Yesterday evening I drove around a bimbo mother merrily pushing her kid in a stroller down the snow-and-ice-covered street.
Well, sure. The sidewalk was too bumpy!
Note to the SUV driver at about 1:30: 4WD doesn’t help if you’re using street tires/non-traction tires.
I had a dusting of snow in my backyard. I had more frost than this the day before! What the hell people! To all who don’t know, most of the cities in the Pacific Northwest get maybe one or two snowfalls a year. A year! The rest of the time it’s rain and clouds and rarely gets below freezing. I joke that Portland only has half a dozen plows for the entire metro area, but sometimes I wonder if it’s true.
5* of drifting snow is a serious problem with states that have the equipment to move it. The trend in my area is to go to Defcon 4 if a snowflake sticks to the road. It’s important somehow that road salt has a protective coating of more salt just in case the original salt melts any snow. It’s really sad that common sense can’t be exhibited by people.
Hi Neighbor - you’re south of me. I haven’t left home since Sunday afternoon. No reason. Everything’s cancelled anyway.
I mean, I’d been warned by locals how people view snow here, but I’d not quite understood the magnitude of this inability to drive in it.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaah! Seriously people??? So, you spin out…yes, I know, that’s probably scary when it only snows (what every 5 years?), but come ON! You don’t just stay there in the middle of the @#$#@$$ road! Especially when there are nice safe driveways to either side of you to back into, and nice wide shoulders to pull over onto (you know, perhaps to get out of the way of all the OTHER idiots who can’t drive either?). And on the way from downtown on the light rail, I could see the stopped traffic of which you speak. Some of it caused by 5,10,15 car pileups.
sigh…I live about 2 minutes driving from the light rail station. (I am glad I didn’t walk that morning though, I do have balance and mobility issues that would have made it nearly impossible). As it was, it took me 40 minutes to get home from the light rail station. And that was on completely flat ground. Then there is a hill going up toward my apartment complex. It was an obstacle course of stalled out cars, spun out cars and ditch divers. It’s a really steep hill, but once I threaded my way through the mess it wasn’t THAT bad, a little slick, but you drive a bit slower and you do NOT gun your tires! All that does is create ice. And if you find yourself sliding, you don’t slam on your brakes, (unless you have one of those cool braking systems which I can never remember the name of, no not anti-locking, the other one).
More like fifty. But they’re from the 1970’s. The problem in 2008 was that almost all of them (that weren’t broken down) were at the airport, which meant there weren’t enough to plow anything else. So I-84 wasn’t plowed at all.
Imagine, folks not from the PNW, having a bunch of snow and ice fall overnight but no plowing done at all on the major commuting freeways, to say nothing of major city streets, bridges, bus routes, etc.
And forget about neighborhood streets, which is why we had situations like this.
Capitol Hill, here.
Of course, Denny is closed on the hill between Olive and Stewart and last night there was a huge crowd of people there, sliding down on whatever - snowboards, garbage can lids, grocery baskets, cardboard, etc. I helped push a cab up Olive at Denny - the driver had no clue, seriously. Neighborhood bars were doing a cracking business.
UW decided to cancel classes a little after midnight last night, so I had a couple of drinks, woke up late, and have stayed inside all day.
Seattle Public Schools are closed again tomorrow.
So are Puyallup public schools.
I, unfortunately, will have to work. Oh, we have two hour delayed reporting authorized, but that just means I leave at my regular time. Traffic around JBLM is a nightmare even during good weather, so it’s best to just treat tomorrow like it’s a normal day.
My entire department called in “snow” because of snow. Thank goodness we can work from home.
I know that street well, it’s not even that bad of a hill, comparitively. Of course, I wouldn’t drive down it. My car isn’t moving until this nasty white stuff is gone. Luckily, I’m on Capitol Hill - everything is in walking distance.
UW Seattle is open tomorrow but my 9:30 class is pre-emptively cancelled. So I can show up for my 2:30 class, or not.
For non-natives who are wondering, “WTF?” let me try to explain: Because most of our snow comes pre-melted, we really have very little clue as to how to deal with it - not just things like driving, but simple things like shovelling sidewalks. Then, the snow melts a bit and refreezes - if it snows here, the roads will be shitty with black ice. I have lived here and I have lived in Massachusetts, and I don’t remember the ice being as much of a consideration there. (I could totally be wrong; it was a long time ago.)
If I were where you are, I’d have called in snow all right. As it was I pleasantly surprised my boss by making it in at all. You have my sympathy on the lack of ability to deal with it. Until three years ago I never lived in a wintery climate, especially one where everybody is more or less ready to deal with it.
One level above the lowest state of readiness? 
Now they’re saying it’s going to snow again Thanksgiving morning.
So much for that long drive to Sequim.
The old folks are going to a lot of trouble to make dinner for their two ungrateful boys, now one, or maybe both of them aren’t going to show up. I just don’t want to risk it. I doubt the roads have been treated, and even if they have, they are all shaded, so the treatment doesn’t do that much.
We went out to lunch yesterday without much ado. Walking was harder than driving.
Oh! We had a visitor in the night, during the snow storm. When we woke up we found kitty prints right up to the back door. Since we live on a busy street, we don’t see many wandering pets. The tracks were tiny, like a youngster. We looked around, but there was no sign of it in the neighborhood. I hope it found a warm place to sleep.
For us southerners… driving up the what? (Please explain:))
One of Seattle’s myriad hills. Pictures here.
Sorry - it’s a long, steep hill here, one that is ALWAYS treacherous in the snow. ALWAYS.
Here are some of the videos I mentioned!
Andhere’s one from another neighborhood - Capitol Hill, where some of the upthread Dopers live.
This is why I stay home.
Huh. I didn’t know it was called that.
My wife was using the car on Monday when the trouble started, but got home safely and we are NOT driving again until all’s clear. Glad I can walk where I need to go, even with the icy sidewalks.