Events

More shots from my photo safari earlier today: At Fullerton: Farther down, closer to LaSalle: North Avenue. I processed this one a little bit to tighten up the levels; what I actually saw had much less contrast and color: That's all for today. By tomorrow the holiday will end and I'll realize I'm a day behind in my work. And Parker will realize that he's not getting almost two hours of walks—especially because tomorrow is predicted to begin with a brisk -20°C morning.

Last night hundreds of cars got stuck on Lake Shore Drive after three accidents blocked the northbound lanes between Fullerton and Belmont around 7pm. Some people were stuck in their cars as late as 3am; one friend's dad got off the Drive only around then. Dozens of cars and buses littered the road when Parker and I went out for a 90-minute photo safari this afternoon: This guy also got stuck. Who's he going to call?

The snow keeps coming down here by the lake, but it's officially stopped at O'Hare. We've now had the third biggest snowfall in Chicago history: 513 mm fell over the past two days, only 70 mm short of the 1967 record. Lest you think we're wimps here, Oak Park River Forest High School closed today for only the 5th time in its 125-year history; the last time was in 1979. As you read this from San Francisco, or Riyadh, or Singapore, or anywhere else in the world other than the central U.S., feel the...

First, a report out of Punxsutawney, Penn., that Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) did not see his shadow: Punxsutawney Phil emerged from a tree stump at dawn and, unusually, did not see his shadow, signaling that spring is just around the corner, according to tradition. "He found that there was no shadow," said Bill Deeley, president of a club that organizes Groundhog Day in the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney. "So an early spring it will be." Ah, but there's a catch: "There is no question...

Chicago weather conditions at 4pm: -6°C, winds northeast at 48 km/h gusting to 63 km/h, visibility 400 m in heavy, blowing snow. Here's the corner of Belden and Clark in Lincoln Park around then: And a little north of that, looking north:

The ParkerCam will be pointing out the window at Inner Drive Technology World Headquarters today, in case anyone wants to watch the blizzard in progress for the duration of the event:

The weather we've worried about for a couple of days looks set to hit this afternoon: Four days of computer forecasts of this storm, including multiple runs off 7 models, are putting the developing system on a more northerly track while generating water equivalent precipitation of around 30 mm. To convert that to snow, calculations have to be made of how snowflakes are likely to develop in the storm given a snow/water ratio predicted to be 15 to 1 Tuesday evening. [This means 450 mm of snow. —ed.] As...

We're likely to begin February with the biggest snowfall in Chicago's recorded history: A Blizzard Watch is in effect Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday as a strengthening low pressure system moves up the Ohio Valley. Late Tuesday afternoon steady snow and stronger winds will push into the region, starting south of I-80 and spreading north during the evening. Snowfall rates Tuesday night could approach 50 to 80 mm per hour and when combined with sustained winds at 50-60 km/h, visibilities are will drop...

Every year, I surprise myself by the amount of money I loan the United States, interest-free. Today I found out it's about double what I estimated earlier. This isn't a good thing: while I have no objection to paying taxes, I object strongly to over-paying during the tax year, even if they do refund it a week after I ask for it.

This winter Chicago has had below-average temperatures overall but nothing really cold. It's like a study in moderation, only unusual when you see the numbers rather than when you experience it: Just one day this season has produced a sub-minus-17 Celsius low temperature and only one day has failed to climb out of single digits. Since the start of the three month (December through February) meteorological winter period, 38 of the 59 days—64% of them—have generated below normal readings. It's a fact that...