We Don't Need No Stinkin' Snow

UPDATE:
Verizon phones out in Laconia, surrounding towns
Associated Press - February 14, 2008 8:05 PM ET

LACONIA, N.H. (AP) - Phone service disrupted in more than two dozen New Hampshire communities, but officials hope to have the problem fixed later tonight.

State emergency management officials say the problem is affecting Verizon's landline and cell phone customers at least 25 communities, including Laconia, Plymouth and Conway. Most phones are working, but only within a limited calling area.

Officials say anyone facing an emergency should still try to dial 9-1-1 even if they don't hear a dial tone because the call may still go through. If that doesn't work, they should try using a cell phone or dialing local police or fire departments.

The calling areas are defined by the coverage area of Verizon's remote terminals, not by town lines. Verizon officials say the problem has been traced to two damaged cables.

LACONIA, N.H. -- A problem with Verizon disrupted landlines and cell phones in the Laconia area Thursday evening. State emergency officials said that the problem affected Laconia and 25 surrounding communities. Calls have been unable to go out. Full service isn’t expected to be restored until 10 p.m. or later on Thursday.

Verizon Spokeswoman Jill Wurm said that two cables that supply service were damaged at around the same time. One of the damaged cables was located between Sanbornville and Wolfeboro. The other was located between Belmont and Canterbury. Wurm believed that a fallen tree was partly responsible for damaging at least one of the cables.

As of 7 p.m., 911 service in the area was working. Emergency calls were being transferred to Concord and then to local fire or police departments. Customers could also call people within their same 3-digit calling exchange. Officials said that anyone with an emergency that could not reach 911 should then try the local number for their police or fire department. As a last resort, drive to one of the departments.

(original post)

The latest snowfall tallies are in...here on Saddle Hill we have passed the 133 INCH mark for the snowfall season, which equals out to 11 feet of Global Warming. This is an alltime record.

The State Capitol of Concord, which is 30 miles as the crow flies to the south and about 700 feet lower in elevation than where my house is on Saddle Hill, has recorded 86.8 inches so far. This exceeds the most season snowfall ever recorded in Concord on March 1st of any previous year dating back to the 1870s. And we still have 2 more weeks to go.

Today we got 11 more inches, which was followed by a coating of ice. It's still freezing rain here as we speak, but it's actually 2 degrees cooler than what my Weather Underground bells and whistles show. They say it's 34 degrees, but that is at LCI, which is 500 feet lower than here. Right now I have 32.1

Luckily, we have not had many power outages locally. A lot of flat roofs have collapsed however. When the roads are this icy, the Meredith snowplow/sander trucks actually have to come to a stop just above my driveway, turn around in my neighbor's drive across the street, and then very slowly BACK down the hill-since the sanding unit is in the back, it sands the road in advance of the truck in reverse. The sand has a healthy dose of salt mixed in, of course, but a rare storm like this creates special icing.