Weather Geek

I readily confess to being a bit of weather geek. Last winter I even installed my own home weather station. This summer I relocated the stations monitoring devices because I wasn't satisfied with the readings I was getting. When any storm approaches, I constantly monitor multiple online weather sources in addition to my own set up.

I think that qualifies as being a weather geek.

Winter is high season for us weather geeks. Around this time of year, many us begin to consume whatever weather data we can get our hands on to try and figure what type of winter Mother Nature has in store for us.

It looks like it could be a cold one. Accordiing to this article by Scott Dance in The Sun, the “ forecast calls for cold weather and large systems of moisture to converge, dumping above-average snow totals along the East Coast. The timing is expected to be in January and February.”

The Farmers Almanac agrees, predicting that eastern states “as far south as the Gulf Coast – will see snowier than normal conditions and cooler temperatures.”

“We are “red flagging” February 12–15 and March 20–23 for major coastal storms along the Atlantic seaboard; storms bringing strong winds and heavy precipitation.”

Red flagging!

That’s music to a weather geeks ears. Perhaps we’ll even see a return of The Big Kahuna.

Dreaming of a White Christmas?

With the first snow of December in the forecast for tomorrow, I thought I'd check and see what the experts are saying about the probability of a white Christmas in HoCo.

The Weather Channel gives it a 40% chance, based on “historic probability.”

The Farmers Almanac, which accurately predicted the Big Kahuna storm of 2010, is calling for above normal temps in Maryland this winter and above normal precipitation.

“A very active storm track will bring much heavier-than-normal precipitation from the Southern Plains through Tennessee into Ohio, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast. Because of above normal temperatures, much of the precipitation will likely be rain or mixed precipitation, although, during February, some potent East Coast storms could leave heavy snow, albeit of a wet and slushy consistency.”

They stopped short of a white Christmas prediction.

The fearless Foot’s forecasters have yet to weigh in on Christmas specifically but in general they are calling for a milder winter with La Nina being the determining factor.

“In a typical La Nina winter, the East Coast normally experiences below average snowfall and precipitation along with above average temperatures.”

This morning, when I looked outside, it looked cold. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered it wasn’t. This of course, is the proverbial calm before the storm as the temperatures are expected to drop significantly tomorrow.

I can feel that in my bones.

Snow Babies

Last December, the precursor to the Big Kahuna storm hit us. Though this storm was subsequently over shadowed by the February snowmageddon, it was still ranked as one the top ten snow storms in the record books. Back then I wrote a post predicting that by late summer the maternity wards at Howard County General Hospital would be doing a land office business.

Once again, the Big Kahuna stole the show from the Blizzard of 09. This story by Kellie Woodhouse in The Howard County Times was all about the baby boom that resulted from the double barreled February storms.

“Howard County General Hospital has seen a noticeable surge in births this month, according to spokeswoman Sharon Sopp. In the first two weeks of November, she said, 136 babies were born in the hospital's maternity ward -- 30 more than the same time period in 2009.”

"Historically, it is a common occurrence to see a spike ... after an event, such as a snowstorm or a blackout," Sopp said. "We kind of expected it, knowing that we had many inches of snow and many days off of work."

What about December’s storm?

By my reckoning late August and early September should have been pretty busy in the maternity wards too.

It’s Snow Time!

As the days grow shorter and the mercury drops, I find myself paying a good deal more attention to the loco weather prognosticators. Though I do enjoy a good blizzard every once in awhile, I prefer it when they only come once every five years or so.

According to this story by the Capital Weather Gang in The Washington Post, this year should see significantly less snow.

“First things first: we almost certainly aren't getting as much snow as last winter.  Probably not even close. That was in a once-in-a-generation kind of winter. “

I’m okay with that.

Snow Stories in August

The legacy of the Big Kahuna snow event this past February is still very much with us. Five months later, in the heat of August, the bills from the storm are still piling up. According to this story by Sarah Breitenbach in The Columbia Flier “the county paid out about $44,000 to replace other damaged property, such as parked cars, according to figures provided by the county.”

