That just doesn’t seem to happen here, shiftless. Perhaps because it doesn’t often get much above freezing when we have serious snow on the ground combined with very dry powdery snow, it does get icy but not like what I’ve seen in the South – and until I moved here two years ago I’d lived in various southern places for all but the first six years of my life, so I know exactly what you’re talking about.
The most ice I have ever had to scrape off my car here was somewhere around 1/4th of an inch (if that – not fun at all, though), more in certain spots. It gets cold and stays that way. As for the roads, well, snow tires plus driving carefully what with the state and town having plows and salt and sand and whatnot work out. There is no freeway driving up here and a lot fewer people as well; the closest town is about 3300 people, the big one of the three in the valley around 6000.
We got what looks like a couple of inches last night and more on the way. Yay! The skiers will be thrilled.
Seriously though. Places that don’t get much snow simply don’t have the manpower and equipment to handle the occasional big event. Can’t justify it.
I drive over a 2 lane state highway every day. Continental divide 11,500 feet. It has never closed. In fact it is some sort of military emergency snow route. Other roads have gates they can drop down to close it off. Not this one. That’s not to say it won’t be total white out conditions. But by god it will be plowed. I-70 closes a few times a year. But not HWY 9.
Life-long Marylander here (i.e., south of the Mason-Dixon line), and the issue is not hardware as much as it is skill at driving. Not having lived further North, I can’t say whether those folks really are better at driving on slick roads, but it stands to reason that since they get more practice at it, they will be. They couldn’t be much worse than the people I see around here who seem to have no idea about how the laws of physics work as they power their two-ton cars off of icy roads and into ditches.
Nor’ Easters are great when they slam into sub-freezing temps, 50 million people, 4-5 Metropolises and the MEGA-SUPPER-BESTEST Doppler Radar anywhere at all the major news channels in D.C., Baltimore, Philly, New York and Boston.
You dump 24" inches of snow on 50 million people with the kind of news coverage available in major metropolitan areas in the North East corridor and you are bound to get entertained.
I guess that’s what makes it’s special. Where can you whack 50 million people upside the head like that?
Dallas used to shut down if they had an inch of snow: no one there could deal with it.
I lived in South Dakota for several years and it was cope or die. Having previously lived in Oregon, I thought I knew how to drive in snow. In South Dakota I learned that my snow driving skills needed a lot of refinement. South Dakota has a very small tax base; county roads go unplowed because of a lack of equipment; the same thing is true of highways.
We went to the San Diego Zoo on Friday, and they all packed long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets in the car, “in case we need them.” It was in the low 70s during the day, forecast to get down to the low 60s by the time we were planning to leave the zoo. I was bemused.
I think everyone responds to the first snow in the same way - “Oooh, pretty!” Then the shocking realization sets in, and the difference is in the reactions: Southerners react with a wide-eyed “Outside is tryin’ ta kill me!” panic, while northerners have an “Oh, yeah. The outside is trying to kill me.” acceptance and go on living their lives around this fact.
I got this image of your passengers going “I think we should turn back” and you’re like “No! Not on my watch…”
Not only have I had more practice than these crazy people here, but I’ve got the dents, scrapes, and broken car parts to prove it. I’ve slammed into guard rails and barriers because of the snow at least twice…but I was a teenager then. I know that just because you’re in a tunnel in a snowstorm doesn’t mean you can speed up. I can feel the difference between turning at the base of a hill and turning at the crest of a hill by the G force. When climbing a slick slope, I know how to listen to my tires to tell me when to gas and when to ease off. So the hilarity is mostly in seeing fully grown adults acting like silly teenagers. Do you laugh at a 3-yr old that trips and falls? Do you laugh at a 30 yr old? Same deal. Except in this case, it’s like an entire city has forgotten how to walk.
That’s absolutely the right angle on this. It’s not that we’re magical and can defeat nature, it’s that we don’t find anything disturbing or miraculous about having to drive 3 mph. We’re like “Damn. Ah well, the sun was fun while it lasted.” I heard once that Pittsburgh has 4 seasons: Almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
I don’t understand how there could have been such a huge issue with snow on the interstates in northern Virginia. Traffic is so bad normally during rush hour that people only get to drive 5-10mph anyway.
True, also to alot of us abandoning ours cars on the road is unthinkable. Here in Idaho and alot of the surrounding states there is nowhere to abandon to. When the blizzard hits you’re like “Well Sun Valley is 30 miles that way and Shoshone is 40 that way. Well hell I have to keep going.” Chains, studs, snow tires and Pickups we just have to live with it.
Here in Portland thousands of people put studded tires on their cars. While that’s a wonderful idea in places that get snow, we get maybe one snowfall a year. Last year was the exception, when we had 18" of snow throughout the month of December. There’s no need for studded tires unless you’re driving up to Mt. Hood all the time for skiing or finding lost hikers or whatnot.
And even THEN people still lose their shit when the flakes fall. I grew up in a ski town and learned to drive in the snow. As in, when I was going to get my license for the first time, there was snow everywhere. That’s how I learned the joy of doing donuts in parking lots. Wheeee!!
Last year was freakish, I know, but still…? I’m actually surprised that they’re legal. There are parts of Oregon where you definitely need them but right there in the city, I don’t think so! Certainly one odd year isn’t enough to justify the expense.
Uh, yeah, maybe I should have put a or a in my last post. I *really *didn’t mean for that to be taken seriously. I may just be edgy because I’ve been forced into being a teetotaller for the last several months by the Air Force… stupid General Order #1! Honestly, **aruvqan **and DianaG, no harm intended.
Though I always thought general order 1 is To walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert, and observing everything that takes place within sight and hearing.
Though it doesnt mention anything about actually doing anything with what you see and hear …
Hope you are having a reasonably safe and happy christmas, wherever you are posted!
I don’t know which order you’re referring to, never having posted guard duty anywhere, but GO#1 prohibits alcohol here in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. From Wikipedia:
Thanks for the Holiday well-wishes, though, and the same to you and yours.
or a 
in my last post. I *really *didn’t mean for that to be taken seriously. I may just be edgy because I’ve been forced into being a teetotaller for the last several months by the Air Force… stupid General Order