If you want to say something about our weather, here's your chance. And if you need inspiration, take a look a snowflake pictures, Cliff Mass's blog, or this wonderful weather site.
Me? I'll be out cross country skiing downtown Kirkland in a few hours. I don't get to do that every year, so I have to take advantage of my opportunities. I hope most of you will stay off the roads, since many are more suited to skiers than cars.
For the record: I don't think this bout of cold weather tells us much about theories of global warming — by itself, just as I don't think that a bout of warm weather tells us much about global warming — by itself.
Posted by Jim Miller at December 18, 2008 08:16 AM | Email ThisKIRO ran a headline yesterday saying "Seattle Paralyzed by Chance of Snow." Ain't that the truth!
Posted by: Camille on December 18, 2008 08:23 AMI'm just glad I can work from home!
Posted by: Andrew Brown on December 18, 2008 08:34 AMToday is an entirely different matter. Plenty of snow and the temperature has been dropping steadily all morning. I have a nearly 90-year old sled that hasn't been ridden in many years. This might be the day the old "Monoplane" flies down the hills on more time.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 18, 2008 09:00 AMI try to spin out and can't. I slam on my brakes and the car stops.
My old Datsun B210 from the early 70s would at least spin out in the abandoned parking lots if I hit the brake and turned right hard. But then, I also hunted in the Cascades and was able to go higher in the snow than the 4 wheel drive trucks too. Yes, I am nostalgic on that first car.
Posted by: swatter on December 18, 2008 09:47 AMMost of the time the car in a families budget is a VERY big expense. It would only reason you would do your best to protect that investment, not to mention the people that ride in it.
When there is a slid off or an accident with "All Season" or even 'regular' tires they should throw the book at them.
Add to that my experience last year on a monday night taking 8 hours to get home from work (in downtown seattle) because of people abandoning their cars in the middle of the freeway... not worth my time.
Posted by: Andrew Brown on December 18, 2008 10:00 AM"Meanwhile, let's go quickly to Washington, D.C., where apparently there is a terrorist attack happening"
:20 seconds later:
"Sorry to interrupt you, Xuan, but we want to go to our news room. Now we want to show you some pictures that our viewers have sent in."
"And now we have a viewer, Fred Jones, of Bellevue, calling in to tell us what he is seeing. Fred?"
Fred: "Well, I'm sitting in my house and as I look outside I see snow. It's on the grass and on the streets. No...no...I'm retired so I don't really need to go out unless I have to. Yep, it looks pretty cold out there"
"Thanks, Fred. Coming up next: How you can stay warm in your house during this 'snow storm'.
Posted by: Dave on December 18, 2008 10:25 AMBe safe all!
Posted by: Boxxerace on December 18, 2008 10:47 AMWe're counting in feet over here on the east side of the state. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. We had almost 200 accidents by 11PM last night (not sure what the current total is, but luckily most are fender benders and "slideoffs", with no major injuries).
The State Patrol says don't go out, unless it's an emergency. The snow plows can't work because there are so many stuck/abandoned cars. It's still coming down HARD, too. I've been keeping our driveway clear, but with about two feet in the street, I'm not sure how far I'd get, even in my 4WD Jeep.
That's the good news from the east side! Stay warm.
Posted by: Zarro on December 18, 2008 11:54 AMOnce they build it, there's no excuse to stay home from work during snow!
Busters.
Posted by: John Bailo on December 18, 2008 11:58 AMYears ago I loved driving in weather like this. I had a 1950 Chevrolet, an old car even when I had it more than 30 years ago. I didn't need no stinkin' 4-wheel drive!
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 18, 2008 12:12 PMBottom line, is that we are in a cooling phase and will be for many years. Al Gore is wrong, and selling lies to benefit his Carbon Offset trading business and enhance the power of Multinational NGOrganizations like the UN's IPCC.
The science isn't settled, and anyone can go read the papers of the thousands of real scientists that are disproving the AGW CO2 theory every day. And remember that just recently we finally pretty much proved Einstein's three variable equation relating mass and energy. Any scientists that tell you that computer models of the entire earth's climates with millions of variables and ad hoc fudge factors have produced a meaningful and empirically demonstrated hypothesis are flat out lying. The Gore computer models are far more complicated and difficult to prove than E=mc^2.
If the AGW theories were correct, Hansen/ Gore computer models would be able to accurately predict the weather of the past, and they fail at that as well.
The egg will soon be on the face Al Gore, because the Sun and the Earth are refuting his BS. He picked the wrong time to sell his Global Warming garbage, right when the Earth's climate was heading in to a very strong cooling phase, even as CO2 levels rise.
It's not the SUV, it's the SUN.
If you drive a car with bald tires, why even try to drive in snow let alone try to go up a hill!
Common sense people.....
thanks for letting me rant, I feel better now.
Posted by: jk on December 18, 2008 12:58 PM"Excuse me? Excuse me, senor? May I speak to you please? I asked for a mai tai, and they brought me a pina colada, and I said no salt, NO salt for the margarita, but it had salt on it, big grains of salt, floating in the glass..."
