Winter Storm Feb '10

ABC13, http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7139809#global . They say 4-8" Tuesday evening.

Weather Underground hasn't committed yet, other than to predict "moderate accumulation" for Tuesday and "additional moderate accumulation" for Tuesday night. But in "WU speak" that's usually something similar to "Jim Cantore's doing a live remote from Summit Street".

Snow is snow, its not the end of the world. As a person who was raised in the south (lived in myrtle beach, and california) ....I dont get all the hype over a little bit of snow. 4,5,6,7,8,9 inches is annoying but wow the media hype is crazy.

Now...Washington DC getting 30 inches..THAT is crazy!

Yes it is. As a life long Toledoan this is like the Blizzard of '78. Except I don't have a Skidoo this time.The DC area is screwed for the next week,more snow tomorrow night.....we got 30+" at our house.

"... you had better stock up the shelves."

When was the last time a storm trapped Toledoans in their homes and closed businesses for days? I never understood the human urge to shop for groceries when snow is forecast. Apparently, the sight of falling snow must cause a lot of hunger cravings, including the odd urge by each person to guzzle four gallons of milk in one day.

Unless it's a storm of the magnitude like the freakish Blizzard of '78 or a catastrophic ice storm, which I've never seen occur around here, we can get to the store the day after if not a few hours after any kind of winter storm that hits here. I'm talking about city dwellers. Rural people in the wide open spaces who have to battle wind-blown, snow-drifted county roads may not want to go out right away, but I would think even country folk already have some food in the pantry or cellar. Growing up in the hills of eastern uh-Hi-uh, we always gathered fresh roadkill in the fall to gnaw on during the winter.

What made the blizzard of 78 so bad was it was not predicted to be that bad until it was on top of us, and it was so massive it blanketed a very large swath of the the country, people tend to think local from Detroit to Columbus, but that storm was wider and covered more area than that. I cant recall with out looking up records but it was further north than Detroit and down in Tennessee if I'm not mistaken and hit in the midwest all the way to Washington and New York. The other major factor of that storm was the winds that came with it with the drifting which lasted a couple days. Even with a 4-5 day warning there wasn't anything that could of been done about it. Look at this last storm, they predicted it 2-3 days in advance yet they still got 2 feet of blowing drifting snow. Washington is socked in for now, better equipment and advanced warning will help them recover faster, but does nothing to stop the shutdown of systems. Mother Nature cares little for your plans, no reason to go nuts and buy 2 weeks of food, but it doesn't hurt to shop ahead and get stuff so you can just stay inside for a couple days.

As of Sunday evening, the counties under a Winter Storm Watch were just to the west of Toledo.

Here's a National Weather Service statement that covers Fulton County :

Statement as of 10:26 PM EST on February 07, 2010

A Winter Storm Watch remains in effect from late Monday night
through Wednesday evening.

* Timing... snow is expected to overspread the area late Monday
night and become heavy on Tuesday and Tuesday night. Snow should
taper to snow showers on Wednesday with snow showers most
numerous over northwest portions of the watch area. Northwest
winds are expected to increase Tuesday night and Wednesday...
causing considerable blowing and drifting snow.

* Main impact... snow will cause hazardous travel conditions late
Monday night through Tuesday night before tapering off to snow
showers on Wednesday. Increasing northwest winds are expected to
cause considerable blowing and drifting snow late Tuesday night
and Wednesday... possibly resulting in whiteouts and some
impassable roads in rural portions of the area.

Here are excerpts from the Sunday evening weather discussion from the Cleveland National Weather Service. The key term is "dry slot."

area forecast discussion
national weather service cleveland oh
1013 pm est sun feb 7 2010

.short term /6 am monday morning through wednesday night/...
debated the entire shift whether the area needed to be in a winter
storm watch. the 00z nam says no...northwest ohio could be close
be it doesn`t seem like 8 inches in 24 hours or 6 in 12 hours. it
will be close. the dry slot continues to look impressive as what
the day shift was concerned about. will let the midnight shift take
another look at gfs and other models and decide what kind of
headlines will be needed. an advisory definitely seemed to be
needed across much of the area. this will be a prolonged event not
like the friday and friday night event. if we get a break in the
snow it will be like two storms.

