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 ...
Both resulting in sales or excise tax revenue for the state.
I'm surprised that the excessive use of melting solutions is not an environmental disaster as far as the econazis are concerned.
Post 9 - very informative, thank you.
M/T ‘Mud Tires’ are almost worthless in snow and less than worthless on ice. Just don’t see M/T tires in northern Nevada, as they’re the surest mark of a rube. We don’t even have mud in Summer and mudders are worthless in Winter. They’re for people in other parts of the country.
Not that they would have helped much in the conditions in Atlanta, but the only highly regarded tires here are heavily-siped A/T tires with the snowflake logo. These will have pilot holes for studs which are almost overkill.
Best tires I know for icy conditions are the Nokian Hakkepaliitta or Bridgestone Blizzaks. For trucks, it’s the Goodyear Duratracs. They’re all heavily siped and can be studded. But M/T mud tires, you’re probably better off driving with bald tires on ice.
>>Just for laughs, let’s say Reed decides to “dismiss” local schools at 12 noon. For starters, he doesn’t have the authority (that lies with school superintendents).
A lot of people don’t understand that schools and general government are two semi-independent entities with very little overlap / interaction under Georgia law..
There was a great comment by a FReeper in one of the Atlanta threads along the lines that when he moved from up North, his neighbor saw his snow shovel and said “we don’t shovel snow - we wait for it to melt.” The FReeper said this was true, and it largely is.
Bingo, you’ve nailed it.
And I especially enjoy the criticism from Midwesterners, AKA Flatland. I drove on snowy roads in the Midwest a fair amount as a teenager and young man. It is a cakewalk compared to dealing with ice in the hilly terrain of Atlanta.
I couldn't get up the street, solid ice, no traction. Trying to go down was almost certain suicide...
What to do, what to do.
It came to me that this is what I pay AAA for every year. The AAA guy came and slid down the hill around forty yards past me, walked back up (Yak Tracks are a wonderful thing) and asked, "WTF do you think you're doing?" "I'm going to work, waddaya think!"
AAA guy laughs and says,"Oh, that's different."
He went around the block to the top of the hill and let his cable down to me. We hooked up the cable and he winched me to the top of the hill.
I made it to work and made some good money hauling the sissified around that day.
Taxi driver - You call, we haul. :O)
Salt isn’t used here. It’s some other mixture.
People in Atlanta aren't going to be driving around on winter tires. The problem with all season tires is they turn into summer tires after a period of time when they lose some of their tread. If everybody would have had a fresh set of all season tires, I don't think it would have been nearly as bad.
They bought the equipment two yrs ago but the cold weather came in so fast that the roads turned ice and the machines could not get out because of all the cars stuck.
Make sense to me
They couldn’t get out to put down the salt because the cars were in the way because the ice formed so fast because the cold moved in quickly
It melted and refroze as ice in the first 2 hours from starting to snow. I left for lunch at noon and it was starting to flurry. By 1:30 the roads were ice.
However THE biggest issue was that there was a Winter Storm Warning issued at 3:38 am by NWS Atlanta. It said it was going to start snowing between noon and 2 pm. Schools should have been closed when the warning came out. Period.
I was listening to steve sommers on the ATN
http://www.700wlw.com/pages/onair_stevesommers.html
He brought up a good point: as the winter progresses, the roads become seasoned with salt, etc. If Atlanta had several snows, their roads would have been seasoned.
I learn so much on the Truckers channel
The storm was forecasted ahead of time.
Why is the X on the clutch pedal?
Question: The issue of "cost-benefit" analysis has been raised in regards to having this type of equipment available for the infrequent southern storm. Well the answer is quite simple: How much did shutting down your WHOLE FRICKIN STATE cost it`s economy?
Example: ODOT has a 1 hour recovery policy in that: Any significant shutdowns of traffic, due to inclement weather, of more than 1 hour are flagged for review to determine: What went wrong? AND: How can that issue be corrected in the future?
The point being even delays of a few hours can have adverse effects on the region`s or the state`s economy. Prevention is superior to cure. That means equipment, supplies, and the manpower to deal with the weather issue at hand. Or do you guys NOT have Hurricane reaction plans either? I know we have Tornado plans in place, we do live in a 1st world society.
The equipment does not need to be anymore elaborate than "Tailgater" style applicators and stockpiled de-icing chemicals to add to your usual sand. I have personally used Dow`s Flake Calcium Chloride that was stored over 4 years in no more than the original shipping bags, shrink wrapping, and on tarp covered pallets in an unheated shed. It went down fine and was not clumped or moisture reacted.
After winter use, that equipment can be "mothballed", thoroughly cleaned, greased/coated, tarped and put away in fully enclosed sheds. Any delicate hydraulic fittings can be carefully removed, the hose ends immediately Teflon taped, pipe capped, and fittings placed indoors with other equipment parts for long term storage. Point being, there are solutions to these issues IF you guys want to pursue them, they only take a little investment of money, time and concerted EFFORT. Or do I detect a bit of the "grasshopper and the ant" here?
Exactly. It’s from the articl on how to drive on ice, referenced at the beginning of the thread
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