Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 10/28/2012 - 22:46
I hope the AAVSO will provide some guidance on the storm relative to the anticipated Boston infrastructure, power, transportation and whether the meeting could be cancelled. Some of us will be flying and others will be driving. Electricity, food and gasoline availability could be affected. An AAVSO statement would be appreciated. Kevin Paxson - PKV
Hi Kevin,
Current predictions are for the storm to make landfall in New Jersey, then progress through Pennsylvania and upstate New York, finally circling through the Canadian border and into Maine. So Boston pretty much misses everything; I expect 35mph breeze and 1-2" rain, mostly Monday night. So I don't see any reason why the meeting would be cancelled; the storm should be long-gone by that time. We might have a few limited power outages in the Boston area, but nothing widespread.
The biggest impact is on flights. About 6000 have been cancelled along the eastern coast, mostly out of JFK and LaGuardia, but also at Logan. These are primarily in the Monday-Tuesday timeframe, which again wouldn't impact the majority of our travelers. My only concern is how the airlines return to service and handle the many people who will be looking to rebook.
My recommendation is to expect a normal meeting and proceed with your plans. Those living in the affected areas will of course have their own situation to take care of, but as of now, I think Boston will be fine.
Arne
For those interested, we've only had 0.9 inches of rain so far at HQ. The biggest problem is wind, with sustained speeds of 40mph and gusts up to about 60mph. A few trees are down, but in the city proper, no real power outages or problems. The winds are expected to decrease overnight, so tomorrow will see much better weather. Most of what you will hear on the news deals with coastal areas, with ocean waves and wind gusts, or areas down south closer to the storm center. The news sources always look for the worst possible conditions!
So locally, there is no problem with holding the Fall meeting. The only problem is in getting here, and we expect most airports to start returning to normal about mid-day tomorrow.
Arne
We had strong winds yesterday and about 2 inches of rain. but today is just cloudy and a light breeze. HQ was unaffected and we never lost power. Logan airport still has many canceled flights for this morning, but it is open and I expect service to return to normal by mid-day. Most likely, flights in and out of New York will remain questionable until tomorrow.
So there is no problem from our end for holding the meeting. Most everyone will be arriving on Thursday, which is far enough in the future that you shouldn't have any problems. See you soon!
Arne