UNPRECEDENTED MARCH BLIZZARD

It is now Tuesday morning. Apparently our fellow Americans on the East Coast are hunkering down for the worst snowstorm ever. Surely this is a result of climate change. Nothing like this has ever happened before! Surely there have been snowstorms and blizzards on the east coast - but this is March! Spring officially starts in one week! Carbon emissions have changed the natural order of things. This is what climate change is.  This is unprecedented. This has never happened before! 

Except for the inconvenient truth that it has happened before.

from history.com

1888

Great Blizzard of ’88 hits East Coast

On this day in 1888, one of the worst blizzards in American history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping as much as 55 inches of snow in some areas. New York City ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and powerful winds from the storm. At the time, approximately one in every four Americans lived in the area between Washington D.C. and Maine, the area affected by the Great Blizzard of 1888. 

On March 10, temperatures in the Northeast hovered in the mid-50s. But on March 11, cold Arctic air from Canada collided with Gulf air from the south and temperatures plunged. Rain turned to snow and winds reached hurricane-strength levels. By midnight on March 11, gusts were recorded at 85 miles per hour in New York City. Along with heavy snow, there was a complete whiteout in the city when the residents awoke the next morning.

Despite drifts that reached the second story of some buildings, many city residents trudged out to New York’s elevated trains to go to work, only to find many of them blocked by snow drifts and unable to move. Up to 15,000 people were stranded on the elevated trains; in many areas, enterprising people with ladders offered to rescue the passengers for a small fee. In addition to the trains, telegraph lines, water mains and gas lines were also located above ground. Each was no match for the powerful blizzard, freezing and then becoming inaccessible to repair crews. Simply walking the streets was perilous. In fact, only 30 people out of 1,000 were able to make it to the New York Stock Exchange for work; Wall Street was forced to close for three straight days. There were also several instances of people collapsing in snow drifts and dying, including Senator Roscoe Conkling, New York’s Republican Party leader.

Many New Yorkers camped out in hotel lobbies waiting for the worst of the blizzard to pass. Mark Twain was in New York at the time and was stranded at his hotel for several days. P.T. Barnum entertained some of the stranded at Madison Square Garden. The East River, running between Manhattan and Queens, froze over, an extremely rare occurrence. This inspired some brave souls to cross the river on foot, which proved a terrible mistake when the tides changed and broke up the ice, stranding the adventurers on ice floes. Overall, about 200 people were killed by the blizzard in New York City alone.

But New York was not the only area to suffer. Along the Atlantic coast, hundreds of boats were sunk in the high winds and heavy waves. The snowfall totals north of New York City were historic: Keene, New Hampshire, received 36 inches; New Haven, Connecticut, got 45 inches; and Troy, New York, was hit by 55 inches of snow over 3 days. In addition, thousands of wild and farm animals froze to death in the blizzard.

In the wake of the storm, officials realized the dangers of above-ground telegraph, water and gas lines and moved them below ground. In New York City, a similar determination was made about the trains, and within 10 years, construction began on an underground subway system that is still in use today.

Your Food Diary For:

Monday, March 13, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Essential Everyday - Butter Flavored Grits	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
L U N C H
Maki - Maki Tuna Roll	501	95	4	23	100	0
	501	95	4	23	100	0
D I N N E R
Bobaks - smoked polish sausage	690	3	63	30	1,950	0
Broccoli - Broccoli	100	20	1	7	115	4
	790	23	64	37	2,065	4
S N A C K S
Dang - Toasted Coconut Chips, Original Recipe	400	41	24	2	400	27
	400	41	24	2	400	27
Totals	2,191	264	97	72	4,265	36
Your Daily Goal	2,796	349	93	140	2,300	104
Remaining	605	85	-4	68	-1,965	68
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, March 13, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Matrix Treadmill	60	844
Daily Total / Goal	60 / 30	844 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	60 / 210	844 / 4,130