathaniel and I are placing bets on the chances that his employer will get runway time, since the local airports are so swamped. He thinks that money will make sure that their planes can fly. We'll see!

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

No - it might happen in the hills, I suppose, though I suspect even there it would be exceptional. Across the country, we've been getting 6" - a foot, and reports have been talking about the worst winter in 30 years.

Remember, we're a small island, which tends to reduce extremes of temperature, and we're in the Gulf Stream...

[cellio]

Yeah, being on a small island makes a big difference weather-wise. We're at the junction of two rivers (forming a third) and even that amount of water moderates our weather somewhat -- usually. :-)