wxbear73

Here are some pictures from Blizzard 2007 from this afternoon. 15.8" of snow here as of 6:45 PM and we have drifts of 6-8 feet in places. Many East/West roads are impassable, and vehicles are abandoned all over town.


The view from our townhouse - they came through and plowed finally late this afternoon and left us with giant mounds of snow blocking our front doors:






The state capital building is nearly hidden by near blizzard conditions in Downtown Springfield:


City crews used large equipment to try and clear downtown streets:


Roadways quickly became skating rinks this afternoon with blowing and drifting snow:


Luckilly schools were closed as blowing and drifting snow became a hazard:


Snow-covered trees were a pretty sight:


No waiting at the bus stop today as SMTD cancelled all routes by mid-afternoon:


Snow even drifted at front doors and on balconies of nearby apartment complexes:

OK twice in one year...it's blizzard time here again. At least 6 inches of snow on the ground as I type this, it is still coming down, and it is blowing and drifting like crazy. Our car is encased in a solid sheet of ice and there is little hope of going anywhere anytime soon. Perhaps daylight will shed some light on how bad things are but right now it appears that most roads are snow covered, slick, and hazardous. We currently have 6.6 inches of snow on the ground and that was a fun time measuring. Drifts over 2 feet in some places. East/West roads appear to be the worst right now with winds gusting over 30 MPH from the Northeast. Looks like a Blizzard Warning until midnight tonight across most of Central Illinois.

The thing that amazes me is that it is after 6:00 AM in the morning, we are under a Bliizard Warning in this town and there is no information that I can find anywhere on the city's website or the handful of local media provider websites about either a city of Springfield snow emergency, or ANY local busienss closings. Seems the bottom dollar must be more important than employee safety around these parts. Damn does Cingular not ever close their Springfield Call Center for anything? They expected all employees to report to work at 5:30 AM the morning after the twin tornadoes of last March, even when some of them were still stuck in their houses, or in a movie theater like we were. Doesn't even look like Wells Fargo has had the sense enough to close their call center operations yet. Why not be prudent and preventive like Indianapolis and other cities that realize what to do in a winter emergency? The city declared a pre-emptive snow emergency last night, closed schools, shut down normal city operations, and advised employers to let non-essential workers stay home. What is wrong with Springfield? Why risk the safety of your employees by forcing them to come to work in such dangerous conditions? Does anyone have a clue?

There is a thing that many communities practice on a regular basis where there are chemical plants or other potentially dangerous hazards nearby called "Shelter In Place". Basically it is where you stay where you are (work, school, home) and you take shelter there. You get the duct tape out if necessary and seal yourself in. Well I've decided that might not be a bad idea with these temperatures. They could just call it "Freeze in place" and we all could just be cryogenically frozen for a season or so.

Here's the latest from WCIA-3 in Champaign...



Looks like the bitter cold will continue most of this week followed by the possibility of a slight warmup and then possibly more arctic cold by the 7-10 day time frame. We aren't going to even see the freezing mark here in Central Illinois anytime this week.



Stay warm!

Looks like Mother Nature continues her assault on Central Illinois this week, asking her old pal Jack Frost for some assistance in making us miserable. Bitter cold conditions with occasional bursts of snow are shaping up for the coming week or two here across Central Illinois. These aren't temperatures...



(WCIA-3 Champaign)

BRRRR....Referencing my post from nearly a year ago (February 18, 2006) is fun when it is this cold outside...

The temperarature is missing. Oh how we miss the memories we had together. How we wish you could be here with us right now. The warm touch of your hand. Your presence that is felt by all everyday. If only we could have you back in our world right now, we'd treat you with the respect that you so deserve. Please come back. We miss you so. If you'll return we will never let you leave again.

If you haven't been outside, DON'T GO!!! It's killer out there. Our thermometer stopped working yesterday. Something about inhumane working conditions and union bylaws. Mother Nature even left. She said she couldn't work in this kind of environment any longer. Jack Frost even decided it was too friggin cold and he made a pact with the devil for warmth.

What the crap is up with this weather? Why are the weekends always so miserable? We were wearing shorts and t-shirts on Friday. Now I can't find enough layers in the clost to cover up with. It is like a stranger lurking outside your windows...stalking you. The sun is beating down and it looks so deceptively wonderful outside. It is a trick though. You step into this meat locker of a deep freeze and you are instantly paralyzed by its deadly grip. You can't escape. There is nowhere to run. Everyone who was smart left long ago. I guess our good friend temperature didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. He hit the road and left town too.

When they start saying the forecast on the radio and it is "Sunny today. High 7. Flurries tonight. Low 9 below. Warmer tomorrow....high 9". 9?????? what the crap is that? That isn't even an adult age. And this negative number stuff? It shouldn't be allowed! I've decided to not acknowledge any number below my age (32) from this point forward when it comes to temperature. I'll treat any lower number as an anomaly...a fluke. It can't be included with the other numbers. And then the numbers "below zero"???? Don't they offer a crappin overdraft protection plan for comfort??? We're not popsicles or slabs of meat (well OK...most of us aren't slabs of meat). Wal Mart could save money right now by just moving the frozen foods department outside. I drove by Dairy Queen and they were packed. Ummm did I miss the memo? Maybe that is where the Cold Cult members are meeting.

