Storm Pictures

[Fading Fast]

One of the things I love most about storms in the city is how they have a time-travel element to them. If you are familiar with photos of NYC in the snow from the '30s and '40s, you can feel their echo in present day snow storms.

This morning, my girlfriend and I went out to our favorite diner (sitting in a diner - all lit up and cheery - looking out at a storm is one of life's great little moments) and then walked around a bit. These are some of the pictures she took:

First Avenue


A small "park" (any patch of green is a "park" in this city) right off the East River


The 59th Street (Queensboro) Bridge almost ghosted out by the snow (that's not fog)


A shot from our window

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hope you guys are well provisioned and are keeping safe -- if you're not used to weather like that, it can be overwhelming.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hope you guys are well provisioned and are keeping safe -- if you're not used to weather like that, it can be overwhelming.

Thank you. We did do a little "if the lights go out and city shuts down" shopping and cooking yesterday, so I think we are good. Power outage is our only real concern as it will get cold very fast (and pipes can freeze), but we'll be fine. We do have a few elderly neighbors we'll keep an eye on.

 

[AmateisGal]

Love the photos, FF! We were supposed to get hit with a pretty bad snow storm earlier this week, but it missed us. When I lived in the western part of Nebraska, big snow storms were par for the course. We just don't get that many of them here in the eastern part of the state.

 

[Fading Fast]

Love the photos, FF! We were supposed to get hit with a pretty bad snow storm earlier this week, but it missed us. When I lived in the western part of Nebraska, big snow storms were par for the course. We just don't get that many of them here in the eastern part of the state.

This is the first snow (literally, the first snow greatest than just a very, very light dusting earlier in the season) that we've had this year, which is very unusual - we should have had at least a few snow storms by now. But it feels like it is making up for it - hasn't let up a bit since I posted those pictures and is supposed to continue through to the evening.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Even where I am - at the northern edge of the storm, where it didn't even start snowing until 8:30 this morning - it looks like we're going to get nearly a foot if it keeps up at this rate. Well, I'm hunkered down with plenty of food, propane for the heat, and a whole-house generator if the electricity fails. It's a good day for housecleaning, reading, watching, and assorted puttering!

And yes, the weirdest thing is how late in the season we're getting our first major snow: it usually starts up in late November or early December. Not that I'm complaining.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Don't forget the duct tape. Up here whenever there's a blow, everybody stocks up on duct tape. Helps to patch up the snow shovel when you snap it half in frustration.

 

[Fading Fast]

It has not let up at all, not one bit, not for one minute. The below is from our recent outing followed by a "medicinal" Irish coffee to take the chill out of our bones at a favorite haunt.

No small snow storm


The still ghosted Queensboro Bridge


The city streets cleared of all but emergency vehicles and brave souls


Time travel


And medicine

 

[dh66]

Great photos Fading Fast! It looks absolutely beautiful.....from where I am.

It did snow a good bit down here yesterday evening, but fortunately the day started out so warm (low 50s) that none of it lasted on the ground. All we ended up with were some icy patches of road.

But really, as Lizzie said, take care. I hope no power goes out and this can be a pleasant experience for you guys.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ Thank you and Lizzie for your concern. We are taking it seriously, but as long as the power stays on - all should be good. For now, it's an excuse to be a little kid again for a few hours. Glad all is good by you.

 

[Bamaboots]

FF, great pics and as a fan of Irish coffee, the weather couldn't be more perfect for it. We got a couple inches here in N AL. All it did was shut the roads down here for several hours and since it didn't get much above freezing here today, was make a mud hole out of my yard. Great fun with all of our hounds.

 

[Fading Fast]

FF, great pics and as a fan of Irish coffee, the weather couldn't be more perfect for it. We got a couple inches here in N AL. All it did was shut the roads down here for several hours and since it didn't get much above freezing here today, was make a mud hole out of my yard. Great fun with all of our hounds.

A picture of the hounds in the snow would be wonderful (hint, hint).

