Tropical Storm Bill Bears Down On Texas

Via the Weather Channel:

Tropical Storm Bill is headed toward a landfall this morning along the Texas coast and is poised to deliver more torrential rain and flash flooding to flood-weary parts of the South. The peak storm surge will occur as the center moves inland this morning, coinciding with an early morning high tide along the Upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts. Some minor coastal flooding is also possible as far east as southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Winds were already gusting over 50 mph on offshore oil rigs. Tropical storm-force winds will spread ashore this morning as the center moves inland. Flood watches have already been posted from Texas to southern Illinois in advance of Bill and its remnant.

City Of Newark: Don't Eat The Sewer Fish

Yesterday's heavy rains caused lakes and rivers in Newark to overflow, sending fish up through nearby sewer grates. And you totally should not eat sewer fish because "it's unclear how exposure to elements outside of their natural domains will affect them."

NYC Sees Warmest Day In Seven Months

Millions of New Yorkers poured into the streets and the parks this weekend to enjoy the first real break in one of the longest, coldest winters in many years. The wind chill was back down in the low 40s last night, but still!

Out Like A Lamb

Details.

Boston's Mayor Is Over The Snow

Via USA Today:

More snow fell on Boston on Sunday, enough to make this the snowiest season ever on record there. The National Weather Service said 2.9 inches fell by 7 p.m., pushing total snowfall for the winter of 2014-2015 to 108.6 inches. That is a full inch over the previous record set during the winter of 1995-1996, the service's Boston office tweeted, and the most since record books started in 1872. The achievement brought cheerful, tongue-in-cheek celebration from many of the snow-weary survivors of winter in Boston. "Putting the win in winter!" tweeted Christina Pazzanese. "We got the GOLD!" tweeted WBZ weatherman Barry Burbank.

New York City Winter Umbrella Cam

Taken yesterday afternoon just before everything turned to garbage-strewn piles of black muck.

Delta Flight Skids Off Runway At LGA

LaGuardia airport is closed at this writing after a Delta flight out of Atlanta crash-landed on the runway, skidding into a snowbank and a perimeter fence.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft skidded during a Thursday morning snowstorm. LaGuardia Airport was closed immediately after the incident occurred. The FAA said the airport is expected to reopen at 6:59 p.m. EST. Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo said the plane went off the runway at around 11:10 a.m. Delta issued a statement following the incident confirming the flight number, and indicating the plane exited LaGuardia's Runway 13 during its landing.

NYC Sees Coldest February In 81 Years

The weather has been particularly hard on restaurants and nightspots, but has been a boon for all delivery services.

Tweet Of The Day

Winter 2015 in one GIF, everyone. RT @JJDodders: THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE BEST GIF. pic.twitter.com/LHXGhwybuR
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) February 18, 2015

Groundhogs Disagree On Spring Forecast

Last year's Staten Island Chuck (actually a female named Charlotte) died several days after De Blasio dropped her on Groundhog Day. This year Chuck was kept behind plexiglass.

All NYC Mass Transit To Close At 11PM

This includes subways, buses, ferries, PATH, Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, and (perhaps obviously) AirTrain. New Jersey Transit will suspend all rail service until Thursday at 8PM tonight. No re-start time for the MTA has yet been announced. Wherever you are at 11PM, you'll likely be there for 36-48 hours.

UPDATE: Gov. Cuomo has also declared a ban on all non-emergency vehicular traffic beginning at 11PM, warning that those caught on the roads will be ticketed and fined $300.

4000 Flights Canceled Due To Storm

Via CNN:

While the worst of the weather isn't expected to hit until late Monday into Tuesday, according to CNN forecasters, more than 2,100 flights already have been canceled for Monday and more than 1,900 for Tuesday, Flightaware.com reported. The major U.S. airlines are offering fee-free rebooking of flights to and from the Northeast on Monday and Tuesday. United Airlines has already canceled all Tuesday flights at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK, as well as Boston and Philadelphia, company spokeswoman Mary Ryan said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged commuters to work from home Monday, if possible, because roads will be treacherous. Main thoroughfares, including I-84 and the Long Island Expressway, may be closed during the evening commute, and public transportation may be shut down.

PATH, LIRR, Metro-North, and Amtrak have all issued advisories about expected service suspensions. The MTA has begun storing some subway trains underground and some lines will see limited service today. All subway service might be suspended late tonight.

Headline Of The Day

Last night I tweeted out a photo from my grocery store and they used it.

Viral Video Of The Day

A time lapse of Buffalo weather.

(Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

Retweeted By Michelle Malkin

Headline Of The Day

CNN reports:

Every state in the Union had a reporting station somewhere within its borders registering temperatures below freezing Tuesday morning. That included Hawaii, where the temperature at Mauna Kea on the Big Island dropped to 31 degrees. In Florida, it was in the upper 20s in the Panhandle and freeze warnings were in effect. Tuesday was the coldest November morning since 1976, according to meteorologist Ryan Maue of WeatherBELL Analytics. The average overnight low for the Lower 48 states was 19.4 degrees, Maue said. This is highly unusual for this time of year and is much more reminiscent of a pattern forecasters would expect to see in January or February, not November.

The National Weather Service says that over half of the country had snow on the ground this morning, which doesn't seem possible. Some parts of western New York have already gotten over four feet of snow today and it's still pummeling down.

From The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel gets a lot of flack for naming winter storms, but this year's set does have some pretty cool names. GORGON! The missing "W" storm name will be voted on by viewers.

Hurricane Arthur Strengthens

BOSTON: Arthur Pushes Fourth To Third

Via the Boston Globe:

The Fourth of July will come on the Third this year in Boston. The annual Boston Pops concert and fireworks extravaganza on the Esplanade in Boston will be held Thursday instead of Friday because of the bad weather expected from Tropical Storm Arthur, officials said this afternoon. “It’s not optimal. We wish it were, but we’ve got to deal with this,” State Police Colonel Timothy Alben said at a news conference this afternoon. Alben and other officials gathered at a news conference on the Esplanade this afternoon and said that after studying weather reports and consulting with experts from the National Weather Service, they had decided that Thursday, even though there were predictions of rain, would be a better day than Friday to hold the concert and fireworks. While the Fourth of July concert traditionally draws 600,000 to 1 million people, Alben acknowledged that the numbers would likely be lower with the abrupt change in schedule and the concert falling on a workday.

Earlier today it was announced that the Macy's fireworks show over New York City's East River will take place rain or shine.

Hurricane Watch

Tropical Storm Arthur is expected to become a hurricane by tomorrow. At the present it's not forecast to make a direct hit on New York City, but the Fourth is likely be quite stormy and the annual Pines Invasion on Fire Island could see a lot of soggy wigs. Macy's says that the fireworks show over the East River will happen rain or shine, but they might delay its start if the weather is still severe at nightfall. City officials may close public beaches due to rip tides.