More Snow Than you can Shovel

The most recent Maryland snow event began this morning just before 8 am. It was several hours late, but just in time for the twins and I to watch it develop over breakfast. Since then, the snow has been falling ceaselessly. At least 4 inches of snow have accumulated at SnowPanic HQ in Bowie, MD as of 4:30pm. It's a dense powdering of tiny flakes -- perfect for skiing, or snow angels.

This late-March snow is likely to be the last of the season in the Mid-Atlantic. At least, so many are  hoping. But snow is so rare that we here at SP HQ focus on thoroughly enjoying it. Since moving here in 1995, I've noticed many more snow emergencies in the last 5 years than in the first 10 I lived here. Since 2010, when SnowPanic was created, we've had snow every winter. Instead of bemoaning it, we bought kids' size snow bibs, sleds, and helmets.

Global cooling? The experts say not, but Mother Earth is long overdue for an Ice Age. Although SnowPanic's official position is that 97 out of 100 climate scientists can't be wrong on the facts of global warming, this increasing frequency and snowfall must make one wonder if 230+ years of polluting the earth (counting from the invention of the coal-burning steam engine) isn't provoking a wintry response from the misunderstood biosphere. No matter what humans can do, Earth can go one better, usually.

And looking at the tiny flakes falling thick as fog outside--coating every fence line, each suburban roof, the remaining brown leaves--I think the frozen scene is better: the clean air is just in time for kite season; the hydrated earth will burst forth in petal-drenched spring, just in time for the Equinox.

For now, it's indoor activities, coloring pages, baking cookies, board games, hot chocolate, crafts, warm winter naps, and the promise of sledding tomorrow.

-- Christina

More Maryland Snow

Ok the last time I made fun of Maryland for delaying schools more snow fell and it was actually dangerous but this time the closing seems a little bit excessive.

#closeFCPS takes over the world

Numerous media outlets are noting that the hashtag #closeFCPS is trending worldwide on Twitter. "CloseFCPS" means, of course, "Close Fairfax County Public Schools," because the suburban Virginia schools system made people go to school today. Well, it sounds like almost nobody showed up, so I guess they aren't making anybody do anything. So they're upset about potential unexcused absences? I'm so confused.

To be fair, I drove in PG County (where the schools are closed), and I'm glad I don't have kids on school buses today.

Maryland, not Virginia, actually

Don't Ever Change, Maryland

Some of the grass is obscured by snow! Better cancel school!

Weather Report at SNPC HQ

We are happy to report a real snow at HQ in Bowie MD. It began just before 1pm EST, and it's really coming down, too.

The snow will find a way to kill you

"Howard County officials said Thursday that three county men died after suffering heart attacks while outside their homes during the snowstorm, and that two were shoveling snow when they collapsed."

Horrible, right? Well, what can we do?

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman urged county residents to be careful.
"This is deep, heavy snow, and I implore everyone to take it easy," he said. "Please don't over-exert yourself. Clear a little at a time. Or ask a neighbor to help. We need to pitch in as a community during times like these. If you know of a neighbor who could use assistance, please offer to do a little shoveling.

That seems like useful advice, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman. It almost makes me forgive you for the parking ticket we received in Ellicott City after all the "Thanks to Ken Ulman, parking meters are not running" signs. So, if neighbors help neighbors, nobody needs to die, right?

BREAKING: Family of Fairfax County man says he collapsed and died while helping a neighbor clear his driveway of snow Thursday.

Sigh. I would suggest you stay inside and give up on shoveling snow, but you know I'd just end up posting an article about someone dying from slipping on an unshoveled sidewalk.

Bowie Snow Tops 1 foot.

Over the last 36 hours, Snowpanic's Bowie outpost has received over a foot of snow. The Weather Channel estimates we've accumulated 13.4 inches Thursday alone.

More snow is expected Friday night.

It's amazing the variety of snowfall accumulations in the area. Check out local Weather Stations at Weather Underground. Simply input your ZIP code and scroll down to "Weather Stations" to find details from an armchair weatherman near you.

