Dreaming of a White Christmas

[Giantfan13]

Hi to all my snowbound friends in England and thru out the rest of Europe. From what we have been hearing here in the US, you guys have gotten a very early Christmas present (or some kids may think so), and has thrown all Europe and travel plans, into a real mess.

Here in NYC, it's cold, but no snow and none forecasted for a while, so I have a few extra shovels laying around if anyone needs them. :D:D:D:D

 

I will need them back though, as we will not make it thru a winter without some major snow..Anyway, I hope you are all safe and sound.

Is it normal to get snow at this time??. I thought I heard this was the biggest snow event, this early in the season for many years. How are you all coping.

 

Stay well and warm, and enjoy your White Christmas

 

Cheers

 

Len

[TLCOhio]

Hi to all my snowbound friends in England and thru out the rest of Europe. From what we have been hearing here in the US, you guys have gotten a very early Christmas present (or some kids may think so), and has thrown all Europe and travel plans, into a real mess. Here in NYC, it's cold, but no snow and none forecasted for a while, so I have a few extra shovels laying around if anyone needs them. I will need them back though, as we will not make it thru a winter without some major snow..Anyway, I hope you are all safe and sound. Is it normal to get snow at this time??. I thought I heard this was the biggest snow event, this early in the season for many years. How are you all coping. Stay well and warm, and enjoy your White Christmas. Cheers, Len

 

 

THANKS to Len for the comments and update! Merry Christmas to you and all others. For Len, the Great Giants fan, I am sure you are in a deep "funk", but we won't rub it in. The two Ohio NFL teams are doing much worse, but one of them won yesterday.

 

With this weather, it is not even, yet, officially winter! Where is Al Gore and Global Warming when we might need it now??!!

 

YES, that Europe weather is something unique!!! We have friends who are now stationed in Copenhagen for the World Health Organization. They are trying to get from there to hook up with family who are vacationing in Kenya. From the Wall Street Journal within the past hour, they have this headline: "Weather Hits Northern Europe Transport Networks" with these highlights: "Snow, ice and freezing cold weather was hitting road, rail and air networks across northern Europe for a third consecutive day Monday, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded, retailers facing lower sales and airlines and airports facing a big bill for the disruption. The U.K., France, Germany and the Netherlands are among the worst hit by the freezing weather, which is set to continue right up until Christmas, according to forecasters. Paris, where snow was still falling Monday morning, was one of the worst hit cities. Airport operator Aeroports de Paris said no flights would land in Paris Monday morning. Only one long-haul flight runway was in operation at Roissy it said."

 

They noted this for Heathrow: "London's Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub airport, was open Monday, but was operating a limited schedule as airlines struggled to move aircraft and crew back to their normal positions, airport operator BAA Airports Ltd. said."

 

The more you read, the worse it seems. We are just driving down to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see our first grandchild, now almost three month old. FUN!!! It is is a White Christmas here in Ohio and will be that way down there in Virgina. Lots of snow, all over the world!!! Except NYC area. Not fair.

 

Full stories at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101220-704035.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/its-not-just-the-uk-ndash-the-continent-is-suffering-too-2164828.html

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

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[Tipsy252]

Yep, confirmation of the terrible weather in the UK and Europe. In the UK this has been the heaviest snowfall in Dec since 1982 and the coldest since around the 1920's. In Wales we do get snow but not normally til after Christmas but we have just had our 3rd major dump this winter. Starting to panic :eek: as we have a flight out of Heathrow on Fri 24th Dec to NOLA, to catch the NCL Spirit.:D

Merry Christmas to you all.

[John Bull]

Here on the south coast around Southampton, we only tend to get one or two doses of snow, very rarely before the New Year.

Hence I take the clever option, & go cruising January.:cool:

 

But not so clever this year, screwed-up bigtime. :rolleyes:

In the middle of our second dose & more forecast for Christmas. Makes driving on the country roads errr.... interesting ;)

 

Got more leeway than Tipsy - more than a week later before we fly from Heathrow - but still a little nervous.

 

White Christmas?

