Snowing

It's snowing.

Late March, and big fat sloppy flakes of snow are falling from the sky outside my bedroom window.

Pretty.

It's really coming down hard. We're having a snow storm. *smiles*

How's the weather in your neighborhood?

Open weather thread. Also, open thread on your weekend plans.

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Hold On!

THIS is why pilots are trained relentlessly.

And trained and trained and trained.

So in that sudden moment when everyone's lives are at stake, they will act correctly, reflexively, from their brain-stem out all the way to their automatic mental checklists, thoughts and actions.

March 1, 2008. Hamburg, Germany. Cross-winds gusting at 150 miles an hour.

The left wing strikes the runway, and the pilots still get the Lufthansa Airbus 320 (Flight LH44) inbound from Munich with 137 souls on board back into the air.

The plane landed safely afterwards on another runway.

The pilots are being hailed as heroes.

Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.

As flight crew, I've been in more than a few declared emergencies. These pilots have the right stuff.

Bravo.

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Green Bay Kicks Seahawk Ass in the Snow at Lambeau Field

Brett Favre in the snow at Lambeau Field. photo Morry Gash/AP.

Final Third Quarter GB 42 SEA 20, SNOW 1-2 Inches

Seattle after scoring 14 points on turnovers in the first 5-6 minutes of the game, is getting its ass kicked.

The snow is piling up. Machines are rolling up and down the sidelines, trying to keep the lines visible.

Brett Favre and Ryan Grant are unstoppable.

Associated Press

Ryan Grant lost two fumbles as the Seattle Seahawks jumped out to an early lead, but the Green Bay running back redeemed himself with a pair of short touchdown runs as the Packers rallied to take a 28-17 lead at halftime of Saturday's divisional playoff game.

Grant earned most of the credit for a revitalized Packers running game in the second half of the season, but his mistakes helped put the Packers in an early 14-0 hole at snowy Lambeau Field.

Favre then got going, throwing two touchdown passes to wide receiver Greg Jennings, and Grant did the heavy lifting on Green Bay's second scoring drive.

Damn near every major Packer is having a career day. Damn.

And the snow keeps coming down.

Open Thread for Divisional Football Weekend.

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Breaking: Storm Smashs Northern California

San Francisco


Overturned Big Rig - I-5 South by Sacramento Airport

Over 1 Million Without Power

A massive storm smashed into northern California Friday with winds reaching 80 mph as a fierce arctic storm ripped from the Bay Area all the way to Nevada.

Associated Press

Howling winds, pelting rain and heavy snow pummeled California on Friday, toppling trees, flipping big rigs, cutting power to more than a million people and forcing evacuations in mudslide-prone areas.

Flights were grounded and highways closed in Northern California as gusts reached 80 mph during the second wave of an arctic storm that sent trees crashing onto houses, cars and roads. Forecasters expected the storm to dump as much as 10 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada by Sunday.

Highways from Sacramento to San Francisco were closed because of debris or toppled big rigs blocking lanes, and local roads were flooded. Interstate 80 was closed in the Sierra, the main link between Northern California and Nevada.

"A huge tree, over 100 years old, just fell across the house. It just wrecked the whole thing," said Faye Reed, whose daughter Teenia owns the damaged home north of Sacramento. "They won't be able to live in it. The whole ceiling fell in, and now it's raining inside."

More than a million people from the Bay Area to the Central Valley were in the dark. Crews worked to restore power, but it could be days before all the lights are on, said Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman Darlene Chiu.

In Southern California, authorities in Orange County ordered an estimated 3,000 residents to evacuate homes in four canyons scarred by wildfires and therefore prone to mudslides.

"It's too late once the rain starts. These areas are extremely vulnerable. You're risking your life and your family's life fundamentally" by ignoring orders, said Steve Sellers of the governor's Office of Emergency Services.

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California isn't the only area being hit by storms.

As I write, Washington State and Oregon are bracing for winter storms, and storms are hitting throughout the four corners, as well as up into Colorado, Utah and Idaho.


Weather map NOAA. Click for LARGE size.

Fundamentally, if you are anywhere near any of the major western mountain ranges -- the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains as the primary coastal ranges, or the Rockies in the interior, get to shelter. A winter storm watch is in effect if the damn thing isn't already on top of you.

Open thread dealing with weather.

If you're in the impact areas (currently Northern California) or have family there, speak up. We want to know how you/they are.

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N.W. Washington State Storm Coverage

It's been a mess out here.

I couldn't get to work Monday due to flooding.

The more general Seattle area is doing alright. It's the outlying areas which are in deep trouble.

This is KING5 helicopter footage of the massive floods near my mother-in-law's home 25 miles from Chehalis. All of Centralia/Chehalis is pretty much under water. Interstate 5 is detoured at Exit 88. It's an over 400 mile detour down to Portland for the big trucks.

Here are more storm videos.

I live roughly 300+ feet above the valley floor. On purpose. Having lived through one mass flood down near Centralia/Chehalis in the early 90s, when we moved to the Seattle suburb where we live now, I made certain we were well above the flood plain.

This has proven wise several times over. We have a big back yard, backed up against a steep ravine which goes down to a year-round creek which in times of flooding, transforms into something you wouldn't want to get caught in. The hill is heavily wooded and while mud slides are in general a major problem during these storms, I've never been seriously worried about losing the back yard to a slide.

Trains were stopped due to slides. Hundred mile winds at the seashore.

This storm wasn't nearly as bad as last year's December Hanukkah storm which left about a million people without power, some of them for up to ten days. But that was snow and wind and rebuilding half of the power grid. (We were without power for two days.) This is the kind of flooding we get maybe every ten years, boats cruising down streets, big Sears stores drowned in water up to your eyeballs kind of fun.

It is still raining. Hasn't stopped except briefly.

I hear Portland is in bad shape, but we're all so busy taking care of ourselves, I frankly haven't had time to check. Anyone who knows, please chime in. Photos would be great as well.

Again, things are back to normal in greater Seattle, mostly. It's once you get outside of King County that everything is still rough. If you're local, please let us know how you're doing.

And hey... let's make this a weather thread in general. East Coast as I understand, and the middle of the country, all had some pretty rough weather.

How are you doing weather-wise right now? Feel free to link to photos.

Is everyone safe?

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