Posted on 01/30/2014 4:55:25 PM PST by Kaslin
Bad storm. Terrific people.
The whole country is talking about the Atlanta Ice Down, and I know you've all heard the stories of people being stuck in traffic for 11 hours. The way the story is being told, it must sound like those of us in the Southeast have no idea what to do when a few snowflakes start coming down.
But the main national stories didn’t tell the whole story about what happened.
The problem was not that two or three inches of snow fell. Believe it or not, southerners can handle driving in two or three inches of snow. The problem was that, as the snow fell, it was melting upon hitting the ground and then freezing. Throughout the day, that was turning road surfaces into ice rinks.
(Excerpt) Read more at caintv.com ...
Yeah I wished we would get some global warming. Those single digit temperatures are getting old
One of the surest tricks I’ve learned driving on ice, and one I don’t see listed, is to pop the tranny, auto or stick, into neutral. At a time when you want to maintain as much control over your momentum as you can, you don’t need to be battling the residual power still being transmitted to your wheels, front or rear.
Approaching a stop sign or an icy overpass, or even (slowly) coasting around a corner, you might be surprised how much extra control that technique can give you.
And the only difference between 2WD and 4WD on ice such as what happened in Raleigh and this time, in Atlanta, is that 4WDs have four wheels spinning.
Had a storm in the Raleigh area a number of years ago that started with about a half inch of ice and then turned to snow which accumulated about 5 inches. Driving was okay until the plows came by and cleared all the snow and left a skating rink.
We also had an ice storm that started late at night. We woke up to the sound of loud cracks followed by huge thuds outside. Spent a couple of hours after that watching the tops of the pine trees folding over until they snapped off leaving telephone poles behind ours and our neighbors’ houses. I had one huge pine tree next to my deck that folded over but never snapped. It stayed curled over the deck like that and was still like that when we sold the house about 4 years later.
Also, Raleigh had the same deal as Atlanta about 6 or 7 years ago. Started sleeting around 11 in the morning and they called for a school release at noon. All the parents left work to go get the kids at school and it turned into a noon rush hour. A couple of accidents on the ice, things started backing up, the highway department trucks couldn’t get through all the traffic to spread their brine solution and things went down hill from there. Many students were stuck overnight in schools or in buses and many drivers spent the night on the highway.
This is how they do it here in Montgomery County, TN
It was a clutch decision to install the second one...
BTTT
Uh, them Priuses don't got no manual shift so the brake must be the one on the left derr.
“How unusual. Snow falling on roads and then forming ice. Geez.
Hey Atlanta, salt the damn road.”
———/
Try telling that to people in Montreal. I’m sure they can handle snow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Ice_Storm_of_1998
.
Atlanta had 2 or 3 inches of snow. They didn't have freezing rain.
My daughter lives in Montreal. When they have freezing rain, they put salt on the roads.
Our Front Range storms have been a bit miserable this winter though with the very warm days followed by a snow that turns the streets a bit slick. I still have snow and ice from the early January storm with the storm hitting tonight, tomorrow’s commute will be such a joy.
Saw a school bus go through 180 degrees last week, a car nearly roll sliding on ice Monday.
You’ve had the advantage of very cold temperatures, something Atlanta didn’t.
Again, Atlantans are certainly free not to pre treat their roads when 2-3" of snow is predicted. I never said otherwise.
My criticism was about Herman Cain's comment. Please see post #57.
And it will warm up this weekend just in time for your Broncos in the SB;)
Model T.
A Model A was conventional.
Cold temps are an advantage if they occur before the snow.
We had a snow storm here in CO last week that was a big fender bender everywhere. That happened because we had a few really warm sunny days before the snow and the warm roads became slick enough to skate on when the snow began. Much like what happened in Atlanta.
The snow we are getting right now is falling on road surfaces that are below freezing, and traction is much better.
It's a specially equipped dump truck with a rotating spreader wheel on the rear that slings the salt and sand across the lane.
They rust out real fast.
If the roads are pretreated correctly with salt, the water on the road wouldn't turn to ice.
I've got two cars parked in the driveway covered in grimy salt and sand. You can't even see the license plates. They'll probably rust out real fast.
Are you in Maine? It's probably worse.
Joe Bastardi saw this coming two months ago.
That's the problem in the south. The ground is warm and when the snow flakes hit they melt and the cold air turns the water to ice.
A few years ago I was driving up from Charleston, SC and it began to snow. Every single truck pulled off the road. I followed them and was glad I did. She interstate turned into a sheet of ice.
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