As Hurricane Earl moves toward the East Coast of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is taking aggressive actions to prepare for the storm and is coordinating closely with state and local officials along the East Coast to help support their response as needed.  FEMA is also encouraging all East Coast residents to take steps now to prepare for possible severe weather in the coming days.

Go here for more information on how to be prepared.

FEMA encourages all residents and those visiting the East Coast to pay close attention to local updates and heed evacuation orders should they be issued.
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Fox News reports that “The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending staff up and down the East Coast to help prepare communities potentially affected by Hurricane Earl, a Category 4 storm making its way toward the U.S. shoreline.”

Fox also reports that the state of Maine’s Emergency Management Agency is expecting FEMA’s Region One officials to arrive in the city Augusta on Thursday, Sept. 2, in anticipation of the storm’s arrival.

Will a hurricane hit AC this year?

The Weather Channel has released a report on five cities that have been spared from recent hurricane activity but are vulnerable areas that are overdue. Atlantic City is number five on the list.

According to the report, a Category 1 hurricane made landfall near Atlantic City in 1903.  That was the last time the center of a hurricane crossed the coast of New Jersey. The center of a hurricane does not have to cross the coast to have significant impacts, however.

The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 caused severe to numerous homes, piers, and boardwalks along the coast, and nine lives were lost in the state.

Hurricane Gloria in 1985 was headed right for us, as 95,000 people were evacuated from Absecon Island, while the then eleven casinos were closed. Expected to become the first hurricane to hit the New Jersey coastline since the hurricane in 1903, a last minute turn spared the state.

According to an estimate by meteorologist George Prouflis, the chances for a direct hit by a hurricane on the Jersey shore each year is 1 in 200.

It’s sad how one’s perception of snow changes as one gets older. As a kid I delighted in those rare times when we had major snowstorms. Not only would school be closed, but we could go out and play. One time I came home and my mom asked me where my other boot was. I looked down and realized one of my feet was uncovered. My feet were so cold I didn’t even feel it. A week later when the snow melted, there was my bright red boot, snagged on the branch of a bush.

Now I look at snow as a pain in my butt — digging out the car, worrying about getting in an accident, etc. With my bad knee, I feel particularly vulnerable walking to and from my car. When you live near the ocean snowstorms aren’t the norm, they are the exception. Usually the ocean temps keep the snow at bay.

Well, the winter of 2009-2010 has been one for the record books. We’ve had two major snowstorms already with another on the way. I live in Somers Point and I woke up at 6am Saturday morning to discover our power was out. I have a built-in power outage alarm. I sleep with a bi-pap machine. When the power went out my machine turned off. Instead of providing air, my mask was filling with the carbon dioxide I was exhaling — that will wake you up right quick. My mom and I scrambled to find flashlights, candles and a radio. I was bummed that we couldn’t watch the news, and that we might be stuck playing cards or that I’d have to work on organizing my paperwork.

We didn’t have to worry about food prep since we have a gas stove. Making homemade pizza for breakfast brought back a little of the childhood fun of waiting out the storm.
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The AC boardwalk is expected to get 12-15" of snow tonight and tomorrow.

I left my office yesterday nursing my painful knee and stopped at Sam’s Club on the way home for milk and a cooked chicken. Little did I know I would run into a perfect storm of the impending blizzard and Super Bowl party shoppers.

The parking lot was nearly full, my first clue. Cars were following people as they walked towards their cars to get the next available spot. I managed to find one, then entered the insanity zone. The usual five o’clock buzzards were waiting around for the next batch of cooked rotisserie chickens, nothing unusual there. I decided to grab my skim milk, and instead of usual dozens and dozens of milks, I was lucky to grab the last gallon of skim milk visible.

The checkout lines were 10 deep as people were scrambling to get their Super Bowl goodies and food essentials before the blizzard that will begin around 3pm today.

ShopRite was even worse, so I passed on picking up a few items and went home. My mom took over the task of getting pre-storm essentials at 7am this morning and ShopRite was already busy. She reported that the red meat aisles were empty, although there was chicken to be had. She grabbed the last loaf of FiberOne bread and was happy to get it.

We haven’t have this much snow by the shore in at least a decade, so I guess people are over reacting a tad, behavior that tends to snowball (pun intended).

If you don’t have, milk, eggs and your Super Bowl chips and dip by now, good luck finding them.

There is still a 30-percent chance of more snowfall for our region, according to forecasters. The National Weather Service issued this special weather alert an hour ago:

“… ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL WAS MOVING FROM THE SOUTHWEST OVER NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND, DELAWARE, AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY…

AT 1:15 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED ADDITIONAL SNOW OCCURRING OVER NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND, AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF DELAWARE AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL THROUGH MID AFTERNOON COULD BE 1 OR 2 INCHES IN SOME AREAS.

MOTORISTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO USE EXTREME CAUTION, IF INDEED TRAVEL IS NECESSARY. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO END LATER THIS AFTERNOON.”

Although spring is officially less than a month away, most of the East Coast — including, for once this year, finally, the Atlantic City area! — got pelted by what the Weather Channel is calling a ‘Mega Storm.” According to reports, snow may return this evening, tapering off around midnight. Snow fall estimates vary throughout the southern Shore region, but in Somers Point, by noon, over 6 inches of snow was on the ground.

Gov. Jon Corzine ordered a two-hour delayed opening for all state offices today.

Over in Margate last night, by 10pm, the snow was coming down mighty hard with heavy gusts of winds. A.C. Restaurant Week-goers weren’t affected though, at least at Steve & Cookie’s, which had a large crowd to kick off the promotional dining week, as well as a roaring fireplace, live piano-bar music, excellent food, and eventually a ton of the white stuff.

I had a chance to talk with Jay P. Richardson, the son of the Big Bopper, last Wednesday. He was calling from southern Texas, where it was 80 degrees. He wondered if the weather would be cold when he arrived to perform March 6-8 since he was bringing his wife along. I admitted that it was cold and that March was generally the worst month for bad weather in southern New Jersey. Boy was I right!
Those of us who survived the famous March storm of 1962 know that it is better to be snowing than raining when the tide is high and the wind is whipping. Still, it looks like we might wind up with 12 inches of powder before the storm departs. Just my luck I have tickets for the Sixers game tonight. Well, I’m looking on the bright side; my brother has a truck and I hope to enjoy a seating upgrade if not to many fans brave the weather to check out the .500 Sixers. Pictured is the view outside my apartment last night and my cat Jordi, who went outside to check out the snow when I was taking pictures.

P.S. Like the rest of Eagles Nation, I am bummed out the Brian Dawkins has left the nest for the Mile High city. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked since the Eagles never keept their aging players, even when they are the heart and soul of the team. Heart and soul has nothing to do with this move. I can’t blame Dawk; if Denver is willing to overpay him, he was right to take the money and run. We’ll cheer you, No. 20, even in that awful orange and blue uniform.