"I will pick up the hook.
You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them
Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them
Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
They want to have fun."
Then, out of the box
Came Thing Two and Thing One!
And they ran to us fast.
They said. "How do you do?
Would you like to shake hands
With Thing One and Thing Two?"
What a lovely way to start the new year right?? Storm 1 and Storm 2... In this case Mother Nature is playing the role of The Cat in the Hat!! Mother Natures version of Thing 1 and Thing 2 is Storm 1 and Storm 2. And in this case the tri-state area are the kids in the book Cat in the Hat.
This past weekend was CRAZY when the weather hit. Thursday was the start of it all.
Storm 1 came running up the SD/ND border, wrecking havoc not only in the Dakota's but MN too. The temperatures were so warm that everything was starting out as rain... and most of it stayed that way in MN. Then same the snow to SD/ND followed by the wind that was "created" by Storm 1's running up to shake North Dakota's hand. By 2pm it was a full on Blizzard across the region. Snow was falling and Wind was blowing.
Storm 1 came running up the SD/ND border, wrecking havoc not only in the Dakota's but MN too. The temperatures were so warm that everything was starting out as rain... and most of it stayed that way in MN. Then same the snow to SD/ND followed by the wind that was "created" by Storm 1's running up to shake North Dakota's hand. By 2pm it was a full on Blizzard across the region. Snow was falling and Wind was blowing.
Many business shut down... including my full time Job... We were instructed to leave at 3pm... kinda crazy!! And I had to head to the station. It took me 45 minutes for a usual 10 minute drive... and mind you it wasn't a very fun one. Blowing snow + Fogging Windshield (inside) + falling snow = Great recipe for disastrous driving conditions.
After the time I spent at the station... The snow was blowing and coming down harder than when I arrived and the drifts "had grown ten sizes that day" (haha Grinch another Seuss reference)! I think everyone of us there had gotten stuck in the piles of snow in the parking lot. Me in particular... I got stuck 4 times... and then was fired from driving and had one of the anchors drive my car home! That was an adventure in its self! We made it to the business outside my apartments... but none-the-less I made it back to my place! (My car is definitely not blizzard proof)
Snap Shots of storm one from Satellite images... IR and H20 vapor.... pretty cool in the IR you can see the "dry slot" forming!
(Dry slot is just a name for the really dry air in between the two fronts of an intense low pressure system!)
Totals from Storm 1 for ND can be found at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=fgf&storyid=61838&source=2. I would put them in here but the format gets messed up. Just a highlight of the totals:
Fargo: 4.6"
Moorhead: 5.2"
New York Mills: 8.5"
Storm 2 was just as fast but we had a little break between were we got to see the light of day for the morning of New Years Eve at least. This storm had more fun shaking the hand of South Dakota but didn't miss the chance to shake North Dakota's too. Storm 2 wasn't as "quick" when it ran so the wind wasn't as fast/hard as Storm 1. The wind was still there but the snow was heavier. By heavy I mean wet... so it didn't blow drifts that "grew ten sizes that day." But it did have the moisture content that produced a lot more snow then we really wanted over New Years.
"That storm wasn't that bad" you say... YES IT WAS! Let me put it into perspective for you. Along with the 25 mph winds there was a snow that was falling about 1" per hour. I drove to work at the start of the storm, parking lot plowed (at the station, no getting stuck this time!!) was there at 5pm... did the 6pm show... went to check on the weather/parking lot/cars... there was already 2-3" of snow on the ground not to mention the drifts that were coming back! A bunch of us decided it would be smart to park our cars out front of the station so we had easier access to the road. This proved a success and I believe everyone made it out with out getting stuck. However, I wasn't so lucky when I got to my boyfriends.
Drove all the way across town confronted by at least 12 snow plows in 1 1/2 way traffic and I get stuck at the entrance to his apartment. *sigh* That's my luck. So thanks to a Good Samaritan I got pushed out onto the street again... shoveled out part of the drift and got a running start into the parking lot... I made it! (but i never want to do that again!)
Here is a picture of the drift beside Jon's garage. That is straight on from my eye level. Yes it is taller than I am!! Sorry no cool satellite pictures of storm 2... That's what I get for not having Internet!!
(Note to self: get Internet ASAP... you can't handle not having access to weather information 24/7)
Here is the link for the storm totals of Storm 2: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=fgf&storyid=61932&source=2.
The storms caused all major highways and county roads out of Fargo to be closed... All of them. Not on of them opened until 1/2/11. Pretty intense.
With that being said,
Storm 1 helped 2010 go to bed with a bang
And Storm 2 brought the New Year in with the same!!!
Happy 2011!!
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