# Unpleasantly Large Mid-Atlantic Snow Event Coming **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612 "2016-01-19T19:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/41 "2016-01-20T14:36:04Z")
Coincidentally, we are low on toilet paper and I’d like to get some milk for hot chocolate, so I’m going to be a DC cliche and be in line today to get both at my grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/42 "2016-01-20T15:13:25Z")
Are you kidding? This is about ideal scenario; starting late Fri (so able to work all/most of the day - no lost time/income) & then a weekend to PLAY! Don’t plan on moving the car, but might play on the bike Sat morning if it’s not too deep yet & then after that? There are those snowshoes I bought on clearance a few years ago that I still haven’t gotten my break-even money’s worth. I do need to go to the store tonight to get milk, but that’s because it’s borderline enough for breakfast tomorrow, let alone getting thru the weekend. Only buying the standard one gallon. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/43 "2016-01-20T17:03:00Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Coincidentally, we are low on toilet paper and I’d like to get some milk for hot chocolate, so I’m going to be a DC cliche and be in line today to get both at my grocery store. Should buy some bread while you’re there, to complete the MBTP trinity. 🙂 My wife and I swung by Food Lion on the way home last night, knowing that the stores would only get more crowded as the week goes on. And while the store wasn’t packed by any means, it was still a lot busier than on a normal Monday or Tuesday evening. Now that they’ve issued a blizzard warning, I have no intention of going to a grocery store until after the storm’s come and gone. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/44 "2016-01-20T17:06:31Z")
I went to the grocery this morning. Very quiet. And I just went to Target because we didn’t own a snow shovel. Now we are set. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/45 "2016-01-20T17:45:30Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Coincidentally, we are low on toilet paper and I’d like to get some milk for hot chocolate, so I’m going to be a DC cliche and be in line today to get both at my grocery store. I only just came back from vacation so I have nothing in my house at all to eat. I also have my kids this weekend so I will need extra food. I really will be the DC area cliche, except I have plenty of TP. I have a nice shopping list that I will need to pick up tonight, whole lot of fun that will be. I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life, all of it northwest of the DC area, and there have been times when the stores have been closed for a day or two. I don’t remember what year it was, I think the 09/10 winter when it snowed 3 feet at my house it took 3 days or so to get the plows to come through. So there are places that do close for a day or two in the DC area. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/46 "2016-01-20T20:00:12Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > One of the biggest selling items during a snow panic is beer. Eggs, bread and milk get all the press, but the beer section will be wiped out come Friday. Milk, eggs, and bread. I’m a southern boy and don’t see snow that often, but I have never figured out why people who are snowed in want to eat nothing but French toast, apparently without syrup - or do y’all just go in the back yard and tap a Maple tree for that? [sub]“Oh, yeah, I’d tap that!” takes on a whole new meaning…[/sub] I understand the beer part, though. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/47 "2016-01-20T20:14:40Z")
The fact is, the stores could be closed for a week and we’d still wouldn’t starve. We have a bunch of stuff in our freezer for just this kind of thing (frozen pizzas and leftovers). True, by the end of the week, we’d be down to pumpkin pie filling and canned chili, but the fact is, the pizza places are usually delivering the second day after a storm and the bars usually never close during them. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/48 "2016-01-20T20:38:22Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > (shouldn’t it be “let\*\*'\*\*s…”) [Let’s see…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6zaVYWLTkU) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/49 "2016-01-20T21:51:21Z")
I think the Weather Channel should hire the old robot from \*Lost in Space \* to issue the Winter Storm Warnings. That might really hype up the drama. Winter storm \*Jonah \*? What kind of fear- inducing name is that? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/50 "2016-01-20T21:53:18Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > [Let’s see…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6zaVYWLTkU) Heh heh! I will enjoy sharing this with my co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/51 "2016-01-20T22:13:58Z")
God, we’re kind of low on edibles but I am NOT interested in going to the grocery store tonight. Even though here in SC the most we’ll see is some flurries that don’t stick. I can promise you they’re already out of milk. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/52 "2016-01-20T22:24:48Z")
