True, but those are mainly useful for residential streets. Out on the highways you need specialized high-speed plows like this, usually heavy trucks with plow attachments and loaded with salt and sand spreading equipment in the back, operated by trained drivers in a “conga line” formation to clear an entire multi-lane freeway in one pass. That’s not going to be stuff you have hanging around in a state that gets very little snow.
I grew up in Connecticut and don’t remember anyone having snow chains or studs.
I double and triple checked that too for the same reason.
The article mentions sleet and freezing rain, and that can lead to ice if gets colder than expected. Ice storms are a big, big deal, and if a storm in the Northeast goes that way we’re screwed for several days* even though we’re prepared for winter weather, so I can’t cast aspersions at a southern state not coping well for three days if they get ice.
*It was nearly a week before most people got power back in 2008
Hell I live in Oregon and we still have a complete shutdown whenever it snows. It just did recently and was like…maybe 2 inches? I dunno, I never measures lol but schools were cancelled for two or three days, public offices closed, warnings to stay off the roads. The problem here is we rarely get snow and so we’re not equipped to handle it. We’re not even allowed to use salt on the roads. All of that on top of people not knowing how to drive in the ice/snow and you get things like this lol
I was in upstate SC for the godawful freeze in… what, the end of 2002? It was OVER A WEEK before anything started rolling again. All the roads were frozen over, and no-one had any equipment or ability to drive, so everyone was stuck home. It was bad. We all descended on the one house that was closest to the grocery store and huddled together with blankets and parrafin heaters and ate canned food for days. About two days before it cleared up, about half of us stole extra clothes from the other half, and walked (haha - slid pathetically) to the grocery store and then stole a cart to carry the stuff back home in. If we hadn’t had about three metric tons of alcohol, we’d have killed each other.
The storm in February a few years back wasn’t quite so bad, but even that was a good couple of days of ice, and LOTS of people without power because of branches getting loaded down and snapping. Thankfully that was recently enough that it should make this weekend less problematic from a tree-breakage standpoint.
I’m not too worried about this weekend personally. But yeah - in a bigger city with lots of people freaking out and crashing because they’re nervous or they overreact/underreact to conditions? With power outages and grocery stores closed or unable to re-supply? Yeah, it could be really really bad for some people.
Two feet so far at my house from this storm, quite a good start for January, the real snow often comes in March and April.
As the Atlanta snow ‘storm’ makes me chuckle, I have to put it in perspective. My Wife and I have 4 wheel drives, I have my own plow truck, and a tractor to deal with the stuff.
Still it can be a problem, if I stick my plow truck that’s chained up on all four tires, and if the truck is not in a position to winch off a tree, I’m in a world of hurt. Only done that a few times.
Almost 800 miles NE, we’re also under a Winter Storm Advisory for 1-3" overnight. I expect to go to work in the morning. However, what makes me chuckle is the last two lines of the forecast
You just know there’s a bunch of weather nerds that are crying that they’re not being activated. 
Studded snow tires aren’t even legal in a number of states which regularly see a lot of snow, including Illinois (where I live), Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A list of legality by state: https://rma.org/tire-safety/seasonal-driving-tips/studded-snow-tire-regulations
I always relied on all-weather tires, until I bought a Mustang (rear-wheel drive, known for having torque / traction issues in snow). I put winter tires (not studded snow tires) on it in the winter months, which seems to help a lot.
Hah! Lemme tell ya about ‘79 when the snow got to twenty inches. I went out in waist deep snow with a sled ta do my shoppin’. There weren’t no bus fer a week or more, and I had an onion on my belt…
Hey! Where’s everybody going?
WX spotters are usually activated for tornado situations. ([del]they[/del] we provide valuable confirmation of (rotating) wall clouds and other info) but yes, not used for snowstorms.
Brian
Tornado’s around these parts are an F0 that took down a tree, or an F1 that damaged (but not destroyed) a building or two; IOW, rare & small. Spotters are activated for larger snow storms & (post) hurricanes/tropical storms/depressions to gather precipitation amounts in various communities in the region. I guess NOAA collects different info in different regions???
My brother lives in the VA Beach area and says there’s something like 1 snow plow for 3 counties, which are large, spread out, and contain approximately 987,296,218 miles of highways, not counting residential streets. We’re from northeast PA, where 1-3 inches of snow is “do I have to brush the car off or can the windshield wipers handle it?” and went to school in Pittsburgh, so driving in the snow isn’t a problem for him.
The problem is that everyone else is afraid to drive in the snow and don’t know how to, but it doesn’t stop them from thundering through Hampton Roads at 85 mph and hey that’s my exit in 20 feet skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech…
Well, we are talking Atlanta after all. The same report in upstate NY would be a WTF but for that location I’m not all that surprised. You got a lot of people who have never seen very much snow, people who fled the North because they hate the idea of snow, and a lot of communities not really prepared for snow.
At least it isn’t Seattle.
Winter weather in Atlanta isn’t like winter weather in Minnesota. Things hover near freezing. The low tonight will be in the upper 20s, tomorrow’s high 33.
The 1-3" of snow will become packed hard ice by cars in no time. And driving on ice is a real problem, even if you have snow tires. And who in Atlanta is going to drive on studded snow tires all winter???
Snow plows do nothing to ice. They do very little sanding and it doesn’t help much.
And idiots driving on ice cause a really big mess. Best to get those idiots to stay the bleep home.
Whenever you see a story ragging on Atlanta falling apart with a small amount of snow remember: There’s actually ice on the roads.
ftg: salt melts ice in the upper 20s quite easily. Road departments in the snowbelt salt and plow their roads when needed, while those in Atlanta don’t.
Word to your mother.
These aren’t the worst I’ve seen, but here are some photos of the damage ice and high winds did to power lines and stuff over Christmas, 2016 up here in South Dakota.
I am dreading my shift at the grocery store today. Massive lines and short tempers will abound. If there is ice and snow on the roads when I get off at 11, it means sleeping on the floor in the office area overnight instead of driving home. The first snow of the year always causes the greatest panic. I so dislike snow!
To be fair, it’s the freezing rain that wreaks havoc here. Snow is easy to drive in, but ice is no picnic even for an experienced winter driver. We have a repeat of that storm arriving this weekend, with up to an inch of ice resulting. At least this won’t happen during the work week like last time. Oh, and the city has now approved the use of salt on the roads.
That said, I inexplicably get the chortles when I see footage of slow-motion collisions like that. It’s terrifying for the drivers, but it amuses me for some reason.