Weather Update

(Photo that always pops up when they show an array of Chicago snowstorm pictures.)

Got up this morning and they were saying pretty much what they had been saying seven hours before. One weather forecaster said in a rather resigned way (instead of the 'OH MY GOD, THE SKY IS FALLING...listen to me because we need the ratings, tone) 18 to 24 inches expected, and 30 inches in some areas would not be a complete surprise.

Huh.

Then something sent me to NOAA and their streaming audio. As opposed to 'weather men', their reports always sound so clipped and certain and final. They were saying along the lake (that's where I am....) gale force winds Tuesday night into Wednesday, waves 10 to 14 feet with the possibility of 25 foot waves. They said to expect Lakeshore Drive to be affected (which happens rarely). They were also predicting thundersnow (more on that later).

So, I went to work. There was a holiday feel to all the employee's and it had to have something to do with the impending weather. At one point while standing in the break room, my dept. manager said... "Look at how many people are in here." And there must have been 25. Ten people is probably the top amount at any given time, otherwise. But, he's newly in from California and what he learns about snow here pretty much comes from me. I experienced the second largest snow here in the past 150 years in 1999, and the city does get a vibe about it.

Early on in the day, it didn't matter that no one was on the floor. We were selling salt at a clip and some snowblowers, but nothing earth shattering.

I went to lunch when I knew Tom Skilling would be on WGN talking to Gerry Meier. By then, his prediction was 14 to 22 inches, based on 80 computer models. Then he explained that we might get Thundersnow tomorrow night and that it can create even more snow... sometimes 3 to 4 inches an hour. While he was on the Blizzard watch got updated to a Blizzard warning.

When John Williams was on, he was playing, "It's the End of the World as We Know It" and at one point deepened his voice and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we do not know how many have died in the snowstorm that has not yet happened, but we are sure it is in the thousands." They are beginning to get a clue that we are tired of the 'Chicken Little' effect.

............

Even with my Android, information can be hard to come by. Skilling wasn't posting on Facebook, because he was actually working. Some of my co-workers had no clue what was being predicted... others did, and were skeptical.

And then we started getting busy. I asked the store manager who was acting stressed what was wrong and he said he was edgy. We were out of water, almost out of salt and shovels and 600.00 snowblowers were on the move. Zone manager wondered if water softener salt would work as well, so I Googled it on my phone (since there is NO internet access in the store) and found that it does.

One crisis averted.

My neighbor called. She works as a baggage handler for O'Hare and they have been told that tomorrow afternoon the airport will close and will stay that way until Thursday.

And the lines formed. One was in Inside Garden... people waiting for the one guy working there to bring down and assemble the snowblowers, and the other was at the front door waiting for someone to load them in their cars. I imagine they are almost gone by now.

I went to Facebook, where Skilling had posted a graph....



That bar on the right shows the amount of possible snowfall in inches. I live in that yellow area that is shaped like a sock, so according to that, we're looking at 24 to 30 inches of snow. One commenter on Facebook said he was a meteorologist as well and that this particular model was not particularly reliable, so.... who knows?

............

I asked the Zone manager.... if we actually got the higher amount of snow, would the Lowlife close? I knew the answer. He told me that several years ago when Florida had several hurricane's.... the Lowlife's down there remained open... some with only two employees. Sorry. I wouldn't have been one of them.

..........

I was going to go up north for cigarettes after work, but it occurred to me that we are due to get 2 to 4 inches of snow tonight from a different system and I might not be able to find parking. Here in Chicago, certain streets are snow designated... which means if there is snow over 2 inches and you're on the wrong street.... you're towed.

So, tomorrow morning I'm going to take the Hereafter out and north... and then to a grocery... where I hope to find there is some kind of food left on the shelves. In 1999 I was a manager for Peapod, an internet grocery company. When I got to work (finally), the huge grocery store we worked out of had been strafed. All those people who thought they were being smart, ordering food online and having it delivered got phone calls telling them they would get maybe a quarter of their order.

...........

For now... at 9:39 pm.... it is snowing. Fine flakes blowing in from the east. The wind is high and the streetlamp outside is swaying.

.........

Our entire day has been colored by this possibility and I've found myself thinking about it. Me updating information on my phone... people buying salt and shovels and snowblowers.... and stocking up at groceries... as if we have control.

We have more knowledge than we did in 1967 and 1979 and 1999, but we really don't have more control. The natural world is doing what it does and even in great numbers, we are nothing against it. I don't think realizing that is a bad thing. It puts us in our place and makes us think.

We are not the End All and Be All. Just another group of critters, trying to get by.

............

Of course, I'll keep up the posts. I want to remember this... however it pans out.

...............

What it looked like from my window this morning... Monday, January 31st.