I had a blast with the kids at the Bailey School…check them out here – they’re superstars now!

Close Encounter of a whole other kind

A 32-year old woman who was attacked by a polar bear after she had jumped into the polar bear enclosure at Berlin Zoo was in intensive care on Sunday, where she was being treated for bites and cuts to her arm, back and legs. The woman had climbed over an embankment then jumped into the water of the polar bears’ enclosure during feeding time on Friday. One of the bears immediately spotted her and swam across, then bit the woman several times in the arms and legs before zoo attendants were able to shoo the animal away and pull her from the water. Berlin Zoo biologist Heiner Kloes criticised the “completely irresponsible behavior” of some visitors, saying that the behavior of the woman “endangered the employees and the animals”. “The polar bear behaved correctly,” Kloes said, adding, “It was curious, nibbled a bit, felt and had a look to see what else would happen.”
Zoo workers tossed rescue rings toward the woman to hoist her out and distract polar bears swimming nearby, said Goerg Gebhard, a Berlin police officer. At one point the woman fell back into the water and was grabbed by a bear before she was eventually hoisted to safety.

Apparently, this woman brought flippers, climbed a fence and jumped into the bear’s habitat to have an “encounter” with the warm fuzzy polar bears. Witnesses report the woman looking happily exhilarated before the bear decided to take a “bite out of crime”.
What was she thinking?

Last Friday, I embarked on my first solo school visit – and headed to the Cotting School in Lexington, MA. While I was excited and eager about my first visit ever, admittedly I was a little nervous too. But when I pulled up to the school and was greeted by a smiling Naomi Kennedy, (a long time teacher at Cotting) I knew this was going to be an afternoon I would never forget.

We started with the basics – seasons, clouds, precipitation etc. Thereafter, we dived into forecasting techniques, severe weather, and storm safety. I was genuinely impressed by the students knowledge and enthusiasm for the weather. At the end of our interactive learning experience, each student had a list of interesting and challenging questions as well.

And to top it all off, they surprised me with a gift – a Cotting School water bottle and travel mug (I’ve already used both)! So a special thank you goes out to the wonderful students and teachers at the Cotting School – I had a great time and look forward to visiting you again in the future!

We were able to get Steve Garfield livestreaming onto NECN and weathernewengland.com this morning, and had hoped to get blogger/writer and Hingham, Mass. resident Jeff Cutler on board as well. That didn’t work out as well, so we’re posting a couple of his clips now, via YouTube and Qik, respectively.

Jeff boldly steps outside in Hingham, via YouTube.
Jeff records and drives while moving through downtown Hingham as the snow lets up.

And if you missed Steve’s live cellphone video snow report on NECN, you can see that right here.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending in photos and videos on the storm to weather@necn.com and to the New England Sky Scenes Flickr group. If you want to add your photos, sign up for the group and tag your photos “March snowstorm,” if you could.

Working on getting some of the videos up, too, a little later.

Click through to watch the slideshow.

Donald Chapelle / Brilliant Ice Sculpture
The Ice Sculpture Artists like this weather, no melting from here to 2009!
If you are out and about, dress in layers. The sky should be clear. We will a few inches of fresh snow on the ground, with temperatures in the teens and single numbers on New Year’s Eve. The wind will be from the northwest 15-25 mph.

Records to Beat Sunday, I believe many of our High Temperatures will be close to these.
Boston 63 1982
Worcester 61 1982
Caribou 47 1961
Bangor 52 1982
Portland 57 1949
Concord 62 1982
Mt.Washington 35 2003
Burlington VT 57 1982
Hartford 60 1949
Bridgeport 58 1949
Providence 60 1982
As the warm air arrives, wind may gust over 45 mph from the southwest Sunday, then shift and gust over 45 mph from the northwest Sunday Night.

We’ve been tracking today’s storm for days – after producing record snow in Las Vegas, dense fog in Houston, heavy snow and sleet in the Midwest, and a snow blitz through the Great Lakes, this well-defined storm is making a bee-line for New England. During the afternoon, snow will fall at one to two inches per hour for most of Central and Southern New England.

Through it all, we’ll bring you continuing coverage on NECN, here on WeatherNewEngland.com, and on the weather page of NECN.com. Live radar updates can be found on NECN at the top of each half hour as I track the wall of snow and its trip to New England. A live interactive chat will take place starting just after 10:30 AM (immediately after my on-air update) on Boston.com. Through it all, we cherish your reports, as our viewers serve as the eyes and ears for NECN across New England, in addition to our team of reporters fanned out across the region.

To submit photos to the Sky Scenes group for air on NECN, click here. If you’re already a Flickr member, you’re set to go. If not, it’ll only take you a minute or two to sign up and start submitting!

To send us text emails and updates and let us know what’s happening in your neighborhood as the storm rolls on (with snow measurements, please!), email weather@necn.com, and your email will go to our entire team.

We’ll keep you posted every step of the way as this storm plasters New England. In the meantime, enjoy this collection of images from the mark this storm has already left on our nation:

- Matt and Team