Things COULD be worse!

[eolafan]

Well, it's now a "balmy" plus two degrees[:(] with wind chill factors of about minus 30 degrees[xx(] here in beautiful Aurora, IL....BUT things could be much worse...consider the current state of affiairs in Indiana and in Ohio for example.[;)] I have a fellow who works for me who lives near Michigan City, IN who has had over 30 inches of snow in the past week[:0], and here in Aurora (about an hours drive away from Michigan City) we have a big ZERO inches of snow[8D], but damn cold! Like I said...it chould be a whole lot worse....HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!!![:D]

[jeaton]

Just looked at the 10 day for SE WI. Heat wave next week with high's in the 40s. I can stay inside and warm until then, but I'll extend my condolences to those who have to be working out there.

Jay

[MP173]

Eola:

The snow out here is not that bad. We got about 25 inches here in Valpo and the roads have been ok. But this cold weather....I am freezing.

ed

[MP173]

Weather update...it is now up to 4 degrees and sunny.

I took advantage of the sun and snow and took photos of CP trains 534 EB and 535 WB here at Valpo depot. Perfect conditions with the sun, snow and well preserved depot.

Both trains looked healthy...534 had 122 cars adn 535 had 96 cars. Unlike CN's, both seemed adequately powered.

ed

[JoeKoh]

Deshler was a balmy 7 degrees. the rr park was snowed in but the alley to the north was plowed out. great viewing for a train coming down from toledo going west to defiance
matt liked the view
stay safe
Joe

[eolafan]

Good to hear things are stil "percolating" (some of you youngsters under 45 or 50 years old are unlikely to know what that term means in this age of almost 100% drop coffee makers...including at this house) out there in foamer land. I am half tempted (make that completely tempted) to go trackside this afternoon in the bright sun, but my better half would not fully understand, it being Christmas Eve and all. Well, there will (hopefully) be all kinds of other days. Oh, by the way, the temps here in Aurora have skyrocketed to a really high 5 above zero! Stay warm all.

[Anonymous]

Haven't seen any snow out in my area yet - grass is still green, we've had a little bit of frost in the early mornings on occasion.

It's not going to be a white Christmas this year - nor has it been for many years.

[Anonymous]

2feet of snow and below zero last night,dropping a couple more degrees tonight, here south of Henderson,Kentucky.People stuck on I-64 for over 24 hours in some cases.

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by foureasy

2feet of snow and below zero last night,dropping a couple more degrees tonight, here south of Henderson,Kentucky.People stuck on I-64 for over 24 hours in some cases.

It's not any better east of you,this one basicly followed the Ohio east.
We got about 6-8" of good ole white,wet stuff,then rain,sleet,ice and then about
6-7" more of the wet stuff.
People in Indiana,just across the river and slighly north,got up to 30" of it.
We've been out shoveling,but with the snow drifts,and the mounds from the
plows,I HAVE to keep an eye out for CW. Remember she's only 4' 7".
I don't want to lose her that way.[:D]

Just checked the thermometer,we have a slight heat wave going,it's 21 degrees
at 3:45pm(est) Supposed to get back down to about 7 tonight and a little warmer
Christmas Day.[:)]

[Modelcar]

...Report from central Indiana: 4:30 pm...Here in Muncie we received about 8" of the stuff by yesterday morning and then it was gone. But cold has come now and this morning we recorded -8 degrees at 8:00am. Was out and over town a bit today and noted on the way back we had a reading of 3 degrees with bright sunshine mid afternoon. This has been our first real touch of Winter with snow. Just had a skiff 3 times before this season.
Merry Christmas to all.....

[MP173]

Modelcar:

I saw in the paper that Liberty (near Connersville) had 31 inches. That is a lot of snow.

ed

[tree68]

Here in the snowbelt of northern New York we had, as of this morning - zero snow. High yesterday was 54, and I got 1.2" of rain at my house - it would have been a foot of snow...

About 20 miles south of me they are forecast to get 12+" of lake effect over the next day or so. That's nothing to them, though. We're talking a place that got 51" one night....

Doubt I'll see any trains over the holidays - I'm planning on staying home.

