“Did you hear about the hurricane and blizzard that’s going to hit the Northeastern US?!” I said to our Dutch friends.
“What?” they said.
“Oh, that’s my Weather Boy,” said Julie, wearily. “He loves to freak out about weather. You should have seen him during the hurricane we had this year in Louisiana.”
OK, true, but come on, this is a Frankenstorm! All of you will first be frozen solid, then blown or washed out to sea! Please tell me how you are spending your last hours on this Earth.
Charles Cosimano says: Oh those folks on the East Coast panic if there is snowflake mixed in with a little rain. Us’ns will sit in the Midwest and laugh our heads off.
MH - Secular Misanthropist says: I went shopping for craft supplies and will use them to help my son and his friends build a cardboard trebuchet. Afterwards my wife and I shall dine at a local restaurant. I intend to have a bourbon Manhattan to drown my sorrows before the apocalypse.
Roger Hallman says: In Arizona, where the heat has finally broken, and with temperatures dipping as low as 65 at night the long time locals are going into hibernation for the winter.
A hurricane would be welcome here…
Bob Jones says: I am enjoying a clean warm autumn day in So. Cal. Crystal blue sky, about 75 degrees. Lovely day.
Richard says: Rod,
Because your Posts from Paris have been such an inspiration, I’m doing the PhotoShop “paste up” work for note card sets from trips to France that I plan on giving as Christmas gifts. That, and the occasional IPA should keep me calm during the storm.
Enjoy your poulet roti.
Richard
The Romney campaign is already preparing a press release blaming the storm on the Obama administration’s failure to work with Republicans in congress to develop a reasonable, market-based, strategy to deal with global warming, also characterizing the response, whatever it may be, as delayed by unconscionable red tape, hastily giving millions of taxpayer dollars to people who aren’t that badly off, and constituting federal interference in the legitimate jurisdiction of the states.
With luck, he’ll claim the electoral votes of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and if he doesn’t, it will obviously be due to massive voter fraud, because after a storm like that, the people would naturally want to vote out any incumbent.
David J. White says: Oh those folks on the East Coast panic if there is snowflake mixed in with a little rain. Us’ns will sit in the Midwest and laugh our heads off.
When I lived in Philadelphia, those of us from the Midwest used to laugh at the locals walking around with umbrellas when it was snowing. They acted like they were afraid to let it touch them. Oddly, the locals seemed convinced that it was never supposed to snow in Philadelphia, at least never very hard or very much. When, every year, it invariably did, there was a massive freak-out.
Carlo says: I have lived in this country for 22 years. The first two or three years, each fall, I was concerned because I was told the storm of the century was upon us. After the third year I realized it was just another trick to sell me stuff, and I lived happily ever after by simply ignoring the following “yearly storms of the century.”
Mary Russell says: Being in North Carolina, I am not, strictly speaking, in harm’s way. But I figure to stay on the safe side and buy an extra six pack anyway.
Hezekiah says: I for one look forward with keen interest to the locusts and frogs but can’t seem to make them out on these newfangled Doppler radar thingamabobs.
Elijah says: Making an Andre Soltner Quiche Lorraine with eggs from my backyard chickens, mon ami!
My little corner where PA-MD-DE meet is particularly susceptible to the Delmarva Syndrome which is characterized by an uncontrollable panic. Manifestations include (a) buying 3x as much milk and toilet paper as you can possibly use in a month, (b) filling up every possible vessel with gasoline, and especially (c) running every possible petrochemical-powered generator within a five state radius to avoid being inconvenienced for even a second.
I’m sure your readers can add to it. As a more stoic New Englander, my attitude is: we’ll see.
cecelia says: well – now I am panicking. I put the summer furniture away last week – but the halloween decorations are starting to look like projectiles to me. Last year’s Irene left us without power for two weeks – pleeeeease Sandy – be kind.
Caroline Nina in DC says: Well, here in Prince George’s County, MD, we are freaking out, moderately. Husband has gone to the liquor store for beer and wine and to the fancy Woodmore Wegman’s to get some gourmet canned ethnic food (think goulash and stroganoff) that we can heat easily, more candles, and lighters.
Enjoy that dinner–the chicken looks delicious indeed.
William Burns says: Been through enough overhyped storms not to be terribly concerned about this one. Will be laying in a stock of bottled water, that’s about it. Waiting to see if Monday sees the usual DC “close everything” freakout.
Eric K. says: Northern Virginia here… While the D.C. region is generally the freak-out capitol of the east coast (at least it appears that way to this New Jersey native), I haven’t seen much evidence of the usual symptoms so far (although we’re still 24 hours away or so).
I’m watching game 3 of the World Series sipping some scotch.
Ryan D says: When I lived in Philadelphia, those of us from the Midwest used to laugh at the locals walking around with umbrellas when it was snowing. They acted like they were afraid to let it touch them. Oddly, the locals seemed convinced that it was never supposed to snow in Philadelphia, at least never very hard or very much. When, every year, it invariably did, there was a massive freak-out.