BAH, HUMBUG

 

JB :)

[catllar]

We are due to fly to UK from Gerona this Wednesday. Should have gone last Friday but Gatwick airport was snowed shut and all cancelled. We have fingers and toes crossed that we will get away.Heathrow was shut today, but opened a limited service this afternoon. Of course this means that many planes are in the wrong places. Read that a plane coming in to UK from States was diverted to Reykjavic! How weird is that? Anyway Merry and safe Christmas to all. KEEP WARM!

[tartanexile81]

We've had some snow here in Yorkshire but apart from one day with heavy snow, we seem to have missed the worst of it. However, temperatures have dropped to an unprecedented low and for example this morning it was -10 and it has been as low as -13. We NEVER get temperatures like that and to make it worse there's still at least 2 months of Winter ahead. UK Winters definitely seem to be getting worse and we're all thinking how we can be better prepared in future. That's why we've decided to spend Jan / feb crusing the Caribbean in 2012! We're heading up to Scotland for Christmas and we're dreading the journey as it has been utter CHAOS up there. The Minister for Transport was forced to resign whenafter thousands of cars and lorries were stranded overnight because the roads were all blocked by snow. Sometimes the media exaggerate about conditions but think they're probably just about right this time.

[Giantfan13]

That did it Terry, you just had to rub it in:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

No Cheers in Giantsland today

 

Len

[Chester & Brewster]

Yep, confirmation of the terrible weather in the UK and Europe. In the UK this has been the heaviest snowfall in Dec since 1982 and the coldest since around the 1920's. In Wales we do get snow but not normally til after Christmas but we have just had our 3rd major dump this winter. Starting to panic :eek: as we have a flight out of Heathrow on Fri 24th Dec to NOLA, to catch the NCL Spirit.:D

Merry Christmas to you all.

 

How's it looking on the M4 this morning Tipsy, any idea? We're catching the Rosslare - Fishguard ferry tomorrow night & heading for Hertfordshire to spend Christmas there, so hoping it's pretty clear. I am now glad we decided to drive & not fly :eek:

We have to option to bail at Newport & stay with the in laws there if the weather is too bad, but I'm hoping we make it all the way.

[TLCOhio]

That did it Terry, you just had to rub it in:eek::eek::eek::eek: No Cheers in Giantsland today. Len

 

Yes, Len, I plead "guilty" to rubbing it in. The New York media hit it pretty hard yesterday. One called that Giants' loss a "crumble". Not a fumble. Today's NY Daily News noted that Manning speech to his team can't bail out the team. Plus these added details in the lead of their story: "Eli Manning was the only speaker at a players-only meeting he called Monday in a desperate attempt to save a season that is now virtually beyond repair. The colossal collapse against the Eagles was so depressing that Tom Coughlin went home Sunday night and sat in a room with the lights out for two-and-one-half hours." Sorry. It's sad, especially with the Jets doing so well.

 

But, Europe & snow????

 

From the Reuters newswire within the past hour, they have this headline: "Europe weather ruins Christmas for airlines, retailers" with these highlights: "Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across northern Europe on Tuesday, while retailers fretted they would struggle to make up sales lost due to bad weather with just four shopping days to Christmas. Eurocontrol, the umbrella group for air-traffic control across 38 countries, said more services would likely operate on Tuesday after more than 22,000 flights across Europe were cancelled on Monday. But cancellations remained widespread. British Airways said it expected to make a 'significant number of cancellations' to its shorthaul services from London's Heathrow airport."

 

An AFP story noted: "London Heathrow, where passengers have been forced to sleep on terminal floors during four days of chaos, cancelled two thirds of flights while long queues snaked outside St Pancras station for the Eurostar train link to France and Belgium."

 

The below German story noted: "Fresh snowfall overnight caused further setbacks at Frankfurt Airport, with no planes taking off or landing on Tuesday morning. Around 130 departures, and a further 130 arrivals, were canceled at Germany's biggest air terminal."

 

The snow can be pretty, but it is clearly making a mess for travelers in Europe. Good news that few are going to cruises in northern Europe right now. But, I remember the problems last spring and early summer on the Iceland volcano messing up air flights in Europe.

