The December Debacle of 2007 was one of the most memorable days of my 14 year stint at WLNE-TV ABC6. We were expecting a quick-hitting moderate snowstorm on a Thursday afternoon and evening. To be honest, I can’t remember every detail of the forecast or storm, but I know that all hell broke loose by mid-afternoon. It was snowing by noon, and the flakes stuck immediately. Children, all of whom had been sent to school, were dismissed from school early. The ensuing traffic jam reached epic proportions throughout all of Southern New England. In many ways, this was the perfect storm.
There is concern that people stuck in cars on paralyzed highways will run out of gas. And while the snowfall is minor compared to the Blizzard of ’78, Providence police Sgt. Paul Zienowicz said “it’s almost comparable” in the fact that businesses and other institutions dismissed employees early — which caused massive congestion — and some of those people abandoned cars after getting stuck in hours-long traffic jams. – Providence Journal Blog on December 13, 2007
There were many more school buses on the road than usual in the early-afternoon, and most people either decided to leave work early, or head to work early putting the usual 4-6 pm rush hour way ahead of schedule. So, when you put all those people on the roads, and the snow is coming down at 1-2″ per hour, there is no way to effectively clear the roads. Traffic was snarled, the snow mounted, and so did the frustrations of anyone stuck in their car. Trips that normally took 30 minutes took 6 or more hours.
Some kids were left stranded on school buses until late in the evening. In fact, one of those school buses was stuck not far from the ABC6 studio, and by mid-evening our GM, Steve Doerr, made the brilliant decision to head down the street and offer to bring the kids into the ABC6 building to let them warm up and get something to eat. It was one of those times where a TV station really served the public’s need!
It was also Allison Alexander’s first day on the air. It was not supposed to be. She was visiting the station and was scheduled to start in early-January. Once again, Doerr made the executive decision to put Allison on the air because he knew the audience would be a lot bigger than normal. We spent several hours doing wall to wall coverage, it was one of the few times that we outlasted WPRI and WJAR with our storm coverage.
Buddy Cianci was talking about the “politics of snow” and how the perceived failure of the city of Providence to clear the streets was going to come back and bite Mayor Cicilline. I say perceived failure because I don’t really blame the DOT or the local towns and cities. It is very difficult for snowplows to clear the streets if they’re already jammed with cars, and there was no way that any amount of pretreating was going to keep the snow from piling up because it came down at such a spectacular rate for a few hours. Of course, had I been stuck in traffic instead of covering the storm, I may have a different take on it. I would love hear your thoughts on that day in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
By the way, it wasn’t just RI that was severely impacted by that storm. The situation in Boston was pretty bad, too.
Here are the snow totals from that quick-hitting storm.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
SPOTTER REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
323 PM EST FRI DEC 14 2007
THE FOLLOWING ARE UNOFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN DURING THE PAST 36
HOURS FOR THE STORM THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTING OUR REGION.
APPRECIATION IS EXTENDED TO HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS...COOPERATIVE
OBSERVERS...SKYWARN SPOTTERS AND MEDIA FOR THESE REPORTS. THIS
SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR HOME PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/BOSTON
********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL********************
LOCATION STORM TOTAL TIME/DATE COMMENTS
SNOWFALL OF
(INCHES) MEASUREMENT
CONNECTICUT
...HARTFORD COUNTY...
NORTH GRANBY 12.5 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
UNIONVILLE 12.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
BURLINGTON 11.0 746 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
GLASTONBURY 11.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
GRANBY 11.0 714 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
MANCHESTER 11.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SOUTH WINDSOR 11.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WEST GRANBY 11.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WEST HARTFORD 11.0 630 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WINDSOR LOCKS 10.5 700 PM 12/13 AIR NATIONAL GUARD
NEW BRITAIN 10.3 600 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SUFFIELD 10.3 600 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SIMSBURY 10.2 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
BRISTOL 10.0 714 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
ENFIELD 10.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WETHERSFIELD 9.8 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
KENSINGTON 9.5 906 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
EAST FARMINGTON 9.0 621 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
EAST HARTFORD 9.0 620 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...TOLLAND COUNTY...
TOLLAND 11.1 941 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
ELLINGTON 11.0 857 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
VERNON 10.1 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
STAFFORD SPRINGS 10.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
STAFFORDVILLE 10.0 834 PM 12/13 NWS COOP
WILLINGTON 10.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
STORRS 9.5 555 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...WINDHAM COUNTY...
WOODSTOCK 12.0 941 AM 12/14
POMFRET CENTER 10.5 841 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
THOMPSON 10.5 945 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
ASHFORD 10.0 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
MOOSUP 10.0 802 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
POMFRET 9.8 930 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
HAMPTON 9.5 728 PM 12/13 NWS COOP
KILLINGLY 9.0 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
MASSACHUSETTS
...BARNSTABLE COUNTY...
