Storm Talk

AccuWeather is calling it a “paralyzing” storm. Mr. Foot and his forecasters are calling it a “Super Kahuna.” Frank Roylance in The Sun, says “Wax down those shovels, Maryland, there's snow on the way.”

Officially, the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm warning for the area from 10 AM tomorrow morning until 10 PM on Saturday.

PRECIPITATION TYPE...HEAVY SNOW.

ACCUMULATIONS...STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 16 TO 24 INCHES.

TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN FRIDAY MID-MORNING...AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRING BETWEEN SUNSET FRIDAY TO SUNRISE SATURDAY.

THE MOST HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR FRIDAY NIGHT.

VISIBILITIES...THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE...PRODUCING NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING.

Not only are people talking about the big snow, some are being very proactive in their preparations. My colleague Bill told me that the Walmart on Dobbin Road had sold out of snow shovels by noon. I got lucky, Peanut needed a new pair of snow boots and I was able to grab a pair at Nordstrom after school this afternoon. They still had a few pair left at that time.

This morning I went over to the hospital and volunteered myself as a driver with a four wheel drive vehicle. They told me to expect a call.

But what if the forecasters have it all wrong?

It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened around here. I’ll defer to my new favorite forecaster for his take on this:

“A history lesson is embedded in this forecast, that of March 4-6, 2001. Some of you may remember this most colossal bust in the history of modern forecasting: 24 to 36" was predicted for the Northeast corridor. Everyone was on board, from HPC to Accuweather to TV forecasters, and yes even Mr. Foot. The storm did materialize, but heavy snow occurred in northern New England. The I-95 corridor? About an inch. Are we setting up for another colossal bust? You can be your forecast team will be watching THAT potential very closely, but the arrange this time is very different. Being that it is early February and not March, climatology favors the bold.”

One thing is certain, by this time tomorrow we’re going to know one way or the other.