"Blizzard of 2011" or not?

[The quiet majority]

I think it very ironic how the local TV media spends 3 or 4 days hyping up a Blizzard with 12-18" of snow and 60 mph winds. Then the have spent the last 2 days patting themselves on their backs for the wonderful job they have done on their weather reports.

When in reality, we don't hear how they, once again blew it all out of proportion. I can speak from experience, that what we experienced is a winter storm that produced 6-8" of snow. Where is their apology?

The local stores sold a lot of Milk, Bread and Gas. The schools closed on Monday (how much snow did we receive on Monday?) The local emergency agencies spent countless hours and monies they don't have, to acquire snowmobiles, food, and extra manpower to prepare for the storm.

My fear is the more the TV media hypes up these small storms, the public won't believe it when an actual storm or natural disaster actually happens and there may not be any financial resources available?

I know weather prediction is not an exact science and it is mostly guess work, but it seams like maybe it is time to start holding them accountable when they mess up.

[michael medeski]

i agree, but they do that with all storms. like i said before it even arrived....

+1. we need some "new york snow".

i'm not holding my breath though. it seems like every time they call for loads of snow we end up getting a fraction of it.

i don't see why everyone is so surprised. it's not the first and this won't be the last time it happens.

[Mrs.Slotz]

Anyone could see by looking at the Dopler that we were going to get hit pretty hard. I did not need the weatherman or woman telling me.

[Mr Douglas]

Maybe it's the NNW orientation of the road I live on, and a lot of open field, but I helped a guy at 10 PM on Tuesday get his All Wheel Drive van unstuck right in front of my house. A couple hours later an F250 4WD(!) with a snowplow(!) got stuck and buried just 50 feet further south. His attempted rescuer was a fairly good sized payloader(!) yesterday morning. A big wrecker had to winch the payloder out, and later a road grader arrived with a huge blower mounted on the front, blew away the drift up to the F250, and they were then able to pull the truck off the pile of snow. I know that's anecdotal, but itreally happened.
Not the worst we've seen here, but the snow is piled up 7 or 8 feet in places.

[dirtycopper]

While I agree that they may have over estimated the storm a little bit it was still a "decent storm" a lot of the Noble County roads had 4-5 foot drifts, if not deeper drifts. I personally had 12 inches of snow fall in my yard with 2 foot drifts at my front porch.

I was seriously hoping for a true blizzard but was let down by mother nature once again.....LOL. I love the snow but hate the cold....... It is neat to see that a huge snow storm can make a city stand still. (as long and no one gets hurt or killed) It takes the rush out of the day and kinda makes me relax a little knowing there is nothing open or nothing to do.....

O well maybe later this month or next year........

[blue adept]

Maybe it's the NNW orientation of the road I live on, and a lot of open field, but I helped a guy at 10 PM on Tuesday get his All Wheel Drive van unstuck right in front of my house. A couple hours later an F250 4WD(!) with a snowplow(!) got stuck and buried just 50 feet further south. His attempted rescuer was a fairly good sized payloader(!) yesterday morning. A big wrecker had to winch the payloder out, and later a road grader arrived with a huge blower mounted on the front, blew away the drift up to the F250, and they were then able to pull the truck off the pile of snow. I know that's anecdotal, but itreally happened.
Not the worst we've seen here, but the snow is piled up 7 or 8 feet in places.

I saw a lot of this in Germany and the alps, I can see that next to your hanger the snow is at most 2 inches and near the road the drifts are several feet. We would encounter this extreme anywhere there were open fields that would allow the wind to make matters worse. Of course, walking across the fields then becomes quite easy.

[Mr Douglas]

I saw a lot of this in Germany and the alps, I can see that next to your hanger the snow is at most 2 inches and near the road the drifts are several feet. We would encounter this extreme anywhere there were open fields that would allow the wind to make matters worse. Of course, walking across the fields then becomes quite easy.

Yeah it 'eddy'ed up a lot. There's a four foot drift in front of my barn, but on the back you can still see my tire tracks from Sunday and Monday.

[Mr Douglas]

While I agree that they may have over estimated the storm a little bit it was still a "decent storm" a lot of the Noble County roads had 4-5 foot drifts, if not deeper drifts. I personally had 12 inches of snow fall in my yard with 2 foot drifts at my front porch.