SANDWICH 8.0 758 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
BOURNE 7.9 848 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
EAST FALMOUTH 5.3 637 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WEST DENNIS 5.2 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WEST BARNSTABLE 5.0 649 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
BREWSTER 4.8 701 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
CHATHAM 4.1 730 PM 12/13 UPPER AIR SITE
CHATHAM 4.1 240 PM 12/14 NWS
...BRISTOL COUNTY...
BERKLEY 12.0 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
NORTON 11.6 234 PM 12/14 NWS EMPLOYEE
TAUNTON 11.6 900 PM 12/13 NWS OFFICE
WEST MANSFIELD 11.5 902 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
MANSFIELD 11.3 838 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
REHOBOTH 11.3 808 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
NORTH ATTLEBORO 11.0 855 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
ATTLEBORO 10.5 908 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
DIGHTON 10.3 927 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
EAST TAUNTON 9.0 620 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
FALL RIVER 8.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SOMERSET 8.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
NEW BEDFORD 7.0 815 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
ACUSHNET 6.5 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
FAIRHAVEN 6.0 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
NORTH DARTMOUTH 6.0 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
DARTMOUTH 4.5 630 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
...DUKES COUNTY...
WEST TISBURY 3.0 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
...ESSEX COUNTY...
BOXFORD 12.5 1038 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WEST PEABODY 10.3 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
GLOUCESTER 9.5 847 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SWAMPSCOTT 9.5 139 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
SALEM 9.2 810 PM 12/13 SALEM STATE
MANCHESTER 9.1 1045 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
ROCKPORT 9.0 1000 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
MARBLEHEAD 8.7 912 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
TOPSFIELD 8.5 1012 PM 12/13 SPOTTE
LYNN 8.3 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
PEABODY 8.0 815 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
IPSWICH 7.9 1022 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
GEORGETOWN 7.5 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
METHUEN 7.5 810 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NEWBURYPORT 7.0 228 PM 12/14 COOP
DOWNTOWN LAWRENCE 6.8 229 PM 12/14 COOP
HAVERHILL 5.0 124 PM 12/14
...FRANKLIN COUNTY...
WHATELY 11.0 711 AM 12/13
ASHFIELD 10.0 811 AM 12/14
LEVERETT 9.4 830 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
GREENFIELD 9.0 142 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
SHELBURNE FALLS 9.0 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SUNDERLAND 8.9 145 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
ORANGE 8.8 801 PM 12/13
EAST CHARLEMONT 8.5 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTHFIELD 6.5 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SHELBURNE 3.0 224 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...HAMPDEN COUNTY...
PALMER 11.0 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
LONGMEADOW 10.7 825 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
EAST LONGMEADOW 10.5 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
EAST LONGMEADOW 10.5 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SOUTHWICK 10.2 808 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
MONTGOMERY 10.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WALES 10.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WEST SPRINGFIELD 10.0 750 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WESTFIELD 10.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WILBRAHAM 10.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
BLANDFORD 9.5 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
CHICOPEE 9.5 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
CHESTER 9.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
AGAWAM 8.5 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
...HAMPSHIRE COUNTY...
CHESTERFIELD 10.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WORTHINGTON 9.8 147 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
AMHERST 9.0 157 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
WARE 9.0 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WESTHAMPTON 9.0 855 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
FLORENCE 8.5 803 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...MIDDLESEX COUNTY...
MAYNARD 11.0 228 PM 12/14 COOP
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS 10.5 243 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
BELMONT 10.0 900 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NATICK 10.0 202 PM 12/14
WAKEFIELD 9.5 833 AM 12/14
NEWTON 9.3 846 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTH WOBURN 9.3 357 AM 12/14
SOMERVILLE 9.3 900 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
CONCORD 9.2 1018 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
PEPPERELL 9.2 630 AM 12/14
ARLINGTON 9.0 845 PM 12/13 MEDIA
HUDSON 9.0 940 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
STONEHAM 9.0 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WALTHAM 9.0 910 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WAYLAND 9.0 803 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
CAMBRIDGE 8.9 959 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTH CAMBRIDGE 8.7 717 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WESTFORD 8.7 945 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
READING 8.6 830 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
AYER 8.5 934 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
LOWELL 8.2 907 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
TYNGSBOROUGH 8.2 1008 PM 12/13
DRACUT 7.8 1253 AM 12/14
SHIRLEY 7.8 725 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
TOWNSEND 7.8 718 AM 12/14
MELROSE 7.5 940 AM 12/14
LINCOLN 4.0 350 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
...NORFOLK COUNTY...
