Post Blizzard- Digging Out/ 900th Post Edition!!!

I'll start off by saying this....we people in Central New Jersey got off easy compared to people in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. This morning I measured 8 inches of snow, added on to the four I removed early yesterday, giving us a grand total of one foot of snow for this storm...a lot of snow and can be considered a heavy snowfall by most experts, but it pales in comparison to whats been going on in the areas I mentioned before.

Add 7.5 inches from the Saturday storm, and we got just about 20 inches from the two storms in a matter of five days. There was some nervous times last night, below you can see the tree that broke in half in the back yard. The good news for us in this semi-rural area was the trees shielded us from some of the drifting from the high winds, the bad news is there were downed trees and tree limbs. Luckily, no power outages.

I have to admit it...after the storm was over, it was nice just to walk around and see just how beautiful it was, just very white and bright, and feeling warmer than 30 degrees with all of the reflecting sunlight....but man, it was a heavy, wet snow- much more so than the light, fluffy powder that fell on Saturday.

After today I've re-evaluated what were the most three important inventions and innovations in the history of mankind- (1)Fire (2) the wheel (3)the snowblower.

I'm taking my snowblower out this Sunday for Valentines Day.....she deserves it.

BTW...this is the 900th blog post for UT &MR!!!

And they said we wouldn't last!!!!








ABOVE.....That's a mature birch tree bent down to ground level by the weight of the snow.

This is the pine tree that snapped in half yesterday....had it fallen right instead of left it would have taken out our neighbor's fence.

Updates- 6PM Thursday Feb 11

More pics from a walk around the neighborhood several hours ago.

Also....more about the falling branches and trees in the area. A local man was struck and killed by branch from a snow covered tree during the blizzard yesterday while he was clearing his driveway.

Here's the story from The Home News Tribune and mycentraljersey.com

Blizzard of 2010 Diary-Winding Down

Its about 9:30 PM, still snowing and wind is blowing at 10-20mph but it appears that the worst of the storm is over. I haven't done a measurement yet but New Brunswick had 10 inches of snow as of 5 PM, and there must have been a couple of more inches since. I'm guessing about a foot of snow, and its not quite over

My concern about falling trees and branches was justified....one of the pine trees in our back yard snapped in half from the weight of the snow and came crashing down. Luckily it didn't do any property damage- had it fallen in the opposite direction it would have flattened the fence of the neighbor behind us. When I was out there checking for damage I heard other branches breaking all around me. Its going to be a mess out there when the shooting stops.

The linguine and sausage for dinner......mmmmmm- mmmmm good!

The Rutgers women did play Seton Hall at the RAC, I was listening to it on the radio- I'm a season ticket holder, but it was too nasty out there and the roads need to be plowed- AGAIN.

RU won, 54-44, with Brittany Ray scoring 19 points. The 8,000 seat RAC had approximately 75-100 fans who braved the storm, according to radio commentators Ed Cohen and Mark Peterson.

Now those are some superfans! Let e'm sit behind the bench for the next home game!

Blizzard of 2010 Diary-Part Two; Its a White Out, Ladies and Gents

Its about 2:40 PM., and as predicted the storm has really intensified....there was a lull from mid morning until about 2PM with an additional inch of snow accumulating, but it looks like its coming down at a rate of two inches an hour.

We'll be OK...I think.

What does have me concerned are the tree branches all over the neighborhood...many are bending from the weight of the snow, particularly the evergreens. Its just a matter of time before we have some branches or smaller trees coming down. Hopefully they won't be taking powerlines with them.

Visibility is very poor, with gusty winds.

Curiously, the Seton Hall- Rutgers Women's basketball game is still on for 7;30 this evening. Getting there just might be a problem, getting home even more so.

We're in a state of emergency, but basketball marches on!

THE HOME NEWS TRIBUNE morning edition arrived about half an hour ago (kudos to the guy who brought it)....and so did the mail (neither rain nor sleet nor snow, etc, etc).

That's all for now. All of this snow makes me hungry. Anybody want some linguini with hot sausage?

You bring the wine.

Blizzard of 2010 Diary-Part One

Its nearly 10:00am on Wednesday Feb 10, and so far the storm predicted for the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area has performed almost exactly has predicted by forecasters.

I woke up at 8:15, and went outside to find about 4 inches of snow that had all but stopped....but meteorologists said don't be fooled by what you'll be seeing in the AM, its going to get much, much worse by lunchtime- we're starting to see that now.

It took about half an hour to clear the drive way with the snow blower (which I kissed and thanked for doing its job). But as soon as I finished and salted the area, the snow came back with more intensity. Its starting to snow heavier, and the winds are picking up.

At 10 am local forecasters are saying that the eye of the storm is off the Virginia coast and intensifying, and should be churning up the coast into a classic nor'easter....and officially, its being called a blizzard- I feel so much better about that, it adds drama to the the blog posts.

That's all for now. Time to check out the township website for any news, grab some breakfast, and get ready for the next round.

Snowstorm Blasts Mid Atlantic

No big news to anyone living from the New York Metro area to points west and south to Virginia, but its really snowing HARD in some areas as a type this. 

DC is expecting 2.5 feet, the Jersey Shore close to 2 feet....and unofficially I measured the snow in the backyard here in Central NJ (about 7 miles from Staten Island, NY, 50 from Bucks County, PA)....we're at about seven inches and counting, with snow falling at a rate of two inches an hour, but it seems to be lessening slightly. Zero visibility, heavy snow, and 35mph winds all along the Jersey Shore- its officially a blizzard

Oddly, there's only been a trace in New York City, and are expecting only two inches or less.

The storm should be out of here by evening.

Time to THINK about digging out, Phase One. And start the Super Bowl party a day earlier.