The Weather Thread

[Philly]

Spring, 1997, my senior year of high school, the Louisville, KY area got tons of rain. My home town of Taylorsville had three feet of water running through the streets. It was something that hadn't been seen since the Taylorsville Lake Dam was built, but because it had happened long before most of the buildings were still built on raised concrete foundations.

No school for a week.

Flooded river or just streets full of rainwater? We get floods all the time in the mountain communities. One community was flooded and isolated because of a river, had power knocked our for a week and a half from wind and missed even more days when they got a solid foot of snow. That in one year. They ended missing 10 to 15 days of school that year. I missed 5, living 45 minutes away from the place.

 

[FoolKiller]

Flooded river or just streets full of rainwater? We get floods all the time in the mountain communities. One community was flooded and isolated because of a river, had power knocked our for a week and a half from wind and missed even more days when they got a solid foot of snow. That in one year. They ended missing 10 to 15 days of school that year. I missed 5, living 45 minutes away from the place.

Depends on how you define it. Side streams and drainage systems were backed up because the river was three feet below the top of the floodwall, thus the rainwater had nowhere to go.

Other areas without rivers were facing the same issues as the rivers in the area backed up, backing up all drainage. My mom described manhole covers bursting off in geysers when she left work, 10 miles from the nearest river.

So both?

 

[Philly]

Depends on how you define it. Side streams and drainage systems were backed up because the river was three feet below the top of the floodwall, thus the rainwater had nowhere to go.

....

So both?

Fair enough. And not being there, I don't know enough about the Seattle situation to really tell you what is going on.

 

[FoolKiller]

Fair enough. And not being there, I don't know enough about the Seattle situation to really tell you what is going on.

Nowadays in large cities flooding is almost always a case of drainage not kleeping up, for whatever reason. In my case it was 12 inches in 31 hours. Floodgates and floodwalls prevent most places from being hurt by banks overflowing, but when all the tributaries and storm drains no longer have anywhere to go the rain just sits.

 

[exigeracer]

It snowed again last night. Solid half inch or so.

Solid half inch? Don't hurt yourself!

We just got 12 inches at home.

 

[Philly]

Solid half inch? Don't hurt yourself!

I know. Pretty rough, eh? Probably should've canceled school.

We just got 12 inches at home.

Ooh. That sounds like fun. I'm still waiting for one of those kinds of days here.

 

[FoolKiller]

I know. Pretty rough, eh? Probably should've canceled school.

Come to Kentucky, we do that. We also have a few county roads left that aren't paved yet.

 

[Philly]

Come to Kentucky, we do that.

Same at home....

 

[FoolKiller]

Same at home....

For a half inch? I guess we aren't as bad as I thought. Of course, I remember days cancelled for the flu. I have had school cancelled for anything that can fall from the sky, including micro organisms.

God, I miss those days. Work requires a full 6 inches of snow before it is an excused absence. Of course, our home office is in New York.


I did have an employee call in late today because it rained all day yesterday and last night and then dropped down to 25 degrees. Her car was frozen shut.

 

[Philly]

For a half inch? I guess we aren't as bad as I thought. Of course, I remember days cancelled for the flu. I have had school cancelled for anything that can fall from the sky, including micro organisms.

But the days when the flu hits are the best. Only 10 kids in class!

God, I miss those days. Work requires a full 6 inches of snow before it is an excused absence. Of course, our home office is in New York.

Sounds about right. I'm not going to be liking this "It snowed 24 inches last night. Get to class kids!" that I hear they do here in Michigan.

 

[Kylehnat]

Flooding?

That was this morning, about a mile from my place.

 

[Delirious]

Hope you stay safe and away from those awful dirty bacteria infested waters.

 

[Philly]

Walking back to my room today, I noticed it was snowing again! YIPPEE!!!

And apparently the Olympics got a solid (umm, liquid, rather) 12 inches of rain.

 

[Kylehnat]

Bremerton got close to 12 inches of rain yesterday. The rest of the area...a measly 3-6 inches.

The drive to work yesterday was incredibly hairy. In the summer, Highway 8 is a serene, easy drive with no traffic and picturesque views of the hills. Yesterday, it was a hellscape. As the road wandered up into the Black Hills, waterfalls were cascading over the rock wall and onto the roadway. Slightly further up, a large puddle was creeping out of the ditch and across the right-hand lanes. It caught the guy in front of me off-guard, but that rooster tail was an indication that on this day, the drive would be zero fun. The first couple of lakes on the road weren't too bad; just slow down a little and ease on through. As I continued to climb up the hills, the rain intensified. Water was rising in the median and on the side of the road. Around Summit Lake, the road was completely washed out. Rivers were running rampant across the highway, some of which were 5 or 6 inches deep. I had to take to the shoulder on a couple of them, and my car lurched to the side a couple of times, an indication that car was about to become boat. Conditions improved on the back side of the hills, but with no protection from the landscape, a nasty crosswind had to be dealt with for the final few miles. As I came into Elma, the floodplains on either side of the highway were already a foot deep. Shortly after I got to work, Highway 8 was closed down. With the other highways out of town also blocked, Elma was pretty much isolated. I immediately booked a room at a local motel in case I couldn't go home. Throughout the rest of the day, it rained hard, and the wind was relentless. It finally died down in the afternoon, and crews were able to clear a path back to Olympia, meaning I could make it home. The highway at Summit Lake was still closed this morning, due to flooding, mudslides, and debris. They opened it back up for the afternoon commute, and it is unbelievable. The road is a mudslick for 2 miles. There are trees, cars, and other random debris littered all over the place. Some of that debris is part of the BBQ restaurant that was up there. A mudslide destroyed the restaurant and sent part of it across the highway. Overnight, the rivers continued to rise. Here's Interstate 5 through Chehalis:

 

[Philly]

Wow. That really is something. It's all fun and games until you are better off taking a boat to work. Anything on how the other rivers in the area are doing? I know there was some flooding up in Carnation/Duvall and they can't be much better off now.

