Advance of the fire engines

Last night at about 3:30, four fire engines and several other emergency vehicles rolled down our street and parked for about 30 minutes.  We live in a townhouse and all the townhouses in our housing development are all on the same circle.  These fire trucks came rolling in with their lights flashing and parked along part of the length of the circle.  And as far as we could tell, in our jolted-out-of-sleep state, they didn’t actually find anything that warranted all four fire engines.  Or, even, one fire engine.

They sat there for a while and then started shining lights at the houses – not just the flashing lights they had already going, but painfully bright spot lights that they pointed at the houses along the circle.  My only guess is that they were trying to find out where the emergency was supposed to be happening.  I could hear the chatter of walkie-talkies through my window, but not what they were saying.

And then they left.  I have no idea what the deal was or what they were expecting to find.  When I looked around briefly this morning, I couldn’t see anything out of place.  It was very odd.

My best guess is that the fire engine infantry is still waging their war against the bus brigadiers.  They thought there was a sighting and came with all their fire power to run the encroacher out.  They did a thorough search but didn’t find anything.  Little do they know!  The bus went across the street and hid in the ranks of school busses.

In other odd news, they’re predicting snow for this afternoon.  Snow!  Come on!

 

Winter Storm Warning (NOAA)

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
317 AM EST FRI FEB 12 2010

…A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT PARTS OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT…

BEAUFORT-COASTAL COLLETON-CHARLESTON-COASTAL JASPER-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BEAUFORT…HILTON HEAD…EDISTO BEACH…CHARLESTON…JASPER

317 AM EST FRI FEB 12 2010

…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 AM EST SATURDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 AM EST SATURDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

LOW PRESSURE WILL INTENSIFY OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO THIS MORNING…THEN MOVE ACROSS THE FLORIDA PENINSULA THIS AFTERNOON TO A POSITION OFF THE CAROLINA COAST TONIGHT.

RAIN WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TODAY…MAINLY AFTER NOON. AS COLDER AIR FROM THE NORTH OVERSPREADS THE REGION…THE RAIN WILL BEGIN TO MIX WITH AND EVENTUALLY CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS EVENING. SNOW…MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES…WILL THEN PERSIST THROUGH MUCH OF FRIDAY NIGHT…TAPERING OFF PRIOR TO DAYBREAK SATURDAY. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE U.S. HIGHWAY 17 CORRIDOR NORTH OF BEAUFORT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW… SLEET…OR ICE ARE EXPECTED OR ALREADY OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE.