Saturday, January 18, 2020

Hurricanes and Blizzards

It's been dubbed #snowmageddon2020 and fact is I have never experienced a worse winter storm.

This was announced yesterday at 11.00 am.:
As of 11am, the Mayor has declared a state of emergency. All businesses are ordered to close and all vehicles are ordered off the road except emergency vehicles. Please return home until the order is lifted. #nlwx #nltraffic

The city has never been closed down before. We are tough out here on the Edge.

A state of emergency was enforced in St. John's. All vehicles and humans off the roads. The winds roared, the snow flew horizontally, the biggest fear was the power blowing out. It didn't. thankfully.

here is a sample from downtown where many reporters holed up in a hotel. No one could get to their homes outside of the city.


Our local CBC radio station died with no power and the batteries and/or generators weren't working either. The staff were trapped inside of the building overnight sleeping on the floors and wonder of wonders, hooking into CBC Halifax, Nova Scotia, to keep us company for the entire time. It was extremely comforting hearing stories from call-ins. Farmers and stable owners, sleeping in their barns keeping the animals calm. Many opening their doors briefly to catch the awful sound of the peak 167km/hour winds. Windows completely snowed over. Just now the sun came out after over 24 hours of non-stop intensity and partially melted two of my panes:

the plows were taken off the roads due to the danger of being unable to see the road edges or heaven forbid, near the open ocean.

The historic Battery area was evacuated as there was an avalanche which fell into the backs of the houses shown here. No human injuries thank goodness.

And this final story:

Not the baby - but this woman should be premier of this province. She gets things done!

PS, we're still on emergency status here but there is snowboarding on the streets (we're very hilly, a la San Francisco) but we have bright sun.

How innocent the world looks after a storm!!

31 comments:

  1. Oh my.
    I cringe at just how many places are on emergency warnings at the moment. And fume at the politicians who say 'this is normal'.
    Love the fortitude of that woman.
    Stay warm, and stay safe. Please.

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    1. Yes, I think the worst is behind us EC. I think there is a ban on the phrase "climate change." Sure seems like business as usual for the oil, coal and resource barons who pull the pols strings.

      XO
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    2. You are so very right. While the fires were/are still burning our oxygen thieving Prime Minister is STILL spruiking the benefits and in his eyes the necessity of coal. And they are going to underwrite another coal mine or two (for the jobs and the economy).

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    3. Here we are pounding oil rigs into the ocean floor and bragging of all the new jobs the oil industry creates.

      XO
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  2. Wow. Blizzards are bigger at your place. It looks deceptively beautiful. Happy that noone was hurt.

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    1. Worse storm here ever Charlotte. And more blizzard forecast for tomorrow. No one has seen the likes of this.

      XO
      WWW

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    2. To me it sounds like something out of Laura Ingalls' "The Long Winter" I hope you won't have snow until late March!
      And I hope you have stoked up on edibles, tea and candy :)

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  3. I was thinking about you the last couple of days, very glad to hear you are okay. Absolutely amazing you didn't lose power! Around here we lose power if someone sneezes! My brother in the Gulf Islands near Nanaimo called to tell me about the snow storm they just had (over 40 cm which is huge out there) and having 3 medical appointments in Nanaimo and Victoria that he drove to in the storm so it was definitely an adventure, but then they get enough warm weather and rain to melt it all the next day. I guess that may not be in the cards for St. John's, huh?

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    1. We're still in a SOA here Annie, so all is peaceful and quiet an extraordinary thing in a terribly busy city. I think the military are scheduled to come in and help and Environment Canada is making an exception so we can dump the megatons of snow in the harbour.

      We always lose power too like yourselves so this LACK of loss has been raved about.

      XO
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  4. Unimaginable to me. While clearly you would be well set up for heavy snow, this clearly goes beyond. Climate scientists warned us of these more extreme weather events, and it is happening in your country and happening in mine.

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    1. Yes, completely extreme Andrew and hurricanes and blizzards merging are a frightening thing. But of course climate change is not mentioned. Business as usual.

      XO
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  5. Stay safe. Having lived in my life in a place in which I can remember seeing snow less than ten times in my life, I have no way to imagine the reality of this.

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    1. I have never seen anything like this, it's so terribly frightening to hear those winds and see endless horizontal snow until your windows get covered and then you can't see a thing for 12-13 hours. Thank goodness for radio.

      XO
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  6. The weather that has happened to you is hard to believe. Keep safe.

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  7. That first picture looks like someone jammed a giant block of polystyrene foam in the doorway. I hope you soon get some relief from the blizzards and have at least one or two full days of clear air and sunshine.

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    1. More forecast for tomorrow, River. But no hurricanes which is a relief.

      XO
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  8. You made it to our TV news!! There was footage of St Johns with people smiling and digging and buried cars and a small bit with a dog leaping through the snow and making a path for his people. 76.2cm of snow which is apparently a record because it all fell at once not over several days.

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    1. And we had more last night River but today is peaceful still we are still under SOE but the plows are out and the army are in and all is well, people are saying it was a good thing, so many people out on the snow partying and helping each other out.

      XO
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  9. I was just reading about snowmageddon in the Guardian. The massive snowfall must be totally paralyzing St Johns. I hope it starts to melt soon. Lucky you didn't lose power despite the extreme weather.

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    1. They are shovelling today Nick, the big snowplows are in along with helicopters of army personnel flying in. So another couple of days should see the SOE lifted.

      XO
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  10. While we do not have snow nor a close down, we are having unusually chilly weather.

    https://www.skymetweather.com/content/weather-news-and-analysis/winter-chill-deepens-in-maharashtra-mumbai-records-its-lowest-minimum-of-the-season/

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    1. I've never seen anything like this Ramana, we are so fortunate to have the power all through it. Our poor Gaia is begging for help.

      XO
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  11. Wow, that's something! We had two inches yesterday here in Pennsylvania, and they closed down the town library and museum.

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    1. Oh you wusses Tom! You have no idea of what it looks like here unless you've seen the news where you are. Incredible, cars and houses buried, etc.

      XO
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  12. Wow! I didn't know about the awful weather over there. I read nothing about it in the newspaper. Well, chin up and bear it, I guess.

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    1. No choice really but the emergency workers are heroes as you can't get in or out of the hospitals and they have been putting in 60 hours with 2 hours breaks every 8. Amazing.

      XO
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  13. So very glad to hear you weathered that beast of a storm. I couldn't believe the photos online. The worst storm I weathered on the coast of northeast Maine had 50 mph winds. The metal chimney cover blew off the roof and clanged along the side of the house during the night. I commend your bravery in the winds you experienced. So frightening. Again, good to know you're okay. Hugs.

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    1. Thank you Regina, it's been a terrifying time but I feel so lucky I moved from my house 2 years ago as I would have been in bad shape out there. And alone.

      XO
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  14. I've been thinking about how light a snowflake is falling from the sky and how many flakes it must take to make the amount of feet that you have and it is amazing how much it must weigh as well.

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