Here we go - first snowstorm for the December Holidays
Hi all,
Fitting that as a new snowstorm is brewing over the midwest and could start impacting Chicago and the East Coast as the weekend approaches...I thought we could lighten the mood by sharing the funny and worst-of-the-worst holiday travel stories.
I hope the storm fizzles to flurries, but just in case, we might all need to have a light heart as the weekend begins.
First snowstorm of the year .............. in the US. Gentle reminder mate, there are places outside the US experiencing snowstorm. My first one of the season was in Germany, and saw my flight FRA-DXB divert to DUS, sit on the ground for 3 hours and then make it's way back to FRA.
I'm always amazed that the weather people can't get the next twelve hours right with any accuracy beyond guessing most of the time still try to predict eight days out.
I'm always amazed that the weather people can't get the next twelve hours right with any accuracy beyond guessing most of the time still try to predict eight days out.
A little exaggerated...
That comment is probably better suited to those predicting earthquakes.
Most forecasters use models as a guide in predicting weather. Models are not a perfect science of course but add value to simply guessing tonights forecast.
First snowstorm of the year .............. in the US. Gentle reminder mate, there are places outside the US experiencing snowstorm. My first one of the season was in Germany, and saw my flight FRA-DXB divert to DUS, sit on the ground for 3 hours and then make it's way back to FRA.
Not even in the US. We had a foot in early November and plenty of other places had storms and even blizzard conditions.
I think the post was in reference to it being near Christmas.
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Ok.. I can provide a little more insight..
The problem with this system, as it relates to Chicago, is the positioning of the low.. Circulating the low you have a cold front and associated precipitation band. In the NW cold sector you get lots of nice snow, to far away from the center of the low you just get cold northerly winds.. on the southern flank you get rain, tending to wet snow across the change..
So you can see, when the low is progged to pass pretty much over Chicago a track uncertainty of a few 100 miles can mean the difference between wet and 8 inches of snow for O'Hare.. Expect more certainty when the system clears the rockies and is better assimilated into the models..
Right now the New York forecast is calling for showers Thursday PM into Friday morning with no snow. Temperature is forecasted to stay above freezing. The weekend is suppose to be just party cloudly.
Of course, its 5+ days out. I'd wouldn't tune in until mid week.
Right, just referencing the first snowstorm risk in the US as we near the Christmas holiday.
I've been both blessed and cursed by the snow gods.
Chicago enroute to SD. This one started with the famous UA rolling 15 minute increment delay, that occured around 7 times, that led to a cattle rush boarding. We then sat at the gate for an hour with all passengers aboard, and then made a wandering taxi to the penalty box, for another hour wait. As the captain came back on the PA to tell us the flight was going to be cancelled, and we were headed back to the gate, the frustrated tone in his voice seemed to quell any main-cabin revolt. Spent Christmas in the Hilton, and completed the flight 3 days later.
Chicago enroute to Des Moines. This was about 4 years ago (I think) and the weather had just passed through DSM, and was currently affecting ORD. We landed under fair braking conditions, after one go-around, (Ch. 9 was surprisingly not shut off), and then proceeded to make a mad dash to the regionals. Among the 15 or so flights, and the 100's of PAX hoping for hope's sake, our little CRJ seemed to be the only one that boarded and departed. All the while, my wife and I kept thinking, we're not really THAT lucky, are we? It was close enough to drive (no rentals left, we called), but we did indeed depart.
Again, hope everyone WORLDWIDE experiences smooth air and clear runways this Holiday Season!
Wanna hear a secret? There's more to this country than the east coast and Chicago. We had 6" of snow on the ground at Thanksgiving. I went skiing last week and the base was already 3-4' deep. Plenty of snow has fallen all over the country prior to today.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheikh Yerbooty
First snowstorm of the year .............. in the US. Gentle reminder mate, there are places outside the US experiencing snowstorm. My first one of the season was in Germany, and saw my flight FRA-DXB divert to DUS, sit on the ground for 3 hours and then make it's way back to FRA.
Even if there are other parts of the world with East Coasts and Midwests, the reference to "Chicago" was a strong clue that the OP was talking about the U.S.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KoKoBuddy
Wanna hear a secret? There's more to this country than the east coast and Chicago.
Not when it comes to air travel.
When ORD and NYC get hit by snow, everybody's* f**ked. I've had flights to SoCal get jacked because Chicago and the Northeast took so much of the airline's fleet out of commission.
When the Northwest or even one of the western hubs like SLC or DEN get hit by snow, the system can usually work around it fairly well. (Usually... )
*EDIT: Oops...I guess I should edit to clarify..."People flying in the U.S. are f**ked." Clearly the entire world's population of 7 billion people is not simultaneously f**ked, much as it seems that way during Chicago blizzards.
Not snow, but almost got screwed by a volcano one Christmas.
Day before winter vacation starts a volcano erupts southwest of ANC. Not a big deal at the time although my class (hey I was in elementary school) did go outside and look at the ash plume southwest of us. Didn't think anything more about it.
Flight out at 7pm that night for the lower 48 for Christmas at the relatives. Friends taking to the airport call us around 4:30pm and ask if our flight is still on. We ask why? And that's when we found out about this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_867 Call airline our flight is still on so we head to airport.
Get to airport and flight board shows everything cancelled except our flight. News crews were interviewing passengers (those still flying were asked "aren't you scared to get onboard?"). When we check in, we asked if our flight was still going and get told "yes, because we have to get the plane out of town." Passengers on cancelled flights were up at the counters begging to get on our flight, but being the start of Christmas break everything was full.
Very eerie and unusually quiet on the plane, and it was almost like a sigh of relief once we made it to SEA safely. Flight was supposed to be ANC-SEA-DFW all on the same plane, but they had us get off the plane so they could check it out. Unfortunately the plane they were switching us to went mechanical. And that's when I learned that when they bring the food, drinks, pillows, and blankets from the plane for you to use in the gate area, you are screwed.
Did eventually make it to our final destination several hours late. ANC airport was closed for 3 days.
)