NORWOOD 10.7 915 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
SOUTH WEYMOUTH 10.5 936 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WALPOLE 10.5 227 PM 12/14
FOXBORO 10.2 902 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
FOXBOROUGH 10.2 246 PM 12/14 NWS EMPLOYEE
BRAINTREE 10.0 840 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WRENTHAM 10.0 700 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
NEEDHAM 9.5 950 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
FRANKLIN 9.4 810 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WELLESLEY HILLS 9.1 141 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
WEST WALPOLE 8.5 714 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
...PLYMOUTH COUNTY...
WHITMAN 13.0 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
HANSON 12.3 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
BRIDGEWATER 12.0 230 PM 12/14 COOP
MIDDLEBORO 11.6 825 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
PLYMPTON 11.5 910 PM 12/13 MEDIA
WEST BRIDGEWATER 11.3 945 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
CARVER 11.2 950 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
HULL 11.0 850 PM 12/13 MEDIA
KINGSTON 11.0 856 PM 12/13 NWS COOP
MARSHFIELD 11.0 900 PM 12/13 RETIRED NWS EMPLOYEE
NORWELL 11.0 910 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
PLYMOUTH 10.5 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SCITUATE 10.5 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WEST DUXBURY 10.5 714 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
HINGHAM 10.3 943 PM 12/13 NWS COOP
ROCHESTER 8.3 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WAREHAM 8.3 656 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
DUXBURY 7.0 603 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...SUFFOLK COUNTY...
EAST BOSTON 10.1 911 PM 12/13 LOGAN AIRPORT
WINTHROP 9.9 800 AM 12/14
BOSTON COMMON 9.5 753 PM 12/13 BACK BAY NWS EMPLOYEE
ALLSTON 9.0 1015 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
BOSTON 9.0 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...WORCESTER COUNTY...
WEST WARREN 10.5 126 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
AUBURN 9.9 810 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTH GRAFTON 9.8 1028 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SHREWSBURY 9.8 822 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
HOLDEN 9.5 959 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
LANCASTER 9.5 947 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SOUTHBRIDGE 9.5 820 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WARREN 9.5 630 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
ASHBURNHAM 9.3 158 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
MILFORD 9.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
SPENCER 9.0 900 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
FITCHBURG 8.7 719 AM 12/14
NORTHBRIDGE 8.7 201 PM 12/14 COOP
HARDWICK 8.5 200 PM 12/14 COOP
WORCESTER 8.4 630 PM 12/13 AIRPORT
ROYALSTON 6.9 648 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WESTMINSTER 2.0 245 PM 12/13
NEW HAMPSHIRE
...CHESHIRE COUNTY...
KEENE 12.0 841 PM 12/13 NWS COOP
SWANZEY 8.0 745 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
WINCHESTER 7.3 903 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WINCHESTER 7.3 246 PM 12/14 SPOTTER
NORTH WALPOLE 6.0 241 PM 12/14 COOP
ALSTEAD 4.7 612 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY...
NASHUA 8.5 1005 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
FRANCESTOWN 8.0 241 PM 12/14 COOP
HUDSON 7.5 1002 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
PETERBOROUGH 7.5 937 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
BEDFORD 7.2 930 PM 12/13
MERRIMACK 7.0 1010 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
WILTON 6.5 925 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SOUTH WEARE 6.2 820 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
GREENFIELD 6.1 910 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
RHODE ISLAND
...BRISTOL COUNTY...
BARRINGTON 7.5 859 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...KENT COUNTY...
EAST GREENWICH 8.0 925 PM 12/13 MEDIA
WARWICK 8.0 824 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
COVENTRY 7.0 940 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...NEWPORT COUNTY...
PORTSMOUTH 5.5 736 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...PROVIDENCE COUNTY...
BURRILLVILLE 13.0 846 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
LINCOLN 12.0 830 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
NORTH FOSTER 11.5 830 PM 12/13 NWS CO-OP
CRANSTON 11.0 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTH PROVIDENCE 11.0 844 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
NORTH SMITHFIELD 11.0 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
PAWTUCKET 10.9 800 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
JOHNSTON 10.3 923 PM 12/13 NWS EMPLOYEE
JOHNSTON 10.3 245 PM 12/14 NWS EMPLOYEE
CUMBERLAND 10.0 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
PROVIDENCE 10.0 800 PM 12/13 SPOTTER FEDERAL HILL
WOONSOCKET 10.0 1000 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
EAST PROVIDENCE 9.5 1055 PM 12/13 MEDIA
MOOSUP VALLEY 9.0 926 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
SCITUATE 8.0 832 PM 12/13 SPOTTER
...WASHINGTON COUNTY...
SAUNDERSTOWN 5.5 900 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO
HOPKINTON 3.3 630 PM 12/13 HAM RADIO