Winter 2008-2009

Moe Fwacky

Winter. For some it's already here. For others it's on the way and the outlook is not good. A lucky few will never see snow, while some of us will be buried in it. This winter's looking to be a bad one.


Here's some images and video of winters local to me.
Lakewood, OH - March 2008

Lakewood, OH - February 2007

Cleveland, OH - January 1978 "The White Hurricane"

Cleveland, OH - Blizzard of 1984
Dick Goddard is still our weatherman, and has been for about 50 years. Nobody knows our weather better than this guy.

Blizzard of 1978 News Footage

and I saved the best for last (you'll have to click on the link for this one, as embedding is disabled)
Cleveland, OH - February 2007 Blizzard Newscast featuring Almost Naked Fat Guy

So how about you guys? How much cold and snow are you expecting? Any historically epic blizzards?

Aegis

The snowfall Toronto's expected to get is critical? Oh come on, this is just a normal winter in Canada.

saint2e

Man, that's pretty normal for up here in Kitchener, Ontario (the pictures of Ohio)

Moe Fwacky

Just because it's normal, doesn't mean it's good.

Decius

While those of us used to getting shitfucked in Winter still don't have snow on the ground, and are having a rather mild season thus far.

Yay global warming.

Seriously, I figure this is why you can't Albertans to agree that Kyoto is a good idea.

That and they're afraid someone is going to take they're oil revenues

It's remarkably shortsighted thinking on both accounts

Qingu

I like snow, it is pluffy.

Kagera

I love the fact that I live within a day's drive of snow but once that gets boring I can come back to nice, snowless, non-pipe freezing inland coast.

Scalfin

Qingu wrote: »

I like snow, it is pluffy.

And these late snowfalls shorten the time I get to ski on the golf course.

Decius

Kagera's post just made me realize something. I'm flying out to Vancouver on Saturday, which means I need to dress for two climates.

Edit:

Aegis

Kagera wrote: »

I love the fact that I live within a day's drive of snow but once that gets boring I can come back to nice, snowless, non-pipe freezing inland coast.

I miss Northern Ontario. We already have snow up there and it's usually several feet. Toronto has like...a few centimetres. It's depressing.

Gabriel_Pitt

I've lived in Wisconsin and Michigan all my life. I hate snow. So I moved to central Japan, where so long as you stay out of the mountains, the weather is much like Atlanta.

This was last winter:

Fuck you sky shit. Fuck you.

Aegis

Re: Gabriel Pitt



Once in a few decade snowstorm for that place?

Variable

all I can say is I had a snow day on October 20th and since then I've been scared of this winter. bitter cold on and off the last two weeks.

not really bitter, but bitter for jersey this time of year.

Clint Eastwood

Snow is bogus. Winter is bogus. I hate winter.

Decius

Wait, what's a snow day?

Aegis

Decius wrote: »

Wait, what's a snow day?

It snows so much, or in such a short period of time, that the school/university/city shuts down for the day. We had one or two here at UoT last year.

Nova_C

My window froze open last night because the temperature dropped so fast. :P But we're late on snow. Just got our first snowfall a few days ago and there's usually snow on the ground for Halloween.

Anyway, what's there to agree on Kyoto? The agreement is no longer feasible since the government has done nothing to meet the targets since ratifying it.

Kagera

Aegis wrote: »

Kagera wrote: »

I love the fact that I live within a day's drive of snow but once that gets boring I can come back to nice, snowless, non-pipe freezing inland coast.

I miss Northern Ontario. We already have snow up there and it's usually several feet. Toronto has like...a few centimetres. It's depressing.

I prefer not to shovel snow.

DeShadowC

So another snowless year in Florida.

Decius

Aegis wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

Wait, what's a snow day?

It snows so much, or in such a short period of time, that the school/university/city shuts down for the day. We had one or two here at UoT last year.

Obligatory quote from prairie kid calling you guys a bunch of pussies.

I have experienced the coveted snow day before, when I lived in the lower mainland B.C. and it snowed like 2 inches. The city shut down. I couldn't believe it. It would take some snow fall of biblical proportions, or drop in temperature that could flash freeze cows where they stand, to stop anything from moving in Edmonton. Not trying to chest thump. I wish it did sometimes.

Nova_C wrote: »

Anyway, what's there to agree on Kyoto? The agreement is no longer feasible since the government has done nothing to meet the targets since ratifying it.

I was speaking more in past tense. It is pretty well a moot point now.

