Question Of The Day. Saturday 27th Of January.

[Norachan]

Good morning.

It's really cold and snowy here today. I seem to have spent most of this week shoveling snow out of the way.

Today's question; Have you ever been snowed in? What's the worst weather you've ever experienced?

I have the rather dubious pleasure of living in a place that gets monsoons, typhoons and blizzards. We once had almost 2 meters of snow fall over night. The whole town shut down for a few days while we waited for the snow ploughs to come and dig us out. Luckily we had enough food to last until the supermarkets opened again. I've been stock piling food every winter since then, just in case.

I think the worst weather ever was a huge typhoon that hit the city I was living in about 12 years ago. The rain flooded all the subway stations, so hundreds of people couldn't get home and ended up sheltering in their offices or schools over night. The wind knocked out the power too, so there was no AC and everyone was stuck in the dark and humidity. I was lucky enough to get home in one piece, to my hot, sticky apartment.

How about you, have you been through any particularly harsh weather?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

there have been times that the snow is coming down bad enough that you can't see to drive here. even then, when i've had plans to do one of my grocery shopping trips, i've been able to get to the store and back. i don't grocery shop often, once per month for two months and then skip the third month, so when i've got a grocery shopping planned i really need to do it.

for me, it's extremely hot temperatures that can be the worst, most harsh weather. i've canceled/rescheduled plans because it's way too hot.

 

[Winchester]

Yes, we've been snowed in, but not for long, maybe a couple of days. We live in central PA and have had our share of blizzards and snow and ice and freezing rain. Lots of gusty winds. One year, they needed a back hoe to come in and remove the snow from an area of our road....just the way the barns were located in that area made a bit of a canyon and, between the almost three feet of snow and the canyon, the snow was in double digits....of feet! The snow drift in the road was just huge.

But I'd say the worst weather-related occurrence was Hurricane Agnes in June 1972. We were living in a mobile home and lost everything. Rick and I had gotten married in 1971 and our son was born in October of the same year. So we were essentially just starting out with our married life and as parents. We lost pretty much everything, but the clothes we were wearing when we left the trailer.

 

[debbila]

We got a blizzard in 2003 in Maryland. The snow started on Friday and ended sometime Monday. We ended up with forty inches. My street wasn't plowed for several days but my place of employement was closed all that week and we were paid. I had food, my books, computer, t.v. and a good roof to hold up to all that snow.
Two years later I was on a plane to Arizona before another storm hit that year.

 

[jcat]

I've been snowed in a couple of times - the worst was for 8 days back in the 90s - and experienced a number of hurricanes and tornadoes.

 

[muffy]

We have had several storms here in Maryland where we have gotten over 2 feet of snow or more and have been snowed in. The last big storm we had was in 2010 when we had back to back storms of over 2 ft. If my neighbor had not used her snow blower I would have been snowed in for a week as I am not able to shovel snow.

 

[foxxycat]

The worse was the huge ice storm in the 1990s..I think it was 1997? 1998? Areas around us lost power for 2 weeks. The state was pretty much shut down for 4 days while everyone who had a chain saw was spending long hours cutting trees and clearing debris. So much damage. My memory is kind of fuzzy but I believe I was still in college then-and they had closed school for a few days. An area near where I lived lost power for 2 weeks-i can't remember how long our's was out..but I do remember all the streets being cluttered with tree limbs and just a mess with trees on houses and cars. Since then I have a real hatred for freezing rain/sleet storm. Either ran or snow but the ice can stay gone!

and blizzard of 1978 I was 3. There's pictures of me outside with the snow over my head..I was too young to remember that...but I am sure many of you folks remember.

 

[Kreatorcat]

4 times for 3 or more days...in my tractor/trailer rig. I always had plenty of supplies,and was prepared for it. And I always shut down at a truck stop early. I'm ex-military,so I know the value of information and being prepped.

These snow-ins were always early in my driving career with my company,when I was OTR and mostly ran from Chicago to the north-east. Once I got some seniority I was able to run regional in Texas. Now if the weather is bad,it doesn't last too long. In the past 10 years I can only think of one time I shut down for bad weather.

 

[Lari]

Luckily the Chicago area is not susceptible to: hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, or sharknados and we usually don't get tornadoes as bad as more rural areas. So it's mostly snow and cold.

I remember Chiberia back in 2014 where people were posting the weather here vs the South Pole (which was warmer). And a couple blizzards, but I'm grateful that's the worst I've been through.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

How about you, have you been through any particularly harsh weather?

Nope; never. The weather here is perfect, year 'round. It's exactly like Camelot!

 

[di and bob]

We had a big 25 inch snow a couple of years ago, but we also have a tractor to plow with so are never snowed in.(drive way that is circular and also goes out another way, looks like, and is as big as, an airstrip!) We live on an emergency snow route so the city keeps it always open. I think the worst is back in the winter of '77- '78 (yes foxxycat i remember it, I was twenty, thanks! ) we got a lot of snow but the cold was absolutely horrible. Did not break 0 degrees for almost two weeks, so many minus readings all that month, so many broken pipes because the frost line was down 4 feet, the deepest ever, in my lifetime anyway. It was absolutely horrendous. So many cars that wouldn't start, And snow that lasted from Oct. until April. UGHH!!!

 

[gareth]

On a military exercise in the middle of nowhere inside the arctic circle we had to rotate people out of guard duty every 60 minutes to avoid them freezing. It was minus 28 degrees centigrade, about minus 20-30f. Soldiers that grabbed their rifles without gloves lost the skin on their hands. We were supposed to parachute in but there was a fear guys would end up freezing to death in snowdrifts when we landed. The wind chill was beyond belief and being winter there was hardly any light.

