Hailstoned

The nonsense is a society where a machine gun is at the beck and call of every warped, troubled soul.

From the memory banks: 1953: Dim recollection of accompanying my dad around the yard picking up scraps of paper and the like fallen from the sky in the aftermath of the ORH tornado. Carol, 1954: Going to the car in the garage with my mother to catch news on the car radio, having lost power. Then late afternoon/early evening in the calm sunny aftermath of the hurricane, indulging in my lifetime love of throwing by picking up a blown off shingle and giving it a fling, and being reprimanded by my dad who for some reason thought it might be used again. Or maybe he didn't approve of me littering. Edna: A bird being violently flung into a window-- or was that Carol? Donna, 1960: Recall there being a very cool, fall like air mass in the days before the storm. Very heavy pre-rains, September 12, morning of, and the roaring gales when the rains let up and the core of the storm arrived, mid afternoon. Vividly recall the overwhelming scent of fresh downed trees that permeated the air in the storm's aftermath. Esther, 1961: The early-emergent hype machine was on for this one due to its intensity in the south Atlantic. Older friends of mine regaled me with tales of previous tempests such as the Great Atlantic hurricane of 1944, warning of what to expect from Esther.The weather was unseasonably warm and sultry, and I recall being fascinated by the high cloud banding effect the afternoon before the storm, and how excited I was as a pre-band arrived mid evening with gusty winds and heavy rain. But little did I know that the slow approach of the storm and its indecisive looping was to make for a let down with but lackluster gusts in the Boston suburbs where I lived. But it did do a nice job of carving a piece off of Nantucket, to this day known as Esther island. Belle, 1976: Blew its load down Long Island way; nothing up here but for sun and clouds, breezy tropical conditions. Gloria, 1985: Not unlike Esther, Gloria was a formidable hurricane on its approach from the south Atlantic, and the ever evolving hype machine was all over it. I had the great good luck the day before the storm to fly in a small plane down from Vermont to Boston, able to observe the high overcast at close hand the entire trip. The storm itself with much greater forward speed than Esther, was pretty comparable to Donna, though without the heavy pre-rains. But like Donna, the winds suddenly coming up in the early afternoon with the first casualty a neighbor's apple tree split by what seemed a relatively modest gust-maybe it got taken by surprise. But the gusts to hurricane force the rest of the afternoon were impressive, perhaps most in particular to see spray lifted off a small protected lake near our home. Bob, 1991: I chased for this one, down to the Cape and over the canal to a park not too far the other side. The hurricane was impressive, but for full impact I probably should have located to the Buzzards Bay area; seems I was a little ways to the right side of the eye. But as others have noted the back side gales were very notable, such as I witnessed driving back towards central MA up a near deserted I 495. Here in Monson about 4" of rain fell, with the wind not much of a factor.

Some frozen mini-peas mixed in with this latest wet burst.

We play year round in all conditions, so it likely will--

Totally understand that A.C. is necessary for many. But it involves putting oneself in a chilly summer prison-- the aftertaste of grey, dull February which you never quite escape. If you can, fans, breezes, curtains, tree shade-- anything but A.C.

Pretty good light show, Wilbraham. And some small hail mixed in with the downpour.

But still got to wonder if there's not a "spillover" effect where extreme and repeating patterns of tornado outbreaks in the Midwest and South such as seem to be setting up this year might increase the chances for anomalous severe weather outbreaks in our region when conditions become climatologically favorable (late spring). 1995 (Great Barrington) was nationally, a very active year. 1973 (West Stockbridge) was according to Wikipedia, the most active tornadic year across the Midwest and South to that time. Of course much fresher in memory is 2011 and the extreme outbreaks across the South and Midwest that preceded June 1 here in Western Massachusetts.

"Balance" as in lurching from one extreme to another.

At the risk of indignifying certain "clergy" on here, might this possible cold bias of the models be due to their calculations not fully accounting for the physics of our warming climate? Just a question, not a pronouncement.

I've gotten a report of 38" fallen in Harrisville, N.H. near Mt. Monadnock. This is quite the landmark event in that having spent 4 years in the 1960's at school atop a 1,500 foot hill in Harrisville, the most I remember on the ground is about 3 feet after the momentous storms of February, 1969 with possibly some residuals left over from the epic blizzard, the worst I've ever witnessed, of November 12, 1968, as well as subsequent snows. So 38" from one storm is indeed epic and historical.

About that, though wet and compacting as it fell, so hard to be exact. As you note, after the initial burst, light to moderate since adding some icing on the sloppy cake.

Suddenly back to heavy snow in Monson, MA after the protracted dry slot.

Moderate snow, Monson, MA; 2.5-3" on the ground. Wind picking up-- not a good look for keeping power.

I believe it is the Greeks to beware of bringing something prettily wrapped-- like a great big horse

"It's a wet damaging snowstorm for NJ-far e NYS and interior southern New England." 2 feet possible high terrain ENY/WNE. Thinks even NYC could pick up 6" on backside.

Walt Drag is pretty bullish on this storm, suggesting NWS totals too conservative, and societal impacts for many of us due to wet snow and high winds.

Ours though it got down to -11 performed like champs, though they are reputed to be less effective in below zero conditions.

Pretty telling that Boston went all the way from 1957 to now including the extreme winters of the 1960's and 70's to record such a low temperature. I wonder how much if anything that has to do with the increasing effects of the urban heat shield. I recorded temperatures as low as -18 to -20 in Monson, MA on a couple of occasions during the mid 90's

That seems like a lot of effort expended for a simple blower job.

Oh, and no doubt your smugness would remain if for the first time in thousands of years the solid earth under you (tundra) became mush (climate change). This is what's happening to those Alaskan Native Americans. Just like other fire ravaged/drought ravaged/hurricane ravaged Americans, they're seeking help. Are these Native Americans somehow less deserving?

Global warning craze?? Wait till the migration of "sane" climate refugees to our relatively unscathed, northeast U.S.A.

This white pine came crashing down in a tremendous gust of wind less than a hundred feet ahead of me in Monson, MA, about 45 minutes ago as the squall line passed through.

"Singal" and looking for something or other for long walks on the beach... (This would be happening right at the new moon, significant both for coastal flooding concerns and heightened possibilities of Biblicalness).

1968 sure brings back the memories-- a trio of storms in rapid succession culminating on the 12th in the worst blizzard conditions I have ever encountered, including the blizzard of 78-- granted, my location was at 1500 feet elevation in SW New Hampshire.

He's absolutely correct. Willful ignorance; distrust of science, lack of critical thinking skills; not learning from the past, etc. etc... This is how you reap the whirlwind...