I can certainly understand the county reimbursing the cost of a damaged car, so long as it wasn’t parked in a snow emergency route, but the county is also paying for mailboxes damaged by a plow. If a plow took out your mailbox you may be eligible for up to a $75.00 reimbursement from the county.

“County spokesman Kevin Enright said there were so many damaged mailboxes, the county could not investigate each claim, and so reimbursed residents up to $75 per mailbox.”

Really?

It seems to me that in this day and age of tight county budgets, individual homeowners should just suck it up and consider a mailbox damaged by a snowplow the same as a tree or shrubbery that was damaged by the heavy snow.

Think Cool Thoughts

With a “dangerous heat wave” descending on the Baltimore area I thought it might help to think back to just 145 days ago….

Stay cool!

Schools Out…finally

At long last HoCo public school students are officially done with the 2009-2010 school year. Thanks to the Big Kahuna snow event this past February, they were almost in school until the 4th of July.

Though it may not be forever, school is definitely out…. for….summer…



Have fun until August 30th!

Spring Cleaning

This is such a small town.

This afternoon, after spending the day cleaning the interiors of two cars, I decided to gas up the SUV for the week ahead. As I crossed the river headed towards the Shell station in the rock I noticed a black BMW Z3 in my rearview mirror. He followed me into the gas station.

This guy looked really familiar.

He should be. He’s the guy with the Yappy Hour band. In fact, he is the actual Band Director at Ellicott Mills Middle School. His name is Rich Roberts.

I asked about his Z3. He told me it was a ’97 (I think) and had about 94,000 miles on it.

“Garage kept?” I asked. This car looked pretty clean.

He said it wasn’t. He says he drives it as his everyday car, even through this past winter. I told him about my other car. We both agreed that once you’ve driven one of these cars, you have a hard time giving it up.

I’m having a hard time giving it up. Since I’ve got my Beemer back on the road I’ve been falling back in love all over again.

I also told him about forgetting the name of his Yappy Hour ensemble.

“What was that name again?”

“Try this,” he replied.

See Dave, they do have a name.

Another One for the Record Books

So far the weather this year has been one for the record books. The Big Kahuna snow made this winter one of the snowiest on record. Now it appears that the rain this past weekend ranked right up there as well. According to this report by Frank Roylance in The Sun, “Elkridge and several other communities in Howard and Anne Arundel counties topped the charts for rain totals in Maryland for the 48 hours ending Sunday morning. The two-day total at Elkridge was 4.15 inches.”

Thankfully, all this rain has not caused another catastrophic flood in Ellicott City, at least not yet anyway.

What’s Up with the MAC?

As I drove by the new Meadowbrook Athletic Complex today I noticed that there was a blue mesh fence surrounding the building. I also noted that there were no cars in the parking lot at three o’clock on a Thursday afternoon.

You may recall that the grand opening of the 38,000 square foot multi purpose gym was held back in December. When I went to the front doors they were locked. There was a note saying that the facility is currently limited to program use only, whatever that means.

It turns out that the MAC will hopefully be open for general public use in April, four months after the opening that wasn’t so grand after all. According to the HoCo Recreation and Parks Department, it isn’t fully operational because there are no phones or computers in the building yet.

Once it is truly open for the general public you’ll need a Get Active fitness card to use it. This is a new program from Recs and Parks that sounds a little like a private gym membership. It will cost an adult (18 plus) $79.00 for a three month pass. It’s so new that that there isn’t any information about it on the department website.

What about the blue fence?

It seems as if the Big Kahuna snow event was a little too much for the MAC. The roof suffered some damage and a few of the exterior light fixtures got beat up.

I would expect this type of damage on an older building but the MAC is brand spanking new. If I was Gary Arthur I think I’d have a little meeting with the building contractor about the quality of their work.

Two Feet of Snow

Just another way of looking at it…with apologies to Mr. Foot.

Scene This Week In…

The legacy of the one two punch Big Kahuna snowstorm is one big mess. Everywhere you look you see broken curbs, broken limbs and dangling downspouts. We got beat up pretty bad.

I spotted this toppled fire hydrant on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia. I’ve seen others like it in Ellicott City too. It appears that they were decapitated by a snow plow blade.

