Thundersnow

For those of you not in the midwest, this is the reason I’m staying home today. Also, this was taken about 45 minutes ago (yes, it seems the time in my camera is wrong), and we’re only about half way through the storm.

While I was writing this the power flickered, went out for about 30 seconds, then came back on. While I would still have had hot water and the ability to cook food, I would have been without heat had the power stayed out, so those 30 seconds were a bit nerve wracking.

Looking outside, my footprints from when I went out to take that photo have pretty much been obscured and now just look like slight dents in the ground.

For reference purposes I’ll quote the National Weather Service‘s warnings for today. One of them even notes that there may be thundersnow. There is no snow more hardcore than THUNDERSNOW. \m/

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
848 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2008

MIZ063-068>070-191600-
ST. CLAIR-LIVINGSTON-OAKLAND-MACOMB-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PORT HURON...HOWELL...PONTIAC...WARREN
848 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2008

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT...

SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE DURING THE MORNING
HOURS...WITH ONE TO TWO INCH SNOWFALL RATES CONTINUING. SLEET WILL
ALSO LIKELY MIX IN AT TIMES...ALONG WITH A POSSIBLE RUMBLE OF
THUNDER. ROADS ARE SNOW COVERED AND SLIPPERY....TRAVEL IS
STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.

$$

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
642 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2008

...VERY HEAVY SNOW WILL IMPACT SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN TODAY...

.A STRONG UPPER LEVEL WAVE WILL QUICKLY TRACK THROUGH LOWER
MICHIGAN ON TODAY...WITH THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW TRACKING
THROUGH NORTHERN OHIO. THIS SOUTHERN LOW TRACK WILL LOCK IN THE
COLD AIR IN PLACE...SUPPORTING AN ALL SNOW EVENT FOR THE MAJORITY
OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. HEAVY SNOW WILL TAPER OFF TO LIGHT SNOW
THIS AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR CAN BE
EXPECTED THIS MORNING...REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO A QUARTER MILE
OR LESS. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE
EXPECTED ACROSS THE MAJORITY OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...WITH LOWER
AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES EXPECTED TOWARD THE OHIO BORDER...WHERE
SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL MIX IN AT TIMES.

MIZ053-060>063-068>070-075-076-191945-
/O.CON.KDTX.WS.W.0008.000000T0000Z-081219T2100Z/
SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE-GENESEE-LAPEER-ST. CLAIR-LIVINGSTON-OAKLAND-
MACOMB-WASHTENAW-WAYNE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SAGINAW...OWOSSO...FLINT...LAPEER...
PORT HURON...HOWELL...PONTIAC...WARREN...ANN ARBOR...DETROIT
642 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2008

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4
PM EST THIS AFTERNOON.

HEAVY SNOW WITH INTENSE SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR
ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING...BEFORE TAPERING OFF TO LIGHT SNOW
THIS AFTERNOON. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO A QUARTER MILE OR
LESS IN THE HEAVY SNOW. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO
10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED.

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST
THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN
YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

$$