Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Last Updated: 1:08 PM, February 7, 2011

Posted: 1:01 PM, February 7, 2011

CHICAGO -- A Chicago man's icy revenge continued to pick up YouTube hits Monday after he posted a video that shows his neighbor stealing his shovel -- and himself burying her car in snow.

David Welles discovered his shovel was missing after he went outside to build an igloo with his two-year-old daughter, he told WGN-TV in an interview.

He then checked surveillance footage from cameras set up around his property to see if he could identify the culprit.

The video, which he posted on YouTube, shows one of his neighbors letting her dog relieve itself on Welles' property before snatching the shovel to dig her nearby car out of the snow dumped by last week's massive storm.

Welles said he would have gladly let the woman borrow his shovel if she had only asked or at least returned it, but the theft infuriated him.

"I got a little … passive aggressive" he told WGN.

The rest of the video shows Welles using a snow blower to rebury the woman's car.

His surveillance cameras also captured the neighbor return to her vehicle to dig out her car once again, this time with a broom, which took her four hours.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/chicago_shovel_buries_neighbor_report_2pKm63Og7iJFB4DavucANK#ixzz1DQCD6gRl

Click here for the local CBS News station coverage of this story.

Monday, February 7, 2011

GO SNOW DAY - Official Chicago Blizzard Rap 2011

Thursday, February 3, 2011

CHICAGO BLIZZARD 2011 SNOWPOCALYPSE DOCUMENTARY SNOW DAY

Looking South From North Avenue Walking Bridge

Some Great Pictures from TimeOutNY.com

Click here for more.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

"Chicago Blizzard 2011 The Movie" Is In The Works!

Lake Shore Drive Pictures and Details Finally Leaking Out At The End of Day Two

As subfreezing weather descends upon Chicago in the wake of this storm the political fallout is just beginning. I remember watching the Mayor's press conference this morning after shoveling for 2+ hours and there was absolutely no mention of how bad the LSD problem was. They didn't show any pictures or video. All we had were word of mouth feedback from folks we need through friends who were stranded on the drive.

Image of stranded motorists will define 2011 blizzard

Some question city's decision to keep Lake Shore Drive open

By John Byrne and Cynthia Dizikes, Tribune reporters

8:31 p.m. CST, February 2, 2011

Chicago's iconic lakefront boulevard — its snow-swept lanes littered with cars and buses entombed in drifts — emerged Wednesday as the defining image of the blizzard of 2011, a scene of slow-moving chaos amid a fierce storm otherwise handled deftly by millions throughout the region.

While workers struggled to clear vehicles and allow plows to begin unclogging one of the city's main north-south arteries, many who spent harrowing hours stranded on Lake Shore Drive during the height of the storm lashed out at the city's decision to keep the road open.

"I feel like someone missed the boat on not closing down Lake Shore Drive before it became a disaster," said Craig Close, who was stuck on the road for about eight hours as he tried to make it home to Lincoln Square.

There were no deaths or major injuries on the drive, but there was plenty of blame to go around. Commuters ignored daylong warnings and chose to drive home on a road known to be buffeted by fierce winds and sometimes waves sweeping off the lake. And city leaders faced questions about why they let the drive stay open for so long as snow piled up.

Mayor Richard Daley was conspicuously absent from the public eye during a high-profile city crisis, instead dispatching his chief of staff to take the blame and apologize to those left stranded.

Click here for more.

Click here for the "Lake Shore Drive" twitter feed.

Another Name For This Storm: The "Groundhog Day Blizzard"

Satellite image of the storm on the evening of February 1 over the American Midwest.

Wikipedia wrote:

Storm type:	Winter storm, Blizzard
Formed:	January 29, 2011

The January 31–February 2, 2011 North American winter storm, also called the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard, is an ongoing major winter storm, situated around the US and Canadian holiday Groundhog Day.^[12]^[13]^[14] In the initial stages of the storm, some meteorologists predicted that the system would affect over 100 million people in the United States.^[15]^[16] The storm brought cold air, blowing snow and mixed precipitation on a path from New Mexico and norhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5684475860536331428&pli=1thern Texas to New England and Eastern Canada. In Chicago, winds ahead of the storm exceeded 30 mph (48 km/h) and snowfall forecasts were in excess of 24 in (61 cm) for much of Illinois.^[17] Blizzard conditions affected many large cities along the storm's path, including Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Chicago, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Detroit, New York City, and Boston.

January 29, 2011 was/is the 323rd anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg in 1688.

Blizzard ends in Chicago

By Jason Samenow

Snow totals reach historic levels

3:30 p.m.: National Weather Service is indicating the snow total was 20.2" at noon central. It's possible the final number will be a little higher, but unlikely to move to #2 on the list (21.6" from Jan. 1-3 1999).

2:00 p.m. Looks like the snow has ended in Chicago. Still awaiting a final total.

12:25 p.m.: Some lake-enhanced snow bands continue to slam Chicago. Storm chaser Reed Timmer reports "This is the most incredible snow event I've ever seen in Chicago. That lake effect band is INCREDIBLE.. highest snowfall rates so far." Chicago Weather Center has a great photo gallery of the storm.

11:45 a.m. update (10:45 central time): Chicago now has 20.2" of snow as of 11:30 a.m. - so storm is still the third biggest on record. Snow is almost over so it may not reach #2 or #1. Chicago Weather Center reports drifts to 12 feet!

