The Snowpocalypse

doomdragon6

doomdragon6

Staff member
So I live in Alabama, and we just got hit with more snow than we've had in... uh.. a VERY long time.

A whole 3 inches.

DAYYUUMMM son.

I kid, but seriously, it was the Snowpocalypse up in this bitch. Nobody in Alabama is equipped for driving in snow or on ice (vehicle-wise and skill-wise) so there were constant accidents everywhere. In Birmingham I recall seeing a map reporting 73 accidents at once.

People had to drive 5 miles an hour down the interstate and were still fishtailing. Truckers got stuck on slight inclines and backed up traffic for miles. On one side of Birmingham was backed up all the way to Atlanta. That's a 2 hour drive NORMALLY. I want you think about how insanely backed up that is.

Unfortunately there were a lot of wrecks and a few deaths, so it wasn't a super fun snow day for everyone. I even saw a pic of 4 cars that had slid off a bend and into a river. Some schools and workplaces even had to keep their kids/workers overnight. National Guard was on standby to offer assistance.

And this is just a light snow. I'm not talking like HOLY SHIT BLIZZARD. I'm talking "My what a beautiful snowy day!"

Alabama is not equipped for this shit.

How're you more northern people doin'?
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

3 inches? That's adorable! We Canadians get average big storms between 8-12 inches, sometimes as much as 15 or 16.

But yeah, I can imagine people in Alabama'd be all like "JESUS CHRIST, THE WORLD IS ENDING!"

Heh, I remember a distant relative moved to the states with their family a few years ago. Don't recall exactly where, but a place that rarely got snow. They got hit with a small bit of snow. Enough that warranted shovelling in my cousin's eyes. So he goes out and starts shovelling the driveway and walkway. ALL the neighbours around came out and watched him, scratching their heads, wondering what in tarnation he was doing.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Man, I remember when I lived in Maryland and we'd get these three-foot blizzards.

I also remember shoveling all that snow. :rage:
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

ThatNickGuy said:
Three FEET? That can't be right. That's like 90 cm.
Click to expand...
It's right. Waist-high snow everywhere.

The best part was that after a few days, the snow on the surface would solidify into ice, and you could walk on top of it. However, there were still weak points in the ice, which would crack and send your leg down into the three feet of soft snow underneath. Imagine, if you will, being trapped there, one leg extended and stuck in the snow, the other still on top of the ice but curled up uncomfortably beneath your torso, unable to exert enough force for you to pull your other leg out.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

bhamv3 said:
It's right. Waist-high snow everywhere.

The best part was that after a few days, the snow on the surface would solidify into ice, and you could walk on top of it. However, there were still weak points in the ice, which would crack and send your leg down into the three feet of soft snow underneath. Imagine, if you will, being trapped there, one leg extended and stuck in the snow, the other still on top of the ice but curled up uncomfortably beneath your torso, unable to exert enough force for you to pull your other leg out.
Click to expand...
Ah, as far as how high it's piled up. I don't think that's the same as what's actually said in forecasts. Though I do remember one week when I was living in PEI, we got hit with two or three major, 40cm storms. Closed school down for a whole week, completely buried one of our cars in the driveway, and when the plow came through, left the end of our driveway with literally a wall of snow over 10 feet high.
 
Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Okay, I'll get off my ass and look out the window.

...

It's snowing, but not sticking. I don't think the DC area is supposed to get hit bad ... which means the federal government will be closed again.
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

I'm from California. What is this "water from the sky" you speak of? And it sometimes comes in "flake" form? I don't even . . .
 
Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

@Cheesy: Don't forget, I'm from California too. Up north, we'd get snow routinely. My first year there, I... was not prepared. Went out to play in jeans and hiking boots. >_<

This is not too far (less than an hour) from Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass. Look up the Donner Party if you're feeling interested. Have some jerky while you're reading.
 
strawman

strawman

Temp still around zero, but it's windy, so we are still getting wind chill warnings from the weather service of -20 to -30F. Everyone's going a little slower on the thin layer of snow and ice the plows leave behind. My car had to be jumped this morning, the five year old battery doesn't seem to like these temperatures.

Notably, the university of michigan actually closed for the first time since the seventy's. They stopped closing for snow days when a student successfully sued them for one days worth of tuition, and instead left it up to individual professors to cancel classes as needed. I suppose they feared a frostbite lawsuit more than another tuition lawsuit.