Nearby I noticed these pieces of wood sticking up through a bank of dirty snow. It looks like the remains of a picnic table.

The evergreens have taken it particularly hard. Along Dobbin Road there is a quarter mile stretch of road lined with piles of pine branches.

In Town Center near the lake, this tall spruce was cut off at the knees like Phil Nelson.

The cleanup from our snowmegeddon winter will be long and expensive. It should be a busy spring for the landscapers and the garden centers.

In Ellicott City I found a hopeful sign. Pushing up through a cleared path in the snow was a single daffodil. It was a nice reminder that the first day of spring is only twenty four days away.

It can’t come soon enough for me. I am so done with this winter.

It’s On

Mr. Foot says it’s on. Aided by his 9th grade forecasting team from Baltimore County Public Schools Crossroads Center his “spot on” forecast for the Baltimore Washington corridor is calling for eight or more inches of snow beginning tomorrow evening and ending Friday evening.

And that’s not all folks…

This Big Kahuna Lite snowstorm will also pack some “winds near tropical force” according to the Foot forecasters.

Batten down the hatches boys and girls, March is about to come in like a lion.

Hidden in Plain Sight

It’s one of things that you don’t think about until it’s usually too late. All across the county, fire hydrants lay buried beneath the snow, hidden from plain view. Though the fire department has a general idea where each hydrant is located, do you really want them spending time digging it out while your house burns?

I dug one out this afternoon. It took less than 15 minutes. You can too.

There are several efforts underway to mobilize the population to help out. In a recent facebook posting Ken Ulman even provided a link to find the individual hydrants in your neighborhood. Just type in your address and voila!

I realize everyone has a little snow shoveling fatigue by now but this simple little task could make a world of difference in a bad situation.

Snow Room

It’s a front page above the fold story in The Washington Post and The Sun. Though The Big Kahuna and Kahunageddon 2.0 have left us they left behind a legacy of snow mountains and snarled traffic.

It took me an hour to get from Columbia to Ellicott City last night.

The problem is twofold. One, the roads are operating at a greatly diminished capacity with lanes still clogged with snow. Two, the road crews are still working to open up the roads even as residents attempt to return to some degree of normalcy.

This snow is taking up a lot of space.

In Ellicott City this afternoon there were virtually no parking spaces available on Main Street. The snow was occupying them.

In Parking Lot D the snow was hogging at least 15% of the remaining parking available.

We’re going to be living with this stuff for awhile.

And yes, finally after one week, I got both newspapers delivered today. One was sitting in the driveway when I woke up and the other arrived after lunch.

The later delivery was probably tied up in traffic.

Flat Roofs and Heavy Snow

Yesterday morning I received a call from a tenant in one of our buildings in Annapolis Junction. Another tenant in the same building had called the fire department because they thought the roof was failing. By the time I arrived on the scene the ladder truck from the Savage station was already on the scene.

The tenant had called the fire department when they noticed that some of the sprinkler heads had dropped down slightly from the suspended ceiling tiles. They were concerned that this indicated that the roof was sagging and it was in danger of collapse.

Actually, the roof was actually doing what it is designed to do. The structural steel of the building includes cambered beams which can drop slightly when excessive loads build up on the roof. Since the sprinkler pipes are often attached to these beams they will move with it.

Someone asked if we were going to send up a crew up on the roof to shovel off the snow. No, I answered. That actually risks doing more damage to the roof. The best thing to do is to make sure the roof drains and scuppers are clear so that as the snow melts the water has someplace to go. In this case, the drains and scuppers were clear and the water was draining as it was designed to do.

The county engineers came and took a look. They generally agreed that the roof was fine but still required the owner to bring in their own structural engineer to confirm that the building was indeed safe. After several hours of downtime during which the employees enjoyed a free lunch, the building returned to normal operations.

I can’t really blame the tenant for panicking after our governor went on TV and warned that there would likely be roof failures due to The Big Kahuna.

And there were a few roof collapses in the area, ironically at firehouses in Sykesville and Dundalk.

Redemption

The call came late yesterday afternoon. Could I come over to hospital and help get some nurses home with my four wheel drive?

I was being given a shot at redemption after my initial volunteer service failed.