Kagera

And now for car pinball!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_ghixVN78

Gabriel_Pitt

Decius wrote: »

Wait, what's a snow day?

LOL. You zee, in ze America, most students are carried to school on ze large, yellow school buses. When there is much snow, road conditions become dangerous. If it is thought that the roads are too difficult for the buses to saftely travel on, school is canceled for the day (there are usually a couple disposable school holidays in the middle of spring - if no snow days are called, students get these days off. If school is canceled due to snow, these then become regular school days. If there are more snow days than disposable holidays, extra days get tacked on to the end of the year).

Aegis wrote: »

Re: Gabriel Pitt



Once in a few decade snowstorm for that place?

Actually, I think it was a 14 year record. Some of the drifts along the sidewalks on the way to school were higher than the heads of some of the 1st and 2nd year elementary students. Students walk to school in groups, and all the older students were in the lead to stomp paths for the younger ones.

I bitched to the other teachers that in America, we'd declare this a snow day, and everyone would stay at home and be cold there. I then had to explain what a snow day was. I was then told if I breathed a word of any of that to the students, the teachers would beat me, because it would never cross the kids' minds that they could get a day like that off, and would probably riot at the prospect.

moniker

Variable wrote: »

all I can say is I had a snow day on October 20th and since then I've been scared of this winter. bitter cold on and off the last two weeks.

not really bitter, but bitter for jersey this time of year.

Wierd, we had a pretty nice Indian Summer here around Chicago. Which was nice except that you don't get ready for the freezing days to come one week after it being, like, 70 out.

Decius

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

moniker

Decius wrote: »

Aegis wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

Wait, what's a snow day?

It snows so much, or in such a short period of time, that the school/university/city shuts down for the day. We had one or two here at UoT last year.

Obligatory quote from prairie kid calling you guys a bunch of pussies.

I have experienced the coveted snow day before, when I lived in the lower mainland B.C. and it snowed like 2 inches. The city shut down. I couldn't believe it. It would take some snow fall of biblical proportions, or drop in temperature that could flash freeze cows where they stand, to stop anything from moving in Edmonton. Not trying to chest thump. I wish it did sometimes.

Eh, it's mostly whether or not the trucks can get enough of the main roads in good condition by the time the buses have to head out. We've had them before, but it was mostly due to freak snows that weren't expected and so nothing was salted beforehand and a lot of streets didn't get plowed until the evening rush hour.

It's always hilarious to see them call it in Texas or the Carolinas just because they can, though. My sister in NC got an inch of snow and they closed everything down just for the fun of it. The fact that people down there don't know how to drive in it is less funny and more gasp inducing, though.

Gabriel_Pitt

Decius wrote: »

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

Schadenfruede!

Decius

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

Schadenfruede! (link removed)

Most likely. If it was filmed on the ground it would be a different story. POV and perception is everything. When I watch that sliding car video, I'm half laughing and half going

Scalfin

Decius wrote: »

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

Schadenfruede! (link removed)

Most likely. If it was filmed on the ground it would be a different story. POV and perception is everything. When I watch that sliding car video, I'm half laughing and half going

The best part is that half of them just keep trying to get through the damn intersection, especially that one that backed out of a snow drift.

moniker

Decius wrote: »

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

Schadenfruede! (link removed)

Most likely. If it was filmed on the ground it would be a different story. POV and perception is everything. When I watch that sliding car video, I'm half laughing and half going

Yeah, that's only ever fun to do in an abandoned parking lot.

Decius

moniker wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

Decius wrote: »

You know, I now have conclusive proof that I am an evil person. On a perverse level, I never tire of that video. Glare ice is NOT FUN, and has a high possibility of resulting in loss of life with driving. But that video is so surreal, it's funny.

Schadenfruede! (link removed)

Most likely. If it was filmed on the ground it would be a different story. POV and perception is everything. When I watch that sliding car video, I'm half laughing and half going

Yeah, that's only ever fun to do in an abandoned parking lot.

Hell, that's how I learned to drive through that kind of shit.

Dark Moon

My city is generally regarded as one of the more unpleasant places to live in southern Canada in the winter. It gets very cold (currently -23°C/-10°F outside) and we have absolutely no hills to let us derive at least some pleasure from the copious amounts of snow that always fall here. I hate winters here, but I take solace in knowing that one day I will move away and, regardless of where I go, it will be more pleasant between the months of October and May than Winnipeg. I also get a lot of pleasure out of watching videos of people not accustomed to snow and ice trying to drive on it, but it's not enough to make up for waiting 10 minutes for a bus in -50°C at least twice a day. Not nearly enough.

ahava

the temperatures just dropped up here. it was like 50 something last week, now it's in the low twenties.

freaking cold. And the wind doesn't help any at all. Stupid wind chill.

