Halloween Snowstorm follow up
As many of you already know, on September 29 & 30 we had a "Nor Easter" come through Massachusetts and dropped an unexpected 11" snowfall.
Normally in this part of the country we simply take an 11" snowfall in stride and life goes on, but this storm was a bit unusual and it caused wide spread damage such as not seen in this region in over 100 yrs.
Being early in the season the temperatures were still relatively warm as far as winter storms go, with temps in the lower 30's & high 20's. To make matters worse, the wind was dead calm so as the snow fell in huge wet flakes it tended to stick immediately upon landing with not so much as a breeze to disturb it. Couple that to the fact that the trees were all still in fully clad with leaves and that was a recipe for a dissaster. Normally as snow falls on tree leaves the leaves blow in the wind and shake most of the snow off, but such was not the case. With the absence of wind the leaves served to increase the snow capture area on tree limbs which strained above and beyond the breaking point.
Couple that to the fact that all the overhead electrical and utility wires were also loaded beyond their capacity. Within hours tree limbs started falling everywhere, knocking down power lines and causing a major blackout to nearly all the state. In response the power company had line service crews and tree trimming crews come in from as far away as Tenn & Ga to assist in the cleanup, and even then power was not fully restored in some areas until Saturday, Nov.12, a full 14 days after the storm.
Notice how the snow completely filled the wires on a chain link fence making it appear as a solid wall.
Here is a photo of that same fence this morning without snow so you can see there were no plastic slats in the wire or bushes behind it to hold the snow, the snow actually piled up on the wire.
Even today, as we drive around the neighborhood it almost looks like the aftermath of a combat zone with huge piles of tree limbs stacked at the curb in front of nearly every house and yet, the worst is not over yet. Many, many trees still have huge branches that were weakened and cracked by that storm and now, with each little rain storm the wind is still knocking limbs down causing power outages.
Fortunately at my house we only had two little power glitches during the storm, the worst of which lasted about 90 seconds and two days later our power was out for two hours while the power company was replacing a transformer on our street, but according to the experts, this may prove to be a long cold winter until they can get the whole system back to full operation again.
I would like to expess a special thankyou to all those electrical linesmen & women who risk life and limb to respond under those adverse conditions.....
And while I am at it, another special thanks to our city snow removal crews...Note that with an 11" snow coming 3 weeks before snow is really expected, they still managed to keep our streets clean throughout the entire storm.
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nanny98
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