Winter storms hit central US

[thehod]

So who ordered the new ice age then?

From BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6262533.stm)

Deadly ice storm hits central US

Ice storms that have killed at least 21 people in the United States are continuing to batter the country.

A state of emergency has been declared and the National Guard called out in Missouri after the storms knocked out power to 200,000 homes.

Churches cancelled Sunday services and businesses closed early or stayed shut.

Weather forecasters say the storm system will head north-east, threatening to bring more than a foot (30cm) of snow to New England.

Ice storms occur when rain falls during very low temperatures, causing it to freeze almost instantly as it hits a surface, resulting in ice layers sometimes several inches thick.

The extreme weather downed trees, traffic lights and power lines and blocked roads in Missouri and Oklahoma, where some 100,000 homes are without electricity.

There, about 350 national guardsmen went door to door to check on residents in the hardest-hit areas, and helped to clear icy roads of branches and power lines.

Oklahoma's governor, Brad Henry, has asked the federal government for assistance in handling the consequences of the storm.

In Texas, 415 flights were cancelled on Sunday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Record-breaking cold weather even hit California, which usually has mild temperatures year-round.

Citrus fruit growers in parts of the state are using wind machines to protect their fruit from frost damage.

The National Weather Service said it was "a very, very big cold front".

It said the storm is gathering moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air from the Arctic, and is expected to hit the east coast on Tuesday.

Seriously guys, if anyone if affected by this, please take care.

[i_mmmchocolate]

Yikes!

I hope everyone is okay.

[TinMan]

Yeah, we got touched by that storm up here in Michigan, it's pretty nasty out, but not as bad as the rest of the midwest got.

Hope everyone is safe and sound in those areas.

[LtMarvel]

Yes there is ice on the ground. But the road is clear, and the power is on. So we all spent my birthday weekend staying at home and will celebrate another weekend. :)

[Kevin Vetter]

We got lucky here just outside chicago. On friday they were saying we would get ice, 4 - 9 inches of snow and it would be 5 below. Then yesterday they changed it to 1 to 5 inches and I think we ended up with less than a half inch of snow and it was 35 degrees warmer than they were saying it would be a few days ago. We did have freezing rain and ice most of the night but it was only enough to coat things in a very thin shell of ice.

[Ray R.]

The Midwest is getting it bad this year.....

Meanwhile, those of us on the East Coast don't even know it's winter.

It's been averaging in the 50's here in D.C., and we've had days in January in the 70s. The front page of the Washington Post had people in bathing suits lying by the pool. Even New England has had it pretty mild.

Not that I'm complaining mind you.

[Shellhead]

The several inches of snow we got last night here in the Twin Cities is no big deal. That's standard winter weather here. However, until now, this winter has been exceptionally mild here. We got a couple of inches on Christmas Eve and a little bit on New Year's Eve, but that stuff mostly melted pretty quickly.

[Cam63]

Good luck, you arse frozen Northerners.

[Justin Davis]

I'd rather have snow than ice. Only reason I went to work to day was to pick up papers and my laptop to work on at home. Needless to say, I skipped my improv class tonight and I'm working from home again tomorrow. The news just said there are about five different areas of the city with power outages. It blinked out her for about an hour this morning. My car did slide a bit to the side today as I drove to work, and everyone says it's supposed to be worse tomorrow.

Oh, well. As long as the power stays on, I'll get to work from home, watch the second season of Dr. Who or Greg the Bunny episodes, and sit by a toasty fire in the fireplace. Not too upsetting so far.

[Michael P]

The Midwest is getting it bad this year.....

Meanwhile, those of us on the East Coast don't even know it's winter.

It's been averaging in the 50's here in D.C., and we've had days in January in the 70s. The front page of the Washington Post had people in bathing suits lying by the pool. Even New England has had it pretty mild.

Not that I'm complaining mind you.

It's supposed to get pretty damn cold in New York later this week.

[howyadoin]

Yes there is ice on the ground. But the road is clear, and the power is on. So we all spent my birthday weekend staying at home and will celebrate another weekend.Shit, I hope you at least had some booze on hand.

[LtMarvel]

Heh, with the month I've had, any booze here would've been consumed long ago.

My wife works in a town 20 minutes from here; that town didn't have power until this morning. They've called off school for her and nearly every school around for Tuesday...

[Justin Davis]

Heh, with the month I've had, any booze here would've been consumed long ago.

My wife works in a town 20 minutes from here; that town didn't have power until this morning. They've called off school for her and nearly every school around for Tuesday...

Yep, all the schools around here canceled classes too. It's an odd cold. I've stepped outside a few times tonight, and it hasn't felt that bad. In fact, I heard it hasn't risen above the freezing mark all day, but somehow, it hasn't felt as bad to me as days when it was in the upper forties. It's an odd kind of cold.

[J Dog]

Woke up and found, *gasp*, SNOW! It isn't bad here, but near Chicago...

[DarkBlade]

I skidded on ice trying to stop at a stop sign. ~_~ I'd decelerated to just below 15 mph! Fortunately I did stop, it was just a few meters past where I wanted to..

[Callie]

They've closed down my office for the entire day. Considering that there are no viable roads leading there at the moment, it makes sense. We're totally iced over.

Maybe after a nice cup of hot tea, I'll venture out and see how much ice there is on the ground. Test how good the treads on my hiking shoes really are...

I kinda wish I was back home at my parents' house right now. They live near a golf course, and during the last major ice storm, we pulled out the old plastic toboggan from our previous years in Chicago and went sledding down the hills. :D

[(A)//(E)]

weird to say, but having snow and ice up in michigan is kinda comforting after a disturbingly mild winter up to now.
it was kinda freaking me out. I've only heard the phrase "lake-effect" one time this winter, and that just ain't right.
thankfully Midland county didn't get friggen wrecked by this ice storm like last february.

[Justin Davis]

Hi, folks. Looks like I'm trapped at home again for another day. Good thing I can do a lot of work from here. There's black ice all over the parking lot, and I assume it's on the surrounding roads. I won't try to go to the store until some time after noon. Meanwhile, I took some pictures of what effects the storm had on my apartment complex. Check out the pictures here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/46869926@N00/sets/72157594484941426/). The frozen plants look beautiful with the purples, reds, whites, and greens showing through the ice. There's about an inch and a half of ice covering my car. At least I have a reason to use the fireplace.

[Callie]

I like the flower pictures. You ought to submit one or two to Statesman.com. :)

I'm currently stuck, too. Fortunately, today is a normal off-day for me, so I wasn't forced to go in to work. I couldn't get the doors on my car to budge anyway; it's thickly covered in ice.