Have a good one, all.

[edblysard]

Ok, you think its bad there?

It is SNOWING in Houston, Texas...
Not a lot, and the ground is too warm for it to stick, but all the houses have snow on the roofs...

You guys can keep this stuff...pretty, but it is making a god awful mess out of the roads, and Houstonions cant drive worth a darn on warm, dry streets, they are running off the road, and over each other, by the dozens on the ice and sleet...

Its 29 in Katy, 31 in Houston, 30 in my backyard...and it is getting colder, and will stay below freezing for 24 to 36 hours...

Yuck.

My wifes cat refuses to go outside, and I dont blame her in the least...

Merry Christmas to all of you...

Ed

[FThunder11]

Sounds a little COLD

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Ok, you think its bad there?



You guys can keep this stuff...pretty, but it is making a god awful mess out of the roads, and Houstonions cant drive worth a darn on warm, dry streets, they are running off the road, and over each other, by the dozens on the ice and sleet...



Merry Christmas to all of you...

Ed

I was in Houston in April of '82;had come to see my dad in La.,and we decided
to make a trip in that way. It started to rain,we got stuck in one OF the worst
'traffic jams'I've ever been in. I had to look hard to see if there were any other 'idiots'
from Ky.[:0]

Is it that bad[?]

And to think that some of Louisville's road's are ranked in the Top Ten Worst
in the Nation!![:D]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

[Modelcar]

...Yes, MP173...there are reports of up to 33" in southern Indiana....and now the cold has moved in...It's 10:25 pm as I write and now the temp is 10 below 0....

Merry Christmas to all....Santa will be freezing

[louisnash]

My parents just got there electricity back on at about 10:30 tonight in Pendleton Co. KY. They have been out since just after midnight on Wednesday. I would have given anything to have had the snow. Not what Indiana had. But snow is a whole lot better to drive on. We had about 3 inches thick ice on our cars here. It took an hour of the cars running to get the ice off the windshield. About 2 inches snow was all we got.The trees all over town are suffering bad with all the ice on it. If you go about 20 miles north of us, they had mainly snow.

Now over in Highland Co. Ohio just about the whole county is out of electricity. Weatherman is calling for 5 to 10 below for our area tonight.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Brian and family (KY)

[mustanggt]

QUOTE: My parents just got there electricity back on at about 10:30 tonight in Pendleton Co. KY. They have been out since just after midnight on Wednesday.

That sucks!
Anyway, here in Massachusetts the weathers been good to us. Not much snow, which is good considering our latitude.

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by louisnash

My parents just got there electricity back on at about 10:30 tonight in Pendleton Co. KY. They have been out since just after midnight on Wednesday. I would have given anything to have had the snow. Not what Indiana had. But snow is a whole lot better to drive on. We had about 3 inches thick ice on our cars here. It took an hour of the cars running to get the ice off the windshield. About 2 inches snow was all we got.The trees all over town are suffering bad with all the ice on it. If you go about 20 miles north of us, they had mainly snow.

Now over in Highland Co. Ohio just about the whole county is out of electricity. Weatherman is calling for 5 to 10 below for our area tonight.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Brian and family (KY)

WOW,Brian,sorry to hear about that! I knew Bardstown & part of Spencer Co.
was out,but didn't know the other.
Our 'revised' forecast is calling for about the lower temps,you mentioned.
Man;two sets of "long underware"is beginning to be too much!![:D]
"For ALL YOU PEOPLE in warmer "Climes","USINS'"around here',AIN'T'
used to those Cold Temps!!!! Maybe not beach weather,but warmer than
what we have.
I don't want to do either;but,would rather shovel sand,than 'snow and ice'![xx(]

[Anonymous]

I actually live in worse. Or as we like to call it northeast Ohio. We love our Lake Effect snow. It's was crazy at all the malls today since the roads wre so bad this week everyone waited it out. My sister's boyfreind is out chisling his car out of the ice. He's been stranded at our house because the roads were to bad.
Andrew

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FThunder11

Sounds a little COLD

HOW ABOUT A LOT COLD!!![:D]

In our area,in the winter;our average low temp. is about 14 degrees.
Granted,to some people that is not cold. BUT,when you are used to
25-35 degrees in winter,and little,or no snow;along with FREEZING
WEATHER and you get things like this every 10 years;well,we like
to gripe!
To all used to it;it's your's!
To those not,please join the club!!!