I'm glad to hear that things are getting pretty back to normal pretty quickly. Seattle really is getting some wacky weather now. A mini-hurricane last year and now an epic rainstorm.....

 

[a6m5]

Man, that looks really bad. We got hit pretty hard as well, mostly coastal areas. Around where I live, some "creeks" turned into rivers, and some roads were closed.

This tiny little creek, barely visible creek by my apartment turned into a river that was about a block-wide. The whole park went under water, which was pretty cool.

First night after the storm hit us, I heard that if we wanted to get to Seattle, the detour went through Yakima? Was that accurate? That would be quite an detour.

 

[Philly]

Man, that looks really bad. We got hit pretty hard as well, mostly coastal areas. Around where I live, some "creeks" turned into rivers, and some roads were closed.

First night after the storm hit us, I heard that if we wanted to get to Seattle, the detour went through Yakima? Was that accurate? That would be quite an detour.

Talked to mom for the first time since the storm. Here is what I picked up today:

• You guys made it to BBC
• Flooding of many major rivers
• Hurricane force winds on the Oregon coast
• I-5 closures

That's right. People who live in Lincoln City ect. lived through winds found in a cat. 1 hurricane. And I-5 was closed; the detour going out to Ellensburg and down through Yakima. That makes just one major road into the Puget Sound area.

Meanwhile, over here I'm looking at ground covered in snow and the occasional light snowfall.

 

[Joey D]

Funny, the BBC reports flooding in the US but CNN doesn't give a damn when England floods...wait that's not funny, that's anti-funny.

 

[Philly]

Funny, the BBC reports flooding in the US but CNN doesn't give a damn when England floods...wait that's not funny, that's anti-funny.

And it is in arguably the most obscure part of the country that nobody really ever cares about. We have a great media over here.

 

[Kylehnat]

First night after the storm hit us, I heard that if we wanted to get to Seattle, the detour went through Yakima? Was that accurate? That would be quite an detour.

The "official interstate" detour is 400 miles (the closed part of I-5 is 20 miles). They suggest taking I-84 out to the Tri-Cities, then I-82 through Yakima to Ellensburg, and then I-90 to Seattle. There are plenty of other ways to get around the closure, but none are guaranteed right now. I think you can take US 12 east to Morton, and then SR 7 up to Tacoma (those roads are open again). It looks like it would take an extra hour. They don't want people doing that because those roads aren't designed to handle interstate-sized traffic, but who the hell is going to drive an extra 6 hours?

 

[a6m5]

You guys made it to BBC

Maybe the British members of gtplanet will finally get where Oregon is.

Actually, I heard how bad it got in Vernonia, but I didn't know that, that town was so far up north.

The "official interstate" detour is 400 miles (the closed part of I-5 is 20 miles). They suggest taking I-84 out to the Tri-Cities, then I-82 through Yakima to Ellensburg, and then I-90 to Seattle. There are plenty of other ways to get around the closure, but none are guaranteed right now. I think you can take US 12 east to Morton, and then SR 7 up to Tacoma (those roads are open again). It looks like it would take an extra hour. They don't want people doing that because those roads aren't designed to handle interstate-sized traffic, but who the hell is going to drive an extra 6 hours?

Yup. Fly, or just wait, if you are smart.

 

[Philly]

Maybe the British members of gtplanet will finally get where Oregon is.

We need a little something to happen every so often to stay on the map. And, good or bad, we tend to get that.

Yup. Fly, or just wait, if you are smart.

How urgent could a trip between Seattle and Portland be that you would go through the trouble instead of waiting three days?

 

[Kylehnat]

I'm going on a business trip to Philadelphia on Sunday. I prefer to use the Portland airport, since it doesn't suck as hard as Sea-Tac, but as luck would have it, they didn't have any good flights available last week when I booked. Funny how that works out sometimes.

 

[Philly]

I usually have no problem putting up with Sea-Tac. But I can see what you mean, even though I have never been through Portland. Sea-Tac FTL:tdown:.

And a little observation: Top poster numbers 3, 5, 6 & 7 in this thread all live within 6 hours of each other along I-5. Looks like we have this part of the world covered!

 

[Kylehnat]

And some would argue we have the most boring weather on the planet .

 

[Philly]

And it's only getting weirder. I don't know if I should expect rain and temperatures in the 40s when I get back for break or something totally wild. But I would agree, it does get pretty boring when things are "normal."

 

[V1P3R]

And some would argue we have the most boring weather on the planet .

That might of been BEFORE global warming.

 

[Philly]

Wow. It's been a while since this thread was last brought up.....

For lack of better word, I will say it was very Seattle-y today. It was coldish, not too bad and rained the whole day. A great preview of what my next month will be like.

 

[Kylehnat]

It's here waiting for you

 

[Solid Lifters]

Typical SoCal holiday season weather. Bright, sunny day, with cold nights. Mid-high 60's in the afternoon with high 30's to low 40's at night. The weather is going to be the same for the entire week.

We had more rain on Sunday, so that was great. We still need more.