Really? I’ve been in Philadelphia for thirteen years and people here don’t strike me as being freaked out by snow. We usually get maybe a half dozen “nuisance” storms that melt quickly. Then every 2-3 years we’ll get some big ones (10 or more inches). Of course, the local media outlets over-hype those.
Mike W says: My wife, Sandy, has a new nickname…Frankenstorm…
Caroline Nina in DC says: @ William Burns: HA! That is SO true! This city tends to cancel everything. They cancel school for rain over here in PG!
I am a bit worried about our 70 year old trees. More than one friend has lost a car or roof.
B. Minich says: I’m going to go against type here. This is a scary storm. (This is why I DON’T like hyping up every storm as the “Storm of the Century”, because when an ACTUAL Storm of the Century appears, like Sandy, people are inured to it. Boy who cried wolf stuff.)
If you live in NYC, especially in the low lying areas, I say GET THE HELL OUT. NOW. Mayor Bloomberg is doing you a massive disservice. You can’t plan on the fact that chances are, you won’t get hit dead on. Because the consequences if you DO get hit dead on are dire.
Same thing goes for Atlantic City, or any coastal settlements on the East Coast from Delmarva up to New England. Don’t count on the fact that the storm may not hit you. It may. And its bringing a storm surge and winds you do not want to deal with. It will be BAD somewhere. This thing is bringing winds and tidal surges not seen in a long time, according to people who know what they are talking about. People who are typically VERY reserved about saying things like “Storm of the Century”. People who last freaked out like this during . . . Katrina. (Also, the early stages of Isaac this year, but they pulled back when it could never organize, and thank God for that.)
Rod Dreher says: (Also, the early stages of Isaac this year, but they pulled back when it could never organize, and thank God for that.)
And you know, there were people in coastal Louisiana who didn’t take Isaac seriously because it was a Category 1 storm, but who had their butts kicked hard when the storm just sat on top of them churning. It moved so, so slow, which ramped up the damage beyond what anybody predicted.
Fred says: Message from coastal Louisiana to the Northeast: “yawn…”
OK, OK, some advice from a veteran: put all your meat/eggs/perishables in a large industrial strength hefty bag in your fridge. If you have to evacuate, and you lose power for a week, it will make your return home muuuuuch more pleasant if you can just grab that thing and dump it. If you can afford to, just empty your fridge, clean it, unplug it, and leave its doors open when you evacuate.
If you’re staying, fill up a bunch of plastic bottles with water and freeze them to increase the thermal load in your freezer.
Unlike down here in August/September, brutal heat won’t be your enemy, so that’s nice. I assume people up there have space heaters they can run off a generator.
Good luck, and – finally – the best advice of all:
Blairburton says: I have friends who are meteorologists in the DC area, and this is not a joke. This a very, very serious storm. Please do not be too cavalier about it if you are in its path.
Also, I live in the DC area, and as a native West Virginian who grew up with heavy snows, I do shake my head sometimes at local drivers and at local governments canceling work and plans for what seems like little reason. But I have also been on the roads during snow storms when the huge amount of traffic brings everything to a standstill. The climatology of the region makes the threat of ice ever present, as temperatures frequently hover around the freezing point. I will take snow over ice any time. And as for canceling schools, I would rather they cancel schools than have the large number of teenaged drivers with SUVs they cannot handle out on the roads on their way to class.
B says: Being from a fairly rural area of Pennsylvania, we lose electric during small storms. Granted, it’s usually just a flicker, or for only a few minutes. Last year, however, we spent two separate weeks being completely without electric. Boy, was my grandpa mad when we didn’t have electric for 9 days in a row over nothing.
We have a generator. If this knocks our electric out, we’ll have something to keep the food good, and to allow me to use the stove top for breakfast. I like breakfast, so this is particularly important to me. I bought meat that can be grilled, because while the generator handles the stove top, it would be no good for the oven. Dad got some of whatever type of fuel it is we use for the grill. Voila.
My friends from out of state are laughing at me for being prepared, but I would rather be safe than sorry, and it’s cheaper to chase dad out onto the deck to make dinner than have to go out because we didn’t plan ahead. 
VikingLS says: I am in central Jersey. What’s supposed to make this one different is the collision with the cold front. If we get freezing rain and snow it’s going to be hard on the trees, many of which haven’t finished shedding their leaves.
A lot of people lost power for a week or more last year and large sections of the state could flood.
I am not laughing about this.
JonF says: Re: It seems that a “storm of the century” is any storm that hits the Eastern Seaboard.
Not to mention “centuries” aren’t what they used to be since such storms occur every year or two.
By the way, all quiet in Baltimore so far. Nary a drop of rain. Though I can tell something is out there since both my asthma and sinuses are a disaster area (hence staying home from church, which, anyone who knows me will testify, means I really do feel utterly crappy)
Roberto says: It seems to me that coverage of the storm has conflated two relat4ed but distinct aspects of Sandy: its sceintific and historical dimensions and its destructive capacity.
