Amazing. I've never seen anything like this. Nearly Frozen Waves On Nantucket @JDNPHOTOGRAPHY http://t.co/9LvnVtMwSW pic.twitter.com/QvdhDdT0tJ
— carolynryan (@carolynryan) February 26, 2015
I thought this might be photoshopped, but no — that’s ocean slush!
Fortunately, meteorological Spring began on Sunday (March 1st), and Dennis Mersereau at Gawker’s The Vane assures us “This Winter Sucked and It’s on Its Last Gasps, Thank God“:
It’s about time: winter is finally on its way out and warmer temperatures are just around the corner. We still have another week or two of cold weather to get through in the east, but that’s amateur hour compared to the past three months. This winter was like a weird, climatic rap feud between east and west…
(via The Vane Gawker.com)
.Folks in the western United States will remember the winter as the warmest they can remember. Depending on their level of self-awareness, some westerners will declare this winter absolutely gorgeous, while others will acknowledge it for the slow-motion drought and impending fire disaster that it really is. The drought keeps getting worse, and drought breeds drought in the feedback cycle from hell. Warm, dry air sitting over parched ground and dead vegetation will lead to a rough fire season if the pattern doesn’t change in the next month or two.
In the grand scheme of things, we may have frozen our butts off on the East Coast for a few weeks of the season, but the West Coast borrowed their “nice” weather on credit. If history is any guide, we’ll remember this winter as being worse out west because of the interest they’ll have to pay over the summer…
Technical explanations & more charts at the link.
You guys west of the Mississipppi have my condolences. Or you will, once the godsdamned snowpiles here finally melt away, sometime around Memorial Day. (We’re just 3.8″ short of the all-time snowfall record, and the weather incidents predicted for tonight & Thursday will probably fail by some frustrating tiny fraction to push it over, because the official tally is taken at Logan Airport out in the harbor.)
PsiFighter37
The email story is certainly more clouded than the initial gut-reaction last night. That said, I’m still a bit shocked that either a) Hillary had poor judgment to do this; and/or b) the State Department did not have this in place.
I work at a big corporation; I cannot tell you how many times I have reminded over the past several years that if I emailed work stuff to/from my personal email, it would be grounds for immediate termination (and I have zero doubt that this is vigorously enforced). It just boggles the mind that Kerry is the first SoS to use a .gov email address.
On the weather side – another slushy / sleety night in NYC. Going to melt all again tomorrow, then dump another 3-5 inches on us Thursday. I am crossing my fingers this is the last week of these temperatures and precipitation and that spring is right around the corner. I have a couple half-marathons in the next 2-3 months and really need to start running on a regular basis again…
Eric U.
here in Central Pa, we have been blowing away historic low temps every day. It ain’t right. We had a relatively cold summer last year, I wouldn’t mind that happening again
Baud
So hell has frozen over?
Edmund Dantes
Hillary story might be overblown. The rule forcing it back to gov emails may have occurred after she left the post.
This might be a classic Clinton scandal where there really is nothing to it beyond everyone getting them for stuff others already did or put the worst possible spin on what they do.
Baud
@PsiFighter37:
OMG!! Hillary stored State Department emails in the cloud!!!
PsiFighter37
On a separate note, I’ve also been seriously considering looking for a new job. I wasn’t very happy with the end of the year review, and I think that it may be time to do something new, a bit different – something to keep the intellectual juices and the motivation flowing. My current job isn’t doing that. I’m interviewing (very slowly) at one place, but my wife and I are also giving serious consideration (instead of glibly throwing it out) to maybe consider looking for jobs outside of NYC and taking the leap. We were looking at condos yesterday and were pretty stunned at what the price of a 1-bedroom apartment in Manhattan can get you out there.
It would suck, because both of our families are back in the Northeast, but I also think this might be the time – personal lives settled, but before we really seriously consider having kids – to make the move elsewhere. The problem (at least for me) is that my job and skill set are not as easily transferable outside of the NYC area…so it gives me some pause. Otherwise – I think our top choices would be out west (Denver, Seattle, or SF), with some consideration to other cities that are closer geographically (Chicago, DC, Philly, and maybe Boston).
Deep thoughts, but definitely the first time I’m very seriously considering jumping ship and doing something new.
