You may have missed the story last week that said scientists now believe that global warming climate change global climate disruption may cause much colder winters.
Well, damned if it hasn’t already started. Seattle is now digging out from its biggest snowstorm since 1977.
Time.com has the flaky details:
At least three people have died. Schools are closed. Flights were delayed after a cargo plane skidded off an icy runway. The city’s main freeway was turned into a large parking lot with abandoned cars. Tens of thousands are without power. What’s the fuss? Seattle got 2.5 inches of snow.
Yes, apparently that’s all it takes.
The record-setting snowfall — the previous record of 1.5 inches was set more than 30 years ago, in 1977 — has crippled the city that rarely sees much of the white stuff.
Our prediction: We will soon learn that Al Gore is heavily invested in snow plows.
Source: Time
View Comments (18)
Looks like Seattle has won the war on global warming by getting a prius and replacing all the regular light bulbs with the cork screw bulbs. Gosh they are soooo smart.
Just imagine how much snow it would've been if it were not for global warming .
I remember a year or two ago , when ordering from a company up in Maine , I mentioned to the person on the phone , "Wow how do you like all that record breaking cold you're getting ?" Her response was , "Yea , its all because of global warming."
She must have eaten alot of mashed potatoes as a child , as most has settled into her brain.
I hear ya...I live in Northern Maine (a.k.a. the "other" Maine), and I laugh every time I hear someone surprised by the snow and cold. Um, yeah...global warming? Riiight...that's why my nostrils are frozen shut and my eyes are glazed open while I am shoveling 2 feet of snow out of my driveway...just like last year and the year before, and so on! The company you were ordering from definitely must have been located in southern Maine...where everyone hangs out at trendy coffee bars and make fun of conservatives. Well, maybe not everyone... ;)
Just remember, this city is governed by the same idiots who won't let them use salt on the roads because of fear of the runoff changing the salinity of the Sound - Exactly how many tons of salt were you dumbsh*ts planning to use and did you forget just how much water is in the sound???? Liberals get what they deserve in the end . .. . especially homo libs. (that was for you , donavan)
"Just remember, this city is governed by the same idiots who won’t let them use salt on the roads..."
Exactly! Former Mayor McCheese (Greg Nickels) lost the 2009 election to Mike McGinn in part, due to his handling of the severe (and far worse) storm in Dec 2008.
As for the salt, it should have been used in Seattle, but for those of us out in the burbs and outlying areas, we do have lakes and salmon spawning creeks and sloughs that would be affected by the salt washing into them.
If this Chicken Little report from Time keeps people from moving here, I'm all for it.
What I thought was hilarious was that while they were playing car curling down the hill followed by the bus follies, that parked car across the street halfway up the block sat there unscathed. This video, in my opinion, is a generally accurate depiction of how people drive in a dusting of snow in Washington State. We don't know how.
Ain't that the truth? I live in north central Wisconsin. To hear some local media outlets you would think it never snows here.
Remember the ice storm in 90? Hmmmm. Or the one in 84, if I remember correctly?
My sister lives in Wilmington, N.C. Last February they got four inches of snow, the city's biggest snowstorm since 1989. The entire city shut down for the day, basically it became a holiday.
I live in Wisconsin where I expect frozen precip anytime between November and April. People and municipalities here know how to deal with snow yet the local TV stations treat every two incdh snow event with wall to wall coverage bordering on hysteria.
Same here in Minn, land of the stuffed ballot boxes. Not only does the media consider an inch or two reason for constant updates, but the inch or two is usually forecast to be "12-16 inches possible." Long ago I learned to never change any plans I have had due to a media made up pending blizzard. Last real snow storm we had (30 inches), was in 1991 was forecast as a "chance of light flurries" as I recall.
It's all relative. If a place normally gets a foot or more, then a couple inches won't bother them. They're ready for it. I was in Palm Springs the winter of '79, (yes, I'm old), and they got 6" of snow. The place was brought to a standstill, ecause they don't have snowplows waiting on standby for the once-in-a-lifetime event. Can you imagine how we would scream if the government sprung for a fleet of snowplows and operators to stand by waiting for that snow?
During the 50 years I spent living in Wisconsin's southeastern metropolis, footage of this sort would make it on the news from Florida, Texas or all the other places that saw snowfall so rarely they didn't know what a snow tire was (by the way, we now call them all-weather tires - a gentle reference to AGW). This, coming from a place where snow isn't a big surprise and the road appears to be on an incline and probably gets slick every year, does seem surprising.
So now that I live a mile or two from US Interstate Highway 75 near Tampa, I keep ready everything that I can record and photograph the action on the highways with, when the snow flies here again. Not a lot of inclines to induce uncontrolled slippage, but most people here drive like Larry, Moe and Curly on a normal day. With the illegal but still under-enforced practice of texting or talking on the cell while driving, most won't notice their car is facing the wrong way until they hit something anyway. So when it happens, I'll post em.
In my youth I was involved in several slippin n a slidin down the highway episodes while living in the north. Only one was a collision. It was a telegraph pole which barely notice my intrusion. This black ice covered street is the best place for a surprise demolition derby. A most dangerous situation.
I kinda miss the challenge of driving against nature's obstacles. I'm not talking about the moronic nature of the drivers here, of course. I suffer it every time the road is beneath my rolling parts. Rather the unplowed streets in a blizzard and trying to keep the rear wheel drive car oriented properly. I get a laugh at the people that think the all wheel drive SUV is a panacea. Bumper car people. Carnies in a different realm.
Happy Thanksgiving!
WOOT!!! Bring on the global cooling!!!! I got a job and the local ski resort and WE NEED COLD!!!! BRING IT ON!!!
Although I'm also shocked to see that Seattle shut down with only 2.5" of snow??? That's hardly enough to bother busting out the snowblower.