How to Survive a Noreaster

How to Survive a Nor’easter West Coast-ers and international students take note: when it snows in Massachusetts, the precipitation comes down in shovelfuls. Now if youre like some of my friends from warmer climes, you may consider scarcely one centimeter of precipitation enough to finely coat the Earths surface with a negligible amount of snow to be a shocking amount. And thats understandable; I know a few friends who have never seen snow in such amounts, let alone at all. Your first adjustment, then, will be to prepare for the weather. To get us started, lets go over some important terms: Noreaster: So called because of the storms trajectory and wind patterns, a Noreaster is a big snowstorm and a virtually seasonal aspect of New England life. Locals may end up using the term even if the storm does not exhibit a northeasterly wind, figuring that lots of precipitation justifies the names use well enough. And theyre right. Snow day: Any day in which school is canceled due to conditions that make a compelling case for not having classes that day (e.g.: icy roads, low visibility, having to wade through several feet of snow just to reach the sidewalk.) The caveat is that any day that you miss due to snow gets made up near the end of the year, though Ive yet to discover if thats the case with MIT.What warrants a snow day seems to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Back in Framingham, for instance, I was lucky to get one or two of them in a given year, presumably because the town thought we all had ATVs and were hardened mountaineers from years of scaling Mount Everest. Or something. Snow: Like rain, only frozen, fluffier, and more white.Hey, I dont know how many readers havent seen snow firsthand. With those essential definitions covered, youre well on your way to knowing how to survive some crazy snow conditions here in Cambridge. The good news is theres not much that you can mess up, as far as preparation goes. Packing warm clothes, remembering to bring your boots (and perhaps long socks), and not standing outside while dressed for tropical weather all goes a long way. On top of that, the rooms at least at Next House each have a thermostat. Hypothermia isnt an issue. A more realistic threat is that of having nothing to do. This could be because you find theres more snow than you know what to do with, or because youve actually been snowed in. And, perhaps more significantly, youll also need things to eat. My suggestion: stock up before the storm arrives, and pray that the internet doesnt give out. How else, after all, could you access Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and MIT Admissions? I can personally withstand a snow-induced catastrophe for at least five days, thanks to the fact that I have the first six seasons of House on DVD, and enough Easy Mac and Poptarts to use as food. To play it safe, though, Im also rationing an extra large Dominos Pizza: A bit of my survival kit.Feel free to substitute your favorite boxed set of TV shows for House. For thriftier students, Hulu and Youtube also work in a pinch. If youd rather go outside, the snow offers oodles of inexpensive fun. In this case, though, theyre predicting a whopping 18 inches of snow. Thats one and a half feet, or roughly half a meter, for those on the metric system. So for example, a snowball fight, given this amount of snow, could easily turn into trench warfare and thats a scenario I may end up investigating. Assuming youre not one of numerous students taking for-credit courses over IAP, you can also spend your time on some very productive things. So far, Ive been constantly editing my résumé, hoping that itll have the right amount of polish when I go looking for internships for the summer (and certain UROPs for the Spring). Ive also been on OpenCourseWare from time to time in an attempt to learn a few basics about 8.02 and 5.12 before those classes start. Theres also plenty of not-for-credit offerings that usually amount to single sessions, making for a reasonably small time commitment. They run the gamut from career-oriented workshops (like an introduction to networking, or a lecture on business and medicine) to stimulating lectures (like a few on the neuropsychology of music). I had three that I planned on attending tomorrow, but two were postponed due to the weather. The third, which takes place in the early afternoon, is presumably still on, so I may have quite an adventure tomorrow Check back here over the next 36 hours or so for updates on the Noreaster! Pictures will be included to give you an idea of the snowfall. Update [1/12/2011 at 9:47 AM, EST] Wow. To give you an idea, this is what Cambridge looked like at around 3 in the morning: Well, this couldnt possibly be bad!And this is another picture from roughly that same angle, taken just around now: Snow. My. God.There is no more skyline. Everything has been consumed by a blanket of white, and theres no hope of it changing any time soon. Heres another view from outside my window, which usually overlooks the Charles and thus has a view of some of the Boston skyline: Skyline? Now? Haaaaa. The Institvte laughs at your petty expectations.Thankfully, its a snow day today for all non-essential employees (and for my hometown!), so I think that also means that my demo in the afternoon has been cancelled? In any case, if any of you think the snow has ceased, the winter storm warning isnt set to expire until much later in the day. In the immortal words of Bachman-Turner Overdrive: You aint seen nothin yet.