Thundersnow

It's time to re-work the 'ole blog. Many changes have occurred and well, things just need to be re-organized here. While I'm not feeling up to the task at the moment I will share my thoughts on this phenomenon called "Thundersnow" an incredibly interesting aspect of lake effect snow.

I'm living in Buffalo now, yep must change the tittle of the blog. Buffalo is really the case study in lake effect snow. Anyone who grew up in NY heard about the epic "shoveling out" stories and the "buried alive" tales of the inhabitants of Buffalo at least 3 times a winter. In fact, there was quite a fuss earlier this week about a large section of the NYS thruway being closed for over 30 hours, with motorists stranded in their cars. Yet, for me, situated in the sleepy suburb of Cheektowaga (North East of downtown), the most dramatic event was realizing that I was short on coffee and I might actually have to walk to Dunkin Donuts and endure a shameful excuse for a cup of coffee in order to get my daily fix. It was frightening. I watched the dogs play in the snow, and I got out and shoveled the inch/ inch and a half of snow we had received here. Talking with my friend who lives in West Seneca, an area of Buffalo known as the "southtowns" it sounded like the great snow-pocalypse was making its northern debut. She was stuck in the house for 3-days, luckily for her, with 3 bottles of wine.

All the while during this storm, it was thundering. Not just quiet little rumbles. Loud strong thunder-claps that woke me from my sleep and caused Dulce to join me in bed and put her head under the covers. This was the freakiest part of lake effect snow for me.

What did I learn? Three things. 1. I chose the right place to live, cheektowaga got all the beauty and none of the beast of this particular storm. If the wind changes just so much next time, who knows? 2. Buffalo is great for outdoor enthusiasts, many could drive to a winter wonderland without having to shovel themselves out. 3. Tthe Buffalo Education system did something right, any Buffalonian that I engaged on the topic of lake effect snow could eloquently recite the laws and rules of the phenomenon and make their predictions for the upcoming season, some thing they said they learned in earth science. yea Buffalo.