interesting situation setting up. monday will be quiet with the
surface ridge sliding east across the area. temps will be about
the same as today. models still having some differences with the
low for tuesday and tuesday night. nam continues to have a
slightly more northern track than the gfs. appears precip will
arrive tuesday morning. will maintain chance pops in the west late
monday night but really think it will be after sunrise tuesday
before the first flakes fall. easterly flow will continue on
tuesday ahead of the low. this flow pattern is typically very dry
and usually delays the onset of the precip. think it will take
most if not all of the afternoon for the accumulating snow to
reach nw pa. accums by 00z wednesday will be in the 1 to 3 range
over western areas. slightly higher amounts could be possible in
far nw oh if the snow arrives a little sooner than expected.
challenges remain tuesday night as a dry slot will likely move
across the area at some point. this will cut down on accums. later
shifts will likely need to have to issue some sort of headlines.
although the system is very dynamic...model qpf amounts are not
all that high. realistically think there will be a period of snow
on tuesday then a several hour lull tuesday night as the dry slot
moves through...then another period of snow on wednesday as the wrap around
behind the low moves through. will hang on to high pops wednesday
all areas and in the snowbelt wednesday night. high pressure will
begin to build in from the west on thursday but trofiness will
continue in the east. will hang on to at least chance pops in the
snowbelt through thursday night. temps during the period will
continue to be below normal. have trended colder than guidance
given the fresh snow that will be on the ground.

Storm will probably break around lucas county like always.

I'd rather have snow later in the season, like now, than earlier. The last couple of years, we've had snow early, and it didn't seem to lose it's icy grip all winter. It's nice to see the grass.

Agree with Junior. Though I did stop and picked up a loaf of bread, gallon of milk and some peanut butter. Think it was less because of the weekend storm, and more because I wanted to hibernate at home for the weekend and my new TV :)

My family back home however are under a couple feet, and literally can't leave the house. With snow drifts, the place where my mom's car is parked looks like a huge mound of snow literally cresting to the roof top. Have only seen that one other time while I lived back there.

Kind of a side topic, but since I do live on an off road that doesnt get plowed for 24 hours past a storm, what really are the laws pertaining to level 2 and 3? Heard level 3 means you shouldn't be on the road by law.

Ohio.gov --> Snow Emergency Classifications

LEVEL 1 : Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads may also be icy. Motorists are urged to drive very cautiously.

LEVEL 2 : Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads may also be very icy. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roads. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work. Motorists should use extreme caution.

LEVEL 3 : All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel or a personal emergency exists. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roads may subject themselves to arrest.

"absolutely necessary"? Wonder what "absolutely" means in this sentence. I mean, if president clinton can question what "sex" is, we can question "absolutely".

Want to bet the price of gas jumps up first thing Monday?

As Blizzardbill mentioned, the entire area is now under a Winter Storm Watch.

National Weather Service statemend >>

Statement as of 3:18 AM EST on February 08, 2010

The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a Winter
Storm Watch... which is in effect from Tuesday morning through
Wednesday evening.

Low pressure will move into the lower Ohio Valley area late
tonight. It will then move northeast and deepen as it moves toward
the lower Great Lake region Tuesday night... and then to the East
Coast on Wednesday. Snow will begin to spread into Northwest Ohio
Tuesday morning overspreading the rest of Northern Ohio by early
afternoon. Snow accumulations Tuesday into Wednesday could be in the
6 to 10 inch range. Windy conditions will also likely develop
Tuesday night into Wednesday causing blowing and drifting snow.

NWS weather discussion >>

area forecast discussion
national weather service cleveland oh
642 am est mon feb 8 2010

clouds will then continue to increase and thicken as low pressure
moves into the lower ohio valley by tuesday morning. kept just
chance pops going in the far west overnight...with the steady snow
probably holding off until after 6am tuesday.

&&

.short term /tuesday through thursday night/...
deepening low pressure will move from the lower ohio valley
tuesday morning into northern ohio by tuesday evening. nam tracks
the low a little further to the west and north compared to the
gfs. this would lead to somewhat lighter snowfall as the better
dynamics would be further north and it would also pull in some
drier air. leaning more toward the gfs solution and issued a
winter storm watch for the entire area. at this time a general 6
to 10 inch snowfall seems reasonable with the heaviest snow more
likely over extreme northwest ohio compared to the weekend storm
that brought the heaviest snow to the sern portion of our forecast
area. both models were showing an intrusion of somewhat drier air
into the area tuesday evening...nam somewhat more so than the gfs.
this could lead to a tapering off of the snow before picking up
again later tuesday night and wednesday. the snow will likely
taper off fairly quickly wednesday afternoon and evening as the
low jumps to the east coast.

NWS forecast >>

Monday Tonight
Mostly cloudy. A chance of snow after midnight. Not as cold with lows around 17. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 40 percent.

