Thundersnow is part of our latest Winter Storm Warning.
Couple of years ago I learned about pogonip. So do I assume that there will be sounds of thunder with this snowfall? This is still not as bad as all that snow I've lived through in the Washington DC suburbs and in Cincinnati-Indianapolis. The forecasts out there weren't so great -- I shoveled an awful lot of "no accumulation" back in the day.
Yep, that's what it means alright. And boy is it weird..........
Karen, Queen of Squishies
Yup....very odd day when one has thundersnow. You want to look around and say "am I the only one who heard that???". Those of you out in the West must be getting POUNDED!!! I just saw a video clip on the Weather Channel of a truck that almost tipped over from the winds. It was stopped on the highway and then was rear ended by a minivan going at a pretty good clip. The announcer didn't bat an eye even though someone may have been killed!!! The anchor may not have even known what the video room was showing, but it was a very strange few seconds.
I guess thundersnow will be Mother's Nature's music around me today. Indoors it's the NFL Wild Card games. I lived in the Washington DC suburbs for about 25 years. Loved having Redskins come to visit my classroom!
I think California is getting it a lot worse than Reno is. I feel downright lucky -- my power has stayed on and I have no place I have to go.
It was kind of creepy yesterday to watch the ponds in the park overflow. One year it was really bad -- the water level was to the top of the porta-potty. Now they take the porta-potty away from that picnic shelter once the weather turns cold. Who's picnicking at that time of the year anyway? (Had to check my Paradise Park photos at Webshots to see what year that was -- New Year's Eve 2005.)
Back to the sewing machine.
Yep, thunder while snowing. I've shoveled many an inch of "no accumulation" too. Seems Virginians only get snow when the weatherman says we won't. Nothing falls when it's a 90-100 percent probability that it will.
What's pogonip? Debra in VA See my quilts at
Same as hoarfrost as far as I can tell. I'd never heard of either until 2 years ago when I had to drive through a frozen cloud. The pogonip occurred every morning for a couple of weeks. It's no fun driving in the dark in a frozen cloud.
Here are some cool links and explanations. I suppose we use the word pogonip around this part of the country because of the local Shoshone/Paiute culture.
I think you guys get shielded a bit by Donner. I know when I go snowshoeing, the snow is always *way* deeper on the western side of the pass.
We've survived the first two storms down here in the valley. Winds on Friday did a lot of damage and knocked out power. We gave up on sitting in the dark at work Friday after a few hours and went home -- the normally 20 minute drive was over 90 minutes due to extreme wind, power outages, freeway closures and downed trees.
Power was off at home for about 4 hours, but it's still off at work. I went in this morning for about 3 hours hoping for power, but when the utility company started changing their estimates, I packed up my computer, all my paperwork, and took everything home to do. (Just finishing up now - yeah!) I'm crossing my fingers that we can open the store tomorrow, and thankful that we didn't get structural damage, lose merchandise, and that this is our slowest time of the year.
DH and I laughed at all the people stocking up on beer (by flashlight!) at the liquor store next door though. I can think of a lot of things I'd stock up on for a storm, and beer would be WAY down on that list. And if I did stock up on beer, it would be a *lot* better stuff than what I saw going out! LOL
Years ago DH was up in Truckee for snow survival school for work. It snowed so much the class got cancelled, instructor high tailed it outta there and the 'students' were snowed in for days. How can there be too much snow for snow survival school? Needless to say he wasn't happy. Nephew in Sac town had some big time tree damage and a fence down but was considering himself lucky there in his 'new' home with this storm. He said down town was a nightmare. We have had a little rain, a lot of wind and just cold air. Ever since global warming was announced I sweat I have been freezing! Stay safe out there. TAria
I know hoarfrost....but I have to admit that the word "pogonip" is a new one for my vocabulary. So Leslie and I have each learned something today! Thanks!
Ok and I've also learned pogonip is a synonym for rime. Hadn't heard of that one either. Where have I been????
Was that just today? It seems like ages ago....
Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO. where it's been a looonnnnggggggg day!
Oh....maybe it was yesterday (last night?) come to think of it. I'm sure your days seem kinda long right now....I don't want to unnecessarily add to it!
There have been some power outages in our area, but I don't think any have lasted longer than a couple of hours.
I think the worst that happened out this way was in Fernley, about 45 minutes east of here. A levy broke and flooded homes, left 3500 people stranded. There were 18 helicopter rescues.
At first someone said there were two 4.0+ earthquakes just before the levy broke. The USGS said there was not seismic activity at all!! Something sure woke me up at 3:00 AM, but the levy didn't break until around 4:30 AM. The first 911 call was at 4:45 AM.
Somebody else said the levy may have been weakened by gophers. They have a bounty on gophers out in Fernley. (And this is where I start laughing. Sorry, just can't help it. Bounties on gophers! Sounds like a Saturday cartoon.)
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.