Monday, October 31, 2011

Late October snowstorm in the northeast





These two short videos represent what has been happening here in northwest New Jersey and other areas of the northeast and mid-atlantic since Oct. 29. I believe that the first video was shot on Saturday (10/29) sometime during the afternoon or early evening.

In my little corner of NW NJ, we had about five inches of heavy wet snow on Saturday, most of it in the span of about five or six hours during the middle of the day. However, areas just a few miles away got twice as much snow.

I took a drive around my town and near by towns just now. As I drove down my street to get some gas this morning, downed tree limbs were the rule. Peoples yards, including my own, are littered with downed tree limbs. You hope that they don't fall on your house, car, or power lines.

Of course, the trouble comes when limbs or trees fell on power lines. I saw some downed wires a couple of miles from my house, along the side of the road. As I drove to slightly higher and more rural areas, I passed three or four roads that were closed due to downed power lines. Forestry crews have to work with the downed trees before the utility crews can begin to work. Yet, I saw signs of progress. Early yesterday morning, the guy that plowed out my driveway told me that most of the nearest commercial strip was without power. This morning, they were powered. And I saw at least two caravans of utility trucks, and a third was parked at a lunch spot.

I am only writing about my corner of New Jersey. There are similar stories (or worse) from Maryland to Maine.

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