Between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30 PM I ferried Ms. Janet, Ms. O and Ms Lee to their homes in Ellicott City and Columbia. The nurses told me that the hospital was a little jammed with patients who were ready to be discharged yet unable to leave because they couldn’t get picked up. Meanwhile new patients continued to flow in.

I got a short break between my 6:00 assignment and the end of the nursing shift at 7:00 PM so I dropped into Clyde’s for a burger. The bar was full but there were plenty of open tables in the restaurant. I sat at the bar with Bill McGregor, the football coach of DeMatha High School in Hyattsville. He lives in Ellicott City and came over to Clyde’s to cure his cabin fever.

“How are the roads?” he asked.

My stock answer is that the roads are passable but far from safe. You could easily be tooling down the road and without warning the two lanes of traffic become one. Ice is a problem too as well as the fact that at most intersections your visibility of oncoming traffic is blocked by mounds of piled up snow.

I laughed and told him that a teenager would probably say the roads were fine but an old dog like me urges caution.

No Time to Surrender

I made it into my office in Columbia this afternoon. For the most part the roads are clear, though a lane or two are missing here and there. The parking lot at my office is as clear as it was on Tuesday morning.

Our landlord, Mark Shearer, stopped by after he saw my car in the parking lot. Apparently I am one of the only people who came into the office today in the whole complex. I asked Mark how his properties were holding up. Mark oversees over 4 million square feet of commercial space throughout the Baltimore Washington corridor for AMB Property Corporation. Tuesday morning he had told my colleague TW that he thought he might lose a roof somewhere.

“We haven’t lost any yet,” he told me. He has crews up on the roofs clearing out the roof drains and scuppers so that the melting snow has a place to go.

“Thank god for thirty five degrees and sunshine,” he said.

On my way in I spotted this guy stuck in the snow at the end of a driveway. This is no time to surrender. We could get another 4 inches of the white stuff by next Tuesday night.

For veteran snow warriors like us four inches just seems like a dusting.

More Snow on the Way

This is probably the last thing that folks around here want to hear but, as they say, it is what it is. According to Mr. Foot and his forecasters, we can expect another storm on Presidents Day.

“The good news is next week will probably feature just one Big Kahuna, a stark improvement from TWO blizzards over five days, huh?"

At this rate the kids will be in school until the 4th of July and we won’t see our lawns again til Easter.

The Morning After

As I am writing this post the sound of snow blowers can be heard all around me. In my neighborhood, the guy with the biggest snow blower is out helping every neighbor he can get to. Jack is a good man.

Surprisingly, our street was pretty clear this morning at 9:00 AM so after clearing out our drive, I took a spin down to Ellicott City to check things out. Once again, one of the few merchants open was the Little French Market. I stopped in for a coffee with Amy. She has been serving coffee to storm weary patrons since The Big Kahuna first hit last Friday. She hasn’t been to her home in Clarksville in a week. K2, the owner of the Little French Market, put her up in her home on Church Street so she has been able to walk down and open up the shop. She’s been putting in some fairly long days.

“I can use the money,” she told me.

Of course the ones really putting in the hours are the snow removal crews. Most of the plow operators have putting in 18 hour days to try and stay on top of things. According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun today, that is little consolation to residents who should actually know better like Angie Beltram.

"All I know is, our street is one of the last" to be plowed, Beltram said, though she hadn't fully explored the neighborhood. She paid $200 to a landscaping crew with a snow-blower to clean off her driveway. County officials said Beltram's belief is a common one after a heavy storm, except that of course, everyone can't be last.”

Ms Beltram of all people should know better since she once served on the county council.

The task facing county and state crews is daunting.

“Residents often don't know why a plow left a section undone. The truck might need gas, the plow might break, a parked car might block the way, or a plow might be called to help an ambulance, fire truck or police vehicle, which happened frequently at the height of the storm Saturday and Sunday. The truck drivers also may need rest. Irvin said the county provides cots and food at highway shops and tries to rest the 130 drivers periodically for 4 or 5 hours between shifts. Many returned home Monday night to rest up for the Tuesday night/Wednesday storm.”

In other words Angie, take a chill pill and stop whining.