blizzard!!

So after our beautiful day yesterday... spring fever hit I tell ya... 43 degrees... we hear on the news this morning that today is going to be a rough one. A 5 our of 5 on the hassle factor.

Got E to the sitter and headed off to work. The morning started out just fine... nothing but a little windy. Then the snow started. Then we started to hear of school after school closing early.

Then we got this county wide email:

GO.ODH.UE-STE.ELE-FR.EEB.ORN-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RE.D WI.NG...OW.ATON.NA...ALB.ERT L.EA10.53 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON......WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM CST WEDNESDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TW.IN CITI.ES/CH.ANHAS.SEN HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO12 PM CST WEDNESDAY. SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THROUGH MID-AFTERNOON. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES ARE EXPECTED. SUSTAINED NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 30MPH HAVE GUSTED TO 50 MPH AT TIMES THIS MORNING ACROSS THE REGION AND THESE WIND SPEEDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THIS HAS GENERATED AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS HAVE BRIEFLY BEEN OBSERVED IN THIS AREA OF MINNESOTA LATE THIS MORNING AND THESE CONDITIONS WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD AND PERSIST INTO MID-AFTERNOON ALONG INTERSTATE 35 FROM MEDFORD SOUTHWARD TO THE IOWA BORDER AND EASTWARD TOWARDS RED WING. THEREFORE A BLIZZARD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THOSE COUNTIES. A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE. THIS INCLUDES ALONG INTERSTATE90 IN FREEBORN COUNTY AND INTERSTATE 35 FROM MEDFORD SOUTH TO THE IOWA BORDER. IN COMBINATION WITH THE SNOW AND WINDS...BITTERLY COLD AIR CONTINUES TO FLOOD INTO THE REGION. WIND CHILLS OF 25 TO 40 BELOW ZERO WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION TONIGHT AND LAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THEREFORE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

We get this national weather advisory alert and our buildings don't close. WTF is up with that? Crazy if you ask me, it say do not travel!? Yet we couldn't leave work. Well actually we could, but had to without pay or use our vacation time.

I thought some of you might enjoy hearing this... I've read a blog or two where if snow is even forcasted the entire area shuts down. We have blizzard warnings with windchills near 40 below zero and we are expected to go about our business. I guess we're used to it. But it just sucks. Who wants to be out traveling with a 20 month old in weather like this?! NOT ME!