Tuesday
Snow. Snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches. Highs in the upper 20s. East winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Tuesday Night
Snow. Additional moderate snow accumulation. Lows around 20. East winds 15 to 20 mph...becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Wednesday
Snow showers likely. Additional light snow accumulation possible. Brisk with highs in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

AccuWeather forecast >>

Monday Night
Cold with thickening clouds; a bit of snow toward dawn, accumulating a coating to an inch. Low: 20°F.
Hours of Precipitation: 2 Hrs
Amount Snow: 0.4 in

Tuesday
Breezy and cold with snow, accumulating 3-6 inches. High: 24°F.
Hours of Precipitation: 12 Hrs
Amount of Snow: 3.5in

Tuesday Night
Windy with snow, accumulating an additional 2-4 inches; blowing and drifting snow. Low: 21°F. RealFeel: 2°F.
Hours of Precipitation: 12 Hrs
Amount Snow: 3.4in

Wednesday
Cloudy, windy and cold with snow tapering off, accumulating an additional 1-3 inches. High: 29°F RealFeel: 14°F.
Hours of Precipitation: 7 Hrs
Amount of Snow: 1.6in

We are here too. Another 10-24" for Central Maryland. I'd rather be home in Toledo :-)

Real snowfalls for Toledo are usually at the low range for the predictions. So I'm thinking that I'll have to shovel 6 inches in 2 trips. Considering how light our snowfalls have been this winter, this is literally nothing to be concerned about.

NWS Statement Monday evening:

Statement as of 8:56 PM EST on February 08, 2010

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 7 am Tuesday to
7 PM EST Wednesday.

Low pressure will move across Northern Ohio Tuesday night. Snow
associated with this low will spread into northwest and north
central Ohio just before daybreak Tuesday morning. Periods of
snow will then continue through late Wednesday. Accumulations
through sunset on Tuesday will generally be between 2 and 4
inches. Another 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected Tuesday night
with additional snowfall on Wednesday. Total storm accumulations
through early Wednesday evening will range from 8 to 12 inches.
The highest amounts are expected to be west and north of a line
from Findlay to Sandusky.

In addition... windy conditions will develop Tuesday night into
Wednesday causing considerable blowing and drifting snow and near
blizzard conditions. North to northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph Tuesday
evening will become northwest early Wednesday and increase to 15
to 25 mph with occasional higher gusts.

Late Monday night NWS discussion

area forecast discussion
national weather service cleveland oh
1143 pm est mon feb 8 2010

heaviest accums should be near ktol where
there could be locally up to 12 inches of snow. models now in
pretty good agreement and it appears that much of the area could
see a dry slot tuesday evening which could result in a brief lull
in the snow. wrap around snow will return on wednesday. winds will
begin to increase at the same time.

as far as timing goes...the snow should reach western areas around daybreak
tuesday. the snow should begin to end from west to east
wednesday afternoon as the low shifts to the east coast. winds
will remain a problem so have left the headlines up till 00z
thursday.

Level 3 doesn't mean anything to the company I work for.If you don't come to work you are written up for an absence.The only excused absence is if you die that day.Otherwise you must get to work.

"I dont get all the hype over a little bit of snow...wow the media hype is crazy." OhioKimono

Kimono, I'm with you. TV stations think every raindrop is worth mentioning. Sometimes I have heard 5 minutes' worth of warnings and blather, only to discover that they were talking about an expected half-inch accumulation. All the broadcast stations now promote weather anxiety, maybe trying to compete with the great job that cable stations do.

As an aside, my contacts in the school system tell me that most children & teens never walk anywhere anymore (either driven by parents or take the bus) and they don't see the point of purchasing heavy boots, thick socks, warm jackets, or even raincoats. In households like that, who would care what the weather is like?

I think people get so crazy about the weather because people drive like idiots around here. Factor in snow and it can be a nightmare on the roads.

So when can we expect a comment from the Global Warming idiots in Washington?

Lets not turn this into political B.S. Wulf

Or better yet; when can we expect people to grasp what global warming means. It does not mean that it will be 90 degrees 365 days a year.

Consider that your science class for the day Wulf. No charge.

Upso, you are so right about people driving like crazy. I had an idiot tailgate me getting on southbound 75 this morning while i was sliding on the on-ramp. Its like i'd MUCH rather be 5 minutes late to work then get in a wreck.

"I had an idiot tailgate me getting on southbound 75 this morning ..."

The key word there is "idiot." And maybe that's why law enforcement comes on the airways during snowstorms with their master of the obvious message that encourages motorists to drive slower in bad weather. As if intelligent people need to be told that. Well, it's never too early to remind people that when it's 90 degrees outside, don't wear heavy wool clothing when engaged in a strenuous, outdoor activity.

The driving issue always reminds me of that TCP column :

Or two feet of snow in Feb, Rian?

Sure you can get two feet of snow in February (a winter month, btw)and still have global warming effecting the earth. Its not black and white like that.

Come on. Enough of the political bullsh*t.

It’s not political with ME. Its common sense/science. I will never understand how a subject like that could be political. It’s the earth for crying out loud. But that’s just me.

Meanwhile – watch the driving people. No expressways for me today.

I agree with you Ryan-how could the EARTH become political-but maybe I should ask ALGORE? I forgot-he's nowhere to be seen, for a while now. Or the "scientists" who pushed this IDIOCY to get grant money? I agree, stay off the expressways-regular streets are faster today!

So... are you guys bothering to shovel snow today... or waiting 'till tomorrow, after everything is dumped down?

I've done it once today already, and there's probably another inch or so that that has fallen since.

I shoveled the sidewalks and driveway this evening. Less to do tomorrow. Plus we need to use the walks and driveway this evening.

Looks like it has snowed, what, around six inches as of 7:30 p.m.?

Latest National Weather Service statement:

Statement as of 4:14 PM EST on February 09, 2010

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 7 PM EST
Wednesday.

Low pressure over Ohio will move northeast into Lake Erie tonight.
Snow will persist across northwest and diminish over north central
Ohio this evening. Storm total accumulation by Wednesday morning
of 8 to 10 inches in the Toledo area with lesser amounts up to 6
inches south and east of I-71 & I-80. Light snow is expected on
Wednesday with an additional accumulation of around an inch in the
Toledo to 1 to 3 inches in the snow belt from Cleveland east to Youngstown.

In addition... windy conditions will develop Wednesday causing
considerable blowing and drifting snow. Northwest winds Wednesday
morning will increase to 15 to 25 mph with occasional higher
gusts.

NWS weather discussion

area forecast discussion
national weather service cleveland oh
656 pm est tue feb 9 2010

.synopsis...
low pressure over ohio will drift north into lake erie this
evening as a coastal storm develops off the delmarva coast. the
coastal storm will strengthening on wednesday as the low over lake
erie weakens. the storm will slowly move off the east coast into
thursday as high pressure gradually builds east over the ohio
valley and eastern great lakes.

&&

.near term /until 6 am wednesday morning/...
dry slot from the low pressure area is beginning to move into the sw
part of the cwa and this should greatly limit snowfall
accumulations over the eastern 2/3 of the area for the overnight.
snow will persist in nw pa most of tonight and also in the tol
area where the wrap around moisture and uplift will persist. storm
total accumulation by wednesday morning of 8-10 inches in the tol
area with lesser amounts up to 6 inches south and east of i-71 &
i-80. warning may need to be dropped by midnight in the south
central zones from mfd to canton. much colder air will sweep into
the region with the dry slot so have used the nam surface temp
forecast as guidance.

&&

.short term /6 am wednesday morning through friday night/...
with the storm deepening off the delmarva coast on wednesday and
the primary low filling over our area...wrap around moisture will
spread across the northern counties and some lake effect may
develop primarily from lake huron and perhaps from erie.
accumulations will range from around an inch in the west to 2-4
inches in the northeast snowbelt. surface cold pool will shift
east of the area in the afternoon and slightly milder air over
lake erie flows southeast in the nw flow.

for wednesday night and into thursday gradual improvement in
conditions are expected but some lake effect may persist in the northwest
flow from lake huron. have used mav guidance with some changes.
generally fair weather for friday.

On heavy snows I make it a point to shovel every hour or two to keep from doing the heavy lifting. I would rather do twice as much walking and push smaller loads than do the heavy, backbreaking exertion on fewer passes.

I spent about four hours shoveling today, keeping my own driveway clear plus working on the driveways of two of my elderly neighbors. I also kept the street fairly clear between the three houses. I figure I burned at least a thousand calories today, plus all the time I was outside I wasn't stuffing my face with leftover pizza and cookies. I'll bet shoveling snow was at least a half-pound swing to the good for me.

I keep hoping to see kids out shoveling like they used to-I guess the lazy little assholes would rather watch television.

i know i would

Wulf,

Or they were like my kids and had chores to do all day. One being picking up their rooms.

I had three kids stop by. Sad for them I own a huge snow blower...

