This is our first winter in Boston, and I was expecting a good deal more snow than I’m used to seeing in the DC area. However, the fact that they’re calling this one “potentially historic” for Boston is making me nervous. Based on previous years, what can we expect from this blizzard?
We’ve got a few gallons of water, and are getting our dishwashing and laundry out of the way now in case we lose power later. Our place is rather well insulated, also, so we plan to crank up the heat in a few hours so we’ve got more of a buffer.
I’m particularly interested in what kind of municipal support and/or flubs to expect. Are the Boston area utilities like DC’s Pepco, where weather-related outages were common and very long lasting? We live in Somerville and use NSTAR for our electric.
I was in school in Boston during the blizzard of 2013. No loss of power or water. All the streets and railroads were closed to traffic, but we had a lot of fun with that. I got involved in a huge snowball fight, ~50 people standing on the sidewalk, another ~50 on the Green Line tracks throwing snowballs across the street.
Honestly, every few years we get one of these “Storms of the Century” and what happens is that it snows and blows for a day or two and then life resumes. Unless we get icing or heavy, wet snow, a blizzard isn’t too likely to cause widespread power outages. And we have snow plows nowadays, so we don’t even get to spend a few days cozily snowbound. The last time a storm really shut things down was '78, and that was because weather prediction was still a bit dodgy and thousands of people got stuck on the highways, making clearing the roads a week-long task.
Now if we get truly epic amounts of snow, then they may have trouble figuring out where to put it, and that can cause problems. But generally, by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, roads will likely be completely clear and passable.
Well, you’ll find in the run-up to the blizzard that you have five different errands you need to perform across town, before returning home. Your progress on these errands will be erratic, and you may find yourself slowed by obstacles such as a jackknifed semi. Every so often, you’ll get a random occurrence dealt to you, and you’re likely to still be out on your errands when the blizzard proper strikes, at which point your world will be turned upside-down.
In Somerville, the biggest pain in the ass will be digging out cars the next day, and the ensuing battles between neighbors trying to defend or claim a shoveled-out spot on the street. If you’ve got off street parking you have nothing to worry about here.
People will also continue to park on both sides of a narrow street, even after the snow banks have taken up a whole lane.
Even if there are widespread power outages in Boston and nearby cities, you’ll be at near the top of the list for repairs. You should definitely have enough food and water to last a day or so, but that’s a worst case scenario.
Snow emergency in Somerville starting at 1:00 PM, enforced starting 5:00 PM. Get your parking spots early or be prepared to walk a long way to get home. School parking lots open to the public at 3:00 PM if you can’t find anything on the streets.
Mostly you can expect hype. It’s possible that you’ll lose power but it’s unlikely and it will probably be back on within a few hours. If you lose power don’t try to heat your house with your oven (if you have gas). Stores were open the day after the 2013 blizzard and the streets were largely clear (parking was still a b****, though).
Dunno if this is true in Somerville but in Boston you are allowed to save your parking spot for two days after the snow emergency ends.
Take advantage of the storm! Make sure you go out walking; the whackos (like me!) who walk in the storm are extra chipper and having a good time. I often go to a local restaurant that is normally tough to get a reservation. They are usually still open because the staff is local and they already have the food.
If you live near the T then snow storms are a good time to get cheap Bruins and Celtics tickets for home games (not this time, though; the T is shutting down).
The local news always has a field day with it (aka “We’re guessing the dividing line is Metro West to Boston – no, wait, it’s from Providence up to Plymouth!”) No other news matters at the moment except for SNOW.
The utilities usually leave a courtesy call reminding you there may be outages in your area and the phone number to call is [insert here].
Smart people do their storm shopping well before the OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING WE NEED BREAD crowd. I tend to keep the pantry fairly well stocked so when Snowmageddon approaches I can grab whatever else I need beforehand. It does wonders for my anxiety
This time around we bought more wood for the fireplace in case we lose power.
Travel bans are for everyone’s safety so the plows can do their thing without interference. My town’s ban is at 11PM. If you dare leave your car on the street expect it to be towed and expect to receive a rather hefty fine.
Do you have candles, batteries, flashlights just in case the power goes out? Some people also buy bottled water. I never have because I’ve never had an issue :knocks wood:
Other than that, hunker down and have a plan to entertain yourself. I always have a stack of books, some kind of project, and/or a bunch of TV shows to catch up on during these times. If we lose power, I bury myself underneath piles of blankets and nap.
It’s pretty much just a snowstorm. I’m working from home, my wife is actually out shoveling (just came back in now) and I’m thinking about putting up a roast for dinner. Once everyone got home last night things are pretty quiet.
Unless you lost power, but those folks probably aren’t posting.
Yeah, I forgot to add that you should expect the almost inevitable disappointment when the apocalyptic predictions don’t pan out and, instead of three feet of snow, you get a mere fourteen inches of powder. The forecasters give a range and then the news channels pick the biggest number and hype it. It is important to remember two things:
a. It's possible that the folks in the next town or county over *did* get whomped by the storm.
b. Next time, the forecast might be on the low end, so don't get complacent.
