Storm preparation.

[brew_ny]

I was still 5 years away from existence at that time.

that is the New York State Thruway

I was 17 at that time and remember it quite well they had the New York State National Guards removing snow

6 years for me. The October storm (a few years ago?) was fun, although destructive. So much ice.

that was crazy here it sounded like gunshots with all the trees breaking in the woods

without power for days

 

[oldstyle69]

I aint afraid of no snow *said in my best ghostbuster theme song voice*

 

[b-boy]

Don't forget Jan, 1985. I was stuck in my apartment for almost a week.

Then there was the 2000 Thanksgiving storm where some people were stuck on the Thruway for a few days.

http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/buffalosnow.html

Why do I live here?

 

[brew_ny]

Why do I live here?

got to live somewhere

 

[TheCADJockey]

Some of the most fun I've had has been in a snow storm. Bonding with friends and family while digging through snow and disassembling fallen trees. Leaving bottles of vodka in stranded neighbors mailboxes. Wouldn't trade it for any other natural fury.

 

[Zepth]

Don't forget the classic Ice Storm of '98. 11 days without power. I strapped on my hockey skates to go to the neighbours house. No joke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Ice_Storm_of_1998

CADjockey has it right. As crappy as winter fury at the time of the last few there was a rural understanding to help each other out and join forces to conquer it. Community team building if you will. Haven't had a huge storm since I started this city living, but we'll see.

Comparatively a tornado, volcano, tsunami, landslide, sinkhole are all devastating. They truly destroy and force you to rebuild or find a new life elsewhere. I'll take the blizzard thank you.

 

[b-boy]

Don't forget the classic Ice Storm of '98. 11 days without power. I strapped on my hockey skates to go to the neighbours house. No joke.

CADjockey has it right. As crappy as winter fury at the time of the last few there was a rural understanding to help each other out and join forces to conquer it. Community team building if you will. Haven't had a huge storm since I started this city living, but we'll see.

Comparatively a tornado, volcano, tsunami, landslide, sinkhole are all devastating. They truly destroy and force you to rebuild or find a new life elsewhere. I'll take the blizzard thank you.

Unless your roof caves in because of the weight of the snow.

I remember the '99 ice storm. That's when I drove to Rochester to get a generator. Best purchase I ever made. I've used it at least a dozen times since I bought it.

You're right. Whenever we have one of these storms the whole neighborhood bands together to bail out basements, run sump pumps, and cut down tree limbs. I usually get out the grill and we cook up some good food too.

That's when you find out about your neighbors.

During the 2006 ice storm we banded together to take down trees that had fallen on houses. My generator kept 3 sump pumps going.

We had one guy who we never saw the entire time. While we were helping a neighbor cut some tree limbs he came out and asked us if we were going to get her tree limbs off of his property. Turned out he had several generators going. He had heat, electric, and TV. He never offered to help anyone out. We cut those limbs off right at his property line.

 

[Jsmtg32]

This was taken by a State Trooper of the Interstate 90 just south of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon.

 

[Fionnbharr]

The interesting thing about living in WNY is the way you can have 4 feet of snow blocking the roads, and just a mile or two away there's barely anything.

I'm in Forestville -- Northeast corner of Chautauqua county, south of Silver Creek. Specifically, I'm right downtown on Main Street / Rt 39. There's 8-12" on the ground and the roads are actually DRY in places (slushy in others, but eminently drivable). I was hoping to get up to the artesian well in Villenova for water to brew this weekend, but that ain't happening.

Just moved back here this summer from San Jose,CA. I was in second grade when the '77 blizzard shut everything down. My youngest daughter is now in second grade, and is finally happy to have her first snow days yesterday and today. I think at this age kids don't fully grasp what a pain in the ass snow can be.

This photo was taken 20 minutes ago.

 

[TheCADJockey]

White out, zero visibility and heavily falling snow piling up Black Rock / Riverside area and cloudy skies, dry roads and visible grass just over the bridge on Grand Island.

I've got snow envy.

 

[Homercidal]

I decided not to shovel today. It's really not too bad here. It's a bit colder than normal, but not too bad when the wind isn't blowing hard. I think we are scheduled for 2 inches today and it warms up to 40 on Saturday. It's kind of making the holiday season feel like a holiday season again.

And I'm just glad it waited until after Halloween to get cold and snowy!

 

[TheCADJockey]

I decided not to shovel today. It's really not too bad here. It's a bit colder than normal, but not too bad when the wind isn't blowing hard. I think we are scheduled for 2 inches today and it warms up to 40 on Saturday. It's kind of making the holiday season feel like a holiday season again.

And I'm just glad it waited until after Halloween to get cold and snowy!

Some places around here got a years worth of snow in just over a day. It's going to be a mess when it all melts this weekend/early next week.

