winterwx21

That's a very rare case. There are tons of in great shape athletes all across sports that have gotten Covid and had mild or no symptoms. Who knows why he reacted to it so badly, but it's extremely rare for that to happen to an athlete.

Yeah it's impossible to tell how many of those people died from the vaccine and how many were just going to die anyway.

Definitely good to know that the risk of heart problems for athletes is very low. 0.6% is a very low number, and when it does happen they tend to be mild cases that are easily treatable.

No one is at zero risk of course, but there are people that are at higher risk and people that are at low risk. The statistics overwhelmingly show that the majority of people that get sick enough to be hospitalized have overweight/obesity/underlying health conditions. If you're completely healthy the risk is very low. Not zero, but very low.

The person you love won't die because they will be vaccinated. Anyone that's more vulnerable to severe illness has the option to be protected by vaccination, and they should use that option to protect themselves. These vaccines are extremely effective even against variants. A new study just came out that showed that the Pfizer vaccine is 91% effective even against the South African variant. So the logic that the smaller percentage of lower risk people that choose to not get vaccinated will be putting higher risk people at risk makes no sense, because the higher risk people will be protected by vaccination. If a higher risk person chooses to not get vaccinated, that's on them for taking a big chance.

Right now it appears that the vaccines work well against the variants. I'm not even eligible for the vaccine right now anyway (here in NJ it will be May 1st). If I was eligible and wanted it right now, I wouldn't make an appointment because I wouldn't want to take an appointment away from someone that needs it more. I still know some higher risk people that are very upset because they haven't been able to get vaccinated yet. I'm going to wait a few months and see what happens. I believe that the virus situation will be very good by the time we get to summer. However if the virus situation isn't as good as expected and the variants are causing problems, I will consider getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine since that one is having a lower rate of severe allergic reactions.

This is a great post. What Stebo doesn't seem to understand is that with this virus some people at are higher risk of getting severely ill and some are at very low risk. The statistics/studies are overwhelming in showing that the overwhelming majority of people that get sick enough to have to go to the hospital are elderly or have overweight/obesity/underlying health conditions. People that have none of those things are at very low risk of getting severely ill. Not zero risk, but low enough that you can live without having to worry about it too much and low enough that not getting vaccinated can be considered a reasonable decision. All of the vulnerable groups have the option of getting vaccinated, and most of those people will do that and will be protected by these excellent vaccines. With that being the case, people that choose to not get vaccinated don't have to worry about spreading it to the more vulnerable people because they will be protected. Case in point, I don't have to worry because both of my parents are fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. I'm at very low risk but I would be worried if they were not vaccinated, and I would get the vaccine if for some reason they decided not to get the vaccine since I do see them a lot. But they are vaccinated so I don't have to worry. I had Covid last spring and my symptoms were so mild. It's very possible that the vaccine would actually make me feel more sick for a day or two than Covid did, and I also have to worry about the slim possibility of having a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine since I have a history of bad allergic reactions. So since I'm at very low Covid risk and don't have to worry about my parents, not getting vaccinated should be considered a reasonable decision. It's obvious that enough people will be getting vaccinated, combined with some people having immunity due to already having had the virus, that herd immunity will be reached a few months from now. Cases and hospitalizations will be so low this summer that people shouldn't care about the 30% of people that have chosen to not get vaccinated. If a small percentage of the more vulnerable people choose to not get vaccinated, well that's on them for making a risky decision. I definitely encourage higher risk people to get vaccinated. For the smaller percentage of people in this country that are at low risk, it's great if they want to get vaccinated anyway. If they don't want to, it's not a big deal because enough people will be vaccinated that we won't have a pandemic anymore. It would be different if this was some extremely deadly virus with very high death and hospitalization rates for all groups. If that was the case, then of course everyone should get vaccinated. But that's not the case.

It sounds as if people that don't get vaccinated will have the option to show proof of a negative test within 72 hours, to get into things like sporting events and concerts. It would be terrible discrimination if they didn't allow non vaccinated people to go to events, so thankfully it looks as if they will be able to go with proof of a negative test. I do agree that it's ridiculous though. Anyone that feels vulnerable or worried will have the option to be protected by being vaccinated, so I don't see what the big deal is if people are allowed to go to events without having to prove anything. Hopefully when we get to herd immunity, things will calm down and we'll be able to live a normal life without all this nonsense.