It was a cool, wet summer. It's bound to be a bitter and snowy winter.

Stupid Maine.

Moe Fwacky

So it looks like parts of Cleveland are looking at a foot before Saturday. We've got a lake-effect snow warning in effect until 4am Saturday.

Shadowfire

lonelyahava wrote: »

the temperatures just dropped up here. it was like 50 something last week, now it's in the low teens.

freaking cold. And the wind doesn't help any at all. Stupid wind chill.

It was a cool, wet summer. It's bound to be a bitter and snowy winter.

Stupid Vermont.

Fixed for me.

BigBear

Oh yeah, it's already starting up here in Lowell, Mass. Today's temperatures were in the lower 30s, and I know that by mid December it's only going to get worse. If predictions are true, I guess I better winterize my car soon, because there looks to be a bunch of Nor'easters and coastal storms heading our way.

Of course, around here the Blizzard of '78 is pretty notorious. Channel 5's Harvey Leonard was one of the few TV meteorologists who managed to predict the storm being that bad. It just kept snowing and snowing, and some houses on the coast got washed away in the tide. Here are a few videos:

Here was his forecast on the day before.


Governor Dukakis declares a state of emergency in Massachusetts.

A bunch of people get rescued after being stranded on Route 128.

This storm is the reason that people up here in Massachusetts freak out and crowd the supermarkets every time a storm rolls in. It was legendary, even more so than the '93 Superstorm. Although, the April Fool's Blizzard of 1996 was way more shocking and also way more fun. A friend of mine, he was 11 at the time, he climber up to the roof of the tool shed in his backyard, and jumped off in to the snow below. Didn't get hurt either, since the snow was high enough to cushion his landing. I think we got about over 30 inches from that storm.

Moe Fwacky

God, it's terrible I know of all those major storms. '78 is the only one I wasn't alive for. Up here, it's not really a blizzard until there's at least 15-18" of snow on the ground. Shit, Cleveland State campus doesn't close until they run out of places to put the snow in the parking lots.

ahava

I didn't live up here for the big Ice Storm in 98 ( I think), but I was living at home in Delaware when we got hit with it. Granted, it wasn't as bad as it was in Maine, but there were hella lot of people out of power for a long time.

Last year wasn't too bad of a winter, so I know we're gonna get spanked this year.

I really really need to get my car fixed.

oldmanken

Aegis wrote: »

The snowfall Toronto's expected to get is critical? Oh come on, this is just a normal winter in Canada.

Should we put the military on standby?

I'm hoping someone remembers that year and gets the joke.

Scalfin

Moe Fwacky wrote: »

God, it's terrible I know of all those major storms. '78 is the only one I wasn't alive for. Up here, it's not really a blizzard until there's at least 15-18" of snow on the ground. Shit, Cleveland State campus doesn't close until they run out of places to put the snow in the parking lots.

In New England, the issue is less the amount of snow from a storm and more the fact that, even with modern meteorology, it still manages to sneak in your window at night and rape you in your sleep.

I guess that's the price of civilization, though.

DeShadowC

Shadowfire wrote: »

lonelyahava wrote: »

the temperatures just dropped up here. it was like 50 something last week, now it's in the low teens.

freaking cold. And the wind doesn't help any at all. Stupid wind chill.

It was a cool, wet summer. It's bound to be a bitter and snowy winter.

Stupid Vermont.

Fixed for me.

And yet everyone hates Florida.

oldmanken

Dark Moon wrote: »

My city is generally regarded as one of the more unpleasant places to live in southern Canada in the winter. It gets very cold (currently -23°C/-10°F outside) and we have absolutely no hills to let us derive at least some pleasure from the copious amounts of snow that always fall here. I hate winters here, but I take solace in knowing that one day I will move away and, regardless of where I go, it will be more pleasant between the months of October and May than Winnipeg. I also get a lot of pleasure out of watching videos of people not accustomed to snow and ice trying to drive on it, but it's not enough to make up for waiting 10 minutes for a bus in -50°C at least twice a day. Not nearly enough.

I'm from Labrador, so I have an idea what cold is like, and I feel comfortable in saying that Winnipeg is brutally cold. Just unbelievably cold, how the hell do you people do it?