SO glad I moved from the East Coast! It’s going to be in the 50’s here and not even rain in the forecast. 😛 The temp here is unseasonably high, which a lot of folks on the East Coast were crowing about at the start of the winter, so turn around is fair play. Of course, last year was the highest one on record for temps, and this year is already set to break that record, so that certainly is sending a chill down my spine, even if the weather isn’t. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/53 "2016-01-20T22:26:29Z")
You young’uns and your “winter storms”. Me, I remember the winter of '78-'79 in the Midwest, when it got down to -27F, a blizzard struck and I had to get an emergency ride to the supermarket from someone with four-wheel drive to buy a few provisions to keep from starving. When I finally got there, all that was left in the meat section was a miserable shrunken turkey ham. ☹ We could get a couple inches of snow here by Friday, and I guarantee a few old geezers will be hanging around work talking about surviving the Big Storm. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/54 "2016-01-20T22:38:16Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > I hate snow. I am one of the “essentials” meaning I have to find some way to get to the job…because I work in a grocery store. As most of you know, the public loses its mind when these things are forecast and the probable chaos in the aisles and at the checkout lines the next few days fills me with dread. We are in the “bulleye” here in West-Central Virginia. > > Make it go away! > > Sigh. > > Anyone else dealing with this mess want to commiserate? I was just fretting about this on Facebook… as my 21 year old son also works at a grocery store. He’ll be swamped at work today / tomorrow, but then he’s also scheduled to work Friday night, and Saturday during the day. It’s only a bit over a mile away, and normally quite walkable… but it’s down one steepish hill and up another, and the sidewalks won’t be clear, which means slogging through deep snow if he _does_ walk - or walking on the road which is scary as well. Not something I’d be happy to have him doing at night especially. If the roads are plowed, we can drive him (though that steep hill is scary even in a car) - except our specific street is private, i.e. not plowed by the county, so there’s no way of being sure we can get the car out of the driveway. All that said: we’ve got most of what we need in the house - plenty of food, snow shovels, good boots, a low-end snowblower for the driveway, enough sidewalk salt to pretreat the driveway (by dint of paying Amazon to overnight a container, as all the stores are O.U.T. OUT). Plus two able-bodied young adult kids who are actually willing to help out with the shoveling. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/55 "2016-01-20T23:53:47Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But if you’re part of that transient element and haven’t been through one of our major storms before, how do you know to expect this? As one of the transients, I can say it comes largely from my coworkers saying things to me like, “Make sure you get to the store!” “Make sure you’ve got gas in your car!” “Don’t come to work on Friday!” That last one has been my favorite so far. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/56 "2016-01-21T01:13:14Z")
Half an inch of dry, slippery snow has fallen thus far tonight, and northern Virginia’s roads are entirely untreated. I guess VDOT isn’t going to rouse itself for anything less than a blizzard this week. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/57 "2016-01-21T01:29:44Z")
We’ve got maybe half an inch on our back deck and the forecast is for less than an inch. We went out for a quick supper, and the snow started while we were eating. The ride home was a bit nerve-wracking, mostly because the roads are cold so the snow wasn’t melting. It wasn’t slippery, but it obscured the lane lines - not good on an unlighted, twisty road. The big snow and blustery winds are for the weekend - possibly as much as 20". We’ll just hibernate and hope someone with a plow comes by and digs us out. Otherwise, I’ll probably spend most of Sunday clearing the driveway by hand - it’s almost 100’ long… ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/58 "2016-01-21T01:43:29Z")
I have neither milk nor bread and don’t plan on getting any. I’ll survive well on the food in the house. I will get gas, though, having survived a 9-hour traffic jam in the past. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/59 "2016-01-21T02:06:50Z")
I’m not a DC native, but we’ve lived inside the Beltway since 1998. We’re 3 blocks from the Giant and 2 from the beer store. If schools are open Friday I’ll probably take public transit. My kids are pissed because they finish finals tomorrow and don’t have school tomorrow anyway. I just heard some wheels spinning outside. I was supposed to go to an appointment a little bit ago, but traffic wasn’t moving at all so I cancelled. It should be fine when my wife leaves work around 10. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612/60 "2016-01-21T02:51:09Z")
God, there is an inch on the ground and cars are spinning out and people are abandoning their cars; this does not bode well for the blizzard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasantly-large-mid-atlantic-snow-event-coming/743612.md?page=4)