Yeah not a big warmup after the late week cold shot, but it doesn't look too chilly either. To me it looks like average temps the week of the 5th. A lot of days with highs around 60. Nice Spring weather, but cooler at the coast of course due to the onshore flow.

82 degrees here!

Yeah here in NJ it's cooler than what was forecasted for today. Stuck in the mid 60s due to the cloudy skies.

Right now the models are showing just a brief cool shot for a couple days, and then it quickly warms back up to the 60s for sunday April 4th and beyond. But as we get closer we'll have to see if the models pick up on the possibility of chilly weather lingering longer due to the NAO being negative. Hopefully it will be quickly back to 60s like the models are showing right now. It's miserable when chilly weather lingers in April.

February was one of the best hardcore winter months we've ever had though. Very rare to have snow on the ground for 4 weeks straight in this area. That, combined with the fact that we had a nice December snowstorm, puts this winter in the *very good* category for me. Even though January was bad. 40 inches is a very good winter. I had 44 here, to be exact.

There are a few good ones that have full meteorology degrees like Lee Goldberg, Jeff Smith and Nick Gregory. But not many. Most other weather on air personalities in this area are terrible.

I had snow cover for almost 4 weeks straight. I can't remember the last time we had snow on the ground for that long. That is extremely unusual for this area. It was deep, deep winter for almost a month, so I have to say this was a very good winter.

Even GFS is showing hardly any snow now. NAM and RGEM show very little too. Not a big surprise that the models backed off on this, since back end snow is something that rarely works out for our area. Maybe it ends as some non accumulating wet flakes for a very short time.

And we had a nice December snowstorm this winter. Very good winter overall, despite January being snowless. 44 inches so far here in Piscataway. It looks as if it's over now that the models have dropped the early friday morning back end snow accumulation and we're going into a mild pattern for this weekend and next week, but of course we can't completely rule out something for the end of March and early April. It would be nice to see Central Park get to 40 inches, as Anthony said, but many other areas (especially just west of the city) did hit 40 inches. I'm very happy with the 44 inches here. Well above average.

I see GGEM just joined GFS and GFSv16 tonight in giving us a decent burst of snow friday morning, putting down a couple inches.

I have a very good relationship with both my cardiologist and primary care physician. I like to get opinions from both of them. Also I haven't completely ruled out getting vaccinated at some point. I'm reading that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is having less severe allergic reactions than the other 2 vaccines. If it appears that the Johnson vaccine has a much lower rate of severe allergic reactions, it's possible that I would consider taking it. I'm definitely leaning heavily towards not getting vaccinated, but I'm not closing the door on it. I won't even be eligible until May, so there's plenty of time to think about it and make a final decision.

No question, and I do think the slight risk of the vaccine is worth it for higher risk people because the virus is a tremendous threat to higher risk people. We've seen how many people have died. The statistics are overwhelming is showing that most people that get sick enough with Covid to go to the hospital have overweight/obesity/underlying health conditions. And unfortunately, that's the majority of the population in this country. So this vaccine is a great and extremely important thing. But we do have a smaller percentage of the population that's at much lower risk, and for those people it's worth weighting the vaccine risk vs the Covid risk. The other week there was a debate on here about anaphylaxis reactions to the vaccine. Well since then, a new study came out that was published in JAMA on March 8th. It showed that anaphylaxis reactions were 22 times higher than what the previous CDC report had showed. In this study, on average 1 out of every 4000 people had an anaphylaxis reaction. That is SO much higher than other types of vaccines. Yeah I know they inject you with the epinephrine to save you, but it's still a horrible experience to go through. That is one of the reasons I am leaning towards not getting the vaccine when I become eligable. I have severe allergies with a history of bad reactions to things. I am allergic to penicillin and many medications and have broken out in hives and had my lips swell. So combine that with the fact that I'm at very low Covid risk, and not getting the vaccine can be considered a logical option. I talked with my primary care physician about this a few days ago actually, and she agrees with me. She talked about how I already had Covid and my body handled it easily (very mild symptoms that went away quickly) and that I continue to be at extremely low Covid risk due to much stronger than average heart/lungs and immune system due to the exercise program I'm on, and also that I have to be concerned about the higher amount of anaphylaxis reactions they're seeing with this vaccine since I have severe allergies. So she said I should consult with the allergist if I do consider getting the vaccine and I can weight the risks/benefits, and it's not a big deal if I decide to not get vaccinated since I'm at very low Covid risk and I don't have to worry about my parents since they're vaccinated. So I definitely don't like hearing that people are selfish if they decide to not get vaccinated. There are plenty of people that have legitimate reason to not get vaccinated. People in the low risk group group can make a decision and it's not a big deal because most high risk people will be getting vaccinated. The pandemic will be coming to an end whether the 30% or so of people that are at low Covid risk get vaccinated or not. It will be going to a low level situation (an endemic similar to flu) that will not be a big deal and we'll be able to get back to normal life with a low amount of Covid circulating. The thing that people that are not Covid vaccinated or concerned about other dangerous viruses popping up in the future can do is, simply get into shape. Because we know the studies are absolutely overwhelming on this. You look at a place like Vietnam, where they have a super low 18.3% overweight/obesity rate, and they have only 0.04 Covid deaths per 100,000. While the United States has one of the very highest overweight/obesity rates, 67.9%, and we have 152.49 Covid deaths per 100,000. You can go on and on with examples of countries with high obesity rates vs countries with low obesity rates. The statistics are absolutely overwhelming. Here is a quote from Dr. Tim Lobstein of the World Obesity Federation... "We now know that an overweight population is the next pandemic waiting to happen," said Lobstein. It's very sad that something like this horrific pandemic happened that didn't have to happen if most people kept themselves in shape, but of course tons of people die of heart disease for the same reason. Hopefully more people will take their health seriously in the future.

