FRC Blogged - Two Feet of Snow?

[Andy Grady]

I actually love this blog post. In essence: "Suck it up, find a way!". If that isn't the mantra of life for so many people in the world, I dont know what is. Some people will find a way to sneak into the school (make sure you shut the security alarms off!!!), some will find a way to sneak the robot out of the school, some will be staying up until 2am every day for the next week and a half to make up for the loss. EVERYONE will learn a lesson.

Just don't get arrested if you are in Mass...you aren't allowed to drive right now.

[Neima]

That's cute 2 feet of snow. Let me guess you guys aren't going to have school. This happens in Minnesota and we still have school the next day.

[SarahBeth]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

I actually love this blog post. In essence: "Suck it up, find a way!". If that isn't the mantra of life for so many people in the world, I dont know what is. Some people will find a way to sneak into the school (make sure you shut the security alarms off!!!), some will find a way to sneak the robot out of the school, some will be staying up until 2am every day for the next week and a half to make up for the loss. EVERYONE will learn a lesson.

Just don't get arrested if you are in Mass...you aren't allowed to drive right now.

Uh, sounds like there's a fun (or not so fun) story behind this here.

[sg999]

Anyone else still unable to get back to work because of snow? We haven't had access to our robot since Thursday night, and tomorrow looks iffy too (We don't have school tomorrow). I'm just curious as to how far behind we're getting.

[Undertones]

That kind of snow is not unusual here in Alberta. I find geographic cultural differences amusing.

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Undertones

That kind of snow is not unusual here in Alberta. I find geographic cultural differences amusing.

Well, maybe it's not unusual in Banff or even Canmore... but in Calgary? C'mon... you guys actually have to build to a lower snow load than we do in Vancouver. (Speaking of which, the flowers are coming up nicely, thank you for asking. )

Look down this page for Calgary's record snowfalls... 48cm fell in one day, once... back in 1981.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/sta...31093/caab0049

Those teams back east get walloped every couple of years. But at least they have FRC regionals within 1,000km of their home school without having to start their own!

Jason

[Donut]

Originally Posted by Undertones

That kind of snow is not unusual here in Alberta. I find geographic cultural differences amusing.

As do I. I distinctly remember a time in college in Tucson, AZ where it snowed for about 20 minutes in January; the school district called an emergency meeting and was going to cancel classes if any of the snow didn't melt (it did, to the dismay of all the desert kids who have never seen a snow day). Of course I had never heard of classes being canceled for heat until I moved out of state either, and I've seen it happen multiple times here in Iowa. Something about buildings not having air conditioning or passive cooling systems, I didn't know they made buildings like that

I hope all the teams snowed in stay safe and can finish build season without problems. Losing close to a week is a killer to some I'm sure.

[Racer26]

Still no access to school? We got hammered here on Friday like most of the northeastern US, but our roads are clear and its business as usual here now. Heck, by saturday afternoon it wasn't too bad... my driveway does have a ~4ft wall of snow at the edges though...

[Taylor]

When we get a big snowstorm up here in New Hampshire, we buckle down for the blizzard and wait it out. We make sure our friends and families are safe, and offer support to those who aren’t. And when the snow stops, we take out our shovels and get to work. Whether it’s two inches or two feet of snow, it’s amazing how quickly a few friends working together can clear a big path.

This was my favorite part of the blog. Applicable to build season, competition season, offseason, life.

[Hallry]

North-easterners: We're might be getting more snow this weekend... http://www.accuweather.com/en/weathe...ential/5997763

[dag0620]

Originally Posted by Hallry

North-easterners: We're might be getting more snow this weekend... http://www.accuweather.com/en/weathe...ential/5997763

This is a huge worry right now, for both build time as well as Week 0 events.

Fingers Crossed it doesn't put us back any further.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by dag0620

This is a huge worry right now, for both build time as well as Week 0 events.

Fingers Crossed it doesn't put us back any further.

And it looks like this won't be the end of it. Quoting the article,

A storm has a chance to take a sharp enough left turn up the East Coast this weekend, perhaps affecting the U.S. and neighboring Canada. The storm would be part of a series of potentially major weather events through the end of February.

Emphasis mine.

Here are the two paths it may take. Everyone better cross their fingers for the better scenario...

[dsalvucci]

Team 23 hasn't been able to work on our robot since Thursday night. Plymouth happened to be one of the hardest hit areas (just our luck this year) and our schools didn't even have power until I believe yesterday. It looks like we will finally be allowed back in tomorrow though!

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Undertones

That kind of snow is not unusual here in Alberta. I find geographic cultural differences amusing.

It wasn't the quantity of the snow that is still causing problems, but the rate at which it accumulated. Most places in the northeast US can easily handle 2ft blizzards and have all roads passable within a day, so long as the snowfall rate stays under 1-2" per hour (normally in the northeast 2" per hour is considered exceptionally heavy snowfall rate). The problem this storm caused is that at the peak, it was snowing more than 6" per hour.

So instead of the plow trucks being able to continuously plow a few inches of snow off the roads throughout the storm, they were overwhelmed quickly to the point where the snow is literally too deep to plow. At that point you need rotary plows (basically massive snow blowers) or construction equipment (such as backhoes) to clear roads, both of which are significantly slower than plowing.

I too once laughed at how the southern US handles snow, until I witnessed it firsthand in Texas. With no snowplows, when it actually does snow a few inches, it will soon melt into slush, then refreezes into ice the next night. Then all roads for the next few days will have smooth tire ruts with several inches of jagged, solid ice in between. Changing lanes on the highway wasn't fun.