 

[Homercidal]

Yeah, those pics are insane. I know Buff gets much more snow than we do. I'd rather have a bunch of snow than a bunch of cold air! Nothing worse than the nasty stream of icy air that Canada sends. I'm glad the northern states get it a lot more than we do. I've been in Fargo in Feb. F that!

 

[TheCADJockey]

I just hope it sticks long enough through the weekend so I can brew a batch and just throw my kettle in a snow bank to cool the wort. Will speed up my day a lot.

 

[GHBWNY]

I figured when I saw the title of this thread in the side column, it must be from a Western New Yorker! I'm out near Batavia, but we are smack in the middle of that banana-shaped wedge of lake-effect snow that keeps moving back and forth over us. Although it's sunny and blue sky right now, we got socked with 3.5 feet in the past 36 hours. And there's more on its way tomorrow. Not as bad as you Southtowns guys, but it's the most snow in as short a period of time I can ever remember. 5 storm-related deaths in such a relatively short time. Sad.

 

[b-boy]

I left work yesterday from Getzville, NY at 6PM and drove south. The wall of snow was visible in the distance. It was about 3-5 miles away. It is literally a mass of clouds that stretch across the sky. My half of the sky was clear - not a single cloud and no snow. My son lives a few miles away and is dealing with snow up to his waist.

Lake effect snow is absolutely crazy stuff.

 

[yewtah-brewha]

sounds like good weather for an eisbock!

 

[Homercidal]

I just hope it sticks long enough through the weekend so I can brew a batch and just throw my kettle in a snow bank to cool the wort. Will speed up my day a lot.

From experience I can tell you that you are much better off with a cold wind than sticking in a snowbank. The snowbank will immediately melt away from teh sides of the kettle creating a kind of insulation.

Setting it out in a cold wind will strip the heat from the kettle a LOT faster. That's a favorite method of mine when it turns cold and I am too lazy to hook up the chiller hoses. Still takes a bit of time, but IMO it works ok.

Snow is picking up now. It's just enough to make a streetlight at night look pretty. Not enough to make the kids wonder about school tomorrow.

 

[westo2]

Well, they called me off work today. So, I figure I may as well be productive. 12 gallons of wine bottled this morning. 10 gallon batch of dark mild coming out of the mash. Snow days are even more fun as an adult. To round out the day, I'm thoroughly enjoying a nut brown I just put on the nitro tap.

 

[dkevinb]

I was born in Michigan, lived near Saratoga, NY for a long time, and moved to SoCal over 30 years ago. Every year about this time I am reminded of what a good idea that was. Good luck!

 

[Fionnbharr]

moved to SoCal over 30 years ago. Every year about this time I am reminded of what a good idea that was.

Yeah, because instant ground liquefaction and infrastructure destruction gets nice week-ahead warnings.

I just moved back to WNY from the Bay Area (Go Giants!) after 20 years, so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about. I'll take a few forewarned days home with family over surprise widespread destruction and large-scale loss of life any day.

Oh, and how are those Earthquake Insurance premium payments going?
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-25/88-percent-of-californians-dont-have-earthquake-insurance

The worst thing about this -- for me, anyways -- has been that I missed the Sharks away game on Tuesday night.

 

[westo2]

Yeah, because instant ground liquefaction and infrastructure destruction gets nice week-ahead warnings.

+1. A storm such as this means taking a couple days off work and waiting for it to melt.

My area of the city only ended up with about 6" total, but I have some friends in the heaviest hit areas looking at 6+ feet so far with another 1-2 forecast for today.

With the level of equipment now on site, I expect most things to have opened up by tomorrow morning. It's going to rain over the weekend, and be nearly 60 on Monday, so snow melt is going to be a problem.

 

[JonM]

It's going to rain over the weekend, and be nearly 60 on Monday, so snow melt is going to be a problem.

Oh man, that sucks. Hang in there.

 

[GHBWNY]

I just hope it sticks long enough through the weekend so I can brew a batch and just throw my kettle in a snow bank to cool the wort. Will speed up my day a lot.

There should be no shortage of snowbanks.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Well day three and I think we got about an inch last night. Sun is out, roads are dry on morning commute to Grand Island. I guess I missed the storm and best I can do is go south to help my friends dig out and clean up this weekend.

 

[hexangel013]

out here in alden we got another foot overnite...calm right now but their calling for a bit more this afternoon...shoveled 5+ feet off the roof yesterday...no plows to be seen and last i heard there were 4 in ditches...2 just stuck and 2 flipped...todays plan is to strap on the snowshoes and do a bit of exploring

 

[Homercidal]

When it rains, it's going to stick in the snow and make it REALLY, REALLY heavy. If there are houses with a lot of snow on them, the rain could crush the house easily.

And I'm not even mentioning the obvious problem with runoff and the fact that if they can't clear roads and drives and places to walk, once the snow gets wet, it's going to be many time more difficult to move.

 

[westo2]

Well day three and I think we got about an inch last night. Sun is out, roads are dry on morning commute to Grand Island. I guess I missed the storm and best I can do is go south to help my friends dig out and clean up this weekend.

