Daily Commentary – Tuesday, November 26, 2013 – Nevada Hit by Rain and Snow Storm

• Over 50 drivers were stranded in a snow storm on US Highway 93 in Nevada

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, November 26, 2013 Download

Lightening Strike Grounds BWI Flights For Hours, Injures Air Traffic Controller … Make that 11 Hours

Sorry for the lack of posts but guess who got caught in this debacle?

Lightening struck the tower BWI airport in Baltimore, MD causing complete chaos. Air traffic control systems went down and one air traffic controller was injured due to the strike. As for the passengers aboard planes and waiting in the air port, was an adventure. Yours truly was aboard a Southwest plane that arrived at 1 pm and then the fun began. First there was a torrential rain and thunder storms that stopped all flights from taking off as the wind felt like it was going to blow the 737 over. Then it got worse and the lightening rolled in as myself and about 40 other passengers waited in the metal canister with wings. Luckily there were two nuns sitting in the seats next to me.

Then after waiting 2 hours on the plane we learned the bad news of the tower being struck by lightening and a person being injured. It would take another hour at least to reboot the systems. Not even close. After waiting another hour we then learned in would take between 4 to 6 hours to fix and then the dreaded text message came that the flight had been canceled.

Talk about total chaos, thousands of passengers scurrying to find new flights, ways home, anything. Needless to say there was no guarantee that I could even get a new flight the following day and not really wanting to stay in Baltimore overnight, I opted to rent a car and drive the remaining 7 hours to my destination. Needless to say it has been quite the eventful last 24 hours. And to think that I did not travel on 9-11 because I did not want to have to deal with airport craziness. So much for that idea.

A lightning bolt strikes the air traffic control tower at BWI—injuring an employee and grounding planes for hours.

Now delays stretch across the country and into the night.

Meghan McCorkell has the latest on the delays.

That lightning strike hit the tower just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, and grounded flights for hours.

A lightning strike leaves a sea of passengers stranded.

“We’re stuck in Baltimore,” a passenger said.

“Hopefully we can get out of BWI safely tonight,” said another traveler.

Now I just need to hunt down my luggage.

Snowmageddon Hits Northeast … Nemo Dumps Near Record Snow Amounts in Boston … More Than 3 Ft of Snow in CT … 650,000 Without Power .. Record Snowfall in Portland, ME … Sea Walls Threatened in NH

Yesterday Nemo blasted New York and New Jersey, overnight it set its force upon the Northeast.

NEMOGEDDON … The massive snow storm with hurricane-force wind gusts and blizzard conditions has hit the Northeast overnight. Nemo has left more than 650,000 homes and businesses without power and has made many roads  impassable as New Englanders are waking up to two and three feet of snow and snow drifts up to six or even feet. Coastal areas are also dealing with potential flooding. There are travel bans in Connecticut Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. Travel bans have also been called for on Long Island, NY.  Thousands of flights have been canceled between Logan International in Boston, MA, Bradley International in Hartford, CT, JFK International and LaGuardia in NY and Newark International in NJ. Some have wondered whether this storm could top Boston’s all-time single-storm snowfall record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003. I remember that one very well.

More than 38 inches of snow fell in Milford in central Connecticut, and an 82-mph wind gust was recorded in nearby Westport. Areas of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched at least 2 feet – with more falling. Airlines scratched more than 5,300 flights through Saturday, and the three major airports serving New York City as well as Boston’s Logan Airport closed.

Flooding was also a concern along the coast, and the possibility led to the evacuation of two neighborhoods in Quincy, Mass., said Fire Deputy Gary Smith. But it did not appear to create major problems in New York and New Jersey, states hit hardest during last October’s Superstorm Sandy.

Near record snow falls hit Boston, MA and it’s still snowing.

 As of 7 a.m., Boston’s official snow total was 21.8”. This would rank as the 6th highest snowstorm in Boston’s recorded history (well over 100 years). With an additional 3-6” possible Saturday morning we could very easily approach the all-time snowfall record of 27.5” set back in the President’s Day storm of 2003.

Boston.com

UPDATE I: 5 deaths blamed on powerful snow storm that drops 2 feet of snow in Northeast

A 74-year-old man in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., died after he was struck by a car on a snowy street. The driver, 18, said she lost control of the car due to the snow. One pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday night in Prospect, Conn., state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said. In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shoveling her driveway and two men were killed in car crashes.

UPDATE II: MAINE: Record snow fall for Portland, ME. Thanks to Winter storm Nemo and that record snow fall in Maine, As ‘Bert and I’ famously stated in their Downeast story telling …  “You can’t get they-ah from hee-ah.”

Portland recorded a record snowfall for a single storm as snow and wind continued to batter the city and most of southern and central Maine.

