How’s the Weather?

[Low D]

Let's not even discuss the weather.

Don't know if it's made international news, but my home province of British Columbia is back in climate crisis. After a summer of wildfires that stripped much stabilizing vegetation from the hillsides, a series of storms (they call it an "atmospheric river") last weekend caused landslides that closed literally every highway - and 1 of 2 rail lines - in the lower mainland. Some people were swept away and killed, hundreds were trapped on Hwy 7 between slides, staring nervously up at the hillsides for 18-24 hours before they were flown out in helicopters. The Vancouver area was cut off from the rest of the country by road, so gas and food are running out.

Meanwhile, dikes broke out in Abbotsford, flooding a huge area, and - paired with slides out near Lytton, the town that burned to the ground in the summer - turned the city of Chilliwack into an island. Flooding has caused about 17,000 evacuations, including the entire town of Merritt.

The Trans-Canada Highway is out in multiple places. The big, serious-feat-of-engineering Coquihalla Highway is destroyed in multiple places, and will not open for months. The Nicola river has re-routed in multiple places and destroyed highway 8, washing away homes and washing away whole properties ie: land that was there is now a river.

The two smallest, longest-route highways have been partially re-opened, but another slide temporarily shut one. And there's a new atmospheric river on it's way starting later today.

Meanwhile, the worst part of the apocalypse is that we all still have to go to work every day.

[Frances]

Let's not even discuss the weather.

Don't know if it's made international news, but my home province of British Columbia is back in climate crisis. After a summer of wildfires that stripped much stabilizing vegetation from the hillsides, a series of storms (they call it an "atmospheric river") last weekend caused landslides that closed literally every highway - and 1 of 2 rail lines - in the lower mainland. Some people were swept away and killed, hundreds were trapped on Hwy 7 between slides, staring nervously up at the hillsides for 18-24 hours before they were flown out in helicopters. The Vancouver area was cut off from the rest of the country by road, so gas and food are running out.

Meanwhile, dikes broke out in Abbotsford, flooding a huge area, and - paired with slides out near Lytton, the town that burned to the ground in the summer - turned the city of Chilliwack into an island. Flooding has caused about 17,000 evacuations, including the entire town of Merritt.

The Trans-Canada Highway is out in multiple places. The big, serious-feat-of-engineering Coquihalla Highway is destroyed in multiple places, and will not open for months. The Nicola river has re-routed in multiple places and destroyed highway 8, washing away homes and washing away whole properties ie: land that was there is now a river.

The two smallest, longest-route highways have been partially re-opened, but another slide temporarily shut one. And there's a new atmospheric river on it's way starting later today.


Meanwhile, the worst part of the apocalypse is that we all still have to go to work every day.

Precisely.

The pets are the hard part.
Got their emergency supplies all ready.

They’ll be thrilled.

[Low D]

The pets are the hard part.
Got their emergency supplies all ready.

They’ll be thrilled.

The helicopters lifted 300+ people. 30+ dogs, and 1 cat from Highway 7. I'm a fan of that cat.

People stuck on that highway made a FB group and were sharing resources, including dog food, diapers, etc (as well as a doctor & couple of nurses who walked up and down the road checking that everyone was ok) which was actually a very heartwarming story.

[firehazard]

Over here we are currently awaiting the first storm of the winter season, Storm Arwen. The girls reckon they must be going with a "names from Lord of the Rings" theme this time.

[Frances]

Snow, snow, snow and no power when I got home from vacay yesterday.
After having the power out on vacay on New Year's Eve as well.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SudIOYwBW9c


Saw a truck somebody drove into a bar-side lake on the way to work this morning. Totally frozen solid.

[DzM]

Snow, snow, snow and no power when I got home from vacay yesterday.
After having the power out on vacay on New Year's Eve as well.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SudIOYwBW9c


Saw a truck somebody drove into a bar-side lake on the way to work this morning. Totally frozen solid.

Wow, San Diego sounds miserable.

[Frances]

Wow, San Diego sounds miserable.

I remember when it snowed in Temecula.
Family kids were attempting to sled on an inch of snow straight into a pile of rocks.

Isn't CA flooding 'n' stuff?

[Low D]

We went a couple weeks with constant weather alerts - first heavy snowfall, then extreme cold, then heavy rain and finally high winds.

Because we don't usually get snow in the Vancouver area, nobody has snow tires, but many insist on driving anyway, causing complete chaos, and people just generally panic and act like idiots. Those of us who grew up literally anywhere else in Canada get embarrassed. But i got up one morning to find that our second overnight snowfall had been 30+ cm (about a foot), and I was like "OK fine, that's actually a lot of snow". Then the Buffalo / western New York storm happened and I was back to being embarrassed by my city's reaction to a little bit of snow.

[Frances]

Windy enough to lift you off your feet yesterday, but I learned you bound up and reset your feet when living in Idaho.
An umbrella is useless against the rain.

My bank is near courthouses, etc. and watching people try to get the block from Starbucks without getting knocked on their asses was a thing.

I'm told it might not be as snowy as last year and that is BS.

Snow, snow snowy, snow, snow!

And all the scary geese are back.