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by george745

I actually live in worse. Or as we like to call it northeast Ohio. We love our Lake Effect snow. It's was crazy at all the malls today since the roads wre so bad this week everyone waited it out. My sister's boyfreind is out chisling his car out of the ice. He's been stranded at our house because the roads were to bad.
Andrew

CW & I have a 'nephew' who lives in Cleveland;talks about that stuff in the
winter all the time. This time,he made it back to Louisville for Christmas.
He's already said ,he wasn't looking forward to driving back after the New
Year, Hopes for a BIG 'Thaw'!!![:)]

[Anonymous]

As of right now in Newton Iowa, it is a balmy 21 degrees F. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 30's. It has been so cold the temperature in my house has been about 61 degrees.
Nice to sleep in but makes for very cold feet(even with socks on).[:D]

[wcfan4ever]

Amazing how most of you are south of me here in Manitowoc, WI and we only have a good three inches! Sure the average high for the day was around 0 the last few days and lows dipped in the -20's but I was hoping for more snow than cold. I wish we would have got what everyone is talking about. It just doesn't know what to do. But just when I dont want it, we will get hit hard...living on the lake plays a big part of this. When everyone else's snow is going away, ours will just start!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!....NOW TO HEAD TRACKSIDE!

[jeaton]

As Dave reports, snow situation in central and southern Wisconsin is very bad. Down hill and cross country ski trails and snowmobile trails are really hurting.

Maybe someone could get the railroads to haul some snow in here. Beats getting it the usual way-no driveways to shovel. LOL

Rumor has it that edblysard used a weather encyclopedia and some old videos from the weather channel to explain the Houston white stuff to the kids.

Reminds me of the winter of '84-'85 in Lexington, KY. I and about 100 co-workers from northern climes were showing locals how to drive in 10 inches of snow and bragging how "it was nothing". Thing is about snowfalls in the Ohio valley and south is that snow removal equipment is almost non-existant. Seems like the view is that Mother Nature put the snow here and she will take it away. But, as everybody knows, she is going to take her own sweet time doing it!!

If you are in the middle of it Things COULD be worse-BUT NOT MUCH.

Anyway, for those of us on the "northside" the days ARE getting longer.

Hang in there!

Jay

[JoeKoh]

yeah my wifes aunt and uncle in columbus have been without power since thursday.(ouch)
stay safe
Joe

[rvos1979]

Yep, It's been cold the last few days, have had to plug my truck in to make starting easier. Thursday night was about -5 when I went to start my truck at work, found out they turned off the power to the pole, and fumigated the rest of the lot!

Just as long as we don't get any -30 degree days, I can live with it, just have to put on the insulated bibs. Would like some snow, none on the ground in Madison, WI, but beats having to sweep out switches.

Randall Vos
WSOR Engineer

[M636C]

Normal Christmas (Boxing Day) weather here in Sydney Australia!

25 degrees (celcius), fine, sunny, clear and the big Sydney-Hobart (Tasmania) yacht race has just started, with more than 100 yachts sailing down the harbour, watched by hundreds of smaller boats!

We don't miss White Christmases here!

Peter

[mloik]

Damnation! All we got in the Sierra Nevada was sun. No snow fell, but we were able to snowshoe, ski, and dog-sled on the snow that had fallen a month earlier (at 8,000' elev.).

Hope everyone had a great holiday. Back to work tomorrow.

Michael

[eolafan]

Wow, isn't it interesting that two things seem to always get people together in a discussion...railroads and weather (forget about politics and religion, they are off limits for the time being). Well, here in Aurora, IL it is a fairly cold plus 13 degrees and it is supposed to get to the mid to high 20's today and as high as 50 or higher by end of week....hooray for my overworked furnace. Stay warm everybody and be really careful out there on Friday night (New Years Eve!)