Thanks for the thread, Sachita.

I'm all set here. Prefer to be overly-prepared because there was this one time when I wasn't..and let's just say it was quite uncomfortable..so I don't fuck around anymore.

The preparations that I've made are, plenty of coal and wood for the coal-wood burning stoves (they also can be cooked upon, if need be).
Also prepped my two generators...one for my house electricity, and one for my well. I also filled four large cans of gasoline for the genny's. I also have a cb radio..as well as a transister radio..and kerosene hurricane lamps.
My snow plow I attached to my truck yesterday..and I have my snow mobile all fueled up.
I have a kerosene heater set up, as well...and non-perishables and several big water jugs (always have that stuff, though)
My parents also have a house in my area, that's very secure, if I do need to leave my home for any major reason, like unforseen roof damage.

The street plows have been out since 9am..and it began steadily snowing here at 8am this morning.

One of my biggest concerns is for livestock that is kept outside during these types of storms..but most around these parts, know how to prepare their animals properly.

Hope everyone within the storm's path stays safe, warm, and well.

>>The best part about these things, is the slopes will be SWEEEET! :nixon:

Is this an absolute must-do trip? I hate to say it but I would not count on being able to do it. The worst of the storm will be overnight.

I was wondering that too.

Western Mass reporting in :)

It's been snowing all morning but only amounted to 3" of wet snow, the heavy bands of snow are moving into the region now and the roads are starting to get mucky.

School was called off half-day, I am now home, snug, supplied up and have no intention of going anywhere for the next 24-48hours.

They're predicting 2-3 feet of snow for our region now.

Hi Beloved, unless it is an emergency it would be much better if you did not make that journey, for your safety and for the sake of emergency responders.

/snip

Governor Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency across Massachusetts, and will ban non-emergency vehicles from roadways after 4:00 P.M.

"Governor Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency across Massachusetts, and will ban non-emergency vehicles from roadways after 4:00 P.M.

Heavy snowfall across the state and high winds, particularly in eastern Massachusetts have brought about public safety concerns.

Patrick says that the emergency declaration allows the state to better implement resources. 1,000 National Guard troops currently on-duty, with 5,000 troops ready to go."

***

Buses and trains have suspended service. Some roads that are notoriously treacherous have already been closed in Western Mass.

We don't anticipate this being finished until Saturday evening - at the very earliest - and the roads aren't likely to be safe/passable until Sunday mid-morning.

be safe, stay warm everybody. Hope it passes fast! Keep checking in and thanks!

Portsmouth NH is getting restless... LOL and its been 1/2 a day. Sparkle and Talon are seriously helping me understand the weather and what to do with their updates.

Our light and fluffy snow is now wet. The breaks the weather channel predicted never happened. I can only imagine what folks driving home now are experiencing.

Winds expected start at 2pm in the 25mph range. Moving to the 30+ mph range by 9pm.

Be safe and warm friends!

Bangor ME present :)

Slow and steady since about 8am its at a lull right now. Due to pick up at 4 or so. I head home at 6 around the start of the heaviness. Senior staff plans to cab me home out of petty cash. And again in the morning if the buses don't run.

The vote of the day - bring on 3 to 5 feet. We wanna play!!

Damn I love badass hardcore Mainers :D

somehow I think your driving plans will be delayed. :(

Bring it, Mother Nature! I love this stuff. My pantry and wood pile are both amply stocked, vino, weed and two good friends staying with me...I plan to build an igloo in my back yard.

reporting in from central mass

I am home finally. I had to turn down a load so I could make it home before the ban on driving began. I really didnt have time to do it so no trouble at work

The roads i some areas are clear but most are NOT. I have yet to figure out why they put sand ont he road and refuse to plow it.

Im glad that my baby isnt goingto TRY and come home tonite. The way they are talking I wont see her till sunday nite when she comes home.

I forgot to mention I'm chiming in from Boston.

Yeah, I realize this probably isn't going to happen when I want it to. I wonder if the roads will be clear by afternoon? If not I will have to leave Sunday. :(

I wish I left yesterday.

I need more to do when stuck in the house. That is what Nemo has taught me.

The winds arrived at 4:00, let the drifting begin.

