Snow Storm

[Rich Wong]

Blizzard Saturday:
Read CD postings, go shovel snow, read CD postings, go shovel snow.... (repeat)

Blizzard plans for Sunday:
Wake up read CD postings, go shovel snow, read CD postings, go shovel snow... (repeat)

[bigqueue]

Originally Posted by Covey41

With a major snow storm hitting the Midwest, and the Northeast, how is your team coping with the weather?

Are you doing anything special?

I have plenty of fuel for my snow blower.....a few DVD's should the cable system go legs up....and plenty of hot chocolate do defrost me after my snow clearing adventures.


As for the robot....well, I can think and drink hot chocolate you know.

-Quentin

[Ryan Albright]

Got to love Florida.
Only thing we have to worry about is hurricanes and that is during the off season. We all were saying how we were hating Florida during the hurricanes, well now this is when we are rejoicing becasue we are in Florida

[Erin Rapacki]

I'm loving this Snow Storm!

Finally, all ambition to go drive somewhere in order to waste time has ended because the roads are bad. So, instead, I've been able to catch up on a lot of FIRST-related stuff on my home computer. Woohoo!

[UlTiMaTeP]

We all plowed through the snow to get to our meeting here in florida, i almost got stuck!

[Petey]

From Weather.com


Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service


...BARNSTABLE MA-BLOCK ISLAND RI-BRISTOL RI-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX COUNTY MA- DUKES MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN KENT RI-EASTERN NORFOLK MA- EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-NANTUCKET MA-NEWPORT RI-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA- NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA- SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHERN BRISTOL MA-SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA- SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-SUFFOLK MA-WASHINGTON RI-WESTERN ESSEX MA- WESTERN KENT RI-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF... ATTLEBOROUGH... BARNSTABLE... BARRINGTON... BEVERLY... BOSTON... BRISTOL... BROCKTON... BROOKLINE... CAMBRIDGE... FALL RIVER... FALMOUTH... FRAMINGHAM... FRANKLIN... GLOUCESTER... LAWRENCE... LOWELL... LYNN... MILFORD... NANTUCKET... NEW BEDFORD... NEWBURYPORT... NEWPORT... NEWTON... NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH... PLYMOUTH... PROVIDENCE... QUINCY... SOMERVILLE... SOUTH KINGSTOWN... TAUNTON... VINEYARD HAVEN... WALTHAM... WARWICK... WEYMOUTH... WOONSOCKET AND WORCESTER 846 AM EST SUN JAN 23 2005

... BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING...

AN EXTREME SITUATION IS OCCURRING IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. FOUR INCHES OF SNOW WAS REPORTED IN 25 MINUTES AT CHELMSFORD MASSACHUSETTS SHORTLY AFTER 7 AM AS THE LAST EXCESSIVE BAND OF POWDERY SNOW SWINGS SOUTHEASTWARD.

THE NORTH SHORE IS BEING BLITZED BY SNOWFALL RATES OF ALMOST 4 INCHES PER HOUR. IT MAY LAST ONLY ANOTHER HOUR OR TWO BUT ITS A COMPLETE SHORT TERM PARALYSER.

IT IS SPREADING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH INTO BOSTON NOW AND WILL CONTINUE THERE THROUGH AT LEAST 11 AM. THIS BIG SNOW BAND WILL ARRIVE ON THE SOUTH SHORE BETWEEN 10 AM AND 11 AM AND THEN CROSS THE UPPER CAPE BETWEEN 11 AM AND 2 PM. IT TENDS TO LAST ABOUT 2 HOURS. THAT MEANS 8 INCHES OF SNOW MAY FALL IN PORTIONS OF THE BOSTON AREA IN A 2 HOUR PERIOD DURING MID AND LATE MORNING.

FINAL BLIZZARD TOTALS FOR MOST OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS WILL RANGE BETWEEN 28 AND 38 INCHES SETTING A NEW SINGLE STORM RECORD FOR BOSTON... SURPASSING THE AMOUNT FROM THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 78 AND THE PRESIDENTS DAY STORM OF 2003.

ISOLATED TOTALS OF 40 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. VULNERABLE LOCATIONS FOR NEARLY 40 INCH STORM TOTALS ARE ESSEX... MIDDLESEX... PLYMOUTH... NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE COUNTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

EVEN IF THIS STORM COMES UP SLIGHTLY SHORT OF RECORD... IT IS A DANGEROUS STORM WITH THE WORST OCCURRING NOW INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS WINDS STRENGTHEN AND TEMPERATURES FALL TO NEAR 10 ABOVE.

NANTUCKET MAY END UP WITH ONLY 12 TO 22 INCHES... BUT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL DESCEND ON THAT ISLAND LATER THIS MORNING OR THIS AFTERNOON.

NORTHERLY WINDS WILL BE GUSTING AROUND 75 MPH ON BARNSTABLE AND NANTUCKET COUNTIES. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING STORM BECAUSE OF SEVERE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE NEWLY FALLEN SNOW AND TUMBLING TEMPERATURES.

SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES HAVE OCCURRED THIS MORNING AS WINDS ALL ALONG THE COAST GUST BETWEEN 55 AND 65 MPH ON BOSTONS NORTH AND SOUTH SHORES AND EVEN ON NARRAGANSETT BAY. A 78 MPH WIND GUST WAS REPORTED IN EAST FALMOUTH BY A SPOTTER.

THERE HAS BEEN ISOLATED DAMAGE REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

POWER OUTAGES MAY BECOME WIDESPREAD THIS AFTERNOON ON THE CAPE AND NANTUCKET WHEN THE BRUNT OF WIND HITS THERE... BETWEEN 75 AND 80 MPH.

DRIFTS OF AT LEAST 6 FEET ARE OCCURRING.

OVER CAPE COD... NANTUCKET AND MARTHAS VINEYARD... THE SNOW HAS BEEN OF A WETTER CONSISTENCY EARLY TODAY AND THERE HAS BEEN SOME RAIN ON NANTUCKET. THIS RAISES THE ANTE FOR POWER OUTAGES IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST NEW ENGLAND WITH THE SNOW CLINGING TO WIRES AND BRANCHES.

ALL THE HEAVY SNOW WILL TAPER TO SNOW SHOWERS LATER THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING... BUT CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING WILL PERSIST INTO LATE THIS EVENING ACROSS EXPOSED AREAS.

THERE IS A CHANCE OF BLIZZARD CONDITIONS CONTINUING ON PARTS OF CAPE COD INTO EARLY TONIGHT AS HEAVY SNOW SQUALLS POUND PARTS OF THE CAPE. A BLIZZARD WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF OVER 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH CONSIDERABLE FALLING AND/OR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS OCCUR AT TIMES. THOSE VENTURING OUTDOORS MAY BECOME LOST OR DISORIENTED... SO PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA ARE ADVISED TO STAY INDOORS.


--Petey

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Covey41

how is your team coping with the weather?

Many team members have been squinting to preserve their eyesight, as seen in this picture.

Originally Posted by Covey41

Are you doing anything special?

Well, I had to take off my sweatshirt before I went outside to drive the kitbot yesterday, and I had to move the OI out of the sun, because the plastic was getting too hot.

(I'll get my comeuppance soon enough... life-long Californian moving to Pittsburgh. Brrr.)

[Cory]

Originally Posted by jgannon

(I'll get my comeuppance soon enough... life-long Californian moving to Pittsburgh. Brrr.)

It's not *THAT* bad... I moved out here to Mass from CA my whole life and it hasn't really bothered me yet

[Koko Ed]

O I am sick to death
of all this snow
the falling temperatures
and all it's woes
I truly feel just like an Eskimo
but spring, it's true
that it is overdue
and so I button up my jacket
and I face the season's chill
but of this awful weather
I have truly had my fill
I truly love beauty
of a simple daffodil
I wish that spring would come today

[Bcahn836]

The snow storm is gone the roads are clear , and there is no school on Monday?I hope they have a good reason or at least a reason at all. No school means no meeting and time just keeps ticking away as that deadline gets closer and closer

[Pâzinha]

We kind of know what you're being through,not being able to work, cause our kits arrived here only last Friday due to customs bureaucracy, but on the other hand that wasn't that bad because we used this time to think about the strategy and design of the robot.

[Stillen]

Snowed in??? Cmon guys, if you're from the area, then traveling to the school should be a piece of cake. Our school cancelled Monday and Wednesday of this week. I'm looking at 6 diehards right now milling/turning/cutting out parts right now. We've brought in pizza for them for dinner and such. The students even stated they've accomplished more than they would have during a regular school day, reason being, NO DISTRACTIONS... Make use of the time where there is no lines for the machines.............Let the snow fly.......... 30 inches and counting here in Leominster, MA

[Pin Man]

we aren't allowed to have build because its "unsafe"... I haven't been to school in 7 days... jeeeeeeez...

[BoyWithCape195]

Originally Posted by Stillen

Snowed in??? Cmon guys, if you're from the area, then traveling to the school should be a piece of cake. Our school cancelled Monday and Wednesday of this week. I'm looking at 6 diehards right now milling/turning/cutting out parts right now. We've brought in pizza for them for dinner and such. The students even stated they've accomplished more than they would have during a regular school day, reason being, NO DISTRACTIONS... Make use of the time where there is no lines for the machines.............Let the snow fly.......... 30 inches and counting here in Leominster, MA

Well when school is canceled, no one is allowed in the school, and every activity is canceled. The janitors don't let any one in, a they themselves leave really early in the morning.

So far this year our team has held it's meetings, though we did shorten the closing time to noon on the day of the snow-storm (Actually it was a district-wide decision). As for working through snow-storms, I have only one outstanding piece of advice to give. Be careful. If getting to robotics means that you have an epic to recant come the school week, then think of how difficult it would be for EMS services to reach you should anything go awry in the shop. Snow days are good days for media, chairmans, animation, business plan, programming and other non-tool activities.
As for previous years, we we're involved in the snow-storm two years ago and have been snowed in. All said though, the time makes no special demands than any other time; saftey is always the chief concern in our shops.

Michael Greenley, Team 341 "Miss Daisy"