Don't say I didn't warn you--bad weather on the way for the upper midwest

[golfgal]

Yep, Windom, barrel of fun!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how young people grow up there, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sadly, 6 hours in the car is better than the alternative of staying overnight with them!

I'm crossing my fingers.

There is always the hotel option if you have to drive down--just don't tell them you are staying at a hotel--you could even drive to Mankato and stay in a hotel there

I can give you a good list of firehalls and libraries where we have stayed in southern MN after getting caught in bad weather . Some are better than others, the one in Fairfax was really nice, we had some nice ladies bring over some food for us even.

 

[jme829]

We're heading to Ohio on Saturday morning. We're driving to Rockford, Ill (just outside of CHicago) and staying over then doing the rest of the drive on Sunday so hopefully the worst of it will be cleared up by then.

When we came home from Ohio last year, we were in a snow storm and it took 3 hours just to get through Chicago! (usually we can whip through in 20-30 min depending on traffic) . We were planning on being at our hotel in Rockford around 3 and it wasn't til almost 6 that we got there!

 

[elgerber]

There is always the hotel option if you have to drive down--just don't tell them you are staying at a hotel--you could even drive to Mankato and stay in a hotel there

I can give you a good list of firehalls and libraries where we have stayed in southern MN after getting caught in bad weather . Some are better than others, the one in Fairfax was really nice, we had some nice ladies bring over some food for us even.

Nope, the 2 dogs will be waiting at home for us, you know those little rat terriers, they need us home at night! LOL, I got an excuse for everything!

 

[Chicago526]

I just watched the weather and we are suppose to start having rain by Thursday afternoon into Friday. Wierd weather. My dd is flying out at 7:00 a.m.Thursday morning out of O'Hare and I hope, it will be rain by then, she has a connecting flight at LAX to Japan, with only a 1 1/2 hour layover. I told her to book a straight flight, but who knows.

Way to go golfgal, you jinxed the midwest.

It's an early morning flight, so while it may be delayed it's likely to take off. Morning flights tend to take off because A) it's early and things aren't backed up a lot yet and B) the airlines need the equipment (ie plane) in the next city to continue their schedule, a canceled flight at O'Hare means one, two, or even three more canceled flights down the line. They want to avoid that if they can, so they try to get those morning planes out if at all possible.

I'm a travel agent, btw, that's how I know these things!

 

[SleepyMom]

DH just called and said they are saying on the radio that wherever you are tomorrow is where you will be until Saturday, so choose your location now.

My Mom is coming a day early to miss it all tomorrow, she should be here within an hour or so. We have some issues right now, so it's going to be fun being snowed in for 4 days .

We were supposed to drive to DH's family for just the day on Thursday and be back home that night, but he has already made the call that we won't be going.

Stay safe everyone if you do need to travel!

 

[golfgal]

Nope, the 2 dogs will be waiting at home for us, you know those little rat terriers, they need us home at night! LOL, I got an excuse for everything!

Yes, we know, we call our bRat, Velcro because she is always stuck to one of us . She is coming with us and looking forward to the ride--we can't even SAY the word ride or she goes running for the door--she LOVES the car.

You know that calm right before a major thunderstorm, that is what it feels like here today

All of the kids have made arrangements to get things done by noon tomorrow so we will head out shortly after that. If we can't get out I will be one of those "panic" people in the grocery store buying milk and toilet paper because we won't have any left by tomorrow (ok, we will have TP but I will probably still buy some just in case).

 

[elgerber]

Yes, we know, we call our bRat, Velcro because she is always stuck to one of us . She is coming with us and looking forward to the ride--we can't even SAY the word ride or she goes running for the door--she LOVES the car.

You know that calm right before a major thunderstorm, that is what it feels like here today

All of the kids have made arrangements to get things done by noon tomorrow so we will head out shortly after that. If we can't get out I will be one of those "panic" people in the grocery store buying milk and toilet paper because we won't have any left by tomorrow (ok, we will have TP but I will probably still buy some just in case).