I did see a fair number of entreprenurial snow shovelers in my neighborhood, though all of them appeared to be in the 18-30 range. This probably reflects the high number of unemployed folks in the area, people who would otherwise be working regular jobs.

NWS just changes us to a Blizzard Warning from a winter storm....50" of snow piled up? Really? Enough already..
At least you guys can drive to Rudys :-)

Well, toledoinmd, if the snow keeps Congress from "working," your storms are a positive.

Compared to Maryland, here's the wimpy NWS statement for the Toledo area

Statement as of 3:55 AM EST on February 10, 2010

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 7 PM EST this
evening.

Low pressure over northwest Pennsylvania will shift to the East
Coast early today. Snowfall today is only expected to be around 1
to 2 inches. However southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph will become
northwest with gusts of 35 to 40 mph. These strong winds will
cause considerable blow and drift snow. Near blizzard conditions
will be possible at times... especially in open areas.

Ugh. I am officially sick of this storm. Two more hours digging out driveways has wiped me out - the worst part was removing the avalanche left by the city plows. They caught me off guard with their first-day pass, as I thought I wouldn't see a plow until at least today. Otherwise I would have horizontally blocked my driveway with my Suburban in an evasive maneuver againt plow-burial.

City plows? Oh yeah... haven't seen one of those on our street for two years now. I guess they don't venture into Sector Z much anymore.

(10 point bonus for identifying the obscure reference, lol.)

Funny for all our snow - Vancouver doens't have enough.

Too bad they can't ship it from DC to there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/sports/olympics/10olysnow.html

Prairieson, would that be the East Side? (altho it sounds more like H2G2 code for Earth) lol, we dont get much of anything over here, but that's ok, coz its good survival training.

Ugh, snow plows. Thank God for them, but last night exactly 5 minutes after I'd spent 90 hand-shoveling our walks and loooong driveway, one came by and spit a huge shit-ton of heavy, wet, dense snow back up into our driveway. Ah well, what can you do? Put your boots back on and go back at it!

I actually don't mind shoveling, normally. I sort of enjoy it, up to about 4 inches or so. But this was back-breaking stuff!

Those of you getting plows are lucky. I haven't seen one here in... forever?

I'd like to throw a big snowball at the idiots that think it's ok to blow/shovel/push all their driveway snow into the street. Driving along you have a completely clear street until you get to Mr/Mrs Bozo's house and hit a snowbank they built in the street in front of their house.
Thanks morons!

I saw that on Harvest a bunch of times today, hockeyfan. That's some serious laziness, and it could also cause accidents.

Nope, nana, right here in Central City.

But I know what you mean, the East Side's been getting hosed by the city for decades. It's been an industrial cash cow for Toledo and gets treated like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. The best thing that could have happened to that side of the river would have been annexation by Oregon back in '57 when it incorporated, but that's fodder for a different discussion.

I've seen snow plows in West Toledo. 43613 zip. Side street, cut-through Bowen gets good attention from snow plows.

"I'd like to throw a big snowball at the idiots that think it's ok to blow/shovel/push all their driveway snow into the street."

Hah. Douglas Rd is mostly clear and in good shape except for those patches where driveway snow was dumped onto Douglas, covering nearly all of the curb lane.

Yeah, jr. They get another free day off tomorrow.I'd bet the Federal Gov sill be closed all week.We have 45.5" on the ground.

Perhaps I shouldn't say it (rub it in) but on my street in 43609, the snow plowing has been better this year than I've seen it in the entire 10 years my bf has owned this house. We haven't seen a plow since last night -- and one was certainly needed again today -- but I'm pretty convinced that in recent winters past, we never saw one the entire season. So this is an improvement. Heck, last week I even saw a SALT TRUCK come down the street. !!! OMG!

*jealousy abound in the old west end

toledoinmd: good lord.

ok, I'm gonna stop complaining now and thank my karma that I don't live in MD!

thanks guys.we're digging out today,sunny and melting going on. schools out till Tuesday,good thing they have all weekend to work on the roads.

Our trash collection is tomorrow morning (I think! The neighbors have their trash out). Wonder if they are going to send the plows out (finally?) before they put the trash trucks down our streets? Man, I hope so.

*thinks positively

still no plows in the old west end

Saw one in the OWE yesterday, upso... blade was 4 or 5 inches off the pavement and he was doing about 50mph down Glenwood.

Our little, quiet street got plowed Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, and the garbage got collected yesterday morning, so the city is rockin' in our hood. Go team! Got my Pride cap on. You have to move District 5, man.

It looks like they plowed Parkwood. Just. Parkwood.