We're a bit more - but not much. About 3" over night, maybe 8" total through the week. Part of me would love to have the huge snowfall totals, part of me is just fine with having everything up and running. I was quite surprised when they closed my office again today (located on the west side).

out here in alden we got another foot overnite...calm right now but their calling for a bit more this afternoon...shoveled 5+ feet off the roof yesterday...no plows to be seen and last i heard there were 4 in ditches...2 just stuck and 2 flipped...todays plan is to strap on the snowshoes and do a bit of exploring

Smart idea on getting that snow off the roof - needs to be done now while it is still relatively fluffy and light.

When it rains, it's going to stick in the snow and make it REALLY, REALLY heavy. If there are houses with a lot of snow on them, the rain could crush the house easily.

And I'm not even mentioning the obvious problem with runoff and the fact that if they can't clear roads and drives and places to walk, once the snow gets wet, it's going to be many time more difficult to move.

The news is reporting roof collapses at a few large commercial structures in the southtowns.

I'm fortunate in that I'm in an area of the city near bedrock with relatively well draining soils. It would take biblical amounts of water for flooding to become a concern at home. The near south suburbs where the heaviest snows were are located on relatively flat, poorly draining glacial soils. As you get further south than that, the terrain becomes more variable, so snow melt should run off better.

The latest totals are approaching 90-100" in the hardest hit areas.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Yeah I could not care less about whatever amount of snow we get; it was more the fact that everyone got a day off and I'm still stuck under fluorescent lights. I'm hitting up a liquor store and jumping on my buddies snowmobile to go help my friends in the hard hit areas tomorrow. It should be fun.

 

[GHBWNY]

Getting hammered right now. I 4-wheeled my wife to work in Batavia an hour ago in blue skies and sunshine. Just returned in white-out conditions. Driveway has probably another 1.5 feet from overnight and another foot to come. Not as bad as west and south of us, but we have snowdrifts hanging off the lea side eaves of the house that are 4 feet out and hanging down 6-7 feet. Unbelievable.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Getting hammered right now. I 4-wheeled my wife to work in Batavia an hour ago in blue skies and sunshine. Just returned in white-out conditions. Driveway has probably another 1.5 feet from overnight and another foot to come. Not as bad as west and south of us, but we have snowdrifts hanging off the lea side eaves of the house that are 4 feet out and hanging down 6-7 feet. Unbelievable.

Batavia is getting hit right now??

 

[GHBWNY]

Batavia is getting hit right now??

Not right now. I just talked to my wife and she said it's clear as a bell. Here, 7 miles to the south, I can gradually see the blue sky heading our way.

 

[westo2]

Well, put a fork in this one. Less than a week later - 60 degree temps have melted back most of the snow, some minor flooding concerns but the rain ended up being much lighter than anticipated. City schools back to regular schedule today and life, for the most part, seems to have returned to normal. There has been some structural damage and building collapses due to the weight of the snow reported around the area, but despite 80+" of snow, WNY is back in the game. At my house, totals were less than 7" and there were no real effects to speak of.

 

[Auger]

Finally got my tractor back up and running last night...tonight I will mount the blower on the front.

 

[westo2]

Finally got my tractor back up and running last night...tonight I will mount the blower on the front.

Forget the tractor - what's that you've got parked in the background? A Nomad?

 

[Auger]

Haha that didn't take long. Its a '57 Bel-Air four-door wagon. It belongs to my fiance, I'm helping her rebuild/restore it. Its been repainted, has a new crate 350 engine. Its just waiting on us to get our butts in gear to get the wiring done and all the trim polished (and what a lot of trim it is). Goal is to have it complete and driveable in time for the wedding next June.

 

[westo2]

Haha that didn't take long. Its a '57 Bel-Air four-door wagon. It belongs to my fiance, I'm helping her rebuild/restore it. Its been repainted, has a new crate 350 engine. Its just waiting on us to get our butts in gear to get the wiring done and all the trim polished (and what a lot of trim it is). Goal is to have it complete and driveable in time for the wedding next June.

From the little visible - she looks like a beauty. Congrats on the upcoming wedding and good luck on getting it wrapped up.

Funny how a lot of home-brewers also tend to be classic car people as well - I've got a 72 Porsche 914 I finished a total rebuild on a couple years ago. OK - so finished is a strong word, as the rebuilding is never really done on a classic car - new brakes, full suspension rebuild, engine overhaul and transmission replacement scheduled for next summer.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Haha that didn't take long. Its a '57 Bel-Air four-door wagon. It belongs to my fiance, I'm helping her rebuild/restore it. Its been repainted, has a new crate 350 engine. Its just waiting on us to get our butts in gear to get the wiring done and all the trim polished (and what a lot of trim it is). Goal is to have it complete and driveable in time for the wedding next June.

Nice!