Atlanta cold snap

[cecilsgarden1958]

I can't imagine an untreated, unplowed road. Our service is marginal here in the boonies of PA, but what we get really helps. Hope you guys down there don't anymore of this stuff. A 4x4 still doesn't drive in ice.

[hdrider]

Several years ago I used to plow during the winter. I would head out in the beginning to the middle of the storms having to drive on county roads that had not been plowed or salted as of yet. Sometimes with 4 wheel drive sometimes not. I have driven in white out conditions with out running anyone over or vice versa.

I have driven on black ice that was so bad you could not stand on it without the wind blowing you around. I have driven in northern MS during ice storms that everyone was too scared to go out in. If you use your head, don't attempt massive hills, or try to go fast it can be done if you know what you are doing. This does not mean that I haven't gotten stuck and needed a push on occasion, you just have to have common sense and a little experience driving through it.

Tracy
Back in Winter Wonderland and hating it!

P.S. You cant outrun the idiot, who's going ten times faster than they should be, and wants to turn your car into a parking lot.

Drive safe everyone!

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by ljp

Ignore the Northern know it alls. There was a 70 car/truck pile up on one of our major highways (401?). Heavy snow and freezing rain does in everyone.

Nope. "Northern Know it Alls" know when not to drive and if they have to, they have had the experience to contain the issues. The roads selected, the lanes selected, the speed, who you let hang around you and how you change and tire pressure all matter a lot on ice, ice/snow. You do it enough, you KNOW which bridges, curves ice over first. You KNOW where the issues will be and the best routes to take.

Another storm last night. This one we were forced to drive in, to check on the in-laws. Ice under 4" powder snow. Not fun, but also not this rare event that some people seem to think it is. You take it easy, keep your wits about you, keep wide spaces around you and have a car ready to drive in it, with full wiper fluid, proper tires and the right route chosen. We have been doing it twice a week for months. The counties are out of salt, (which hasn't worked half the time anyway due to temperatures being too low, roads are getting ridiculous with craters people used to call potholes causing flats, and secondary roads are getting narrower and narrower. And its snowing again this morning with freezing rain creepy in. Yay.

The cities don't shut down. Know why? The roads during the storm had barely any traffic on them last night. We have been there enough times this winter that people are getting smarter. Are there accidents? Sure. Couple of highways with all lanes shut down this am with jack-knifed semi's again. Happens every storm-usually its the black ice that does it. Regular ice...people can't get up to high speeds. Black ice, well that's a different story. You are on what looks like decent pavement, going 60 and you hit the black ice and start sliding. The black ice is what is killing people. Not these events where it is too slick to get any traction at all.
These snow/ice events are certainly not shutting down cities, thank goodness or we would that would be half the week, this is because the know it all's are typically watching it on the news, negotiating earlier or later starts, and work from home days, getting necessities before the storm and hunkering down when possible, leaving the roads to those that truly MUST be on them. Reduced traffic volumes make a huge difference. Letting an entire city on to the roads at the exact same time at the height of the storm...so not a good idea.

[Kazfam]

Ice, not snow, was the real driving danger.

I was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and have been in the South for 25 years. When there is ice there is mayhem...couldn't even drive on the ice when I lived up north...ice knows no boundaries.

[PaulF]

We were "stuck" in Florida for several days while Atlanta played bumper cars last week. Delta finally figured out the gridlock created by many, many thousands of drivers unable to figure out ice driving just abandoned their vehicles in the middle of the roads and created a mess of gigantic proportions and got us tickets on another airline not affected by the piddly storm.

Yes, ice is bad, but going 30 or 40 mph too fast on ice is the big problem. I, too, learned to drive on snow and ice (loved your story Zana) and reducing speed is the first step in getting home safely. Even in the midwest there are those who "forget" how to drive on slick streets from one storm to the next.

Instead of Atlanta as the hub city, we flew into the Dallas/Ft. Worth hub to get home. Now I see it is DFW with a projected snow/ice storm on the way and they will soon experience bumper cars. Nebraska will be getting another eight inch blast from this storm and we will just stay home and out of the crazy driver's way. Just so the propane driver can make it to our house if he happens to have any gas left.

Come on winter, give us a break! I'm tired of this season already

[macbettz]

Plenty of boat mechanics are licking their chops waiting to handle all the calls dealing with issues from unwinterized motors down south.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Well, I guess I never did find out how the Atlanta weather might improve the tomatoes this season, but I sure learned a lot about driving

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by cecilsgarden1958

Well, I guess I never did find out how the Atlanta weather might improve the tomatoes this season, but I sure learned a lot about driving

My guess and hope is the weather will gradually get warmer, not just get hot and turn into a furnace.

Worth

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Worth1

My guess and hope is the weather will gradually get warmer, not just get hot and turn into a furnace.

Worth

Wouldn't that be nice for a change.

Bill

[ScottinAtlanta]

What a difference three weeks makes. The current ice storms in Atlanta are being treated much more carefully. 3/4 to one inch of ice sheets forming on roads, trees.... Trees will snap, bringing down power lines across the region. I have had a load of emails asking for to "borrow" some of my firewood. How you return firewood, I do not know. Of course I will help out as much as possible given that I am in Iraq.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/atlanta...y-night/ndLMT/