Minnesota: Full Stop!

[MineralMan]

Lots of snow in Minnesota. MSP is all but shut down. Public transit is at a standstill, and even the city snowplows are shut down. We got 20" at my house in Saint Paul. I blew the snow off the driveway twice today, with 10" each time. Now, the wind is still blowing, so tomorrow, it'll be the drifts I have to deal with. A lot of my neighbors, though, did nothing today, and will have 20" of snow to deal with tomorrow, along with the drifts. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Worse, the high temperature tomorrow will be 0 degrees. Uff da!, as they say here.

But, the snow has stopped. MSP will be open in the morning. The Giants will get here in time to play the Vikings at noon. The snowplows will have all the local streets plowed by late afternoon tomorrow, and things will just go back to the normal winter silliness here. In the meantime, the local news is doing "team coverage," with the pretty field reporters in their nifty knit caps giving reports. We're in full Blizzard mode here in the Twin Cities. All the snow removal teams will work 24 hours a day, and on Monday, all the streets will be clear and everyone will be back to work.

That's how it all works here. Everyone whines. The news stations go all out. The snow gets cleared and everyone goes back to their normal activities. Life in Minnesnowta, during the "Great Blizzard of 2010." :rofl:

[jpgray]

1. Bah! I trudged through the great Halloween blizzard of the nineties

Now that was hell. What kind of ghost wears a winter coat? :D

[MineralMan]

2. I missed that one. I moved here in 2004. But, my wife, who

is a real Minnesootan, was here for it. I'm an old Californian, but a skier, so I remember being in the Sierras one weekend skiing, when a storm dumped 4.5 feet. We skied through it, then I followed a snow plow down the mountain, chains jingling as I went. No biggie. Just 20"? Piece of cake.

[Salviati]

7. I remember that one...

My sister lost her glasses trick or treating that night. We found them in her friends yard in the spring!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Wasn't that one fun?

That whole weekend was just a mess.

[scarletwoman]

13. I missed the '91 Halloween blizzard. I was living in Alaska at the time.

Halloween is pretty much winter weather up there anyway, Trick-or-Treaters have to wear parkas and snow boots as a matter of course.

One thing I noticed when I lived up there, whatever weather was hitting us in Alaska usually hit Minnesota about 2 weeks later. We'd gotten a hell of a lot of snow in the Mat-Su Borough that October.

Now that I'm back home in Minnesota I still keep up on the Alaska weather to get an idea of what's coming. My son still lives up there, so I get first hand reports. :)

sw

[myrna minx]

35. I moved during the Halloween blizzard.

Oy what a looong day. :hi: SW

[scarletwoman]

37. Ugh. Nothing worse than moving in the winter -- and in a blizzard, yikes!

:hi:

[Bozita]

3. Do they even sell single-stage snowthrowers in MN?

[Scruffy1]

6. I still use my 30 plus year old one stage.

You need a two stage if you have to throw the snow a long way is all.

[shraby]

4. That's peanuts along side the blizzard of 1978.

The chap on the radio said he'd never seen the barometer so low..a Coast Guard cutter went turtle in Grand Traverse Bay at Traverse City, MI because of the ice and snow on it, and didn't get righted until spring.

[Mister Ed]

24. Ya, that one stranded me on the interstate in Iowa.

I-35 was closed for 3 days. Had to abandon my car. I was glad I did, though, when I saw what it looked like after the semi squashed it.

[Myrina]

5. So Glad I moved away from WI many years ago ...

... although Indiana's politics suck rocks, blizzards like that have been few and far between in the 12 years I've been here.

[dflprincess]

10. We haven't had a snow like this in years - at least in the metro area

that's why this one is such a big deal. In the rural areas, it doesn't take too much snow for high winds to blow it around enough to cause white outs and shut things down. But, it is rare for the highway patrol to recommend no travel in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and even for MSP International to shut down the way it has today.

[marmar]

8. Keep that sh*t up there, will ya.....We don't want to see it in the lower Lakes.

nt

[Odin2005]

9. Hah, we got nuttin' up here in Fargo except wind and cold.

-20 tonight/

[MineralMan]

14. That's a bit chilly, to be sure. Brrr...

We're going to get down to about -10 Monday or Tuesday...I forget which.

I'll be finishing up the snow removal tomorrow at 0. No big whup.

[Greybnk48]

12. I heading right for us here in N.E. WI

My county (Outagamie) is under a blizzard warning. We're all hunkered down here. :hi:

[Myrina]

20. I've got family in Appleton, Greybnk48!

Be safe!! :hi:

[Greybnk48]

43. Still going this a.m.!!

We're cozy inside, but have about a foot on the ground with 35 mph winds. This is a first for me. We had blizzard conditions for hours before bed yesterday which is not that uncommon. But I've never gotten up in the a.m. with it still going strong! My doggies are not happy. It's hard to tinkle when the snow's over your apparati!! I hope your family is snug Myrina. :hi:

[Sabriel]

31. Howdy, neighbor

Waving at you from Appleton. We're all cozy inside (and not looking forward to shoveling tomorrow).