 

More details from these stories:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE6BK02W20101221

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iaYXbhtrwed46ItqQUC579h91Siw?docId=CNG.96bb3f4a3c3cac2e28e7cb4d3e9018d9.791

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6361453,00.html

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2010/12/21/2010-12-21_giants_wont_be_able_to_recover_from_devastating_loss_to_eagles_despite_eli_manni.html#ixzz18kjVhyMX"

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

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[jocap]

But what about the snow in Buffalo? I read that the largest EVER fall of snow in 30mins hit there.....Brrrr.

We never get the snow here at the beach, but this year's been an eye-opener.....

Jo.

[Hlitner]

The story of Heathrow is quite fascinating and makes great reading. The Brit Science Minister and other scientists blame cold winters on global warming, hot winters on global warning, dry weather on global warming, snow on global warming and lack of snow on global warming (I am not making this up). BAA, who manages Heathrow and the British government refuse to invest in snow plows and deicing equipment for Heathrow because they say it is not needed since London does not get many bad winters. Of course this is now the third bad winter in a row, but they say these clusters do not happen. And to make matters worse, when the English government offered to send Army troops out to Heathrow the BAA management declined the help. So, a storm that should have closed Heathrow for 1 day at most has totally disrupted things for 4 days (so far). The sad thing is that many fine Brits have missed their Caribbean Cruises, are stranded for Christmas, etc. British Air has lost more money in 1 day than it would have cost to buy decent equipment for Heathrow. This is another fine example why we should turn over everything to the various governments of the world :)

 

Hank

[gosport11]

BAA is a Spanish owned company,The British goverment sold all its airports years ago,The owner of BAA should invest more money in snow clearing or have a decent plan to deal with it,us the tax payers shouldnt have to give any money to solve a privately owened companies problems,hope they get sued :):)

[TLCOhio]

BAA is a Spanish owned company,The British goverment sold all its airports years ago,The owner of BAA should invest more money in snow clearing or have a decent plan to deal with it,us the tax payers shouldnt have to give any money to solve a privately owened companies problems,hope they get sued :):)

 

Hlitner: The story of Heathrow is quite fascinating and makes great reading. The Brit Science Minister and other scientists blame cold winters on global warming' date=' hot winters on global warning, dry weather on global warming, snow on global warming and lack of snow on global warming (I am not making this up). [/quote']

 

Good added details above and from Hank. Hard to believe how "Global Warming" causes more snow in England before winter officially starts. Strange!

 

There have been lots of key news stories where the Heathrow management and others are getting "hell" for not be prepared. From the Wall Street Journal this morning, they have this headline: "EU Criticizes Airports As Snow Chaos Continues" with these highlights: "The European Commission on Tuesday criticized airport operators in Western Europe for being ill-prepared to cope with bad weather as snow, ice and freezing temperatures continued to hamper road, rail and air networks for a fourth day, threatening Christmas plans for millions of travelers. Amid growing criticism of how airports and other transport operators were handling the snow and ice, Siim Kallas, the commission's transport policy chief, said the European Union's executive arm may draft new rules if airport operators can't voluntarily take action to plan better for severe weather."

 

From the BBC, they noted: "Heathrow's operator BAA said that both runways were now open. It said it planned to run two-thirds of scheduled flights but warned: 'Airlines are currently operating a significantly reduced schedule while they move diverted aircraft and crew back into position.' British Airways said that in line with a directive from BAA, it would operate only a third of its normal flight schedule at Heathrow until 0600 GMT on Thursday, Reuters reports."

 

From the Daily Mail in London within the past few minutes, this headline: "Heathrow airport reopens second runway but passengers are warned to 'expect long delays' ". Gatwick is operating fine (with a different manager), but it is a total mess at Heathrow.

