I must admit I love it when extreme weather is on the way because the weather forecasters get so excited - their 15 minutes of fame is at hand. And you know it must be serious when all the big wig forecasters like Al Roker, Sam Champion and Jim Cantore are all in town to report from the heart of the beast.
My commute home this evening was a trip - 2.5 hours. Thank goodness I filled up the gas tank! I left later than I wanted to, so I guess I only have myself to blame; I should have left closer to 1PMish. But then you sometimes get looks from other people in the office, so I decided to stay. And of course I got caught by two trains before I hit the expressway, which added to the delay. At least I didn't have to take the Ike - it was at least a 3 hour commute on that expressway while I was driving home. (And after listening to the newscasts in the evening and reading people's posts on facebook, so glad I didn't take Metra or have to get on Lake Shore Drive - people have been stuck for hours not moving)
***One humorous moment I had on my drive home - I saw a driver's ed vehicle pulling into a gas station. I thought to myself: taking the actual driving test is nerve-wracking enough, but I can't imagine having to go out & drive in a blizzard!
This has definitely been one of the strangest weather phenomena I've ever witnessed: blinding whiteouts, 50-60mph wind gusts AND thundersnow accompanied by lightning (that was a first for me). Actually experienced a bit of a brown-out tonight; I'm just glad we still have power in our place (but we'll see where the night takes us). Ironically, tomorrow is Groundhog's Day and I have a gut feeling that Punxsutawney Phil will not see his shadow, if he makes it out at all, which means an early spring! (i can never keep it straight: shadow=longer winter, no shadow=early spring)
On a positive note, at least there will be sufficient snow so I can finally go snowshoeing this winter!
Peace out & stay warm!
