Snowmegeddon 2006

[fenchurch]

And unlike last year, this one is a humdinger. Snowmegeddon 2005 was around this same time of year and the newscasters were prognosticating doomDoomDOOM!!!! Only it fizzled into not much of anything (we'd stayed home for Thanksgiving last year at the last minute because the passes were supposed to be horrid... and they turned out to be completely clear -- unlike this year).

To give you an idea how bad it is... rackham and mekle carpool to work and it normally takes them around 30 minutes to get home. Today, it took them around two hours and they only made it home because Rackham carries tire chains in the back of his car and isn't afraid to use them. Mekle's normal 20-30 minute drive from here to his house? Well, he left here around 7:15pm and he just barely walked in the door to his house (it's now 11:45pm). Near as we can tell, the freeway is closed just north of us due to accidents. Not surprising, since I-405 is closed in at least two other places, I-5 is closed in at least one place and I-90 is closed out in Issaquah. What really makes matters worse is that we had pellet snow (I suppose it's a better name than calling it snail (snow+hail)), which is a bit like teeny, tiny snowballs (not quite hail, but no longer snow) falling all through the day, building up and becoming a thick layer of ice, and then we got about two inches of snow.


This is a traffic camera shot of I-405 just a little bit north of us... note the time stamp at 12:36am. Yikes! Those poor people!

We decided to brave the roads for a trip to Safeway after Rackham got home and went verrrrrrry sloooowwwwwly... no problems at all! Someone else wasn't so lucky... Rackham spied a car that had apparently exited the Safeway parking lot and slid all the way across the road, up over the curb and down into the hedges just off the road. I think it really does help that I learned to drive over on the other side of the state and got plenty of snow experience. The grocery run was worth it though... yesterday we made turkey stock with the Thanksgiving carcass and tonight I made turkey noodle soup, with homemade egg noodles. Yum!!! And that also signals the end of our Thanksgiving leftovers (last Saturday was our Turkey Quiche day... one of the best ways to take care of leftover turkey and leftover stuffing -- you can get the recipe here).

It's supposed to get down into the low to mid-20s tonight, so unless there's a freaky miracle, I don't think Rackham will be heading in to work in the morning. Maybe later in the day, if things clear up. In fact, we're planning on not going anywhere until the roads are no longer ice rinks.

In other news, last Saturday I used the rowing machine at the YMCA for the first time since the accident! I could only do two minutes (considering I'd just barely worked up to five minutes last December, that's not too bad), but it was actually easier on my shoulder than the Upper Body Exerciser. My left shoulder catches and pops occasionally on the UBE, but the rowing machine has some of the same motions they've been having me do in PT. It felt really good to start working out those muscles again!

Comments

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Wow -- and I was crabbing because it's 51 degrees here now and "soooo cold!" Yeah, right. I've forgotten my days in NYC when I'd go out into 8 degree weather and my lungs would freeze. I'm such a baby.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Man! I'd definitely stick around the house until it gets a little more under control. Nothing worse than icy snow (which is the only kind we get here in Atlanta).

Glad Rackham made it home okay!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

The weather is just nuts lately. We've been having days in the upper 50s when it is normally in the 30s.
And boy, that's some backup! Glad to hear everyone got home safely and glad to hear that you feel strong enough to get back to exercising.

[noseyroser.livejournal.com]

It's supposed to get down into the low to mid-20s tonight,


ARGHH!!! BRRR! BRR!!

God, that's frigging cold. *Hugs Florida*

[mlgm.livejournal.com]

It rained all night here in Wisconsin, as the our low was around fifty. Which is about ten degrees above what our normal high should be.

[slm76.livejournal.com]

I saw the snow on Monday Night Football and immediately thought of you guys...

The weird thing is... it was 66F here yesterday and is probably going to be that again today.

[aeolianafay.livejournal.com]

It took me an hour to get to safeway, because I decided to try to take the main roads (should've gone through the neighborhood, it would've taken me 5 minutes... 10 at the most). -.-

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what we did... and, really, Juanita-Woodinville Rd wasn't all that bad, although I guess the person who went off the road there might disagree with me! :-)

[magista.livejournal.com]

You definitely win on the snow front, (especially as your neck of the woods gets it so seldom) but I'll raise you -25C daytime highs (windchill of -39C, which doesn't even need to be translated to F). Seems like we're all getting some really extreme weather here in the relative west these days.

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

I was watching Monday Night Football too, saw the snow and thought about you. In NYC the weather keeps swinging between normal late and early fall temperatures. Yesterday the high was in the mid 60s, today the high is forecasted as 54.

Shoulders are a real nuisance and a pain to rehabilitate. I'm glad that you are beginning to see some daylight in the process.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

Snowmegeddon! I love it. Hee.

It took AHH 90 minutes to get home from where he was, which is, on a bad day, 10 minutes away. He said there are cars strewn all over the road. It's crazy.

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's sort of crazy on the other side of the mountains! We've got snow here this morning (which mostly makes me happy, particularly since it appears to be just snow and no ice) and it's cold, but it's otherwise clear.

Stay warm and safe!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

That looks a good day for staying at home.

Here it was bright and sunny today, although only about 50F.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Yikes! What a mess. Stay inside and cozy, that's my (undoubtedly needless) recommendation.

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

Yikes. I won't drive in that stuff. Partly because I don't know how, and partly because I don't trust the other drivers in Atlanta. People freak out and drive badly when it rains here!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

That's the thing that keeps me off the road more than anything else. I can drive in this stuff, although it's not easy to do... but I especially don't trust the other drivers.

[jerusha]

I'm glad that you guys are safe and sound at home. It sounds like it's nasty on the roads for sure.

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

I'm getting cold just reading your post! Stay warm -- and safe.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah... THAT'S why we live in Arizona... (I always forget during the summer.. *g*)

[spikesleman.livejournal.com]

Jim and I saw that on the news and I said, "I have a couple of LJ friends who live up there. I hope they're all right."

Stay warm!