 

Full stories at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101221-707128.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12056762

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1340752/Latest-travel-update-Heathrow-airport-reopens-second-runway.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

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[Giantfan13]

global warming means that the entire earth is warming up. it also means that many weather patterns, that have been a certain way for many, mnay years are now changing. Areas that were drought weary, have had many months of rain, areas that received little or no snow are now getting more snow. Climates are becoming more extreme, more severe heat waves and more severe cold waves. it doesn't mean that every part of the world is experiencing warmer winters.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[TLCOhio]

Here's more from this morning's New York Times about "dream" of a White Christmas becoming a nightmare in some parts of Europe. They have this headline: "Another Storm Brings Travel Delays in Europe" with these highlights: "Even as troubles at London’s delay-plagued Heathrow Airport began to clear up, a fresh storm and shortages of de-icing fluid brought new transport chaos to Europe on Friday, snarling traffic, slowing trains and delaying flights for thousands of Christmas Eve travelers. A section of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris was still a dormitory Friday after an estimated 2,000 passengers spent the night in the airport because their flights were canceled. The accumulation of stranded passengers grew on Friday at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, the major hub for Paris, where a lack of de-icing fluid compounded the delays as planes sat on the tarmac. About 2,000 people remained camped inside the airport from delays built up over the week. Airports in Ireland and Belgium also faced de-icing shortages, leading to cascading delays."

 

Heathrow and other airports have some serious questions to answer on their lack of equipment and preparation for snow. Lots of travelers have suffered BIG-TIME!!! Many details from all over Europe are shown in this Times story, plus the Reuters summary below.

 

Full stories at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/world/europe/25travel.html?hpw

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BN1OF20101225

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 27,185 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

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[Giantfan13]

I have a few extra shovels laying around if anyone needs them.

 

I take back my offer. I think I AM going to need them. weatherman has now forcasted 8-14 inches of snow Sunday afternoon thru Monday morning.

Oy-Vey

 

Cheers and Merry Christmas

 

Len

[gosport11]

Its been a clear but cold day with no snow:),so not a white christmas:D in fact all the snow here melted a few days ago :):)

[Hlitner]

For those Brits who might not have noticed, there was an interesting story published in The Guardian this week about your weather forecasting service. Here is the link. Its just one more example of what happens when politics gets its mitts on science. Our hearts go out to our Brit friends who missed their cruises this week because of the dreadful performance at Heathrow.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8223165/The-green-hijack-of-the-Met-Office-is-crippling-Britain.html

 

Hank

[TLCOhio]

weatherman has now forcasted 8-14 inches of snow Sunday afternoon thru Monday morning. Oy-Vey Cheers and Merry Christmas. Len

 

How are Len and the others surviving in the NYC area, plus, as the New York Post put it this am about the "ICE COAST"? What does it like out the windows there? Just saw on Today Show a complete wrap-up about all of the snow from North Carolina (7" snow there) to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

 

Then they showed the cold map for what Florida will look like tomorrow/Tuesday including lows of 22F for Jacksonville and 37F for Miami. Cold! BUT, the rest of week in Miami will be sunny with high's in the 70's. Good time for a cruise, IF, you can get an airline flight down there.

 

From the Telegraph in London, they have this headline: "Government knew Heathrow was not prepared for snow" with these highlights: "The aviation minister admitted that the government knew about Heathrow's inadequate preparations for winter as she confirmed that airports could face fines when passengers have their travel disrupted." Clearly the Heathrow operator screwed up and will be fined. BUT, lots of travelers have suffered in the mess there.

 

More details:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8225790/Theresa-Villiers-government-knew-Heathrow-was-not-prepared-for-snow.html

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

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[Hlitner]

New York is pretty nasty. Our daughter works in the city and says that some of her friends cannot even get in from nearby Long Island because the Long Island Railroad is not running on some lines. On the other hand it is New York so things will probably be back to normal by tonight.

 

Hank

[sabbrina]

How are Len and the others surviving in the NYC area, plus, as the New York Post put it this am about the "ICE COAST"? What does it like out the windows there? Just saw on Today Show a complete wrap-up about all of the snow from North Carolina (7" snow there) to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

 

Then they showed the cold map for what Florida will look like tomorrow/Tuesday including lows of 22F for Jacksonville and 37F for Miami. Cold! BUT, the rest of week in Miami will be sunny with high's in the 70's. Good time for a cruise, IF, you can get an airline flight down there.

 

From the Telegraph in London, they have this headline: "Government knew Heathrow was not prepared for snow" with these highlights: "The aviation minister admitted that the government knew about Heathrow's inadequate preparations for winter as she confirmed that airports could face fines when passengers have their travel disrupted." Clearly the Heathrow operator screwed up and will be fined. BUT, lots of travelers have suffered in the mess there.

