They’re calling for rain overnight here. I’m waiting to see what it does to the roads out here First winter in rural Ontario with a long drive on a twisty, hilly, dirt road to anywhere. I’m really hoping I don’t have to cancel my riding lesson again.
And my prediction about the post came true. No delivery today. Frankly, I think it would have been an O+H violation to send them out walking on those sidewalks.
The dread wintry mix
Precipitation wavering between snow and rain.
You end up with dense snow on top of watery slush. It’s too heavy for the traffic to keep the roads clear, but plows are no good - they just create a nasty thick sheet of ice. Shoveling is heart attack inducing. The watery slush never really drains, so you end up with an inch or so of ice on the sidewalk and driveways. Even though the temperature isn’t that cold, it’s wet and bitter and your winter clothes just get soaked and take days to dry.
It’s frequently followed by a cold snap, that results in deadly icicles on your roof that break off from weight, and have been known to kill. Or at least badly damage cars.
It is the reason this liberal East Coast Elitist now lives in the south west.
Northern Piper, that’s what is coming my way overnight. Thank you for the heads up. It has been foggy/misty here all day today with the storm moving slowly east. I think I’ll be working from home tomorrow just to play it safe.
We’re scheduled for freezing rain/entry mix on Saturday after some melting today and Friday (40s and 50s! - time for a car wash). I’m glad I don’t need to go anywhere till Sunday. My claw-thingies will be firmly attached to my shoes.
Around here the schools stay open unless the conditions are truly so awful no one can get to school. Kids aren’t penalized for not showing up, but lots of kids will go whose parents have to work (can’t miss a day of work to stay home and watch kids who aren’t sick), and the schools will have a sort of study-hall type of day if not enough kids show up to run classes proper.
And plenty of kids walk to school and can walk just fine even when buses aren’t running for whatever reason.
Was it like this? https://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/18/1/10/Ir5VZD3mCkmUqg3YmS7SeQ2.mp4
Similar, but darker, wetter, colder and snowier.
So, just a bit more Canadian then, right?
I was visiting my dad in Minnesota one winter and there was freezing rain while we were out for dinner or something. His driveway isn’t steep enough for a pencil to roll down, but the ice was so perfect that his 4WD pickup couldn’t quite make it to the garage. I got out to turn the lights on, and I couldn’t even walk up. I had to get down on one knee and get my fingers into the seam between the asphalt and concrete to pull myself toward the garage. A couple handfuls of sand in front of the tires and it drove right in, but that thin layer of ice was like a skating rink.
Only if it was darker, wetter, colder, snowier and more mild-mannered.
Here In Detroit we had a mind-blowingly nice 55 degree day, with some sun and only a bit on a breeze, got a nice walk in.
Tonight it will rain. Overnight it will become freezing rain, making the drive into work most likely resembling curling. By the drive home it is supposed to be a heavy blizzardly snowstorm. Then it will stay at a hard freeze for a week, preserving the hockey-rink-meringue in place.
Yay.
The temperature went above freezing today, about 6C, for the first time in a month and it is raining on top of all the snow. Same weather tomorrow, followed by a deep frost, about -20C, and everything will be covered in ice. I will heavily salt a path to the street and hope for the best.
I’m dealing with more than -20C temps again. It would be one thing if temps were in the -10s, but I cannot do all my snow at -20 or more. My fingers get too cold and are unusable. I have to shovel snow in two or more shifts.
Did I really play golf in shorts and T-shirt last summer?
Yes, it’s almost 50F here and the driveway is now rain-soaked snow with a layer of water over it. Below 0F over the weekend will not be pretty.
We were considering skiing this weekend and took a look at the temp chart. It’s in the high 40’s and raining up in Franconia, with a low tomorrow night of -13. Cannon is typically firm on a good day; Sunday it’s going to be an ice rink.
I’ve never skied – what does the ice do for you besides making it more painful when you fall? Is it faster and more fun to ski on? Or scary?
You need sharp edges, lots of concentration, and lots of muscle to keep control on icy conditions. Even then, you’re likely to fall much more often. Those falls will hurt and you can slide for a long ways on steep terrain, possibly smashing into other skiers, frozen moguls, lift towers, and trees along the way. At the end of the day your muscles and joints ache, and you might have a headache from the concentration. In general, not much fun.
If the groomers do a great job you have flat but still frozen runs. If, like most places, the groomers can only do so much, you have sheets of ice, death cookies, ruts, and frozen crust.
“Death cookies!” :eek:
In other words, typical lower east coast skiing conditions! 