LOL, I have plenty of TP, but Milk might run low! I am glad you can get out early, sounds like tomorrow might still not be too bad. One of my rats, I can't even say the word go, we have to spell it, just like W A L K or R I D E because if I saw go in a sentence she bounces to the door. We can't take them with us because my grandma lives in a seniors apartment complex, Izzy would love to come along though. Shelby, not so much, she has anxiety issues

 

[golfgal]

LOL, I have plenty of TP, but Milk might run low! I am glad you can get out early, sounds like tomorrow might still not be too bad. One of my rats, I can't even say the word go, we have to spell it, just like W A L K or R I D E because if I saw go in a sentence she bounces to the door. We can't take them with us because my grandma lives in a seniors apartment complex, Izzy would love to come along though. Shelby, not so much, she has anxiety issues

My Dad has 3 cats. Our dog doesn't know what a cat is and can't understand why they won't play with her

OK, Iowa people, the Iowa road site says that roads are covered in ice already--since it is supposed to be 30 there tomorrow, it will melt, right??? The report is from about noon so it is better, RIGHT????

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My Dad has 3 cats. Our dog doesn't know what a cat is and can't understand why they won't play with her

OK, Iowa people, the Iowa road site says that roads are covered in ice already--since it is supposed to be 30 there tomorrow, it will melt, right??? The report is from about noon so it is better, RIGHT????

How far are you driving and are you driving in the direction of the storm? I though the concern was for a white out.


Do they salt roads in Iowa?

I hope you can make it for your Christmas plans.

 

[RNMOM]

All these storms are going either above or below us and we really want snow. Yeah, I realize what I am saying but we like challenges here. Good luck to all who are affected. I guess we will have to be happy with our rain and 40 degrees on Christmas.

 

[golfgal]

How far are you driving and are you driving in the direction of the storm? I though the concern was for a white out.


Do they salt roads in Iowa?

I hope you can make it for your Christmas plans.

St. Louis (8 hour straight south of us pretty much). It sounds like around here Thursday and Friday will be white out conditions so we will miss that. I am mainly worried about the freezing rain in Iowa right now. The storm is coming out of Colorado as we type. It just depends on how long it takes to get to us. It looks like if we can make it to Cedar Rapids before anything bad happens we should be fine. It isn't supposed to get bad HERE until around midnight tomorrow night but I don't know about Iowa. It sounds like our area is in the 20" of snow range right now.

 

[cydswipe]

husband works for a grocery store based out of Iowa... they were beyond crazy busy yesterday and today. My family only lives a hour away and I'm thinking we're not going to celebrate with the grandparents until Sunday.. My husband says I should leave tonight, but I don't want him to sit by himself on Christmas!

As of right now, just flurries, but I'm in eastern Iowa. I don't think the local weather people have a good grasp on it yet... it's really going to depend on the temps as to what we get...

regardless, be safe and have a happy holiday!

Oh, btw... yes we do salt the roads in Iowa!

 

[DWGal210]

husband works for a grocery store based out of Iowa... they were beyond crazy busy yesterday and today. My family only lives a hour away and I'm thinking we're not going to celebrate with the grandparents until Sunday.. My husband says I should leave tonight, but I don't want him to sit by himself on Christmas!

As of right now, just flurries, but I'm in eastern Iowa. I don't think the local weather people have a good grasp on it yet... it's really going to depend on the temps as to what we get...

regardless, be safe and have a happy holiday!

Oh, btw... yes we do salt the roads in Iowa!

I was just talking to a co-worker today about the grocery stores getting crazy. I can understand people wanting to make sure they have the basics on hand - but it just kills me when people will go and buy $300 worth of groceries right before a storm. We're in the Midwest, don't worry, they'll get it cleaned up - you won't be in your house for days and days or weeks at a time.

I agree that our weather people don't have a good grasp...I am in Cedar Falls (NE Iowa) and they keep saying we could get this, we could get that, we're not sure....they agree it'll be snow and some mix of ice but not sure how much.

