The joy of winter returns

[dailydriver]

It got down to a nice, warm, 3* F last night to keep the foot+ of powder we got the day before around for a while.

 

[Merkava_4]

We had a high today of +71 F. Right now it's down to +66 F at 6:55 in the evening.

 

[Tdbo]

Just finally got yesterday's snow + the overnight deposit blown off the driveway and sidewalk. Easily 6". And it is still coming down. Meanwhile I am fighting to keep my drive open as the city came by gang plowing 3x in a 20 minute period and closed it back up again. Fun.

 

[Benzadmiral]

We're getting some wintry mix this afternoon and into tomorrow, and my university is closed. So I have a snow/ice day today at least -- and if the Miss. River Bridge is closed tomorrow, there'll be no way for me to get to work then either. I've stocked up on groceries and stuff to read, I have last Sunday's "Sherlock" to watch (presuming the power doesn't go out!), and I've parked the Regal out in the open. It'll be glazed with ice, but that's better than under the trees, with possible falling branches.

 

[stranger706]

We're already getting ice glaze on the east side of Mobile Bay. I hope some soccer mom (like my wife) or some grampaw (like my dad) doesn't take me out trying to get to work tomorrow. Nobody around here knows how to deal with this. Hope there are no serious accidents...

 

[joaks]

I think we are under a "state of emergency." Not sure what we have here in terms of salt trucks but probably not much! My only real concern right now is keeping power. My apartment is very drafty so would become outside temperatures inside in a few hours.

 

[01rangerxl]

Birmingham got it pretty good today, and it was totally unexpected. As of last night and even early this morning, the weather people were saying it would go south of us and hit Montgomery. Nope, Bham got a direct hit. It's only maybe an inch or two depending on where you are, but there is NO salt in this state, none, because the DOT doesn't buy it. On top of that, people here panic in the snow and are wrecking their cars left and right, or getting stuck because they are driving erratically (flooring gas, slamming brakes). Multiple multi-car wrecks today. On top of that, it never got above freezing today and a lot of what's hitting the roads is getting icy, especially on roads where cars have packed the snow down hard. Roads that haven't been driven on much yet and are just loose snow are not too bad to drive on. I went into work at 7:00 AM with no snow in sight. It started coming down around 9:00 and didn't let up for hours. By 11:30 the roads were too messed up to drive the company trucks on (2WD Colorados with Yokohama dry highway ONLY tires). We got sent home early today, but by that point the roads were already a total disaster, especially the interstates. Luckily, I don't have to do any interstate driving to get to/from work, so I was able to drive home without too much drama. It got sketchy going up some of the hills with an empty bed and open diff, but I'm home now. A lot of people aren't still...hotels are filling up, and people are abandoning cars and carpooling in the small number of 4WDs with snow-usable tires around here. Looks like tomorrow will probably be a late start.

 

[hattaresguy]

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down. Up here I just dust off my windshield and proceed with my day, in VT anything less than 6in doesn't really count. I'd be cruising around with my 2wd open rear end truck, sipping coffee wondering what all the fuss was about. Little trucks like that ranger are great in the snow with their short wheel bases. Throw 200-300 pounds in the bed and if you have half way decent tires your good up to 6in.

 

[joaks]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down. Up here I just dust off my windshield and proceed with my day, in VT anything less than 6in doesn't really count.

Yeah, its a whole different world down here. Actually, I have my industrial-grade ice crampons still. I might just walk to work.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down. Up here I just dust off my windshield and proceed with my day, in VT anything less than 6in doesn't really count. I'd be cruising around with my 2wd open rear end truck, sipping coffee wondering what all the fuss was about. Little trucks like that ranger are great in the snow with their short wheel bases. Throw 200-300 pounds in the bed and if you have half way decent tires your good up to 6in.

So Cal will shut down with less than 1" of rain, with 1-2" of snow the state will drift into Pacific ocean.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down.

Yeah but they'd laugh at the northeast for being afraid of 55 mph winds that could totally bust every tree in my yard but would whip through palm trees just looking pretty. If the infrastructure isn't set up for unusual weather there will be issues. If I were down south, I'd stay home, even if I had a subaru on blizzaks. Too many other idiots on the roads.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down. Up here I just dust off my windshield and proceed with my day, in VT anything less than 6in doesn't really count. I'd be cruising around with my 2wd open rear end truck, sipping coffee wondering what all the fuss was about. Little trucks like that ranger are great in the snow with their short wheel bases. Throw 200-300 pounds in the bed and if you have half way decent tires your good up to 6in.