I was seriously hoping for a true blizzard but was let down by mother nature once again.....LOL. I love the snow but hate the cold....... It is neat to see that a huge snow storm can make a city stand still. (as long and no one gets hurt or killed) It takes the rush out of the day and kinda makes me relax a little knowing there is nothing open or nothing to do.....

O well maybe later this month or next year........

I keep hoping for at least a few days snowed in myself. I know 'be careful what you wish for', but I've had a battery backup for my corn/pellet stove for three years now, and the power never fails so I can REALLY try it out.

[michael medeski]

those are some rowdy neighbors you got there.

[Todd Ianuzzi]

I think it very ironic how the local TV media spends 3 or 4 days hyping up a Blizzard with 12-18" of snow and 60 mph winds. Then the have spent the last 2 days patting themselves on their backs for the wonderful job they have done on their weather reports.

When in reality, we don't hear how they, once again blew it all out of proportion. I can speak from experience, that what we experienced is a winter storm that produced 6-8" of snow. Where is their apology?

The local stores sold a lot of Milk, Bread and Gas. The schools closed on Monday (how much snow did we receive on Monday?) The local emergency agencies spent countless hours and monies they don't have, to acquire snowmobiles, food, and extra manpower to prepare for the storm.

My fear is the more the TV media hypes up these small storms, the public won't believe it when an actual storm or natural disaster actually happens and there may not be any financial resources available?

I know weather prediction is not an exact science and it is mostly guess work, but it seams like maybe it is time to start holding them accountable when they mess up.

I do not blame the weather forecasters. Conditions like these are likely hard to forcast with complete accuracy.

As for holding someone "accountable," one might more rationally blame the jet stream, the barometric pressure, or the the relative humidity.

I am not a great one for "blame" in these situtations. I would first rather look for explanations. And there is a very good one. Local media produced news generates lots of profitable ad time. That is why local news stations have lots of local news programming and direct lots of resources toward getting eyeballs in front of the TV between the hours of 5-8pm.

The local news outlets are doing exactly what their owners wish them to do. Generate advertising revenue.

[Mr Douglas]

those are some rowdy neighbors you got there.

Aww, they're nice folks! I love that big walnut tree in their yard. It's actually two trees that form a canopy that looks like one huge tree. Very cool!

[armyda]

I keep hoping for at least a few days snowed in myself. I know 'be careful what you wish for', but I've had a battery backup for my corn/pellet stove for three years now, and the power never fails so I can REALLY try it out.

Mr Douglas, I have an solution to your dilemma. Look at the picture below, it is called a Breaker Box. You should have one in your home. See the part where it says Main Breaker. Find that in your breaker box and turn it off for a week. You'll have your test.

[michael medeski]

Aww, they're nice folks!

boy she's got you fooled.

all kidding aside, that spot always drifts. i think it's a combo of being open and on top of a hill. most of the time that first section is the worst part.

[TheBigB]

Yeah, the blizzard was a real fizzle, especially in Chicago:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-4...er-of?s=mobile

The conditions would not have had to change much for northeast Indiana to get a lot more snow from this storm, or a lot of ice. Nobody needs to "apologize" for the warnings. It probably was a bit extreme for the schools to call things off as early as they did, though.

[HoosierHelen]

Yeah, the blizzard was a real fizzle, especially in Chicago:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-4...er-of?s=mobile

The conditions would not have had to change much for northeast Indiana to get a lot more snow from this storm, or a lot of ice. Nobody needs to "apologize" for the warnings. It probably was a bit extreme for the schools to call things off as early as they did, though.

Awesome pics BigB. Thanks for sharing.

[TheBigB]

Awesome pics BigB. Thanks for sharing.

Just shared a link I saw posted elsewhere. I'm not sadistic enough to share pics from San Diego (although it is a bit nippy - didn't get to 60 today).

[Mr Douglas]

boy she's got you fooled.

all kidding aside, that spot always drifts. i think it's a combo of being open and on top of a hill. most of the time that first section is the worst part.

Well, ....THAT'S pretty heavy! I'll do a snow fence from the east side.

[Night Owl]

The local stores sold a lot of Milk, Bread and Gas. The schools closed on Monday (how much snow did we receive on Monday?) The local emergency agencies spent countless hours and monies they don't have, to acquire snowmobiles, food, and extra manpower to prepare for the storm.

Snowmobiles..... Seriously???