Psst! Did You Hear About the Major Snowstorm?

On October 13, I posted the below.  It turned out to be one of the more popular posts on my blog, although I suspect a major component of the traffic was due to a recent development called "referer spam".

So, now we are at the end of October.  What ended up happening?

This was the forecast of the Farmers Almanac for October 28-October 31 for the Northeast U.S.:

"Turning stormy over the Atlantic seaboard, with heavy rains and widespread flooding; some wet snow could mix in over the higher elevations of New England."

So what did happen today?  Well, at our house, we got enough snow to coat our car, our roof and our lawn.  But further south, where a lot of my family lives, it's a disaster.  my mother in law and sister in law are without power.  Cousins in law in NJ are without power.  I have a cousin in Harrisburg, PA and don't know how he is doing.  Record snowfalls in many places. 

The power outages are because of something I mentioned yesterday.  By tomorrow morning we may be seeing 4 million people without power.  My mother in law's house was without power for 5 days after Irene.  I will be worrying about her until her power is restored.

Back to us here in the Binghamton, NY area - Right now it is 31 degrees and we are under a winter weather advisory.  But it looks like the storm has mainly passed to the east of us now.  The forecast is for a low of 29 with 1 to 2 more inches.

In my post yesterday I mentioned "Many of our trees are still wearing leaves here in the valley..."  We didn't miss a wet weather disaster by very much (and still might not - you can't always predict what a storm will do.)  Keep in mind we still have people in this area without heat and without electricity.  This is no fun for them.

But, as much as I feel for my family and others affected, there is the little voice in my head saying "thank heavens it wasn't us."

So here is a rerun of my October 13 post.

Psst! Did You Hear?

Did you know that the Farmers Almanac has predicted another flood for the Binghamton, NY area at the end of this month? (We suffered a historic flood September7 and 8 due to Tropical Storm Irene.)  And did you know that this October flood is going to be even worse than the September flood?

You didn't?

Well, that's strange.  Because in the last week, at least 5 different people have warned me about this predicted flood, knowing I live in one of the flood-impacted neighborhoods of the September flood.  Even my spouse (the amateur meteorologist) thinks there may be something to it.  All these well meaning people have told me not to have work done on my house (not that there is a contractor available in a 100 mile radius for work this month) because it will be all for naught.  And, I should have my bags packed.

I looked at a website that trumpets the correct predictions of the Farmers Almanac, and it didn't mention this prediction (exactly). But a Google search revealed this rumor has been posted on the Facebook page of a local TV station.

You know what this Farmers Almanac following site did say what the Farmers Almanac predicted for October 12-15 for the northeast U.S.?  "Pleasantly dry."  That's why it's raining - with 1-3 inches of rain predicted for tomorrow.

Hmm...

Yes, you don't need a degree in psychology to figure out that this rumor started straight out of peoples' anxiety.   I've blogged before about my anxiety now every time it rains. (and guess what it is doing now - yup.)  I'm far from the only one anxious.

What a blow another flood would cause this area.  And wintery weather can start here the end of October, too.  What a combination.

I am not going to mock the rumor. I am going to be watching the weather carefully.  But I would have, anyway.

Not only that, but this rumor brings back a bad memory of another rumor.

How spooky, in a way, because this flood came almost at the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.

Does anyone remember a rumor that started to circulate not long after 9/11/01 which said that there would be another terrorist attack on Halloween (October 31)?  It cited all types of "evidence".  I remember getting a lot of emails on that subject - variations on a common theme.

The October 31, 2001 attack? It didn't happen.  It was straight out of everyone's anxiety.

I hope this one is, too.