Have something less than 18inches of snow on the ground. The plows are doing a reasonable job, but our neighborhood really doesn't get plowed until one to two days after any given snowfall. Still lots of idiots sliding off the road. "Oh, you think that SUV means you can drive the speed limit on top of the snow and ice? Let's see how that works out for you..." I like to count the number of cars per mile in the ditch along the freeway as I travel.

Still get irritated at the few people who shovel their driveways into the road.

But our 22+ year old furnace hasn't given out yet, so we are quite comfortable despite the cold. And the new ceiling insulation in the garage means the garage no longer freezes, even though it's not being actively heated most of the time.
 
Tress

Tress

Cheesy1 said:
Right now, we're in "Emergency Drought" mode. They're saying it's the worst dry spell in decades.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It 'a like spring around here. Which would be nice, I guess, except it's dry as a bone and we desperately need water. So California is having the opposite problem from the rest of the continent. If you folks want to send some of that moisture our way, we'll happily give you some warmth.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Now, -3. Roads are mostly clear with just under a foot of snow on the ground.

Sunday night into Monday morning was awful. Temps went to the mid 30s at ~10pm Sunday to mid 40s by 5am Monday. Rain and wind started at about 2. Then the temps started dropping. By 6:15ish it was snowing. By 7:15 it was snowing a lot and the temps were still dropping. By 8am and the end of my shift, it was in the upper 20s and the roads were just hideous. I had to try to make it home anyway.

I made it to the interstate with only a little wheel spin. Opposite direction was bumper to bumper at a crawl. Nearly lost it trying to slow down for the next exit ramp, but made it. The lights were in my favor, so I didn't have to stop on an uphill slope. Cars were twitching all around me. Made it to my street. Even standing on the brakes, I wasn't stopping. Slowly sliding down the hill. Got to the driveway and... stuck.

And that's when I found out I still had the hotel keys in my pocket.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

It turned out okay in the end. I got out of the driveway at about 11:20 after the snow had stopped and crews had made it out. Smooth sailing to work and back except for the driveway again.

Got my W2 and a half dozen donuts and called it a day. :)
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Cheesy1 said:
I'm from California. What is this "water from the sky" you speak of? And it sometimes comes in "flake" form? I don't even . . .
Click to expand...
The ONLY time I ever went to California, it rained for the entire week I was there. That's the sort of luck I have when traveling.
 
TNM

TNM

It is the ice that gets us in the south. 4wd or awd, on a sheet of ice drivers are doomed.

I've never seen traffic this bad in Atlanta, ever. Sorry folks, Georgia is closed right now.

 
General Specific

General Specific

Dear every national news broadcaster,

It is not that we are "not used" to driving in the snow that is causing the massive traffic back-ups, though it certainly does contribute. It's more that we do not have the equipment and people necessary to effectively deal with iced-over roads. There are 13 snow plows in the state of Georgia. To compare, Minnesota has more than 800. I couldn't even find data on the number of plows in South Carolina.
 
Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

Called it. There is precisely zero reason for me to be in this early. No snow, very few ice patches - although we're predicted snow later on, and it is actively sleeting right now.

Still - no reason I had to miss out on the two hours of sleep I could have gotten before coming in at my normal time.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

We got about an inch last night, but no big deal. We still have a lot of snow on the ground from the foot we got last week, but the roads are pretty clear today. Temp was 7F (-14C) this morning when I moved my car so my wife could get out of the garage.

Though I lived in Texas for 40 years, I think I may have to turn in my Good Ol' Boy card. I went out in a t-shirt to move the trash cans in, and went "meh" at the temperature.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
TNM said:
It is the ice that gets us in the south. 4wd or awd, on a sheet of ice drivers are doomed.

I've never seen traffic this bad in Atlanta, ever. Sorry folks, Georgia is closed right now.
Click to expand...
Story on my Facebook feed, a friend of a friend tried to drive home from work yesterday in Atlanta. Took her 8 hours to travel 5.5 miles, out of 37 to her home, she got off the freeway at 3:30 in the morning to get food and slept on the floor of a Kroger (grocery store/supermarket for those not familiar with the chain).
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
When I lived in Fargo I tripped on something walking over a snow bank. Turns out it was a car antenna.

But we have had hardly any snow this year. It's been cold & windy a lot, but hardly any snow.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

Emrys said:
He speaks the truth. I lived in Maryland when I was very young and I remember snow banks over my head.
Click to expand...
Yep same in my part of southern New Jersey. When my husband and I were still dating and he was stationed in Sicily I sent him a picture from one of the blizzards we had. At the time I had a 1999 Hyundai Elantra. It was buried up to the door windows. That was before my dad plowed the driveway and pushed the snow onto my car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top