 

[Bamaboots]

FF, if you were here to help with the paw cleaning, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

 

[Fading Fast]

FF, if you were here to help with the paw cleaning, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Done my share with our guy and many others, but I hear ya - hard to keep them clean (and, thus, the house) in this weather.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Nearly two feet of snow in northern Virginia at 2:00 this afternoon, and it's still coming down. The latest forecast has it ending at about 11:00 PM. I started shoveling the driveway this afternoon. I got about 10 feet cleared with another twenty or so to go. My back hurts. When I get to the curb, then I'll have to chop through the berm the plows have made. Even then, I'm not sure I can get up the hill about 150 feet or so to the main road.
Feh!

 

[ChiTownScion]

My thoughts on winter snowfall:

The worst part about snow storms now is that, while my shearling (ANJ-4) flight jacket keeps my upper torso toasty warm, the big wooly collar acts like a sponge for all of that falling snow. I run my snow blower when it gets over about 4" and it's actually kind of a fun task... unless there's a frozen layer underneath the snowfall (ice or snow impacted from having been driven over), and then I have to get out the steel scraper and break that up.

Lizzie tells about city snow plows burying the end of her driveway, and that is a hassle. I try to hit the bottom of the drive with the blower as soon as I can after they plow. If I get to my drive before the plows come through, I run the blower on my half of the street about 25' up in the direction the plows will be approaching from: less accumulation means less left at the bottom of my drive. That may seem like overkill, but it actually means less work in the long run.

I shoveled by hand for years, but as soon as we moved to the 'burbs we bought a blower. The current one has an electric start: it's a godsend. If I had to man an idiot stick now and shovel a deep snow, I doubt that I could. As much as I like vintage tech in other areas, snow removal is one area where I think that whatever saves labor is justified: it's just too strenuous, dangerous, and time consuming not to embrace high tech. If we ever repave our drive and we can afford to install snow melting heat coils, I'd consider that as well.

And a hot cup of joe, or hot chocolate, after the job is always satisfying- as is a nice hot shower!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another piece of advice to novice show shovelers is *don't* bundle up tight with a scarf wrapped around your face, hood up, etc. You'll build up so much sweat that you'll end up getting a severe chill if you're out there for any length of time. Wear a loose coat over a loose sweater, loosely-fitting windproof pants, a scarf loosely around your neck, and don't close the coat all the way to the throat.

I wear a tweed coat and a pair of WW2 surplus "mountain trousers", over a cotton sweatshirt and sweatpants. Plenty loose enough to move around, and loose enough to breathe while I'm working.

And take breaks. You don't have to do it all at once. I shovel for fifteen minutes, then I come inside and have a Coke. I rest for fifteen minutes and then I go out and finish the job, or keep doing this in cycles until the driveway is clear. And then I make my way downtown and shovel out the theatre.

I hope everybody is getting dug out all right. I feel strange that most of the East Coast got creamed by this storm, and we never got a single flake. Not that I'm complaining, we got our share and then some last winter, but it's odd nonetheless.

 

[Fading Fast]

Wow, I'm amazed you didn't get any - but no one would accuse Maine of not, big picture, getting its share. I've lived in or around New York for most of my life (except for 8 years in Boston) and this one has to be in the top 5. It's supposed to rain and be in the 40s in NYC Tuesday - that is going to be a horrific mess (and then freeze that night - ugh).

I'd add one thing to your outstanding shoveling advice - lift at the knees keeping you back straight. Do not use your back (especially your lower back) as a power muscle.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

I noticed a lot, and I mean a lot, of ads for Florida vacations on TV during this blizzard. For someone like myself who despised snow and cold weather even as a child, that felt an awful lot like cruel and unusual punishment so I turned the TV off and read.

 

[Fading Fast]

I noticed a lot, and I mean a lot, of ads for Florida vacations on TV during this blizzard. For someone like myself who despised snow and cold weather even as a child, that felt an awful lot like cruel and unusual punishment so I turned the TV off and read.

Lizzie's "Boys from Marketing" at work / always the opportunists.