Not long ago the definition of the word blizzard changed, in my part of the world anyway, to an annoyance, sort of like the planet Pluto being downgraded to a largish rock.
I think the newer definitions dilute the term because radio and TV stations love to trumpet stentorian end-of-the-world weather alerts.
Soon a blizzard will consist of clear, sunny weather but with a wind chill that might freeze your skin in 10 hours of playing outdoor tennis at the end of September, without a lunch break.
Because it’s pissing me off every time I try to go for a walk here, I thought I’d resurrect this thread to show you a video of what the sidewalks are like around here recently. Snow, ice under the snow, assholes who haven’t done their civic duty. I scraped a few patches with my boot to show you the half-inch layer of ice under the snow - it isn’t everywhere, just enough places to be completely treacherous.
Here’s a video taken yesterday of a neighbour’s sidewalk - the chinook has melted the snow that wasn’t cleared into a sheet of ice. Today it’s snowing, so the ice will still be there, but it will be covered up so the first you’ll know of it is when you fall on your ass.
We discussed this in my torts class and the professor pretty much agreed with the above. My takeaway was that if you’re going to shovel, don’t do a half-assed job. Clear the sidewalk and put down salt.
I ran into that today on my walk - a bunch of people had cleared the snow from their sidewalks, but they left the layer of ice that was underneath. In that case, the ice was actually more dangerous to walk on than if they had just left the snow alone.