Sandy is by all accounts an unsual beast, one that will be studied for years to come. And I certainly wouldn’t want to be nearby when she makes landfall.
But, here where I live in NOVA, the forecast is for 3-6 inches of rain over a 72-hour period. The biggest threat is from winds that, from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning, sustained winds will be 35-40 with gusts up to 60.
There is a real chance of widespread power outages, and if I lived in PEPCO land (the power company that serves DC and most of suburban Maryland) I would be dreading Sandy. I am praying, if such a thing is not to selfish, that the fact that my power lines are buried in my part of Fairfax County will continue my streak of having power when others lose theirs.
But if people are acting like the folks on Doomsday Preppers, it’s because of, one, some media hype and, two, a utility company whose track record is horrible. It’s not because Sandy is more dangerous to us in DC than Hurricane Ivan nine years ago.
Blairburton says: “I am praying, if such a thing is not to selfish, that the fact that my power lines are buried in my part of Fairfax County will continue my streak of having power when others lose theirs.”
I am in Prince William Cnty, and my lines are buried also. Typically we don’t lose power, but when we have it is often when there have been very heavy rains. I have a friend who is stuck with Pepco; she bought a natural gas generator that has already paid for itself.
Blairburton says: Speaking of media hype, the conviction of Italian seismologists who failed to predict an earthquake is a chilling glimpse of what we are in for concerning any natural disaster. Why should scientists stick their necks out and risk prosecution if they are wrong about events that are impossible to predict with absolute certainty?
JonF says: I’m right in the heart of Baltimore and there are almost no large trees around here to take out the power lines. We’re on the grid as the stadiums and the U of MD medical complex and we tend to keep power during storms. Irene, the summer derecho and 2010′s snowpocalypse brought nothing worse (power-wise) than the need to reset the clocks.
David J. White says: Really? I’ve been in Philadelphia for thirteen years and people here don’t strike me as being freaked out by snow.
Well, I lived there from 1984-1996, so maybe things have changed. People were pretty snow-averse when I lived there. At the first slight snowfall, people driving would act like they were panicking and start skidding all over the place. Maybe weather patterns have changed a bit.
alcogito says: Likely to suppress turnout for the election, which considering how people in the cities back there vote, may well be a good thing.;)
Seriously though, why is it that so many people wait until the last minute to buy batteries, generators, water, food supplies? If you have any sense, you already have this stuff.
MH - Secular Misanthropist says: Blair Burton, from what I’ve read it was ludicrous how those Italian seismologists were treated.
sjay says: I was on the Delmarva pennisula this morning and helped my sister get her barn in order and postion the horse trailer so it is least likely to blow over. It was raining off and on. Mass in Marydel at 8:30 was fuller than usual with the Sunday evening mass being moved up to 1pm. I crossed the Bay Bridge about 1pm today on my way back to Baltimore and on this side of the Bay, there wasn’t (and still hasn’t been) any rain. I took it the remaining peppers that still hung on the plants in the back yard. I live on the northern edge of the central part of the city and lost power for about 12 hours during last summer’s derecho.
Elijah says: David J, not sure if that’s true in Philly but it is most definitely true in Baltimore! A flurry will send them skidding into ditches!
Shelley says: Get your chainsaws ready East Coast. We had a “wind storm” in Anchorage with wind gusts clocked at well over 100 mph and the trees went down all over the place…no power for days for some people….luckily it wasn’t winter temp. And check on your neighbors too….especially any elderly ones.
AnotherBeliever says: I hope the meteorologists are not right about this one, because they are sort of freaking out. Like Katrina, this storm is really really big and really really slow. The danger is in storm surge floods. A lot of the East coast’s most densely populated areas are low lying. The other danger is extended power outages if enough lines go down that restoring power presents a cascading string of problems. Ice and snow in some areas are also possible. It could overall be quite an economic hit.
With any luck, the effects will be limited and localized, casualties limited to handful of folks foolish enough to try driving through what they reckon is low water, and everything will be fine by Thursday. Got my fingers crossed, as I do have friends and family in DC area.
OK, its time to start talking about how the net increase in average global temperature is producing more and bigger storms like this, and if we don’t cut our carbon output way down there’s going to be hell to pay.
TWylite says: If I were there, I would be playing my prototype keytar, saxophone, and timbale drums like there was no tomorrow.
MH - Secular Misanthropist says: Around 11:30 am I heard Boston’s T was closing at 2:00 pm. So I decided to get out of town before a cab was the only option home. At mid-day along Boston’s waterfront the winds were pretty intense. I felt like a gigantic hand was pushing on me and I needed to learn into the wind to keep my footing.
GCR says: Grew up in suburban Baltimore, now live in NOVA and not enjoying this at all – especially after Irene (when I still lived in New York) and Isabel a few years ago :-/
I’d rather have too much water and toilet paper than not enough, though.
JonF says: Well, so far so good in Baltimore, though friends of mine in the burbs have lost power. Lots of rain and it’s windy. Crossing my fingers this is as bad as it gets.
It seems that a “storm of the century” is any storm that hits the Eastern Seaboard.