winter storm 2005

just about everyone in the eastern half of the country has been hit by the big storm coming through... here's what weather.com has to say for us today: (i'm in middlesex county, NJ)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service
...BERKS PA-BUCKS PA-CARBON PA-CHESTER PA-HUNTERDON NJ-LEHIGH PA- MERCER NJ-MIDDLESEX NJ-MONROE PA-MONTGOMERY PA-MORRIS NJ- NORTHAMPTON PA-SOMERSET NJ-SUSSEX NJ-WARREN NJ- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF... ALLENTOWN... BETHLEHEM... NEW BRUNSWICK... PERTH AMBOY... READING AND TRENTON 1141 AM EST SAT JAN 22 2005

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ MAINTAINS A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS REGION. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 18 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY THE TIME THE STORM ENDS.

A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE AREA TODAY INTO SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW HAS ARRIVED OVER EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, AND ALL OF NEW JERSEY AND IT WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING.

TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL BECOME EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND ALL UNNECESSARY TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED ONCE THE HEAVY SNOW BEGINS. FOLLOW THE DIRECTION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND POLICE IN YOUR AREA. DRIVING CONDITIONS SHOULD START IMPROVING LATER SUNDAY.

THE UPCOMING WINTER STORM WILL HAVE TWO PHASES. THE FIRST PHASE WILL FEATURE VERY HEAVY SNOW THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING WHERE MOST OF THE ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FALL SO HEAVILY THAT NEAR WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY WITH RATES REACHING ONE TO TWO INCHES PER HOUR. THE SECOND PHASE OCCURRING OVERNIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING WILL FEATURE LIGHTER SNOW, BUT CONSIDERABLY STRONGER WINDS. THIS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF WHAT IS EXPECTED TO BE A VERY LIGHT AND FLUFFY SNOW. THIS MAY CAUSE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES.

ANOTHER FACTOR WILL BE THE VERY LOW WIND CHILLS. AS WINDS INCREASE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY, WIND CHILL VALUES WILL BE NEAR 5 BELOW ZERO.

PEOPLE WHO FIND IT NECESSARY TO VENTURE OUTSIDE SHOULD WEAR MULTIPLE LAYERS OF CLOTHING, GLOVES AND A HAT. LIMIT THAT OUTDOOR TIME TO A MINIMUM. PETS WHO ARE KEPT OUTDOORS WILL REQUIRE, AT A MINIMUM, A STRONG AND WELL INSULATED SHELTER TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE COLD, WIND AND SNOW AND ACCESS TO PLENTY OF UNFROZEN WATER. THE MOST HUMANE THING TO DO IS TO BRING YOUR PETS INDOORS....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in light of that, and in light of the fact that i have a digital camera and i LOVE snow... and we're supposed to get a foot of it in the next several hours, consider me your NJ winter storm picture place :-) lol...

every hour or so i'll put a few more pics up of what it looks like from being snowed into my house... noon pictures posted shortly... enjoy! :-P