Feb
14
winter weather advisory
Filed under traffic, weather, government at 7:48 am | 2 Comments
Starting last week, the National Weather Service began issuing winter weather advisories for our area, with storms expected to hit yesterday and today. The storms actually came this time, and I’m sufficiently impressed. Depending on the area, there are multiple inches of snow topped off by a thick layer of ice, with freezing rain and sleet still coming down. Having said that, I’m still amazed at the hysteria of many people here:
* A guy in the cube next to me parked his car over a mile away yesterday because there’s a hill on the street leading to our building. Apparently it froze during a storm several years ago and caused a traffic backup. Hearing the weather forecast, he wasn’t going to risk it this time around.
* The schools closed all day yesterday in anticipation of the storms, before it even started snowing or raining. The rain didn’t start until early evening.
* The traffic reports on the radio today are spending more time telling you how to drive than they are giving updates on the accidents. (E.g., “Speed is your enemy.” “Because the roads are covered in ice, you need to allow more time to brake.”)
Well, the status of the Federal Government is apparently the thing to watch around here. They let out early yesterday, and have a 2 hour delay today, except for “essential” employees, I believe. It’s still unclear as to how that impacts my work schedule, so I braved the elements and drove in to work this morning. Knowing the commute would be a bit longer than usual, I figured I’d stop off at Starbuck’s and get something dark, bold, and black to drink to make the trip more enjoyable. I pulled into the parking lot, and the store was completely dark. They were closed. They can close because of weather?! Surely, if anyone is considered “essential,” it should be Starbuck’s employees.
Feb
3
we have winter, too
Filed under seasons, weather at 8:52 pm | Leave a Comment
From everything I’ve heard and read, this past month has been the type of winter you dream of when living in West Michigan. Every few days it seems more snow is dumping on our former home town. From here it looks gorgeous. I’m sure the distance is causing me to see the snowy conditions with rose-colored glasses, but I do miss it.
Folks back in G.R. (here, here, and here) are talking about the blizzard that’s blowing through West Michigan this weekend. Lest you think we don’t have our fair share of winter weather here, you’ll be pleased to know we had a Winter Weather Advisory earlier this week. The forecast was calling for 1 to 3 inches of snow, followed by freezing rain. Kids and teachers were making plans for a day off of school, and parents were dreading child care logistics. The end result? We got a little bit of rain the day after the advisory was cancelled. (To be fair, many a forecasted storm in Michigan never amounted to anything.) On my way to and from work during the 2 days of the advisory, huge dump truck plows loaded with salt were parked along the shoulder of the highway. The drivers of the plows were hunched over their steering wheels sleeping, waiting for the storm. They must have thought the sunshine we were experiencing at the time was the calm before the storm. I’m sure there’s a reason they wait on the highway before the inclement weather even comes, but I was amused nonetheless.
We did get a couple inches of snow on a Sunday recently, and temperatures have been dipping well below freezing at night, so I guess winter is here.
Dec
18
Surely there’s still some hope …
Hmmm. According to my calendar, there’s only one week left for the weather to get its act together. There’s no way Santa’s going to be able to land here if this keeps up.