Reporting from Rhode Island.

Work let us out at 11 am so I was home long before any serious snow started. It's not too bad here, but it's a very heavy, wet snow. I've done one round of shoveling so far, and will probably do two more tonight before the really heavy snow and winds hit.

Other than that, I've swept, vacuumed, and mopped in the house. Good times.

The Mayor just did a robocall and email blast letting us know about the ban on driving ($500 fee if stopped :|). His message also indicated that we will be getting the blizzard winds and that we should plan for power outages for up to 24hours. Which will be annoying if it comes to fruition.

With all of the hurricanes, flash floods, tornadoes and freak early snow storms we've had the past few years -- preparing for power outages is becoming old hat.

I've started cooking, I'm roasting a chicken breast and potato, parsnip and sweet potato, I'm going to make a salad and generally prepare things that will be appetizing both hot and cold. (Because goldfish crackers and granola bars grow old, really quickly). I'm doing my dishes as I go along. Clearing counters and cleaning them with disinfectant -- if we lose power I won't be able to wash/clean anything properly and things get manky really quickly. Cleaning pet food and water bowls for the same reason. Taking out the trash and recycling.

I didn't fuss about doing these things until I realized we might actually lose power.

I'm bringing extra duvets and blankets up from the basement so they're not freezing cold. And generally making sure everything I need is to hand (candles, lighters, matches, flashlights, batteries etc) and that things are generally tidy. Charging up my phone and computer and checking in on family and friends.

We have about 4" of snow. Its powdery and dry. But its falling at a moderate rate, it would be quite lovely outside if it weren't for the wind (which makes it feel icy and bitter cold).

Beloved, they've predicted that the worst of the winds and the heaviest of the snow will be overnight, and that the storm will keep coming until late day tomorrow. But they don't really know when it will end or when the roads will be deemed safe. If the snow and winds end early enough tomorrow (morning) they may be able to get the roads clear before the sun goes down and freezes them up again. The driving ban will stay in place until the worst of it is over and the roads have been cleared.

upstate NY checking in we have been getting snow since about 1pm while I was on the way home from picking up my daughter for the weekend so far it is steady but nothing more then what we normally get looks like we will be getting the lighter side of the storm but we are prepared

Kobi, it looks like the Cape is going to get slammed (if the weather channel models are to be believed) - batten down the hatches!!!

Alls well in WMA, ChancieFancyPants and I had an amusing text exchange about water and power and where it comes from and how it works and why my hair was dirty for 6 days the last time we had power outages. Pete thinks we're mad.

I watched last nights' episode of 'Project Runway' and I picked up 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' on dvd from the redbox this morning, that film is next on deck for me. Still fully electrified here.

The General and I have stopped looking out the window.

The plows keep going. The wind is howling, snow is falling (not too super heavy at the moment), drifts are forming. And this is just the storm from the West. The storm coming from down South hasn't made its introduction yet.

Turned up the heat and closed the blinds... hope we wake up with power.

Storm
 

Southern Ontario Canada, Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes are getting/going to get hit hard with the storm.

Be careful. You'll probably lose power. I hope you have lots of blankets! Stay warm

My cats have been weird* all day. I think the changes in barometric pressure make them a bit crazy and unsettled.

Stay warm! It looks like the storm is going to hit each part of the Cape differently. :| And the storm surge is going to be mad. Hope you're not too close to the beach.




*weirder than normal

Home and settled. Nothing significant at this time. The time for dumpage to begin has been moved back to 11pm and at it's peak around 4am.

I'm pretty skeptical at this time that the news has hyped it up for Maine a little too much. I know we'll get snow but really I don't see it as much of anything more than our typical here. The winds may be a bit intense though.

Guess I'll wait and see... :nerd:

Maybe I can make it home after all :| I get out at 10.....lots of snow on the cars already...I'm needing to go out to my car for my dinner...but really not WANTING to....and I realllly don't want that 500 dollar fine just for trying to get home...frick and frack....I don't want to sleep here tonight...there is a ghost cat and he scares me....

