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Getting Ready for the Next Big One . . .
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Click thumbnails below for a larger picture |
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January 23-26, 2011 |
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Sunday morning was greated with a
fantastic sunrise -- and a forecast of Artic air plunging down toward
us, record-breaking cold. (Jan. 23, 2011) |
After doing my "Squeaky Wheel" routine
with Sears Warranty Repair Service, a repairman arrived on Tuesday
morning (instead of "the best we can do is February 10th"), completely
disassembled and near-rebuilt the snowblower.
(Jan. 25, 2011) |
Everything this morning had a fine
coating of frost, crystalline in effect.
(Jan. 26, 2011) |
While it was magical-looking, another forecast for the
next blizzard was upon us, the next storm due to start falling later
today. (Jan. 26, 2011) |
The Boston Globe
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Arctic blast leaves many frozen in place
Travel stalls, shelters fill, but warming on way
By Eric Moskowitz
The coldest weather to
strike Boston in six years wreaked havoc on commuters
yesterday, freezing car batteries across the region and
leaving thousands shivering in the bitter cold on
exposed platforms as they waited for MBTA trains that
either broke down or were stalled behind those that did.
An Arctic blast drove the officially recorded
temperature down to minus 2 at Logan International
Airport, minus 9 in Bedford, and minus 24 in the
Franklin County town of Orange. Emergency responders
said the region appeared to be spared death and serious
injury. But hundreds called to seek heating assistance
and other help coping with the extreme cold, and
homeless shelters were over capacity.
Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a meteorologist with the
National Weather Service in Taunton, said the minus 2 at
Logan was the first sub-zero temperature in Boston in
six years and matched the low of Jan. 22, 2005.
The mercury crept back above zero by midmorning and hit
10 at Logan in time for lunch. More normal January
temperatures, highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s, are
expected today and tomorrow, just in time for a
predicted mix of snow, rain, and sleet, courtesy of a
storm headed this way from the Gulf of Mexico....
At the National Weather Service’s Boston station, the
low of minus-2 — which coincided with much of the
morning commute, before climbing back to zero a little
before 9 a.m. — was 11 degrees shy of the January
record, which also came on Jan. 24, in 1882. At the
observatory atop Blue Hill in Milton, the temperature
dipped to minus-7, the lowest temperature since another
minus-7 day in 2005, according to observer Robert
Skilling; the last time it was colder was 2004, when it
reached minus-12 on Jan. 16.
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Chip Ahoy is still holding its own out alongside the
house. (Jan. 26, 2011) |
Oh well, take one last look at all those cleared paths
and appreciate --
I'll be doing them all over again tomorrow. |
The hot water pipe in my house froze Sunday night. With
the Arctic cold over the past couple of days, I drove down the hill to
the town dock for a look at the harbor. |
The ocean shoreside has frozen, but I've seen it worse.
This sure is a different view from sailing season! |
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The Salem Power Plant across the harbor was being
refueled by a coal freighter. Keep generating that power, guys! |
Looking up the sanded Village Street hill toward my place
at the top-left. |
The Blazer parked, overlooking the dock and harbor. |
The first snowflakes began falling at about 6:30 pm,
just after I took this photo.
(Jan. 26, 2011) |
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It quickly began coming down hard. This was to be a big
one.
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The kitchen wood rack is stacked, a supply good
for a couple of days if necessary. The stove is blazing away.
(Jan. 26, 2011)
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