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Winter weather thread

Started by TravelingBethelite, January 20, 2016, 11:26:13 AM

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noelbotevera

Still gonna have a foot of snow here...which is a problem.


dcbjms

#26
Quote from: SidS1045 on January 21, 2016, 03:35:48 PM
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on January 20, 2016, 11:26:13 AM
BOS-PVD-HFD-NYC will still get up to 18"

Not anymore.  Forecast as of noon ET Thursday:  From Boston southwest though Worcester and Springfield, and just north of Hartford, 1-3", southeastern MA including Hartford, Providence, Cape Cod and the islands, 3-6", northwestern MA, southern NH and southern VT, a dusting to 1".  Northern NH, northern VT and ME, nothing.  Apparently most of New England is escaping the worst of this one.  The far southern coast of RI, CT and down into NY, 6-12+"

3-6" doesn't sound like anything to worry about, considering the jokes of a dusting that we've had.  I wouldn't want to be in South County, though - and I know someone who lives near Sand Hill Cove. :eek:

Quote from: SidS1045 on January 21, 2016, 04:37:07 PM
And...the forecast for New England has changed again.

From Boston southwest though Worcester and Springfield, and just north of Hartford, 0-2".  Southeastern MA including Hartford, Providence, Cape Cod and the islands, 1-4".  The southern coast of RI, CT and down into NY, 3-6+".  Northwestern MA and all of ME, NH and VT, nothing.

As we in New England tend to say:  If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.

Still mostly bearable, and in the case of inland RI still more or less within the lower end of the original forecast today.

roadman

The local media in Boston this morning are still calling for dusting to 3 inches north of the Mass Pike, and three to six inches south of the Mass Pike.  However, the've added the disclaimer "Of course, the track is still uncertain, and if it moves a bit north, we could get even more snow."
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

Pete from Boston


Quote from: roadman on January 21, 2016, 10:33:01 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 21, 2016, 10:28:39 AM
Wow...a transit system that can't run trains when an inch of snow falls.
As opposed to the MBTA (Boston), which has trouble running trains even when there's no snow or rain.  Their solution, a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that "Winter Happens" - and goes on to encourage them to check the web site and service alerts for cancellations during storms.

And replacing the third-rail heating system on the whole above-ground Red Line and southern half of the Orange Line, and buying a bunch of new snow-clearing equipment...

dcbjms

Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 22, 2016, 12:03:24 PM

Quote from: roadman on January 21, 2016, 10:33:01 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 21, 2016, 10:28:39 AM
Wow...a transit system that can't run trains when an inch of snow falls.
As opposed to the MBTA (Boston), which has trouble running trains even when there's no snow or rain.  Their solution, a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that "Winter Happens" - and goes on to encourage them to check the web site and service alerts for cancellations during storms.

And replacing the third-rail heating system on the whole above-ground Red Line and southern half of the Orange Line, and buying a bunch of new snow-clearing equipment...

Which sounds like the Green and Blue Lines are chopped liver - or would be had there not been the reconstruction of Government Center. (Still think using a glass top is a bad idea.)

Pete from Boston


Quote from: dcbjms on January 22, 2016, 02:00:02 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 22, 2016, 12:03:24 PM

Quote from: roadman on January 21, 2016, 10:33:01 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 21, 2016, 10:28:39 AM
Wow...a transit system that can't run trains when an inch of snow falls.
As opposed to the MBTA (Boston), which has trouble running trains even when there's no snow or rain.  Their solution, a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that "Winter Happens" - and goes on to encourage them to check the web site and service alerts for cancellations during storms.

And replacing the third-rail heating system on the whole above-ground Red Line and southern half of the Orange Line, and buying a bunch of new snow-clearing equipment...

Which sounds like the Green and Blue Lines are chopped liver - or would be had there not been the reconstruction of Government Center. (Still think using a glass top is a bad idea.)

Should they have installed third rail heaters on the Green and Blue Lines, then?

noelbotevera

Snow has begun about an hour ago, and it's really packing up...oh boy.

roadman

Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 22, 2016, 12:03:24 PM

Quote from: roadman on January 21, 2016, 10:33:01 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 21, 2016, 10:28:39 AM
Wow...a transit system that can't run trains when an inch of snow falls.
As opposed to the MBTA (Boston), which has trouble running trains even when there's no snow or rain.  Their solution, a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that "Winter Happens" - and goes on to encourage them to check the web site and service alerts for cancellations during storms.

And replacing the third-rail heating system on the whole above-ground Red Line and southern half of the Orange Line, and buying a bunch of new snow-clearing equipment...
Which does nothing to improve the reliability of the rolling stock, or increase the frequency of trains, or etc. etc.  These are problems that directly affect passengers every day - regardless of the weather.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

roadman

#33
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 22, 2016, 04:41:44 PM

Which sounds like the Green and Blue Lines are chopped liver - or would be had there not been the reconstruction of Government Center. (Still think using a glass top is a bad idea.)

Should they have installed third rail heaters on the Green and Blue Lines, then?

Green Line is entirely overhead trolley wire.  Above ground-portion of Blue Line from Airport to Wonderland is overhead catenary.  Catenary used to extend all the way to Maverick Station (which is underground) until some non-engineer types in T management decided it was better to have the overhead to third rail changeover at Airport instead.  Since that change, they have had frequent wire failures at Airport, resulting in substituting shuttle buses (what management calls "bustitution") for trains.

And the Government Center rebuild is another classic MBTA boondoggle, especially the glass and steel headhouse that serves NO functional purpose whatsoever that justifies the height of the structure.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

Pete from Boston


Quote from: roadman on January 22, 2016, 05:23:16 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 22, 2016, 12:03:24 PM

Quote from: roadman on January 21, 2016, 10:33:01 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 21, 2016, 10:28:39 AM
Wow...a transit system that can't run trains when an inch of snow falls.
As opposed to the MBTA (Boston), which has trouble running trains even when there's no snow or rain.  Their solution, a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that "Winter Happens" - and goes on to encourage them to check the web site and service alerts for cancellations during storms.

And replacing the third-rail heating system on the whole above-ground Red Line and southern half of the Orange Line, and buying a bunch of new snow-clearing equipment...
Which does nothing to improve the reliability of the rolling stock, or increase the frequency of trains, or etc. etc.  These are problems that directly affect passengers every day - regardless of the weather.

You insinuated that the entire MBTA response to winter reliability has been "a glossy PR campaign to remind riders that 'Winter Happens,'" and that is not the case.

As to the MBTA's everyday maintenance woes, complain to the citizens of the Commonwealth, who want a system they don't have to pay for.

cl94

Quote from: roadman on January 22, 2016, 10:03:44 AM
The local media in Boston this morning are still calling for dusting to 3 inches north of the Mass Pike, and three to six inches south of the Mass Pike.  However, the've added the disclaimer "Of course, the track is still uncertain, and if it moves a bit north, we could get even more snow."

Snow line looks to be a few miles north of I-84. It has tracked much further south of what was originally forecasted. At the beginning of the week, Albany was supposed to be in the region that got slammed. Brunt of it will pass south of Long Island. At this point, I don't see it shifting too far north. In Greater Boston, looks like a couple inches between the Pike and the NH line. NH will get nothing.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

oscar

I got back home yesterday evening from a two-week road trip to Florida ... just in time for this weekend's blizzard. I spent this morning unloading my car, putting it in for pre-scheduled major maintenance (240,000-mile service), and taking my pickup truck to do some last-minute grocery shopping and other errands before the snow started falling here mid-afternoon today.

If I weren't locked into spending the weekend at home for various reasons, I would've been tempted to keep driving past home on I-81 and instead turn northwest toward places where the winter storm isn't as severe. (I did something similar for "Snowmageddon" in 2010, fleeing north into Canada to escape the chaos down here.) Only upside for sticking with my return plans is that my car dealer gets to keep my car in its covered garage during the storm until I pick it up next week, so I'll have to dig out only my truck from the expected two feet of snow (only surface parking at my condo complex).

On my way back, I saw a convoy of power company repair trucks heading north from Tennessee into Virginia. Good to see one of our power companies (don't know which one) lining up help from one of its southern counterparts, ahead of the storm.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

wanderer2575


kj3400

Still snowing. I shudder to think how much will be down when I wake up. I shoveled around 9 pm but it'll probably have snowed quadruple what I shoveled then by the morning.
Call me Kenny/Kenneth. No, seriously.

1995hoo

Still snowing here. View of our deck at, first, 1:17 PM yesterday and, second, 8:11 this morning:



"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

noelbotevera

Still snowing. About two feet of snow has fallen here.

D-Dey65

At times like this, I really miss those neon VMS signs on the New Jersey Turnpike. I always wanted to see them flash snow warnings. Oh, well. At least I can check the NJT cams and look for some current VMS signs.


1995hoo

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cl94

The storm may have shifted north, but it's still missing all of the areas used to getting massive amounts of snow. I've seen barely anything fall this year...   :no:
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

dcbjms

Snow started falling here about 1-1½ hours ago.  We're under a winter storm warning, with accumulations over 6".  Oh, well - basically got nothing to do today anyway.

kkt


1995hoo

I see a tweet saying the Pennsylvania Turnpike is closed between New Stanton and Breezewood.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

empirestate

In NYC they did a mid-day shutdown of surface transit: buses, elevated subways and commuter trains.


iPhone

1995hoo

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cl94

Quote from: empirestate on January 23, 2016, 02:47:17 PM
In NYC they did a mid-day shutdown of surface transit: buses, elevated subways and commuter trains.


iPhone

Commuter rail and above-ground Subway service is shutting down at 4. Underground sections of the Subway will continue running, but only local service, as they store trains on the express tracks during storms. Franklin and Rockaway Shuttles have already stopped service, as has the A to Rockaway, N south of 59th St/4th Avenue, and 5 north of E180. Q is being rerouted to Whitehall.

NJ Transit has shut down as well.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)



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