7 day exercise. I have never been so glad to get back to base in my life.

 

[kashmir64]

We had four foot of snow drop here once. Which isn't bad for other parts of the country or world, but for Arizona, it's unheard of.

 

[betsygee]

I feel pretty spoiled after reading all these stories! The central coast of California doesn't really get weather. Our biggest problem is pine trees going down in winter storms. We live on a cul-de-sac and have been blocked in for a couple of days by trees falling across the road. We've had pines come down and clip the house. But as far as bad weather stories....I got nothing.

 

[Brian007]

When I was a child in the north east of England we were forever getting snowed out from school, yay! Ahhh, them were the days. Childhood was full of snowball fights and cold noses.

Nowadays, we don't have so much snow in the UK, at sea level, at least. When I lived in Highland Scotland for 20 years, things were and still are a bit different but the Scots just get on with snow, unlike the English, who seem to grind to a standstill (apologies for all those who don't).

However, in 2010 almost the entire country ran aground for well over a month, and I remember being trapped in my flat for weeks on end, and this was in Edinburgh, so not exactly high ground. Here is a satellite photo from that year:

Of course, places like Japan etc put us/me to shame but we Brits like a good old moan, heehee.

Japan:

 

[Kat0121]

I have dealt with plenty of blizzards and been snowed in more times than I care to count (NEVER AGAIN)

I have also dealt with plenty of hurricanes. Gloria in NY back in 1985 and several here in Florida. Nothing catastrophic thankfully.

 

[gareth]

However, in 2010 almost the entire country ran aground for well over a month, and I remember being trapped in my flat for weeks on end, and this was in Edinburgh, so not exactly high ground.

I remember that year well. This is me on Ben Nevis on January 1st that year. Unbelievable amount of snow

 

[artiemom]

Well, there was "The Blizzard of '78", where everyone in New England were snowed in for days, a week....

Most recently, we had the winter of 2015.. the worst as far as snow...

and we have blizzards every year.. the last one was a few weeks ago...

Since I lived and survived the Blizzard of '78, I am prepared for any calamity. I have a weeks supply of water, and all the essentials.. We were lucky in '78. We had a camp stove which provided many people with coffee.. and us with soup, etc...

I still have my Emergency Pass from '78... to get me into and out of the city. We were under Martial Law, with the National Guard walling off our city.. Yup.. I was working in a hospital and considered an emergency personnel. ... still was, until the day, I stopped working.. always had to get into work, one way or another...

Hurricanes, blizzards.. always expected in to work... until I was on FMLA and could not leave my dad....

 

[Brian007]

gareth , blimey, that was brave! I couldn't even get to Tesco!

 

[Mother Dragon]

We had about an inch of snow recently and the whole city came to a screeching, sliding halt. Schools and most businesses shut down and those who foolishly ventured out were in wrecks. In one day, even with sparse traffic, there were over 300 wrecks for which police were called. One was a 23 car pileup. Who knows how many more there were? We just don't know how to drive on snow or ice. Airports have minimal de-icing equipment. No one has snow tires, and even if we did, the snow would be long gone before we could get them mounted.

Additionally, pipes, which are buried very shallowly, burst everywhere. Even the pumping stations froze. Naturally, there were plenty of house fires, too. One idiot tried burning hay in the oven.

I find hurricanes worse, though. I've been through Carla in 1963, plus Ike and Harvey, and of course, a bunch of minor ones. Oh, and TS Alicia, which created terrible flooding similar to, but less than, Harvey. We slept through the tornado that removed the turbine vents from our roof.

Another terrifying experience was when we were on a motorcycle trip at our state rally in north Texas. The sky turned both pink and green, indicating hail and tornadoes. We had just reached our motel when the monsoon rain started. We were across the street in a tin-roofed building eating supper and the roar of the huge raindrops made it literally impossible to hear even yelling. We dashed back across the road, drenched, and got the bike up under the overhang at the motel. As others arrived, we signaled them to get their bikes under cover and shoehorned as many as we could into the covered spaces. Just about the time we finished, the hail hit. First it was small, but then it became golfball sized and some of it approached baseball size. Car windshields and back windows were smashed as if they'd been hit by bowling balls. Tornadoes were dancing all around, but fortunately, none got too near us.

I was way too close to a flash flood when we were motorcycle camping in the Texas Hill Country. We were tent camping. It began raining so hard we could only see a few feet. That was the only time I've ever seen the sky when it literally was constantly illuminated by lightning. There were no breaks between flashes, and the thunder was just as constant. We moved the bikes further up the bank but left the tents in place. The little creek with the deep banks that was about 25 feet away suddenly began to rise. When I say suddenly, I mean that we could see it rising not by inches, but by feet, until it came within about four feet of the tents. Then, as if a cork had been pulled, it began to drop almost as swiftly. I'm so glad we weren't asleep, or we might have been swept away.

Waterspouts are like tornadoes on water. We were out for a lazy afternoon in the bay when two huge waterspouts formed simultaneously. One was churning behind us with the second at right angles to the bow. Normally, you run at right angles to the storm, but in our case that wasn't possible. We revved that motor as fast as it would go and fled at a 45 degree angle to them. It was still a very close call, but they lifted just before they caught us. We have a saying in Texas. "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute. It'll change."