Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
I'm originally from Colorado but live in D.C. It's a travesty to watch how folks out here handle weather. Last week we had a few inches of snow and the whole region ground to a halt. My cousin, visiting from Colorado, watched as people abandoned cars in the middle of the road. He saw snow plows dump snow in the middle of roads. A friend didn't get home from work until 1 AM after leaving at the normal 5 PM or so. Grocery stores were cleared of meat. Again, this was from just a few inches of snow.
Now, much of the country is getting hit by unbelievable cold and blizzard conditions. My parents, who rarely remark on the Colorado weather except to brag about how awesome it is, have been telling me they're cold. And as the bad conditions roll onward, I'm getting a kick out of watching the Facebook updates of my friends in the midwest.
One posted a picture of a beer with a note that he "is enjoying this at 2:30 pm. iceday policy." Another friend visiting St. Louis writes "All snug in my little hotel room in St. Louis, bracing for the storm tonight. Got some cheese, some Diet Dr. Pepper, and some chocolate so all food groups are covered in case I get stranded for a few days." Others comment that they have generators, water and blankets ready (Note to D.C. shoppers. These are things to purchase if facing bad weather. Not beef. And no diapers unless you actually have young children.) Other updates include excitement about school/work being canceled and notification about what comfort food is being made in advance of this storm.
I'm confident that many of my neighbors would be in the fetal position, gently rocking, if faced with "a high of -14 degrees" or the whiteout blizzard conditions.
Am I right? Is DC the wimp capital when it comes to weather? Who handles it the best?
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Dec '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Hotlanta is the wimp capital. Half an inch of snow shuts down Hartsfield International.
Jan '11
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Washington, DC actually gets bigger snow storms than Chicago does, though Chicago gets more snow on the average. I heard that we did very well in handling the mega-storms last year. There really is only so much a big city can do, with all the traffic density and limited places to put the white stuff.
And I don't know what happened last week. Maybe it was because the roads were not treated properly. Maybe the government should not have released the workers a couple hours before the storm so road treatment could have happened. From what I've seen in this area, I think things are handled reasonably well. People could be better drivers in it, but who among us don't think we're the best driver on the road, right?
And the people who handle the cold the best are probably small towns like Syracuse, NY or Baudette, MN.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
The NFL Players arrived Here yesterday. The cold front shortly afterwards. We don't have much snow Here, but there's plenty of ice. Inches of ice over everything. Today was in the twenties, snow and ice flurries, and wind gusts up to 50 mph.
Today was "media day" for the NFL. All the players could talk about was the weather and how cold and miserable it is Here in Texas. These are NFL playing grown Men from Pittsburgh and Green Bay!!
I vote for the "Weather Wimp Capital" winner the pansy twin cities of Pittsburgh andGreen Bay.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
75 degrees and blazingly sunny here in Marin County. Birdies singin' in the trees.
What idiots we are to live in California, eh?
Jan '11
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
I love the attitude that storms like this bring out of people in the Upper Midwest. Right now everyone's on Facebook excitedly comparing snow levels from this county to the next, discussing whether the air pressure drop constitutes a mid-latitude cyclone or not, and yes, discussing what we're eating and/or drinking to celebrate. That's what separates this part of the country from the rest: we celebrate our worst weather. Sure, we worry (quite reasonably) until our friends and family make it home through the storm, but once everyone's safely inside, all those blowing drifts of snow can blanket us as thick as they'd like. All they can do is cut us off from the world outside for a spell. What's not to love about that?
Dec '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
People from Montana are absolutely the worst when it comes to bragging about how tough and burley they think they are: "-14, ha! that's spring swimming weather in Montana! 10" of snow? In Montana they don't cancel school till it's up to your eyeballs. Then the kids go out back and wrestle grizzlies." So annoying.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
This has been a wicked weather week for DC, in that we are seeing a sequence of overnight ice storms. Also, Fairfax County in Virginia stretches from the warm pocket Potomac River to the first foothills of the Appalachians. We are a kind of piedmont in miniature that way. The result is, what the folks near the river will see as a soaker may mean ice on the roads in Fairfax City and a couple of inches of snow in Chantilly and Reston.