[Greybnk48]

44. Howdy Sabriel.

I was shocked to see this a.m. that the blizzard was still going strong!! It looks like we're not going to completely dig out until tomorrow when the wind stops. Stay warm and safe!! :hi:

[Sabriel]

54. I've done all I can do inside at this point

So I'm bundling up to try to shovel out. The plow just went by and left three feet of snow at the bottom of the driveway. Sigh.

[Greybnk48]

59. We no sooner finished and the plow went by again.

2 foot plug in driveway and sidewalk (on our corner).

[Hardrada]

15. I recall a Halloween Blizzard in 1966 in St. Paul. In 1974 we

moved down to Iowa. We did not, needless to say, escape General Winter!!

[kickysnana]

34. Pictures Halloween Blizzard 1991

[Hardrada]

38. I had a car I had to dig out too in 1966. Those pictures look

very familiar!

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. Welp, Time To Get Out There And Gnash Some Teeths

*grumble*grumble*grumble*grumble*

[Texasgal]

17. The high was 70 degrees here today!

My suntan is looking great!!!

Hope you survive! :p

[tpsbmam]

58. Now that's just plain nasty! Take your tan self & you get a time out...1 min per year of age

But you have to do it watching Rush. :evilgrin:

:rofl: :rofl:

[madrchsod]

18. bud grant on the sideline..

the players with no heaters..playing the bears or packers.....ya, that was nfc central division football...

[jwirr]

19. Went to a benefit for a child tonight - we do not have the snow you

are getting up here in the Arrowhead but the wind is starting and it is supposed to be 17 below wind chill in the morning. Thankful to be home and pray that all the homeless have found some safe place to shelter.

[CatholicEdHead]

21. Still not as bad as the 1996/1997 winter in Grand Forks, ND

which led to the flooding. There were many storms like this back then.

[wellstone dem]

22. I remember both the 78 and the 91 Blizzards

I've been spending the afternoon talking with people I grew up with about those two blizzards and remembering where we were stuck or what we did. Many from my small rural neighborhood were stuck at other people's homes because the 78 blizzard happened on a school day. One of the neighbor dads had to make 3 trips to pick up all the kids in his VW bug, which the parents had concluded could make it through 2 days later, because of the engine in the rear and had a higher rise or so I was told. My niece has been emailing me wanting to be sure this one is worse than the 91 blizzard.

Here in St. Cloud, it hasn't been great, but only because of the wind. We got much less snow.

[southernyankeebelle]

23. Funny here where I live in Tn they close the school early just incase the snow was called for.

[emmadoggy]

25. We're getting hammered here in the NE corner of Iowa too.

Though, I have to say, I wouldn't want to be in Winona or Wabasha. They are really taking a wallop. They are supposed to get 2 feet.

We had freezing rain overnight here last night, so we had a nice coating of ice this morning before the snow started mid-morning. And it started out right at full-speed-ahead and never let up all day. Not sure how much we have right now, but we are supposed to end up with around a foot. Lucky compared to folks slightly north of us. Although we already had 8 inches on the ground from a storm last Friday, so it will be plenty for my taste. The wind is crazy right now. Total white out.

Definitely a real thumper of a storm!

[Raschel]

26. The game won't be on till Mon night. Too much snow on the metrodome.

Remember it ripped during the Halloween snowstorm? lol What a deal we got with that.

:hi:

[Bozita]

30. Giants at Vikings? Scheduled for 1pm ET

[Greybnk48]

45. Cancelled. The Giants are stranded in St. Louis.

The game is going to be played Monday night.

[Bozita]

56. Game will be played in Detroit on Monday. Tickets are FREE.

[Greybnk48]

60. WoW!! How fun is that for people who can't otherwise

afford to see a game! Very cool.

[Raschel]

27. We went out twice today too. It's better than being out there tomorrow when the wind chill is -30°

[Morning Dew]

28. Not everything is shut down, MM.

Metro Mobility ( paratransit) is still up and running. They haven't been shut down in at least 10 years.

And the Vikes play on Monday now... too much worry over snow on the Metrodome.


Waving atcha from NordEast Minneapolis.

:)

[MineralMan]

49. Yay! for Metro Mobility. They do a great job.

[redirish28]

29. Glad to "read" it's calming down in your neck of the woods... PA is getting ready for it.

[Jackpine Radical]

32. Couple of feet here.

I plowed off the first foot this morning with my trusty old John Deere 790 4wd diesel & will get the rest tomorrow. I expect parts of the driveway will be drifted pretty high. It's 1100 feet down to the county road, so it takes half a day to dig out from one like this.

[scarletwoman]

36. When you're done would you please come up this way?

I couldn't reach my regular snowplow guy today.