From 10:15 a.m.: Snow continues to fall heavily around Chicago with wind gusts to around 30 mph, and visibility of a quarter mile or less. Chicago O'Hare has received 19.5 inches of snow through 9 a.m. central time according to official National Weather Service reports. Three to five more inches are possible today.

Click here for more.

TheCarManShow Coins the Term "Snownado"

At 1:05 min/sec TheCarManShow called it a "Snow Tornado....Snownado"

Here's TheCarManShow's video the following day:

David Paul Downs & Lydia Krupinski embark on a mission to visit the purported 25 foot waves at the Lake Michigan shore...only to be literally turned around by the monstrous winds.

Incredible footage!

Chicago Blizzard Paralyzes the Area!: A Story of Survival

Click here to read Career Coach's survival story.

RedEye Chicago: Great Site for 2011 Chicago Thunder Snow Storm Picsl

Special thanks to Scott Kleinberg for posting these great pics!

Scott wrote:

Whenever it snows, we always ask for your photos and create a gallery. Those galleries are always very well-received. And when words like epic, historic and paralyzing are being used to describe a storm, our camera-fueled brains go into overdrive.

So here's what we're looking for:

-- general snow photos: see a yardstick in the snow? Someone commuting on foot? Anything involving snow.

-- snowmen (and women and other creative snow creatures).

-- dibs - creative ways Chicagoans save their freshly-cleared parking spaces.

Getting them to us is easy. Here's how:

1. Tweet @redeyechicago with the photo, location and brief description and the hashtag #REsnowpics

2. Post them on our Facebook page with the same information described above.

3. Email them to redeyetalk@gmail.com. Please be sure REsnowpics appears in the subject line along with the same information.

Click here for more.

Great Video Commentary by Obuchiteck

Chicago crazy ass snow storm February 2011. This is part one of a two part series. In this part it's the the uncalm before the storm. It's crazy windy but the five hundred foot tall snow drifts have yet to develop. Later I revisit some of the locations to see a dramatic change to almost desolate abandon city feel.

A Chicago Storm With Thunder, Lightning and Snow!

Watch the entire video!! Loudest lightning you have ever heard during a snow storm!
GO TO 2:05 in to the video!! " THUNDER SNOW"

Pictures News and Links About The Great Chicago Thunder Snow Storm

Pic of Wrigley Field losing a roof panel (via @willbyington)

This is one of my personal favorites since the storm began. Notice the lights on word "Chicago" are off thus leaving "GO CUBS"!

Here's the story:

Blizzard Tears Off Part Of Wrigley Field Roof

by Al Yellon • Feb 2, 2011 11:30 AM CST

There were many stories of cars and people stranded during the storm variously called "Snowpocalypse", "Snowmageddon", Snowprah", and "Snowtorious B.I.G" that hit Chicago last night, officially dumping 20.2 inches of snow at O'Hare Airport as of 10:30 a.m. CST on Tuesday. That makes it the third largest snowstorm in Chicago history; it might wind up in second place by the time all is done.

One of the casualties of the storm was part of the roof above the press box at Wrigley Field; according to cubs.com, a piece of fiber board that made up part of that roof blew off in a 70 MPH wind gust Tuesday evening. Cubs media relations director Peter Chase said that no interior damage to the press box occurred, and there was no other damage at Wrigley Field, nor was anyone hurt.

Click here for more

Here's the National Weather Service official warning link.

Great Photo Posted by Notus30

National Weather Service: Winter storm 3rd-biggest in Chicago history; 19.5 inches of snow

CHICAGO (AP) — The National Weather Service has ranked a winter storm moving across Illinois as the third-largest to hit Chicago since snow records began in 1886.

The blizzard accumulated 19.5 inches of snow at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The weather service ranks that accumulation third behind 23 inches in 1967 and 21.6 inches in 1999.

Click here for more.

Here's a news video link which documents the unusual occurrence of lightning during the height of the storm yesterday which was accompanied with thunder.

The Great LSD Gridlock: Blizzard of 1979 redux?

by Steve Edwards | Feb. 02, 2011

Cars stranded on Lake Shore Drive (Flickr/Tim Brown)

The City of Chicago saw the arrival of one if the nastiest snowstorms in its long history on Tuesday. But it also saw something else: Emergency services unequipped to deal with the severity of conditions on Lake Shore Drive.

Not since the infamous Blizzard of 1979 has the city been so crippled by a storm - and city services so unable to cope with its impact on commuters.

Hundreds of cars and their drivers were stuck on Lake Shore Drive on Tuesday evening and well into the wee hours of Wednesday morning, most along the northbound portions of the Drive.

The problems began when a massive snowstorm arrived in the Chicago area just before rush hour, making travel treacherous and road conditions difficult. But the situation intensified after 7 p.m., according to city officials. That's when a series of cascading accidents blocked lanes and brought traffic to a standstill.

As a result, the City of Chicago closed Lake Shore Drive at 7:50p on Tuesday evening. The closure shut down ramps in both directions, but it also left cars stuck on the Drive at the height of the blizzard, in many cases for hours.

Snowdrifts on Lake Shore Drive (Flickr/Tim Brown)

The gridlock on Lake Shore Drive recalled memories of the Blizzard of 1979, when traffic ground to a halt as snow piled up throughout city. Chicago's mayor at the time, Michael Bilandic, was heavily criticized for his response to the storm and for not having city crews better prepared to deal with its impact.

Click here for more.

Here are some pictures from around our house and neighborhood: