Midwestern ice/snow storm

Snow's not much to get yourself in a twist about in the winter in the Midwest, but the size and scope of what is predicted to unfold over the next few days is pretty impressive:

* Two feet or more of snow possible in some areas, from northern Illinois into northern Indiana and Michigan.

* A half-inch of ice from freezing rain across central Illinois and central Indiana, with *even more* possible on Wednesday.

Last time the middle of America saw a winter storm of this potential was in January 2009, when hell came to southern Indiana and Kentucky and, for about a week, set the entire region back 75 years.

 

To 1850?

 

People are already panicking here in SE Kansas. I don't know if it's the cold, the ice, or the expected 6 inches of snow that have people worried more.

It was in the 60s here the past two days. Today it was 31 at noon and 27 at 3 p.m. We're supposed to get ice tomorrow night, "heavy snow accumulation" Tuesday and a high of 11 on Wednesday.

 

People who panic about weather are stupid. What in a blue fuck's worth of good does panicking do? And my locale is right in the crosshairs of this beast.

 

By Wednesday, this thing is supposed extend from Oklahoma City to Caribou, Maine...one of the largest storm systems in history.
Of course, last week we were supposed to get 6-10 inches and got up to 19 in some areas. So maybe this week they'll miss by that much in the other direction.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/30/winter.storm/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

 

It sounds like this thing could actually affect Super Bowl preparations if not the game itself. Dallas is certainly not immune to snow and ice.

 

Nah. It'll be out of here by Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, deadlines at many of your papers will be pushed back two hours.

 

I'm glad my wife insisted I buy a new snowblower. The great Tom Skilling says Midway Airport will get hit the worst -- an amazingly precise 24.3 inches -- and that's only 8 miles away.

 

Getting down to -20 in Dickinson, North Dakota, with -40 wind chills Monday night. It's still snowing. We've had about 6-7 inches so far. Will probably get an inch or two by morning.

It got colder when I was living in western Minnesota. -40 on a few occasions. It's not fun to get gas when it's that cold.

 

Al Gore predicts that by then East Rutherford will be 80 degrees.