Posted by: Don Ward on December 18, 2008 01:22 PMI think the left already understands this which is why in the past couple years they've quit using the term "global warming" in favor of "climate change".
Aren't these just the nastiest bunch of phony balonies?
And oh how much I want to tell these people "see, I told you so". But I don't think they'd see the humor.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 18, 2008 01:22 PMPhillip Mote is an educated idiot.
.
OK, I'm done weather whining.
I'm a product of Cleveland winters: been there, done that, hate it. I just stay home. Nothing is worth putting others at risk from my fearful driving.
My son moved to Vegas to escape winter. He called telling of their blizzard there yesterday.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 18, 2008 02:42 PMYou can have all the '50 Chevs you want . . . I had a '59 Hillman Minx in my impressionable years and I could drive anywhere in that little puppy. The compound first gear made for good inching down hills. Although, come to think of it my SAAB 99 was just as good in the snow and more comfortable. Those crafty Nordskis.
All in all, I like it. Freeing up some sequestered carbon in the fireplace insert, sipping on some coffee, getting some work done . . and I'm a happy boy.
Posted by: G Jiggy on December 18, 2008 03:51 PMWhat's up with the abandonment of vehicles on the side of the highway? You'd think it was a nuclear attack or something.
Posted by: pbj on December 18, 2008 03:55 PMI bet most readers had to rely on Google in order to find out what a Hillman was. I remember them of course but then I'm a geezer. People used to drive Morris Minors too, and the truly pathetic Fiat 600's as well.
Best car in my experience for snow driving back in the old days had to be the Volkswagen beetle. The worst was likely Pontiac straight eights, which I dearly loved under normal circumstances but their heavy cast iron engine rendered rear wheel traction well nigh impossible in snow and ice. The VW's could go almost anywhere, and we quickly discovered that if you couldn't get up an icy hill going forward, you could spin the rear-engined VW around and it would climb it in reverse. Those were the days.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 18, 2008 04:53 PMMeanwhile: Only about 6 inches of snow here on the Vally floor in the Upper Methow. But it's gonna be a little nippy tomorrow night:
Latest NWS point forecast for Winthrop sez -16 degrees BELOW zero still air temp tomorrow night; add chill factor and they say down to as low as -34 below.
Wider SIDEBAR: IF the growth in total area of open-ocean ice cover in the artic was to continue at the current rate over the entire winter, by the time of max ice cover early next spring it MIGHT set an all-time record for max area of artic ice cover. Of course no way to project that with any degree of confidence yet, but stand by......
Posted by: Methow Ken on December 18, 2008 05:25 PMYep, I sure do miss turning on the defroster in mine... and having it snow INSIDE the car!
My first car was... wait for it you Nader fans... a Corvair (which was replaced with several beetles in succession)... I loved that car.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 18, 2008 08:12 PMSPOKANE: 19.4 in.; prior 13.0 in. 1950; 127 years of record-keeping.
C.D'A.: 25 in.; prior 16.0 in 1955
So they didn't just break the prior records, they shattered them.... I know: The AGW crowd will claim that record snowfall and really cold weather are actually signs the world is warming up.
Posted by: Methow Ken on December 18, 2008 11:07 PMHmmm Coeur D'Alene is also famous for neo-Nazis right?
Anyways, it's amazing how predictable all the snide comments about "whimpy Seattlites can't drive in the snow" come out every time we get this type of weather. First off we don't have the snow-clearing equipment that other regions have. Second, people here don't get enough snow to be experienced enough to know how to drive in icy conditions.
So just lay off, show a bit of compassion!
Posted by: Crusader on December 19, 2008 03:06 AMAnd to all you who abandoned your cars in the middle of the freeways: I hope the towing compaines bleed you idiots dry. Perhaps next time you'll stay home or use the money on snow tires instead of towing/impound fees.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 19, 2008 07:08 AMA buddy of mine had a 53 Hudson Hornet. At the time it was an 15 year old car and MAN that pup was good in snow. With the super quiet exhaust, mohair seats, low slung look (woo, hoo, fender skirts!) and enough room in back to have a small dance, cruising in the old Hudson in deep winter snow was smooth and trauma free.
Posted by: G Jiggy on December 19, 2008 03:58 PMSomeone else mentioned earlier the "heater" on those old beetles. It was either a blast of freezing cold air, or when that little 40-horsepower engine warmed up it was so hot you had to roll down the windows. The old cars were a lot of fun but there are things about them I don't miss a bit.
The VW had a great heater, which by the way IS still used in small planes. The problem was no blower, just the engine. Which sucked.
Yet a company out of Calif fixed that with two small elect fans and then the problem went away.
PS. I had a 1966 Corvair Corsa. Turbo. Man that baby was sweet & fast.
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 19, 2008 04:39 PMThat bundle of optimism Ralph Nader got his start bashing on the Corvair. I've always considered Nader to be the father of modern liberal nannyism. I always thank him every time I have to pull on that miserably uncomfortable seat belt. I feel sorry for young guys now, they can't even have their girlfriends snuggle next to them on the seat on a date. Thanks a lot, liberals.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 19, 2008 05:01 PM