I didn't have 200-300 lbs. of anything to throw in the bed because we weren't expecting any snow at all. All that's in the bed is snow. Going to get some sand is impossible because the roads are littered with cars from people who just gave up. The issue here is the hills. Bham is in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, so we have some very steep hills. People would start up the hills, reach an intersection, panic and slam on their breaks, and cause everyone behind them on the hill to also have to hit the brakes. Once my truck is stopped on a steep grade with nothing but ice under the tires and nothing in the bed, it's not going to get moving again easily. Your truck wouldn't either, even with you driving it. 2WD truck + open diff + steep hill + ice + no ballast + no salt = no go. You wouldn't be cruising around anywhere because the roads aren't clear...abandoned cars everywhere. And NE also has ample salt...we have NONE. Nothing. No salt trucks, no plows, nothing. All of the roads here are still completely untreated. On flat roads and untraveled hilly roads, my truck did fine. But behind a panicking mommy in her Chevy Travesty on a sheet of ice it was more like "GO [censored]! WHY ARE YOU STOPPING?" The Colorados at work were legitimately dangerous because of their tires...those trucks have traction control, but it did absolutely jack [censored] except make groaning noises from what I could tell. Driving through fresh powder is easy too, what we have here now is just ice. Ice everywhere. My truck got me home safe and isn't in a ditch, on the side of a road, or abandoned, so yes, I guess Rangers are pretty great in the snow. That doesn't mean driving around Birmingham is great in the snow! As you can tell from the pic, a lot of people here didn't even drive anywhere today.

 

[sciphi]

Yep, snow in states not equipped to deal with it is a big deal. It was weird seeing significant snowfall without hearing plows go by when I lived in SC.

 

[Errtt]

50 days (I think now) of dry warm weather. Just saw kids swimming in a river last Saturday, plus rafters & kayak's. Been running a streak of 70s, hit low 80s a couple times in my backyard in shade. Looks like tomorrow we're finally going to get some rain. Been looking dry & brown like summer without the triple digit temps. Lakes drying up - cut water usage 20% - no snow pack (yet) up in the hills. Hope we get some rain/snow, but not over due it other locations I keep seeing on news.

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

I went into work at 7:00 AM with no snow in sight. It started coming down around 9:00 and didn't let up for hours. By 11:30 the roads were too messed up to drive the company trucks on (2WD Colorados with Yokohama dry highway ONLY tires). We got sent home early today, but by that point the roads were already a total disaster, especially the interstates. Luckily, I don't have to do any interstate driving to get to/from work, so I was able to drive home without too much drama. It got sketchy going up some of the hills with an empty bed and open diff, but I'm home now. A lot of people aren't still...hotels are filling up, and people are abandoning cars and carpooling in the small number of 4WDs with snow-usable tires around here. Looks like tomorrow will probably be a late start.

Glad you made it home. I have family in Bham and Atlanta. The ones in Bham had to abandon their car on the interstate and walk to a hotel. The ones in Atlanta weren't much better. My mom had to abandon her car 1 mile from her house because this one hill was iced over and no one could drive up it to get home.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

You guys down south are funny, an inch or two of snow shuts the state down.

You don't understand, it's not snow, it's freezing rain. My car was covered by 1 inch of ice at noon when we closed the work place and went home early. Fortunately, the roads were still slush at that time and not completely frozen. Now, I could not drive up my driveway even if I wanted, as it's all covered by ice and sleet. Same with the streets in my neighborhood. All covered by ice and I live at the bottom of a hill. No cars on the road, just kids sliding down.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

it's not snow, it's freezing rain.

 

[01rangerxl]

LOL, normally riding a bike down the middle of 280 or walking on it would be a death wish.

 

[doitmyself]

Watching this storm on Intellicast, it looks almost exactly like the shape of the storm that passed through the upper midwest a few weeks ago, causing all kinds of tree damage and power outages. A very long,wide band of freezing rain with a band of snow to the north and rain to the south, stretching at a 45 degree angle from SW to NE. It's amazing how far south the cold is going this winter. Be safe guys. Wishing you the best. Ice storms suck. And, you guys that keep reminding us of your balmy weather (you know who you are, Merk, Cujet, others)....remember, what goes around, comes around . No mercy from us when California slides into the ocean after their next earth quake!

 

[KD0AXS]

We have the opposite problem up here. When the temperature gets down around - 10°F, we get "black ice" on the roads and salt is worthless. (although they still pour it on by the truckload) For some reason, people don't understand that they need to slow down and stuff like this happens.

This was a 2001 Ford Ranger. Somehow, the woman driving it walked away without serious injuries