I will take six inches of snow versus a half inch of ice on the roads any time, but we've woken to glazed roads twice this week. Personally, I prefer glazed donuts.
In addition, we are very transient for a large metropolitan area. Sure, Congresscritters and regulators come and never leave, but Congressional staffs, military, diplomats, the big contracting firms, al-Qaeda, they all roll in and out of here and any given snow storm we seem to introduce a few thousand drivers to the dangers of ice and snow on the road. The doofus that shrugs, says no biggie, and heads out spinning and S'ing in traffic can be found in every storm.
Edited on Feb 1, 2011 at 6:48pmJan '11
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
A big city can handle serious snow just fine, if they get it often enough that they have the culture in place to deal with it. Minneapolis-St Paul is a great example. The Twin Cities are a delight in a big storm, because everyone knows what to do, everyone plays their part, and importantly, everyone understands that there are limits to what anyone can do. The government does its part: the thoroughfares get plowed early and often, but they're generally kind enough not to plow a mountain of snow over your car parked on a side street. The citizenry do their part: when you do have to move your car so they can plow, you find roving gangs of youth armed with snowshovels eager to clear you a path, and they're doing it for fun. Random strangers will run over to help push. Snow brings out the best.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
We've become a nation of wimps. In the '70's, New York City routinely got blizzards that dumped 2 or 3 feet of snow and during some winters, there was never a time when there wasn't snow on the ground.
Nevertheless, there was an unspoken assumption that if you didn't dig yourself out and make it to work on time, you were a slacker.
Dec '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
It is wicked cold here in Colorado. Noticed the robin with a perplexed expression sitting on top of the ice in my 120V AC "heated" birdbath earlier today. The robin wasn't the only one confused.
I'm originally from the secondary snow belt outside Cleveland, Ohio, where the winters are long and drab, followed by a month of mud season. The problem with Coloradans in winter is first, a lot of them are California transplants with not a clue how to drive in snow. And second, the altitude must impair the ability of a lot of people to remember how to drive in snow from one storm to the next. This could also be attributed to the capriciousness of mountain weather. "If you don't like the weather in Colorado, wait five minutes." I've observed there are usually a spate of accidents after the first snow following a dry spell.
Sep '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
All I know is, a high school English literature teacher told us in class one day—hot, since it was Louisiana in May—that when you see snow in a short story it means death. Since then, I just don't like dealing with the stuff. Ruined it for me, she did. Made me a winter wuss.
Edited on Feb 1, 2011 at 7:33pmJul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Jimmy Carter:
I vote for the "Weather Wimp Capital" winner the pansy twin cities of Pittsburgh andGreen Bay. · Feb 1 at 6:21pm
Still can't stomach the 60's & 70's, eh?
To be fair, I feel the same about the 90's when your boys ran the show.
The Steelers & Pack have seemed reasonably capable in cold weather from time to time:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/123940/greatest-games-1967-the-ice-bowl
Jun '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
I miss getting snowed in. In a previous life I was a blackjack dealer in South Lake Tahoe (to be precise Stateline, Nevada). Winters in the Sierra can be brutal. Ask the Donner Party. I lived in a little home 30 miles south of the lake perched on the edge of the Carson River nestled in Carson Canyon. Occasionally the snow would come down so thick that the plows couldn't keep up with it and both the California Highway Patrol and the Nevada troopers would just close the passes to the lake for a day or so until the snow let up.
So, I'd call in "snowed-in" incurring the ire of the designated pit boss who ran the schedule, otherwise known as "The Pencil". Since the casino wouldn't scramble a snow mobile or dogsled to bring me in, I would pour myself a snifter of cognac, put on some classical music, crack open a good book from this little known mail order house called Barnes & Noble (perhaps you've heard of them) and watch the enormous flakes create sparkling white mounds of everything outside.
Don't get much of that here in Orange County. Sigh.
