Above, you see a before and after of a smoking power line, taken 18 minutes apart. I was standing about 100 feet away when I heard a loud POP, like a gunshot. I saw flashes of blue-green and gold accompanied by a few more pops and fizzles and sparks, and then it was quiet.
While I was out, I saw about four tree branches fall (two large ones), right before my eyes.
As dusk set in and my apartment lost power, all through the night, the reflective cloud-covered sky would occasionally glow that same electrical blue-green for a second or two, presumably from some other power line exploding somewhere.
The trees around here still have their leaves, and with 6-14 inches of snow on top of that, it’s just too heavy for the poor trees, so branches are falling down left and right— and taking power lines with them.
I talked to one of my neighbors last night, who said there were spots on the road that were so badly blocked that you had to stop your car to get out and move branches, just so you could drive around them.
This October blizzard thing SUCKS. I’m visiting my parents in central Jersey, which barely got touched by this dumb snow. On the drive here, I had to dodge downed power lines (!), and I nearly turned back after 10 minutes. My local train line (Morris & Essex, Gladstone branch specifically) isn’t running, either, so I’m not sure how or if I’m going to work tomorrow.
ARRRRRRGH.