:D

[MineralMan]

39. Nice to have the right equipment. I dream of owning

a bobcat with a loader. If I did, I'd go from driveway to driveway on my block after the snowplows had been through and remove the piles at the ends of each driveway, just to be neighborly. I don't have one, though. I do clear the piles for a couple of neighbors who aren't able to shovel that mess.

[Jackpine Radical]

40. I remember times when I lived in Superior

and we would get one of those car-burying snows off the lake. People would band together in informal shoveling crews and go around digging each other out. Roving I also remember walking across the town's main intersection, Belknap & Tower, on snowshoes.

[al bupp]

33. I'm from VT, and all I can think is...

You lucky bastards! No snow in my neck of the woods yet, and rain in the forcast, yuck.

[tekisui]

41. "The Giants will get here in time to play the Vikings at noon."

Well, your predictions were a little off. The game has already been pushed to Monday, and now the Metrodome has collapsed.

[Bluenorthwest]

42. In reality, the dome failed, no game today

Too much snow. Not safe to play.

[Greybnk48]

46. Yikes. The Metrodome has collapsed! Thanks for

posting that. We had not heard as yet. They could play at the new Gopher stadium I suppose, but maybe not on short notice. Wow!

[bullwinkle428]

47. Wind chills will be at dangerous levels, and the Giants didn't

bring their cold-weather gear (anticipating indoor play)!

[Greybnk48]

52. What a mess! Curious to see how this plays out.

I do't think anyone should play when it's -5 to -10 or more. But the old frozen tundra thing and all. I've gotten frost bite at a Packer game on my cheeks, the only skin that was exposed. I won't go anymore unless the temp is reasonable (at least 20+).

[MineralMan]

48. It finally got to 0 degrees, so I went out and shoveled about 14" of

drifted snow off the walk from my house to the city sidewalk. After a brief rest, I'll get the snowblower out and finish what I did twice yesterday and take the driveway and city sidewalks down to the pavement. I share a driveway with a neighbor, but the house is being rehabbed, so I'll clear that side and the neighboring sidewalk too, so it'll be easier for the workers to get to the house tomorrow.

In the meantime, everyone who didn't do anything about snow removal yesterday are out shoveling, since the snow is too deep for the average snowblower to cut through. It's not going to be pretty for them, and I'm so glad I removed snow twice during the storm. I'll be finished in about an hour today.

Drifts are up to 4' deep in some spots on this residential street and the street itself is a complete mess. They may plow it today, but it might have to wait until tomorrow. This is a big deal. Oh, well. If you live in a cold winter state, you have to deal with stuff like this once in a while. Uff da!

[MindPilot]

50. In a show of solidarity, I think I'll go to the beach.

Should be high 70's to low 80's today.

:hide:

[AndrewP]

51. They NFL game will probably be in Detroit or Indy actually

But yeah, this is the Minnesota way. I just did my normal activities yesterday.

It's funny, I'm long distance dating a girl that lives in Dallas and she is complaining that it's in the mid 30's at night. LOL! Geez, I don't think I'll see 30 degrees again until March!

Good times.

[coalition_unwilling]

53. There may be 'wailing and gnashing of teeth' but

I doubt there will be much if any 'rending of garments' :)

Moved away from Wisconsin to sunny Southern California. I definitely do not miss the winters there. Stay warm

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

55. glad to have left Minnesota

It's not the snow so much. It's the cold. I went to college there and stayed a year after graduating. It's just not reasonable for a person to live in that sort of cold. Especially without a car, and with not-that-great public transportation. So many times I was ready to just collapse and let the cold take me away whilst waiting for the bus...

Here in Philly it's 55 and drizzling, and I wouldn't want it any other way. When I first moved to Minneapolis I was amazed that people could live like that. Now that I'm gone, I look back in amazement that I could have lived like that!

[malaise]

57. DIdn't the roof collapse

at the Vikings home?

[BoneDaddy]

61. DAmn I have Nicks and Bradshaw on my fantasy league

what if they cannot make up the game!!!!! Lol

[comtec]

62. Figures... I move here and we get a massive blizzard!!!

and i thought Holland was cold!
actually The Netherlands is pretty mild, weather wise.
Here...ZOMG~!!!
That freezing rain nearly killed me!
I was driving to a job in Austin, and had to stop 3 times to clear ICE from my windshield.
Oh well, got to see the Spam Museum.
Then i had to scrape ice off yesterday AFTER i brushed the snow off! LoL this is nuts!
And this morning, dig my car out of a 3 foot drift from the plow.

That said, goin out in my roomie's monster $x$ was wild fun! Plowing through drifts like they weren't there. We ended up helpin 3 people get out of the snow, and followed a 4th home he kept gettin stuck so much LOL. Helped a neighbor today get out, so i'm feeling pretty good actually.

Something about Minnesotans, is the general feeling of being a part of a community, the friendliness.

I hated the Netherlands because the people are cold.
Here, The people are pleasantly warm :)

Crazy, the weather is awful... but I just might stay here anyway.

originally from California, by way of the netherlands XD