Weather Alert!

We have been monitoring the huge snowstorm headed towards Virgina from the midwest for a couple of days now. So far initial reports have been revised several times from a couple of inches, to 6, to 12 last night, and now the national weather service has upgraded the storm again to a major storm warning predicting that we may have 16-24 inches of snow here in north western Virgina between Friday and Saturday. The Governor has even declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm.

Early indications were that the snow was not going to move in until late Friday afternoon, so up till now we've been planning to be open and filling orders Friday so we could get as many out as possible ahead of the storm, and then break mid-afternoon so everyone could get home before the stow starts. Now the forecast has changed and the snow may start moving in around mid-morning (9 or 10am). We're going to play this by ear, but if the heavy snow is going to begin mid-morning tomorrow, for safety reasons I'll most likely close the warehouse for the day and tell everyone to stay home.

So this is a heads up that tomorrow will be iffy for us and if you have an order you want to place before the weekend please try to get it in by 2pm (EST) today. That way we can get it processed and out the door prior to the big storm moving in. Otherwise there is a good chance we won't be able to get to it until Monday.

UPDATE #1 (7:00am, Feb 5th): The forecast has only gotten worse overnight for our area (20-24inches+ now) and the storm is almost on us, so we're closing up the warehouse today. All orders placed today and over the weekend will be processed on Monday after we've dug out. For everyone in our area, you've got a few more hour to stock up. Make sure you have plenty of food and water, and a way to heat the house if the utilities go out. Stay warm, stay safe.... and go Colts! :-)

UPDATE #2 (2:30pm, Feb 5th): It's been snowing since around 10am and we've got about 4 inches so far, but the real heavy stuff hasn't moved in yet. National Weather Service has upped the prediction again, now saying 20-30 inches, and 30+ inches in some areas. They say after dark we could start seeing a couple inches an hour through tomorrow morning. Might be the biggest winter storm around here in 30 years. It's enough snow to get me thinking about things that I don't usually think about, like our current warehouse was built in 2003 and the roof has never been tested against more than maybe 18 inches of snow at a time. Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it anyway. Guess we'll be finding a few things out over the next 48 hours. :-) Frankly, a little more AGW would be more than welcome right now.

UPDATE #3 (6:20 pm, Feb 6th): Well the snow finally stopped about half and hour ago. We've been working in shifts since about 7am this morning clearing the driveway and making a way to get the cars out, then clearing again after a few more inches fell. Phones, Cable, and Internet here at the house have been out since last night until a few minutes ago (phones and DSL anyway), and the electricity went off for a short time as well. So how much did we get? Looks like around 30-32" total. The berms of snow we make on each side of of the driveway digging out are taller than me in some places, and even though we've dug out and the guys in the development have plowed the street I doubt we can get out yet as the state road is still a foot deep in snow since the last low came though. I'm just glad it happened over the weekend, because of it has hit mid-week we would have been shut down for 2 or 3 days. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight.

UPDATE #4: A hard days work.








UPDATE #5 (8:00 pm, Feb 7th): Spent the day both digging out and posting some of the updates (new manga here and new figures here) that were delayed by the snow. We have a second batch of figures inbound but who knows when they will get through the snow to deliver them to us. We'll be open for business bright and early tomorrow and since they are calling for more snow to come in Tuesday and Wednesday our plan is to get as many orders filled as possible, so that's all we're going to work on tomorrow and then we'll see what happens. Anyway, a lot of work to do. Don't worry though, we'll get it done - it's what we do. :-)

Oh, and GO COLTS! UPDATE: Oh well....