Oct '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Here in Colorado Springs we got up to -6 today, and on our way down to -28 tonight. That is actually quite unusual. We've lived here for 20 years and this is the coldest we have seen. But... as anyone familiar with this area will tell you, Pikes Peak makes weather prediction almost impossible. The big snow storm touted by in-accuweather didn't happen. We generally do not see the Denver storms.
And yes... we do love it. Got a roaring fire burning oak logs, a good bottle of Cabernet, cheese and crackers, and a really great Dean Koontz book on both of our Kindles. What more can one possibly want.
Eat your heart out Kenneth. Boring California, where they xerox the weather forecasts, just does not measure up.
Edited on Feb 1, 2011 at 7:54pmJul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
RAYCON: Here in Colorado Springs we got up to -6 today, and on our way down to -28 tonight. That is actually quite unusual. We've lived here for 20 years and this is the coldest we have seen. But... as anyone familiar with this area will tell you, Pikes Peak makes weather prediction almost impossible. The big snow storm touted by in-accuweather didn't happen. We generally do not see the Denver storms.
And yes... we do love it. Got a roaring fire burning oak logs, a good bottle of Cabernet, cheese and crackers, and a really great Dean Koontz book on both of our Kindles. What more can one possibly want.
Eat your heart out Kenneth. Boring California, where they xerox the weather forecasts, just does not measure up. · Feb 1 at 7:53pm
Edited on Feb 01 at 07:54 pm
I know. I weep about the absence of seasons here. As I stroll along the beach, watching the sea lions cavort.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Palaeologus Still can't stomach the 60's & 70's, eh?
To be fair, I feel the same about the 90's when your boys ran the show.
The Steelers & Pack have seemed reasonably capable in cold weather from time to time:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/123940/greatest-games-1967-the-ice-bowl · Feb 1 at 7:37pm
"From time to time... " You must have not heard them this time.
Whining like lil' girls.
And, no, I can't stomach such decades.
Thanks for the "Ice Bowl" clip.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Jimmy Carter
"From time to time... " You must have not heard them this time.
Whining like lil' girls.
And, no, I can't stomach such decades.
Fair enough, I haven't. I suspect both teams will man up despite the horrific Dallas weather. Since the GB running game is (at best) a distraction, I figure bad weather favors the Steelers. But I'm still optimistic.
Jimmy Carter
Thanks for the "Ice Bowl" clip. · Feb 1 at 8:37pm
My pleasure. It doesn't get much better than Lombardi v. Landry, does it? Back when men were men & smoking was indoors.
Jan '11
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Austin is definitely the wimp capital for snow. If the fluffy white stuff so much as makes an appearance, everybody screams and runs outside to play before it goes away. If a quarter inch of it sticks to the roads, the city shuts down. I once had a mildly difficult conversation with my New York agent over this.
Me: I can't express-mail the corrected MS to you today.
She: Why not? It's early morning.
Me: Because the streets are covered with snow and ice.
She: Don't you have snow plows?
Me: Merideth, what we've got is two trucks full of sand, and when Joe Bob and Leroy run out of sand, they go home. And even if I could get to the post office, it wouldn't be open.
I don't think she ever did believe me.
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
Palaeologus . I suspect both teams will man up despite the horrific Dallas weather. Since the GB running game is (at best) a distraction, I figure bad weather favors the Steelers. But I'm still optimistic. My pleasure. It doesn't get much better than Lombardi v. Landry, does it? Back when men were men & smoking was indoors. · Feb 1 at 9:03pm
The Game will be played in a dome, also known locally as "The Death Star," so anything goes. All the complaining about the weather is attached to traveling. And, boy, do We miss Landry and smoking indoors....
Jul '10
Re: Regional Variation of Weather Endurance
BTW, here in MI we're getting creamed tonight. At least a foot, maybe a foot-and-a-half.
There will be plenty of closings (businesses, schools, government) tomorrow, but I doubt anyone will get worked up about it.
Frankly, I'm pretty excited. I know my wife won't be working, and there's a better than even chance that my business will be closed. The girl's school will be closed... should be fun.