Winter Storm, December 27, 2004

Well, here I sit at work. Storm stayed. Well, sort of. The snow storm raged throughout the Maritimes, where I work at Moncton ACC, and by the time the storm started to lift and the plows started to make their rounds, there would be little point to me trying to go home. We work a day shift and follow it up with a midnight shift, which is what I was scheduled for today. Let's see... Take 30-45 minutes to drive home, risking getting stuck in a snow bank in near zero visibility and all the compacted-snow-covered roads, take 1+30 or so to shovel my into the driveway, sleep for about an hour, then take another hour or so to shovel my way back out and risk the drive back to work for the night shift. I figure I might as well stay here for the time.

On the plus side, it should be an interesting night. Hardly any planes took off or landed in the Maritime provinces today, what with winds from the northeast at 40G50, visibility down around 1/4 +SN +BLSN, and the ceiling of VV003. Most runways were closed or covered with snow (to the point where works crews had their hands full) given the snowfall and the high winds. The midnight shift coming up should be interesting as they try to reposition aircraft once the airports open again -- especially since staffing on the midnight shift is low due to normal nighttime traffic patterns. If anything interesting happens, I'll be sure to mention it -- as long as it could be heard from a general public point of view. I'm technically not allowed to give out "secret" information. Anyway, time for some rest.