The coastal regions will be getting it worse... You scoot on home and be safe then. Send someone else out for the dinner. A fine for driving home?? Wtf?? :blink:

As for the ghost cat... just tell it the litter box is in the basement. ;)

Baby

what in the world r u thinking? Its bad out here

I dont wanna be here with the ghost cat :| or be the beck and call girl all night...even worse!

i understand baby but u cant see the roads and they r plowing

cinnamongrrl563 he's right . Better not to take chances. I'm holed up here in Fultonville , NY because of it.

Stay put, Cinn! It's better for you to be safe and warm, even though i know how much it sucks to be stuck someplace other than home.

Ghost cat won't hurt you!

Says YOU! He's forever appearing just when my mind is the least prepared...it's like he KNOWS...sigh...I'm staying here...I just cleared off my car...it's not BAD...but it's not good either...it's wet icy snow...

The plow dudes are out showing us some love though! :hangloose: And of course, the college kids are partying...lol must be wonderful not to have a care in the world...I can barely remember those days.... Come to think of it...did I EVER have those days??? :|

I can say, they are comparing this to the blizzard of 78...which I was very tiny for...the snow was up past my waist! But gosh it was fun then...this snow is actually making me long for some skiing... I haven't been in YEARS! Something to think about using all my OT loot for... ;) And it sure is pretty...the yin and yang of New England.... I'm gonna be posting some Frost soon...I can FEEL it!

I'm really impressed with the storm savviness of everyone on this thread. People are calculating the trajectory of a tree's fall, worrying about livestock, cooking food that will be delicious in case the power goes out, checking their generators, putting snow plows on their trucks—

I think I have a crush on the entire thread. Competency is a huge turn on for me.

And I feel really frivolous, because here I am and the sky is this weird bright lavender color, and there are no jets that appear like a sudden huge flickering star, because the airports are closed. NYC is under a blizzard warning and the streets are empty, weird for a Friday night—but after Sandy, people learned to listen to the mayor when he said to stay inside.

Sorry I got off track, I was trying to say, I feel so frivolous because my storm preparedness consisted of buying a couple bottles of wine and going through pay per view to see if there are any good movies on. And now here I am, having watched two episodes of Seinfeld back to back, laughing like a lunatic, eating frozen grapes and having a nice glass of white wine.

Once in a while I go over to the back door—I'm on the 9th floor and it opens to my balcony—and I look down at the street, and then look up at the sky, and then I look into the windows of the people across the street, and notice that their kitchen cabinetry is exactly like mine, and here and there you see a barbecue or a deck chair that should have been brought inside, that kind of thing.

There's a nice grocery store across the street, and they're open till 10. If I start craving protein, I can go over for some, I don't know, fresh shrimp or something. They have really good seafood. I feel bad for the fish on ice, they look so stunned, but they do have good seafood.

Besides frozen grapes I have fennel, beets, red cabbage and onions that I love to saute with lots of ginger. I have yams, cereal, frozen waffles, quinoa, popcorn.

I’m worried that the storm will make it impossible to drive or take the train out tomorrow to see the woman I’m having a longstanding relationship with. They just moved her father to a hospice, and are letting go of him now, and helping him let go. She cried for only the second time since I’ve known her (the first was when she learned how sick her father was, about a year ago), tonight on the phone.

It’s eerily quiet outside right now. Not a snowflake in the sky. But now that I’ve written that, I’m hearing the wind a little more.

I found NEMO!
 

Things are ok over here so far in Western Massachusetts
Snow pounding down. Too freaking cold and windy to go out to shovel!
Outlaw is stuck at work doing another 16 hour shift..she did one yesterday also!
There were a lot of call outs at her job and since she is the supervisor, she is mandated to stay.
I am doing laundry and vacuuming and doing a lot of laying around in between domestic endeavors.
Chatted with my Jesse and laughed like ding-a-lings, as usual. We are incorrigible! LOL
I wanna make soup while we have the power to make it! BUT, I am doing such a fine job of laying about over here................
The house is creaking in the gusts. The cats keep looking at me like I am responsible for the noise. Haughtily looking at me.
I am going to make tea.
Beasts of the Southern Wild was absolutely spellbinding!
Stay safe and warm everyone. It's New England weather.....we are used to it!