 

More details:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8225790/Theresa-Villiers-government-knew-Heathrow-was-not-prepared-for-snow.html

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

No flight cancellations or disruption or airport closures on the NE of US then. The US government must have been content that the many and various airports were well prepared for snow...

[sheeper370]

The story of Heathrow is quite fascinating and makes great reading. The Brit Science Minister and other scientists blame cold winters on global warming, hot winters on global warning, dry weather on global warming, snow on global warming and lack of snow on global warming (I am not making this up). BAA, who manages Heathrow and the British government refuse to invest in snow plows and deicing equipment for Heathrow because they say it is not needed since London does not get many bad winters. Of course this is now the third bad winter in a row, but they say these clusters do not happen. And to make matters worse, when the English government offered to send Army troops out to Heathrow the BAA management declined the help. So, a storm that should have closed Heathrow for 1 day at most has totally disrupted things for 4 days (so far). The sad thing is that many fine Brits have missed their Caribbean Cruises, are stranded for Christmas, etc. British Air has lost more money in 1 day than it would have cost to buy decent equipment for Heathrow. This is another fine example why we should turn over everything to the various governments of the world :)

 

Hank

 

And they get bad winters in NY and the North East seaboard all the time and the place still grinds to a halt in 2010.The story of Heathrow is quite fascinating and makes great reading.

 

The US Government Science Minister and other scientists blame cold winters on global warming, hot winters on global warning, dry weather on global warming, snow on global warming and lack of snow on global warming (I am not making this up). The cash-rich companies and local authorities and State legislatures refuse to invest in 21st Century equipment for the airports because they say it is not needed since the winters are measured and are well anticipated and any bad winters can be planned for.

 

Of course this is now the third bad winter in a row, but they say these clusters do not happen. And to make matters worse, when the American government offered to send troops out to the many, many airports from NY to Mississippi their offer of help was declined.

 

The sad thing is that many fine US (don't include fine Canadian) citizens missed their trip home for Christmas and when they were finally offered a chance to get home for New Year, are still stranded for the New Year. The gross inadequacies of the various US authorities responsible for the operation of the US airports, would be embarrassing for even a third world country.

 

American Airways, United, Delta, US Air, et. al. have lost more money in 1 day than it would have cost to buy decent equipment for the fine-weather airports on the east coast of the USA.

 

This is another fine example why we should turn over everything to the various governments of the world.

[Giantfan13]

No flight cancellations or disruption or airport closures on the NE of US then. The US government must have been content that the many and various airports were well prepared for snow...

 

Never again do I start a thread about snow, White Christmas's or lending fellow posters any shovels (my idea of humor).

We got DUMPED on, and good. My area got about 23 inches of snow (that's almost 2FEET, for those that didn't major in math), and across the street seemed like half that. The wind was just howling and blowing in our direction. Took me, and the rest of us home today, a good part of the day to shovel out. And yes, the Long Island RR was shut down most of the day (it's an outside line and snow on the tracks was just too high), the airports were shut down most of the day.

I read on the NCL board, the Jewel was suppose to sail at 4PM on Sunday, in the heart of the storm. And many stupid people who decided to fly in the morning of the crusie, were just out of luck. No flights in most of the day.

 

anyway, I'm going to soak my aching back.

 

White Christmas Phooey

 

Cheers

 

Len

[TLCOhio]

Never again do I start a thread about snow, White Christmas's or lending fellow posters any shovels (my idea of humor). We got DUMPED on, and good. My area got about 23 inches of snow (that's almost 2FEET, for those that didn't major in math), and across the street seemed like half that. anyway, I'm going to soak my aching back. White Christmas Phooey Cheers. Len

 

THANKS, Len, for the update! Glad you're recovering. BUT, we won't mention how the Giants "packed it in" when visiting Green Bay and couldn't get back to NYC after their 45-17 loss. Then the Jets lose, but get in the playoffs. The NY Post summed it up yesterday: "There it goes. The facade that this is a formidable defense. The charade that the offense plays with poise and smarts. The grasp the Giants had on what comes next. Perhaps the grasp Tom Coughlin has on his job."

 

You need a cruise, soon. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 27,375 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

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