JPL
@Edmund Dantes: I’m not a Hillary fan but even I know the story was bull. Kerry is the first Secretary of State to use a gov email because the law was changed. It actually makes me almost like her. I wish the blog host would correct his early morning post but he won’t.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
a few people have been asking in the last couple days, “Is anyone excited about Hillary?” MSNBC is going to cover her speaking at the big Emily’s List convention. If people there aren’t excited, then Jess McIntosh of E’sL, who was just on the Chris Hayes show, is a very talented saleswoman
That frozen wave picture is so fucking cool. It’s cooler than cool. It’s ice cold.
JPL
Call me a whiner but since I live in the south, I expect some sunshine. Where is the sun??????????
JPL
@PsiFighter37: imo, Quality of life is important so be careful where you choose to live.
Baud
@JPL:
You are a whiner.
M. Bouffant
Bandwagon-jumping: There was hail on some of the Southern Calif. beaches yesterday morning.
llr
A question for you, Anne Laurie. I’m driving from Maryland to Boston on Friday for my son’s Berklee audition. This seemed like a good plan back in January: audition, do a little sightseeing etc. Is a non-native going to be able to get around? I’m staying just across the river in Cambridge. Thanks
JPL
@Baud: The next republican senatorial candidate of Maryland might respond “Bqhatevwr.”
but I’ll say yup.
Corner Stone
@PsiFighter37:
There’s not much demand to hire douchecanoe pilots sans paddles outside NYC?
WCN?
Betty Cracker
It’s 72 degrees here right now. At 9:30 PM. Hahahaha!
Corner Stone
@Edmund Dantes:
*coughs* Cole *cough*
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Your hurricane’s a comin’.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: You could do another open thread with Bibi riding Boehner.
The pic was priceless.
@Corner Stone: Although I agree, it probably won’t happen.
PsiFighter37
@Corner Stone: I don’t get why you have such a stick up your ass. You make perfectly reasonable, even sane, comments sometimes, but people you don’t really like for whatever reason on this blog, you stick to them like Spinwheel on a Zandar post. I’m pretty sure all the Juicers whom I have met in real life don’t think I’m said douchecanoe…but that’s okay, nobody here probably would want to ever meet your crabby, bitter asshole self anyways.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: The pic was priceless.
Where is that picture? I looked at Rumproast and didn’t see it
Zinsky
In Minnesota (Twin Cities), weather has been cold, but very little snow. In fact, you could call it a snow drought. It’s all gone east – to Boston.
phantomist
I thought last year was an once in twenty years cold snap but this year was even colder and summer was no better, we are going on 18 straight months of well below average temps.
____
“In fact, while some places recorded their coldest February on record, other locations experienced the coldest month of all time.
That was the case in Alpena, Gaylord and Houghton Lake(northern lower peninsula mich). The average temperature in Alpena during the month was 6.6 degrees or nearly 14 degrees below the average mean temp of 20.3 degrees. That was good enough for the coldest February on record and the coldest month of all time.
The previous coldest month on record was January 1918, with an average temperature of 7.5 degrees.
The thermometer reached a high of 29 degrees in Alpena on February 6, and sank to a low of minus 29 on the 20th.”
Betty Cracker
@Baud: That would be just my luck since we finally sprang for a new roof. But even absent a hurricane, we’ll be sweltering in misery this summer while the Northeasterners skip through the tulips. So yeah, we’ll get ours!
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Would you please post your pic of bibi satisfying boehner again
I meant riding
Mike in Oly
This has been the most enjoyable February I can ever remember. We usually curse this gloomy grey month. But yes, it does pose problems later this summer. The mountains are practically bare, which means low levels in the reservoirs for the dry season.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: @JPL:
Yeah. I have been out all day.
Where is this legendary Betty Cracker Bibi on Boehner pic I hear tell of?
Pew-pew-pew!
PsiFighter37
@Corner Stone: I still don’t understand, to this day, what the fuck your problem is with me. Not that I care, as you’re about as obsessive bitching out people as a certain troll does on every Zandar post, but good God are your insults tiring. And also befitting of someone incredibly immature.
