There's survival and there's comfort. Comfort food for sheltering in is a big part of it.

We're approaching things a little differently. Just placed an order for Thai delivery. An extra big order so there will be leftovers tomorrow.

I have friends who eat out so much -- breakfast and lunch during the work week and often dinner -- that they don't keep much on hand. They wouldn't starve eating what's in their kitchen but these storms bring out the urge, and time at home, for a big traditional breakfast and some yummy dinner.

This particular storm is hitting on the weekend, when a lot of people normally do their grocery shopping. And it's also the weekend a lot of peops would also be buying food for Christmas.

This storm could be so substantial that people won't want to drive anywhere all weekend. So get out now. We've had so many forecasts for snow in recent years that didn't pan out that even the forecasters seemed slow to dare state that this thing likely would really be big.

"The snowpocalypse is upon us."

Reader comment on a weather blog. Pretty funny.

It's about 75F here and we aren't expecting it to get really cold until Sunday. The word I hear was that it might, just might, go below 30F. I might have to chip the ice off my birdbath. That said I hate anything below 60F and start freezing in place at 40F. So anything below 30F is bitterly cold for me and mine.

So I checked to make sure I have enough:

Old sheets and towels to cover the vegetation.

Spare propane to run the portable heater, lantern and backup stove. Also made sure I knew where the appropriate pots, coffee pot to use on the stove and mantles for the lantern are.

Double checked my reserve of extreme cold weather clothing. Poly and poly/wool long johns. Gloves and liners. Liner socks and wool overs. Bomber type hat. Coats. I'm good to the single digits with clothing I have. Just because I live in Florida and have the metabolism of a reptile doesn't mean I always lived here.

I'm laying extra water so I'm covered if the wells freeze or we lose power and the pumps don't work. Also have a good supply of dry peat moss to use as absorbent and cover in a composting toilet.

Cash on hand in case the telcom/satellite credit card system fails.

Spare heavy duty garbage bags and paper towels on hand.

Cell phone charging and backup power available.

Battery powered radio works and has spare batteries.

3 hour old Satellite Photo of Eastern CONUS

Has anyone else seen the movie 'The Day After Tommorow'.

Kind of looks like the Snowicane of '93, aka Blizzard of the Century.

Calm as can be out right now. Can smell the approaching snow. My pup's wondering where the rest of her sled team are.

Today was a good day to exercise the Bug Out Bike. It was a little cool so long sleeve jersey and tights on a nice thirty mile spin up to Ojai and back. It was just frigid enough to avoid overheating....

I will watch the Weather Channel tonight to see how you all are doing...

It started here around 2pm, and we got a quick 6" of powdery stuff. I shoveled that off the driveway to keep the job manageable tomorrow. It has slowed down to flurries, but we are supposed to get another 6-10" overnight.

Fire in the woodstove, no travel plans.

They've increased our forecast in the city to 16-24."

This is extraordinary. They're saying it could be one of our top 5 storms on record.

Dagny,

You sound almost giddy with excitement! I've driven in the DC area when it snows, a scary ordeal. I'm about 120 miles north of you just above the Delaware state line.

I wonder if this storm is Mother Nature's way of telling Congress to get out of town?

I was a teenager during the '66 storm that brought nearly 3 feet of windriven snow on Christmas eve. It completley buried our Corvair.

Have fun with the pup. I may have to keep track of my JRT by the mole-like tunnel he'll make if the snow is higher than his head.

Be safe!

Andy

Thanks, Andy. Giddy's the word, alright!

Was outside around 11:00p with neighbors and our dogs marvelling at how quickly the snow transforms the city. It's quiet, beautiful and much friendlier as its a shared experience for everyone and mostly a welcome one as it's so rare.

Convenient that its hitting on a Saturday. No commuter rush. We can walk in the middle of our neighborhood streets and there will be very few cars even attempting to go anywhere.

And it's only going to get worse/better as the day goes.

We'll be walking (snowshoeing) on the Mall later so if you see a Samoyed on the news I'm the one at the other end of the leash.