I am just praying we can fly out on Saturday morning! We leave out of Moline at 10:25 on Saturday morning and I just hope we can leave on time!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

St. Louis (8 hour straight south of us pretty much). It sounds like around here Thursday and Friday will be white out conditions so we will miss that. I am mainly worried about the freezing rain in Iowa right now. The storm is coming out of Colorado as we type. It just depends on how long it takes to get to us. It looks like if we can make it to Cedar Rapids before anything bad happens we should be fine. It isn't supposed to get bad HERE until around midnight tomorrow night but I don't know about Iowa. It sounds like our area is in the 20" of snow range right now.

Well, I will keep our fingers crossed for you.

I remember when my family took a cruise out of Miami (we lived in Charleston) in Dec 1989. A host of problems on the way to the cruise involving our broken down Oldsmobile Delta 88. We left and it was hot. We returned and we were shivering on the deck of the SS Emerald Seas in between bites of our breakfast as we waited to Disembark. Each of us kids only had one pair of pants and one long sleeved shirt that we ended up wearing for 3 days straight. Snow and ice storm in Florida.

We did make it home by Christmas Eve and wanted to cancel our Christmas plans--but got guilted into doing them anyway. A 4 hour drive to the mountains where it was a balmy 40+ degrees.

I'm sure you'll have better luck in Iowa.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

I think sleepymom's comment about picking your spot is going to be on the money. She's in South Dakota, so keep us posted on what's to come!

I'm between Des Moines and Ames, and right now it's misting rain, but that will turn to ice tonight. Then tomorrow night the big storm is supposed to hit. We are supposed to drive up to Waverly on Thursday, just for the day - I don't think that will happen. The problem isn't getting there, we could leave a day early, but getting back to have Christmas morning in our own home.

I did a monster grocery run last night, so that if we get stuck here we have enough milk and snacky foods to last until Saturday. We don't normally have to cook on Christmas eve/Christmas day. I'll make a pot or 2 of homemade soup and heavy appetizers, I'd rather do that than a big sitdown dinner anyway. We have new games for the Wii wrapped under the tree, so plenty of entertainment!

 

[golfgal]

I think sleepymom's comment about picking your spot is going to be on the money. She's in South Dakota, so keep us posted on what's to come!

I'm between Des Moines and Ames, and right now it's misting rain, but that will turn to ice tonight. Then tomorrow night the big storm is supposed to hit. We are supposed to drive up to Waverly on Thursday, just for the day - I don't think that will happen. The problem isn't getting there, we could leave a day early, but getting back to have Christmas morning in our own home.

I did a monster grocery run last night, so that if we get stuck here we have enough milk and snacky foods to last until Saturday. We don't normally have to cook on Christmas eve/Christmas day. I'll make a pot or 2 of homemade soup and heavy appetizers, I'd rather do that than a big sitdown dinner anyway. We have new games for the Wii wrapped under the tree, so plenty of entertainment!

We will be heading south out of MN through Waterloo and into Cedar Rapids on 63--hopefully mid-day tomorrow will be warm enough so no ice. If we don't go I will HAVE to make a monster grocery run because we are about out of food since we were planning on being gone for a week.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, so how are things in Iowa today (NE mostly)? Ok, I will let you get up and have your coffee before you run out and check the roads for us.

Our friends are going to drive up to our house today and stay here for a couple days--spend Christmas at our house--they have a flight leaving, hopefully, on Christmas Day for DC. There is no way they would get her on Christmas Day as originally planned-at least one side of the state will get hit. If we don't make it out today we will have guests for Christmas. If we do leave, they will just have their own Christmas at our house.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well being in St. Louis we just have rain. We have a chance for flurries on Christmas Day, no accumulation though.

So if you can get thru Iowa and into northern MO you should be good.

 

[golfgal]

Well being in St. Louis we just have rain. We have a chance for flurries on Christmas Day, no accumulation though.

So if you can get thru Iowa and into northern MO you should be good.

I wasn't too worried about the Missouri part of the trip when the high is supposed to be 50 there today. If it wasn't raining there I would have considered bringing the golf clubs along . Now, to get through Iowa??

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I wasn't too worried about the Missouri part of the trip when the high is supposed to be 50 there today. If it wasn't raining there I would have considered bringing the golf clubs along . Now, to get through Iowa??

50 my foot. Try 40 with a wind chill....