Heliopause
None needed here in Washington state, unless you operate a ski resort. Weather is beautiful, warm (for the time of year), plants budding/blooming 2-4 weeks ahead of schedule, and there’s been enough rain to preclude a summer water shortage. Y’all move on up here and enjoy our little slice of paradise. Well, not west of the mountains. Maybe Moses Lake or something.
Yatsuno
@PsiFighter37: Never roll in the mud with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.
@Heliopause:
Yer mean. I like you.
RaflW
Just drove through about 10 mins of intense nighttime white-out north of Breckenridge, CO. The car 30 or maybe 40 feet in front of me disappeared as if it had no tail lights at all.
Thankfully it was just a squall, the rest of the drive to Dillon (about 10 miles) was just moderate to heavy snow.
Should be fun on the mountain tomorrow!
Corner Stone
@PsiFighter37: Your complete lack of self awareness is the ultimate in douchery. You are under 30 yet you feel so old. You live off 5th Ave in the Flatiron bldg yet something something. You somehow didn’t know that paying $3K to $4K a month in rent was somehow unusual and that people elsewhere paid less for more.
Baud
I would like to see this, please.
Elizabelle
This might be Betty Cracker’s Bibiweasel art.
Anyhoo, it’s comment 23 on this thread.
Not just chickens this time. Chickenhawks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: The rare rare rare yellow-bellied gin-blossomed scotch-sucker! somebody call Audubon!
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Thank you, E-belle!
JPL
@Elizabelle: Isn’t that a thing of beauty. It does deserve front page billing.
Linnaeus
@Heliopause:
For now and depending where in Washington you are. Central and eastern Washington are preparing for a drought just to be on the safe side. The Seattle area looks fine for now. But if warmer and drier than normal conditions persist into the fall of 2015 (which is the current long-range forecast), Washington could see some problems.
Elizabelle
Yeah. It’s marvelous. Hope it returns in glory on its own open thread tomorrow.
Betty Cracker is wicked good with Photoshop.
Corner Stone
@Yatsuno:
I should suggest that with your failing piggy hips you shouldn’t be rolling in the mud each Saturday. But, meh, to each piggy his own.
Elizabelle
@Baud: Thank the google.
Scamp Dog
@PsiFighter37: I’ll put in a vote for Denver. It’s a better fit for me than where I was before (Fredericksburg, VA). Plus you can head up north and see Tamara’s puppy Bixby!
Anne Laurie
@PsiFighter37:
Try to visit your potential choices in advance, together. I grew up in the Bronx, but when I spent a week in Boston on vacation, age 5-1/2, I decided I’d move there someday because the area just felt right to me. Eventually I went to college in Michigan, and later partnered up with a Michigander who’d left the small town he lived in & who expected ‘eventually’ to move elsewhere (looking for a stable tech-writing job closer to his friends who’d already migrated). We tried visiting a few Midwestern cities (Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago) around sf conventions, and went to San Francisco twice… but while we agreed they were perfectly fine cities, and we could probably make a life together at any of them, neither of us were beguiled enough to start preparing to jump.
(Not Yet) Spousal Unit knew how I felt about Boston, so we went out there (not for the first time) for a ten-day vacation, by the end of which I was thoroughly confirmed in my childhood beliefs & he was sure he could be happy with the locale, the employment possibilities, and most importantly the circle of college friends/gamers living within reach.
He actually made the move six months before I did, so he could look for employment & a rental home for us, our aging cat, and our little dog. That was at the end of 1989; we bought our house in 1992; and we got married in 1993. We’ve been happy with our “chosen” city, even during some scary periods of (fortunately not overlapping) unemployment, and I’d say we were prepared to live her for the rest of our lives if I didn’t want to jinx the luck…
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
What a nice story.
Mike in NC
High 40s and rainy here today. High 60s tomorrow and Thursday before another Arctic blast arrives for the weekend.
Suzanne
@PsiFighter37: Lots of people give up on NY and SF, because the cost of living is ridiculous and normal people can’t achieve their financial goals there. I think the city matters less than the specific people you bond with.
Anne Laurie
@llr: If you can stash your car at your hotel (or with your hosts) you’ll be fine. Every bad thing you’ve heard about driving in Boston is especially true right now, because snow piles are blocking streets & obscuring visibility for pedestrians as well as drivers. But there are sidewalk-shovelling regulations, and public transit (subway & buses) still does a fine job of getting you to any place a tourist is liable to want to visit. There’s always a ton of fun stuff to do here, and the lousy weather has made the local restaurants & retailers so desperate they’re offering many specials (& perhaps even a little less ‘Boston attitude’)!
Redshift
@llr: I drive from the DC area to a northern suburb of Boston this past weekend and it was no big deal. I’d been hearing about narrowed roads and snow-filled parking lanes, but at least where we were, I didn’t encounter any. The worst problems I had were a few parking lot exits where snow banks made it hard to see oncoming traffic.
Helen
I just got mugged. Well, mostly pick-pocketed. I saw and felt nothing. An artist he was. But as a NY’er for 35 years and one who moved here when crime was RAMPANT, this is my first time as a crime victim. At first I was mega freaked. But now that all the important calls have been made and my friends have lent me a few bucks I’m kinda OK. Lost $50 and a half used Metro card.
lahke
@Anne Laurie:
Another vote for Boston. Culture, culture, culture, especially if you like classical/early music, world music, indie theatre, and art. And the food has gotten way better since I first started visiting back in the early 90’s–has gone from pathetic to pretty darn good. If you don’t need to be downtown, there are decently affordable places in Watertown or other ring suburb cities, and I’d have said that we had decent public transportation until this winter’s snow. Hopefully to be fixed soon.
Baud
@Helen:
Could have been much worse. Glad you are ok.
Helen
@Baud: Yes I agree. Thank you.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Yatsuno:
Especially if the pig’s had a few.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Betty Cracker: That’s not very nice to point out. It’s raining here, and is expected to turn to snow tomorrow mid-morning. I heard Botsplainer’s area might get a bit of a higher snowfall that here.
SRW1
That graphic is a nice illustration of how weather is a chaos system and how the more energy you put into it, the more extreme will be manifestations of its boundaries.
West of the Cascades
Here in Portland, we’ve had sunny and unseasonably warm conditions all winter — and the snowpack on the Cascades is at 10% (TEN FREAKING PERCENT) of normal. There are places in the mountains where there is no snow that normally have snow 120 inches deep this time of year. No watershed basin in Oregon has more than 53% of normal. “Drought” does not even begin to describe how awful conditions are going to be over the next eight months — even if we got massive storms in March and April it won’t make it up.
Oh, and it’s going to be sunny and in the low 60s for the next three days.
I have not been able to enjoy the beautiful weather, knowing what we’re in for. And I hate Jim Inhofe with the white hot passion of a thousand suns for his snowball stunt.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Helen: Glad you’re okay and I applaud your taking the inconvenience with such pragmatic grace.
Gex
@PsiFighter37: why are so many eager to point out how strange the practice is when that was the practice of her predecesdors
Helen
Put on CSPAN2. Is Hilary announcing?
Hal
Sigh, Alabama.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/alabama-supreme-court-orders-temporary-stop-to-new-same-sex?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpho#.gu8b5OgXg
Helen
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Thanks. I am nothing if not pragmatic.
different-church-lady
@Baud: Nantucket is not hell, so stop saying that.
different-church-lady
@Baud:
SHIT! Now the NSA can read them!
TaMara (BHF)
@PsiFighter37: I’m with those who say spend some time wherever you chose. I have permanent wanderlust, so this sounds like a great adventure.
I’ve lived in many places, favorites being Boston, LA and small town Colorado (I’m not a big fan of Denver, but if you’re a city person it’s got its good points). Colorado won out for settling down because of the people, the view and the climate.
I love Boston and visit as often as possible. Wasn’t a good fit for me though, but if NYC is good for you, Boston might be a great fit, with a smaller town feel. And the people are awesome.
I commuted for years between LA and CO for work and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was the best of both worlds for me.
Ignore the hater. Enjoy the process, even if you end up staying in NYC. From everything I’ve read that you’ve written, you have an adventurous spirit, so this will be fun. And nothing is permanent…
Helen
@Helen:
OH NO
The Thin Black Duke
@Helen: Uh-oh. Now what?
Violet
That is a seriously cool photo.
Helen
@The Thin Black Duke: Yeah she said nothing. My bad.
Elizabelle
@Helen: wazzup?
Other than being mugged tonight. My condolences. Let that not happen again.
Yatsuno
@BillinGlendaleCA: It’s even more fun when the pig tries to get me to pay attention to its squeal. But meh. Someone was mean to me on the Internet oh noes!
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@PsiFighter37:
It isn’t you. CornerStone is an asshole.
Helen
@GHayduke (formerly lojasmo):
DISAGREE.
Dunno why – but I am kinda in love with Corner Stone.
opiejeanne
In western Washington we are being reminded to water our gardens.
AnotherBruce
@Betty Cracker: I could care less, take your 72 degrees, but I live in Seattle and love to ski, all this sunny weather is soul crushing to me. Not for just my selfish skiing reasons, but because I know what’s coming. And what’s coming is not going to help the salmon runs, or the dry forests.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Thanks. I appreciate it. Once I get home I’ll make sure to return them before I go to bed since I’ll be east of the river again.
Anne Laurie
@GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): We’re all “assholes” here, just at different times & for different reasons. What makes this blog so
enjoyable… what it is.Tenar Darell
@llr: Cosign everything Anne Laurie said, but make sure your boots are comfy to walk around in, and of course the way the weather is going you want them to be able to handle snow, slush and not be actively dangerous on ice. If you have to wait around for a bit for the auditions at Berklee try visiting Symphony Hall & the Mapparium, if you have more time try the latest exhibit on the Stamp Act To Bunker Hill at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Best wishes for a successful trip!
Ruckus
@PsiFighter37:
I jumped ship once and have been thrown overboard twice. Changed careers the first two of those times, once turning my hobby into a full time job. Can’t say as I’d recommend it from the results but then as they say YMMV, and as two of those times I didn’t have a lot of choice I may not be the best example. On the other hand I know of people who have done it and are very glad they did. On the time I made the choice I spent over 2 yrs looking, deciding and training for the change and it seemed to be a good decision until I got thrown overboard. Again. Oh well as they say, there is no guarantee in life, the sun comes up, the sun goes down, one day you won’t see that happen any more so have an interesting life and have fun if you can. Or shorter, plan for the future, live for today.
ruemara
@Yatsuno: Can’t believe you’d attack pigs that way. Pigs are super clean!
I’m getting back to the second part of my mini-doc on the drought. I’m a bit scared of how bad it will be this summer. We’re in trouble out here in the west. We just can’t acknowledge it.
Also, fingers crossed. Submitting a sample pack for a screenwriting fellowship.
burnspbesq
We’d rather have your snow.
askew
@PsiFighter37:
I had to take my annual privacy regulations test at my big corporation today and it was pounded into my brain that using private emails for my job is grounds for firing or government fines. We aren’t even allowed to send out emails using our work emails unless it is sent via secure method in many cases. I am baffled at Hillary’s decision to do this. I am more annoyed to read that her senior staffers appeared to be using private email accounts as well and that she had multiple email accounts in play not just the one. I hope those are just rightwing rumors and not true, because that goes beyond a stupid mistake into a more troubling situation.
askew
@PsiFighter37:
I’ve lived in Chicago and Denver. Loved Chicago and loathed Denver. It was the longest year of my life in Denver. People were mean, so much racism and it was boring as hell. Chicago, on the other hand, is one of my favorite places on earth. So much to do, culture, etc.
I am back in Minnesota now. I got all my wanderlust out and ended up buying a place 15 minutes from where I grew up. Makes it easy when we have family get togethers at the parent’s house.
different-church-lady
@burnspbesq:
Come take all you like.
different-church-lady
@AnotherBruce:
You could?
Lizzy L
And we who live west of the Mississippi appreciate your concern. No, really, we do.
I live in the SF Bay Area — Richmond CA — and we’ve had a warm winter. My aging bones adore the sun and my brain says, Girl, you’re an idiot, there’s no more water, where do think your food supply comes from we’re all gonna starve gibber gibber.
daverave
I was driven to California at the age of 24, permanently, by the Blizzard of 1978 in Boston. I remember those dirty black piles of snow hanging around well into May, no place to park, etc. By October I was in NorCal and still am. That being said I hope you easterners take this post to heart because this place really only works when it rains and it just doesn’t anymore. Not such a nice place in multi-year droughts. Stay where you are, please, there’s no water for newcomers let alone us… and where’s my green rolling foothills that entranced me back in my youth?