Again?

The same storm that brought a gentle snowfall across Texas on Tuesday will reach the Northeast in the form of an atmospheric monster with damaging winds, blinding snow, torrential rain, huge waves and flooding. In the hardest-hit areas, it will seem more like a "snowacane," as a mere blizzard may not adequately describe conditions of this soon-to-be powerful nor'easter.

Wind gusts can reach 70 mph in some areas, just shy of hurricane force. Many locations in the mid-Atlantic and New England will endure gusts topping 50 mph at some point Thursday to Friday. Winds of this strength will down trees and power lines. Expect flying debris ranging from trash cans to shingles.

Significant property damage can occur. A broad area of 6- to 12-inch snowfall will fall from northern New Brunswick to central New Jersey, much of Pennsylvania, northeastern Ohio and southern Ontario. New York City, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and part of the Philadelphia area lie in this area.

Berks County is on the dividing line between what meteorologists for AccuWeather.com are calling "significant snowfall" and a "paralyzing blizzard," expected to touch down starting late Wednesday night. Most forecasts, including that of the National Weather Service, are calling for a broad area of Eastern Pennsylvania to receive anywhere from 6-to-12 inches of snowfall finally tapering off Friday morning. However, heavy winds could become the biggest nuisance of this particular storm.

AccWeather anticipates wind gusts of 45 mph tomorrow and possibly as high as 59 mph by Thursday night, strong enough to down trees and power lines.

The storm arrived a bit earlier then I had anticipated. Thursday morning already had about an inch or so on the ground, and more was descending in large flakes. Not much of a hazard, the roads were still fine in the local area and I made a trip up to Macungie around noon without any difficulty.

The wind started picking up by mid afternoon and my little weather station reported peak winds at 32.4 MPH, 317° at 10:38PM. It would continue throughout the night, waking us a number of times by shaking the vinyl siding on the other side of the bedroom wall.

Friday morning brought more horizontal snow. I suffered a few 'white outs', with visibility no better than a few feet beyond my deck. Winds routinely gusted above 25MPH. Temperatures stayed in the mid 20s. Accumulation is hard to judge as most of the stuff has been blown into drifts.

Sun has started to peak through at about 11:00AM Friday. Winds are still gusty (20MPH). Forecast is for scattered storms to continue throughout the weekend.

I've had enough, thank you.