The National Weather Service in Gray reports the city had received 29.3 inches of snow at the jetport by 8 a.m. The previous record of 27.1 inches was recorded in Portland on Jan. 17 and 19, 1979.

Other snow totals as of 8 a.m. include: 28 inches in south Windham; 23.5 inches in Lewiston; 26.1 inches in Gorham; and 26 inches in Kennebunk, according to the weather service.

“Right now we’re seeing significant snowfall occurring along the coast from Augusta down through the Portland area. This will continue for a couple hours before it starts to weaken and move east,” Chris Legro of the National Weather Service in Gray said shortly after 6 a.m.

Legro said 24.7 inches of snow had fallen in Kennebunk by 6 a.m. Portand had 12.3 inches by 12:30 a.m. Portland is experiencing wind gusts of around 50 mph and visibility of less than a quarter-mile.

UPDATE III: NEW HAMPSHIRE - Nemo pounds the Granite state and the seas are pounding the NH shoreline. The state of NH at 10:15 a.m. today closed Route 1A (Ocean Boulevard) from the Hampton town line to the Rye town line. A state of emergency has been declared in NH.

#SeacoastNemo pic.twitter.com/XSsE9j8E

The waves are crashing over the sea walls in Rye, NH. Thus the reason why Rt. 1A has been closed to all traffic, except emergency vehicles.

Photo credit @ebb513 pic.twitter.com/NraLoFD4

Downtown Portsmouth, NH looks quite different this morning than a usual Saturday morning.

UPDATE IV: CONNECTICUT - The state of Connecticut has been basically paralyzed by winter storm Nemo. Parts of the state have been fit with 2 feet of snow, others areas up to 3 feet. There have been two Storm-Related deaths reported; roads are closed across Connecticut as snowfall totals near 3 feet in some towns.

Connecticut residents woke to a world of white on Saturday after a blizzard dumped up to 3 feet of snow across southern New England, burying abandoned cars, stranding travelers and leaving roads impassable. Two storm-related deaths have been reported.

An 88-year-old woman who was using a snowblower in Prospect was struck by a car that didn’t stop, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said during an 11 a.m. press briefing.

And in Danbury, a 73-year-old man died Saturday morning after being found in his driveway, police said.

The governor said the travel ban he put in place at 5 a.m. will continue until further notice.

Hartford, CT has been completely shut down following Nemo. There has been a vehicle ban on all cars except for emergency vehicles.

UPDATE V:  U.S. Postal Service suspends mail delivery in New England due to blizzard … Post offices in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island will remain closed Saturday.

Eastern Seaboard and North East Braces for Hurricane Sandy

Sandy ready to unleash her fury …

The East Coast and North East braces for Hurricane Sandy. It is being called the storm of the century, the Perfect Storm, Part II. Some areas are going to get huge wave surges, some massive amounts of rain, other 100 mile an hours gusts of wind and other areas snow accumulations in the feet. Some 50 million people are supposed to be affected by Sandy and 10′s of thousands of people have been evacuated.

Tens of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate coastal areas Sunday as big cities and small towns across the eastern U.S. buttoned up against the onslaught of a superstorm threatening some 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation.

For all those in harms way, please be safe, our prayers are with you.

Satellite loop – if this does not look ominous, I am not sure what does

Radar

Weather impact along the Carolin’s.

Winds of 25 to 45 mph with gusts of 65+ mph along the immediate coast will continue. A storm surge of 4 to 6 feet above ground level is expected in eastern North Carolina if peak surge occurs at high tide. Bands of heavy rain on the outer periphery of the circulation will continue to wrap into the eastern North Carolina. Hatteras, N.C., reported 5.29 inches of rain as of 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Millions prepare for Hurricane Sandy – President declares state of emergency for New York and Massachusetts.

Evacuations ahead of storm and the transit systems close on NYC.

As Hurricane Sandy stayed on track to barrel the East Coast, states of emergency were declared from North Carolina to Connecticut, with residents being evacuated, schools and transit systems shut and food and supplies flying off store shelves in a sure sign people were preparing for the worst.

Sandy was at Category 1 strength, packing 75 mph winds, about 270 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and moving northeast at 14 mph as of 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was about 575 miles south of New York City.

The Hurricane is on path to meet a winter storm and a cold front, plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm that results could cause havoc through 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

Much, much more at Weather Underground.

Flight Delay Information – Northeastern States

Daily Commentary – Wednesday, August 29, 2012 – Samuel L. Jackson Not Happy with God’s Plan

• According to his Tweet, he’s upset the GOP Convention is spared Isaac and that New Orleans will likely get the brunt of the storm

Daily Commentary – Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Download