Yeef; I am NOT an every-day poster. I'm not even sure that, back on my old blog, when I posted quite a bit more frequently than I do lately, that I ever posted three days in a row (or five times in a week). But, you know, stuff keeps happening. . .
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This morning, on my drive in to work, I encountered the first snow of the season. And it wasn't that thin, wet, almost-rain stuff that you can only tell it's snow 'cuz it makes a little *splat* on your windshield. These were big flakes, coming down in earnest (and almost horizontally), even accumulating a little on the grass. Together with the 50-mph wind, it made for a truly, um, interesting driving experience.
Back when I was growing up, Up North, it was actually fairly typical for the first snow to fall within a few days of Halloween, and I recall numerous times as a kid, trick-or-treating in the snow. But down here in south-central Michigan, where I've spent the last, jeez, almost 40 years, October snow is pretty rare.
I took a glance at the weather map, and it seems that Super-storm Sandy (or Mega-storm, or Storm-of-the-week, or whatever they're calling her) is extending her baleful reach all the way into Michigan. Some weather-guys were talking about 20-foot waves on Lake Huron; one forecast I saw said 20-to-33-feet. I kept imagining what that might look like at the breakwater in Lexington, which is maybe five miles from where Jen grew up, and where we've taken the kids swimming on numerous occasions. I'm guessing a leisurely stroll out to the end of the breakwater is out of the question. . .
That thought reminds me of a story a buddy of mine told me, about the time he was driving home after visiting family in the Upper Peninsula, on the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. He ended up staying the night in St. Ignace, because the waves were breaking over the north causeway of the Mackinac Bridge.
As I write this, things outside are quite a bit less intense than they were earlier this morning. The rain/snow has stopped, and the wind has abated to only 25-mph or so. Hope all my blog-friends in Sandy's path are high and dry, or failing that, at least hunkered down someplace dry, and with a good roof. . .
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I heard it called a Frankenstorm
ReplyDelete...also heard about those 20 foot waves
It was also being called "Frankenstorm" on my local news.
ReplyDeleteWe were mostly unaffected, personally. Much of MA was lucky in that regard. Some coastal areas were hit hard, some trees went down, some were/are without electricity, but we were lucky that the storm took that left turn into NY/NJ rather than continue on path to us directly.
Of course, the folks in NY/NJ were not so lucky :-(
Half our town is without power and roads and schools are closed. I've never heard wind like last night.
ReplyDeleteIT - Frankenstorm; of course. I've seen that, too. . .
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about 20-foot waves on the Great Lakes, I also think about the western two-thirds of Lake Erie, most of which isn't even 20 feet DEEP. . .
Suldog - Just, you know, so long as you didn't PRAY for Sandy to miss MA and hit NJ instead. . . 'Cuz, you know, that's been done before, and it's kinda embarrassing. . .
Bijoux - There are something like 50,000 people in Michigan without power, mostly around Detroit. . . And if you didn't like how the wind sounded, you should've tried driving in it. . . Or, you know, not. . .
everyone around here was bracing for the worst, this being just a year after Irene/Lee trashed us so bad. fortunately we were prepared but passed by for the most part.
ReplyDeleteat one point this big nasty was more than 1200 miles across. amazing
It's really hard to relate when you're 2800 miles away. Though the New York media has been hitting us over the head with it for a couple of days now. They have pretty much shined on what the storm did in Haiti before it ever blasted Cuba.
ReplyDeleteI watched the "World News" last night and it was all about New York City. The local station cut away half way through their "special one-hour broadcast."
Xavier - That's one big-ass storm. . .
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes it's nice to get bypassed, eh?
Skip - Yeah, it was a little more 'real' here, when we had our own rain (& snow!) and 50-mph wind. . .
85+ Major winds, not so much rain, and thankfully, we're inland so no storm surge, etc- but still without power (they're projecting 11/10, now), and it's chilly- but the roof stayed on, and I can replace shutters and the lost trees, while saddening, will become firewood for next year.
ReplyDeleteyeah, really thankful as many hear were traumatized just from the thought of another storm.
ReplyDeleteSailor - Wow, that's a long time to be without power. The longest I've ever had to go without power is 2 days. The first night was kinda fun, and we made an adventure of it with the kids. By the second night, it was feeling like a pain. . .
ReplyDeleteWe have a big ol' maple tree in our back yard that's been coming down by stages. About a third of it split off and fell one winter, and another third fell in a windstorm a couple years back. So we've got a nice pile of firewood from that. The third that's left is doing OK for now, but we really need to just go ahead and take it down (but - do you know how much the tree services want, to take down a big tree like that?)
Xavier - So no flooding, then? That's merciful. . .
first time visiting/commenting on your blog. I hope more pleasant fall weather has returned to your neck of the woods as the superstorm has moved on. I do remember liking the first snow of the year when we lived in Montana and the March snows because winter was winding down; just never crazy too much with the January snows. I'm on the west coast now so Sandy didn't cause any damage to us, though sympathize so much with those that got devastated from the storm.
ReplyDeleteenjoy the weekend
betty
corgi - Hi, and welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteThe ultra-storm is gone from here; judging from the accounts of those who bore the brunt of it, we just took a glancing blow. . .
I've pretty much come to the position that snow is for January and February, and the latter half of December. Once the calendar flips to March, I'm quite adamant that winter is, and by right ought to be, over. . .
;)
so you could have taken surfboards out on the lakes, huh? of course that's provided you're ok with a little hypothermia...
ReplyDeleteLime - Well, you just need your winter wet-suit. . .
ReplyDeleteI saw an article once about an actual group of Great Lakes surfers. The lakes don't get surf-able waves all that often, but it happens from time to time, and these guys are gonzo. They keep each other posted, and anytime there are waves bigger than six feet anywhere on the lakes, they put the word out, and converge on the place as quickly as possible (which can be challenging, if you're in Minnesota, and the waves are on Lake Ontario). And it wouldn't surprise you, would it, to hear that surf-able waves on the Great Lakes are most common in October and November. . .
hardcore, man....seriously hardcore. i swam in ontario in may 1987 and still have the frostbite to prove it
ReplyDeleteMay is a little early (but only a little) for dipping one's toes in the Great Lakes. Jen and I took a walk on the beach on Lake Michigan in April, once. Which was fine, until we decided to let the waves (which had been ice a couple weeks previously) wash over our toes. . .
ReplyDeleteJen's first great act of, uh, marital obedience was on our honeymoon, when I, uh encouraged her to join me swimming in Lake Superior. In August. The water temp might, or might not have, been above 50F. Which, for Superior, is about as warm as it ever gets. . .