Did we get enough snow to close school? A visual cheat sheet.

This awesome map, first posted on Reddit, shows how much snow it takes to cancel snow in various parts of the country. I am proud to live in the 1"-3" band.

Georgia Tech EMERGENCY

Yep, that's a doozy.

Snow Hits North Carolina

Buncombe County roads, a photo by NCDOTcommunications on Flickr.

Oh, the horror.

Snow Panic Hits the South

Here's a tweet from an Alabama meteorologist who had to abandon his car after what looks like an inch of snow.

Here is a map of what a similar amount of snow did to the roads in Atlanta, courtesy of the Weather Channel's Tom Niziol.

For certain senses of the word "awesome"...

In general, I love Google's Auto-Awesome for photos. But there are a few effects that seem a little bit cheesy, like adding falling snow. It's sort of the 21st-century equivalent of stickers you used to be able to buy to paste on your pictures, back when you had to go to the store to have pictures developed.

It confuses my 3-year-olds, though.

Snowpanic in June?

The Washington Post is reporting that many area school systems have exhausted their store of snow days and will be adding days to the end of the year. As a kid, I always thought snow days were not that exciting...it just shifted around the days that you were going to school. Even if you still had snow days "left", it just meant you wouldn't be getting out of school early in the summer. Now, 2-hour delays...that was time you'd never have to give back. Ditto early dismissals.

Enjoy this awesome picture...

...courtesy of Creative Commons.When I stated blogging, I would grab pictures from wherever, because the Internet was young, and I figured nobody would care. Once or twice someone complained, but it was rare. Now, however, I try to be more responsible. One of the great ways to find pictures now is through the Creative Commons Search. You can find some nice pictures (like the one of a DuPont Circle snowball fight I used on an earlier post) that you only need to give credit in order to have permission to use. With Flickr, they provide you an appropriate link on the image page itself. And you can get some quality, recent pictures, like the one above.

Snowpanic...dot...cz

So apparently there's a Czech snowboard shop trading on the Snowpanic name. As long as no lawyers get involved, I will choose to be entertained by this.

Let's be careful out there

My unofficial count has three traffic fatalities already in Maryland. Two in Landover (accident pictured), and one near Emmitsburg. So even though we joke about how people in Maryland can't drive in the snow...people in Maryland really can't drive in the snow. You probably don't want to be on the road with them unless you absolutely have to.

It's On Again!

The Washington Post reports that the traditional DuPont Circle snowball fight is scheduled for 6:30 pm. So grab your scarf and leave your gun at home.

Dr. Snowpanic Greets the Morning

So far we've seen less "snow panic" and more "snow lull us into a false sense of security." Dr. Snowpanic greeted the dawn with a sense that the snowfall so far had been underwhelming. Looking at the forecasts, I see that the real impact is supposed to be in the coming hours, but so far, all we have is a dusting, and a bit of slush on the deck.

As you can see below, the mean streets of Bowie are pretty much clear. Note the Snowpanicmobile (four-wheel drive, of course) parked at a jaunty angle in the driveway so that the streets can be cleared -- in compliance with City of Bowie snow regulations regarding an event producing two or more inches of snow.

 

More updates to come later in the day, although once the Snowflakes (no two exactly alike!) wake up, coverage may be unpredictable.

"Mild winters gobble up snow budgets"

This story makes my head hurt. It explains that despite the fact that we haven't gotten so much as an inch of a snow on any given day this winter, the States of Maryland and Virginia have somehow used up a majority (Virginia) or all (Maryland) of their snow budgets for the season.

We've Forgotten How to Drive!

Snowpanic.com has been somewhat dormant since its heyday in the 2009/2010 season of superstorms. One of the reasons for that is that after Snowpocalypse and Snowmaggedon, everything else seemed anticlimactic. How much time would have to pass before we could get scared by a little snow again? We have an answer!

The Washington Post captions this picture, "Remember snow like this? Many drivers don’t, and that’s likely to be a problem on Wednesday." Can we really have forgotten how bad it was just a couple of years ago? Have enough people moved to the area in the past 3 years? Stay tuned!