I'm curious how people that don't want to be vaccinated are being selfish? Anyone that wants to protect themselves by getting vaccinated will be able to. Anyone that's at higher risk of developing severe illness can get vaccinated if they want to. I would assume most of the high risk people will be vaccinated. So if some of the low risk people don't get vaccinated, it's not as if they will be putting more vulnerable people at risk because those people will be protected. These vaccines offer 100% protection against hospitalization. And if a small percentage of higher risk people do not protect themselves by getting vaccinated, that's on them for making a foolish decision. So I'm not sure how lower risk people are being selfish by not getting vaccinated. Anyone else that wants to protect themselves will have the choice to do so. Also, we only need about 70% of people to get vaccinated to end this pandemic. Surveys are saying about that amount plans to get vaccinated. So if there's some level of virus circulating among the 30% of lower risk people that don't get vaccinated, it won't be a big deal. The health care system will not even be close to being overwhelmed. So it makes no sense that some people have a problem with the smaller percentage of people that don't want to get vaccinated. It would be different if these vaccines only offered partial protection against severe illness (hospitalization), but they offer 100% protection. As long as most higher risk people get vaccinated, we will be in good shape. Experts say there will always be a small level of this virus circulating, well after the pandemic. Some of us prefer to put ourselves at very low risk the natural way by keeping ourselves in great shape through diet and exercise. Maybe it doesn't provide 100% protection from hospitalization like a vaccine would, but it reduces the chance of hospitalization to such a tiny chance (a small fraction of 1%) that it's something we don't have to worry about too much. And as long as our older higher risk relatives are protected through vaccination, we don't have to worry about spreading it to them. My parents are vaccinated and protected, so I don't see why I should feel guilty if I choose to not get vaccinated. But there's no question that higher risk people should protect themselves by getting vaccinated. I'm certainly not against the Covid vaccine. I just think low risk people that want to protect themselves the natural way, by keeping themselves in great shape, should have their decision respected. If people don't want to do that and want the vaccine, that's great too.

12z Euro has accumulating snow for the end of the week storm, especially for central-southern NJ. Still something we have to keep an eye on. Euro also gives a little snow for the tuesday event, similar to what 12z NAM is showing.

This is March. It's a wild, volatile month. Snow threats can pop up very quickly this time of year. We have to watch both threats for this coming week. It's most likely that NYC will see little to no snow accumulation this week, but it would be foolish to completely rule out something more significant. March is known for wild swings and snow events that are difficult to predict. And we can dream all we want. Most of us enjoyed the 70 degree weather, but it would be nice to get one last snow event to finish off the season. Especially since NYC is just shy of the 40 inch mark. It would be nice to see NYC get to 40 inches. We just need a small 2 inch snow event to do it.

77 degrees here right now!! You knew temps would overperform today.

We had a very good winter. Now it's time for nice warm weather for outdoor activities. I know you're a big baseball fan, so it always puzzles me when you say you'd want blizzards all year round. Wouldn't that make it difficult for our NY Mets to play baseball? I love snow, but would never want it all year round. Snow November through mid March is very nice, but after that we need the warmer weather for things like outdoor sports and the growing season.