I suspect that we all flee the settings in which we were raised and we seek something, anything that is just different.

Blast, snow is really great stuff. You can make igloos out of it, slide downhill on it using long boardlike thingies, compact it into spherical projectiles. Packing a heatstroke victim in snow is a recognized first aid measure.....

Oh, wait, you would probably be interested in avalanche clearance using mountain howitzers....

I agree, the walleye fishing is better than bass fishing there!

Accuweather snow hurricane hyperbole may well be justified

Sub zero snow storm with gusts over 60+mph and possible sustained 50mph winds, with the consequent wind chill. Sounds like the the white out conditions you get on the Cairngorm Artic plateau in the winter. Yep that could definitely be considered a 'Snow Hurricane' and a lot of folks are gonna be in for a tough time in the next 48 hours. In fact most folks will probably won't have seen anything like it before. Brrrr a hurricane but without the all the nice warm rain....

There were forecasts that some areas would see hurricane-force winds. If so that's a bit much even by Minnesota standards and worthy of the "snow hurricane" label due to the damage and mayhem such winds can cause if preparations aren't made.

And if such high winds cover a large enough area it's like the problem hurricanes cause: damages, outages and emergency needs over an area of tens of thousands of square miles, with *no* unaffected resources nearby to draw on.

Martin,

I tend to lean in the same direction as you regarding the sensationalizing of winter. Hurricane is such an emotive word. It is only winter.

Thanks for adding a voice of reason.

"Snow hurricane"... what an ugly combination of words!

Sue

I'm jealous.

Looks like we're going to get high winds out of the storm (50 mph gusts) but not much snow.

I've savored every snowflake this winter. And generally much prefer winters to our humid summers.

Being fairly well prepared 365 days a year, I never feel compelled to run to the grocery in a panic.

My gas tank is still topped off from before the first of our February blizzards. And since our power lines are underground, outages are rare. I haven't experienced a weather-related outage since 1994.

Surely some who were not in the habit of preparedness before these kinds of storms hit, take steps to be more prepared in the future. I wonder how many.

The '94 blackouts we experienced because of ice storms and widespread extremely low temperatures, got me into high gear on Preparedness Road.

Best wishes to all affected by whatever storms are raging around the nation, and the world.

From the recent weather reports of snow in Houston you might want to move a little further south!

I'm thinking Key Largo might be nice as I contemplate another 6-12" of snow over the next 36 hours.

I must be a bit slow, I thought we called conditions like the "snow hurricane" by another name, you know, a blizzard? I think the NWS uses winds over 35 mph and/or snow w/visibility below 1/4 mile as the basic criteria. Growing up in the midwest most the blizzards I recall also seem to involve pretty cold temperatures (single digits or below zero) and winds over 60 mph are not uncommon. Gotta love media hype.

- Eric

Right. Isn't this the country where you could lose your way between the barn and the house and not be found until the spring thaw? I understand a long rope strung between the buildings was recommended.