Northeast storm and Amtrak operations (was: Nor'easter)

I'm reading on the news that American has canceled 300 flights into New York. How is the NEC doing? The Maple Leaf is currently at US Customs but the crew has said Amtrak hasn't said anything about any unusual delays.

I should probably shut up since I am not an aviation professional, but . . . here I sit in our Manhattan apartment looking across the Hudson at New Jersey. I can see NJ --- barely, but I can see it. I have gone out (on foot) to do errands twice today. I got wet. Big deal. Frankly folks, it doesn't look that bad. It's raining but not outrageously. The wind is said to be 9 knots gusting to 22 which is not outrageous either. It certainly doesn't look to me like conditions ripe for the cancellation of 300 flights by one carrier.

What I think we have here is: the meteorological media have been describing this storm for a couple of days with their finely honed sense of drama and doom, and have succeeded in getting everybody worked up into a frenzy

The rain has caused a few phantom trains near Rochester. We had to go on the westbound main because they thought there was a train in front of us and we could overtake it, but it was just a short.

Tom Curtin wrote:I should probably shut up since I am not an aviation professional, but . . . here I sit in our Manhattan apartment looking across the Hudson at New Jersey. I can see NJ --- barely, but I can see it. I have gone out (on foot) to do errands twice today. I got wet. Big deal. Frankly folks, it doesn't look that bad. It's raining but not outrageously. The wind is said to be 9 knots gusting to 22 which is not outrageous either. It certainly doesn't look to me like conditions ripe for the cancellation of 300 flights by one carrier.

What I think we have here is: the meteorological media have been describing this storm for a couple of days with their finely honed sense of drama and doom, and have succeeded in getting everybody worked up into a frenzy

According to Kennedy Intl Automated Weather Obs, wind is around 30mph, gusting to 42mph. ceiling is 900ft, visibility a mile and a half. Hardly sounds like a drama and doom tale.

How is Amtrak faring south of NY?

From the NWS:

.. Wind Advisory in effect until midnight EDT tonight...

The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a Wind
Advisory... which is in effect until midnight EDT tonight.

Low pressure continues to intensify rapidly as it tracks from
the Delmarva coast this afternoon... up the New Jersey coast this
evening... to near New York City late tonight. East to northeast
winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph will develop across
these portions of northeast New Jersey this afternoon. The high
winds will turn to the southeast and subside late this evening as
low pressure tracks towards western Long Island and New York City.

A Wind Advisory is issued when sustained winds are forecast to be
31 to 39 mph or gusts will range between 46 and 57 mph. Winds
this strong can make driving difficult... especially for high
profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

I'm no pilot, so I don't know what is and is not a lot of wind for a large plane, but I was on a plane with 25-35 mph gusts and I didn't really appreciate the experience, so... I can imagine gusts of 50 mph could, if not be unsafe, upset the traveling public, which is probably not so good for business.

Getting off-track so to speak, but I'll mention a few things:

1) Icing in this weather is a huge concern. Icing can cause a plane to lose lift and crash, etc.

2) Stopping in time on the runway.

And for Amtrak... I'm sure the Empire Service is slowed a bit since I know they often have issues on the area especially south of Hudson with ice/shorts in weather like this and have to proceed at I think it's "approach caution" speeds until they get a green.

But, overall I'm sure the NEC is doing pretty well.

What about the upstate segments which are supposed to see even more snow? I'm assuming theres some delays.

Well, this is interesting. if you take a look at the Doppler radar scan at

http://www.intellicast.com/IcastPage/Lo ... e&pid=none

- - - you will see --- at leadt at the moment I am writing this --- that it isn't snowing upstate, except in the Albany- Schenectady area!

How is it in those areas then?

Continental Flight 471 closed the door at 8:47 am, and we were off and running a few minutes later.

(Bonus points for those who can figure out where I am now )

I figure we hit the clouds at 1000 feet, and it was like being stuck in a cloud for a LONG time. Not very bumpy though. By the end of the movie, we were in the clear.

My parents dumped me at EWR at 6ish AM I ended up waiting forever.

At least at 8:45, there wasn't much of an excuse for the airlines, though heck, it might have changed after then. Was a good long line behind our plane, so I'm guessing it was decent enough to take off for a while after, too.

Nasadowsk wrote:Bonus points for those who can figure out where I am now

San Juan, arrived 16 minutes early.

Nasadowsk wrote:Continental Flight 471 closed the door at 8:47 am, and we were off and running a few minutes later.

(Bonus points for those who can figure out where I am now )

I figure we hit the clouds at 1000 feet, and it was like being stuck in a cloud for a LONG time. Not very bumpy though. By the end of the movie, we were in the clear.

My parents dumped me at EWR at 6ish AM I ended up waiting forever.

At least at 8:45, there wasn't much of an excuse for the airlines, though heck, it might have changed after then. Was a good long line behind our plane, so I'm guessing it was decent enough to take off for a while after, too.

San Juan need their catenary looked at?

9:30 here and all has returned to normal. No major outages here.

I actually was on Acela 2254 today on my way to Boston. The train left right on time but we had to go very slow through two areas due to water covering the tracks. However, we only arrived about 30 minutes late in Boston so all things considered not bad. The train was comletely sold out though as was the train before.

Mike

Wow, I could see that for a week day, but not a sunday, but also, Amtrak charges alot to travel Friday and Sunday and you were looking at a train probally very close to departure (the most expensive seat bucket).

I'm sitting in my house high atop of a hill here in Boston. Wind from the direction of Massachusetts Bay (about two miles to the east and sometimes visible in the distance) is hitting the house and shaking it. Rain is beating on my windows as well. The National Weather Service put out a warning cautioning mariners of 20' seas (that's scary stuff folks!). A few hours ago while alighting an Orange Line subway train at the station at bottom of the hill, I saw a Boston bound Amtrak Regional train hurry by on the tracks adjacent to the subway ROW, overtaking a slightly slower moving inbound MBTA commuter rail train. Whether either one was on time, I don't know, but they are running...