Anyways, I'm done being melodramatic (it was so enjoyable though!). I did a voice post last night (my first) to bring everyone a little more up to speed with what's been up this week. Lots happening. Let me try to recap in a brief nutshell (mmmm...nut shells...I'm humming Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire. I don't much like chestnuts, but I'll take the open fire. David can eat the chestnuts.)...

Been offline for a few days due to the major snow and ice storm that we had here on Thursday and Friday. We received 2 1/2 inches of ice followed by about 6 inches of snow here in Springfield. We were without power for 12 hours on Friday morning, but we were lucky since there are many residents still without power as I type this. We had thunder and lightning and torrential rain early Friday morning after we had received significant icing in the form of freezing rain and sleet throughout the day on Thursday. The rain flooded streets and made matters worse, before all of the precipitation turned back to ice and snow. It may be pretty, but it is definitely dangerous.

NWUS53 KILX 190232
LSRILX

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
932 PM CDT FRI AUG 18 2006

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0920 PM TSTM WND GST 3 E ALEXANDER 39.72N 89.99W
08/18/2006 E60 MPH MORGAN IL TRAINED SPOTTER

TRAINED SPOTTER...ON INTERSTATE 72 AT THE SANGAMON MORGAN
COUNTY LINE...REPORTED 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS BLOWING SMALL
TREE LIMBS ACROSS THE INTERSTATE. REPORT FROM SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER OBSERVER NETWORK.


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
929 PM CDT FRI AUG 18 2006
.TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON....DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS..
0920 PM TSTM WND GST 3 W NEW BERLIN 39.73N 89.97W 08/18/2006 E60.00 MPH SANGAMON IL TRAINED SPOTTER TRAINED SPOTTER...ON INTERSTATE 72 AT THE SANGAMON MORGAN COUNTY LINE...REPORTED 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS BLOWING SMALL TREE LIMBS ACROSS THE INTERSTATE. REPORT FROM SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OBSERVER NETWORK.

WFUS53 KILX 270005
TORILX
ILC115-270030-
/O.NEW.KILX.TO.W.0086.060727T0005Z-060727T0030Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
705 PM CDT WED JUL 26 2006

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHEASTERN MACON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

* AT 705 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF ARGENTA...OR ABOUT 9 MILES NORTHEAST OF
DECATUR...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

Argenta FD is reporting a tornado on the ground as of 7:10 PM. Additional tornadic storms are in Champaign County at this time. Stay tuned for the latest updates from the Central Illinois Weather Network and weathermansworld.com.

I'm happy to report that it sounds like pornocub made it through the storms of this evening in St. Louis unscathed. A confirmed tornado touchdown occurred along I-270 on the South Side this evening, and there was also a confirmed touchdown in Springfield.

The tornadic storm that moved through Springfield just before 6PM this evening plowed through the St. Louis metro area around 7:30 this evening. A St. Louis Cardinals game was in progress at the time. An 84 MPH wind gust was reported downtown, and spectators who took refuge in the hallways and corridors of the new Busch Stadium were subjected to debris such as trash cans and newspaper machines blowing around and those in the stands were nearly blinded by clouds of dust blowing up from the field.

Part of one of the terminals at Lambert Field was damaged and the roof landed on I-70. At least 2 tractor trailers were overturned on the 370 bridge. The mayor of St. Louis reports at least 3 building collapses, including the rear portion of a building that was under renovation that fell onto the Eads Bridge downtown. There have been several injuries, and nearly half a million people are reported without power across the region.

In Springfield, nearly half the town is currently still without power from this evening's storms. Tomorrow will bring near century mark temperatures and hopefully power can be restored to both St. Louis and Springfield before then. Scattered severe storms may also be possible again in the late afternoon hours.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Live mobile storm-tracking unit report regarding flash flooding, hail, and cold air funnels across Central Illinois late this afternoon.

VoicePost 280K 2:56

(no transcription available)

As of 3:55 PM CDT, numerous severe thunderstorms were occurring across East Central MO and Southern and Central IL. This is a very rapidly developing and dangerous situation. Rotation is being detected in several of these cells, and the atmosphere remains very unstable and humid across the entire Ohio and Mississippi Valley this afternoon. Very large hail and some tornadoes are possible across the St. Louis Metro Area during the next several hours, and also across and south of the I-72, I-70 and I-64 corridors in Central and Southern Illinois. Citties would include Effingham, Springfield, Mt. Vernon, and Decatur.

Additional severe storms are occurring across the Southern half of Indiana at this time and the cities of Bloomington, Terre Haute, Vincennes, and New Albany could experience severe weather throughout the evening, again with the possibility of large hail and tornadoes.

Stay tuned to the Central Illinois Weather Network and weathermansworld.com for the latest severe weather information as it develops.