Atlantapocalypse

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I will not make a snarky post about Toronto winter weather (only to say that it's always worse in Buffalo).

I do feel for you folks in the US South because you don't deserve it, are not used to it or prepared for it. I hope you all stay safe and warm.

In the meantime here's a warm hug.

 

[332nd]

Because it snows so infrequently and has really cold weather so seldom, most cities in the south do not have the kind of expensive equipment that cities where heavy snowfall is expected yearly do. Apparently, because occasionally the get a light snow,Atlanta has a couple of snowplows,but not enough to handle this kind of strom.

^This, but I understand how it could confuse northern folk. My wife is from VT & when she got in to FSU for grad school, I brought us a condo in Tallahassee, (that was a mistake) & the road leading to the complex had a very steep hill. When she first saw said hill she gasped & asked worriedly, "what happens in the winter? How will we get up this thing?" I blinked & said, "well... in Florida I imagine it gets a bit chilly & rains so... turn on the heat & wipers, & put a little more pressure on the gas pedal."

 

[jnelso99]

Back in 1990 or so, a group of us got stranded in Atlanta coming home from Spring break in one of the "Storms of the Century!". Stuck for three or four days in 2-3 feet of snow. One of our group got so bored he got a job delivering pizzas.

 

[alfaniner]

I live smack in the middle of snowstorm central, and certainly realize that given the same conditions (especially for the first storm of the season), it might end up very similarly here. One thing about Atlanta, once you get on the freeway or miss an exit, you can't get off for MILES.

We just had a short bout of icy conditions, and there was a report of a car spinout and rollover in the exact same spot I had mine, shortly after I'd gotten my first car. I survived - that unfortunate person did not.

It is good to hear that people seem to be mostly helping each other. I imagine Jimmy John's would have a banner day if they could just get their bicycles on the roads.

 

[sylvan8798]

Yeah, great. Meanwhile, a bunch of kids spent the night in school buses stuck on the highway.

But please, do go on about your "real snow." It's fascinating.

Wow, and it makes you testy too does it?


ETA: No one's EVER snarky about Buffalo...

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Well, that sure blew Obama's speech off the front page, didn't it?

Not soon enough. I'm an Obama fan, but I didn't need 24-48 hours of analysis on every news station.

And it's disappointing to hear the news media repeating the false narrative that Obama is overstepping Presidential authority unless they specifically apply that to assassinating people with the drone program.

But back to snowmageddon... Bunch of fools like this all over the country. I've seen it in Colorado and WA State. People who cannot drive in the snow and/or don't have proper traction tires figure they can still make it to work or home. They have no idea what the concept of driving on snow or ice is all about. It's alien until they experience it and even then a couple years later they'll forget and do it again.

Add any freezing sleet and you'll even get the people with traction tires and experience in the clogs.

Then you get the head in the sand approach to the weather actually reaching them. That was weird. I guess the school authorities had a hard time with pre-emptive closures.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I don't exactly understand. I've seen pictures and I still see ground. Is there ice? I don't see much.

Is it just that there are absolutely no salt trucks or other snow equipment at all? I just doesn't look like much of anything but a bunch of parked cars.

Frozen sleet, much worse than snow. They said the snow fell, partially melted then refroze. That stuff's nasty, you can't even walk on it.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I don't believe that anyone anywhere acknowledges that little nugget. I especially love getting tailgated by those folks, as if barely being able to see isn't enough of a hassle.

First time I really drove in the snow, I had heard it over and over, don't use the brakes. It doesn't register until you very gently tap on your breaks while trying to turn and your car continues in a straight line.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

So much for Global Warming, innit?

Meanwhile the record heatwave in Australia continues and the country threatens to burn up altogether.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

I'd just like to offer everyone kind thoughts and best wishes. Take care when driving, stay home if you can and look out for your neighbors. This might be funny to those of us in colder climes but simple "bad weather" kills people every year.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

Oh, and when y'all are done with that coldness make sure you put it back where it came from. We need that cold to make Arctics.

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

I remember one terrible night, I don't know if it's technically rain or fog, but every exposed surface was coated in ice, very smooth ice. Made for an interesting route, not a single step with traction.

 

[Woolgatherer]

Wow, and it makes you testy too does it?


ETA: No one's EVER snarky about Buffalo...

I've lived the Colorado Mountains (Glenwood Springs) for a short while (3 winters) and I'd prefer snow packed roads over icy streets any day. At least when driving on snow it has some grip and ruts to help keep cars on the road. Also, there are tons of plows and sand trucks in Colorado to help things out.

 

[crescent]

No salt or gravel + drivers who are unused to the conditions + everyone got let out of work/school at the same time = total gridlock.

Took me three and a half hours to get home (five and a half miles). And I count myself one of the lucky ones!

You know, I grew up in Colorado, where there is often snow on the roads.

Now I live in a town that rarely gets snow. A few months ago we had the biggest snowfall in 40 years - about six inches.

The roads here were worse than I ever saw them in Colorado - this town has no trucks equipped to spread salt or sand (and stockpiles neither), and has one snowplow. The plow is paid for out of federal money for the airport and cannot be used off the airport until the airport is fully cleared.

Needless to say, our predicament pretty closely mirrored yours, albeit on a much, much smaller scale. I-15 was closed for about 24 hours, complete with lots of cars, trucks, and school buses spending the night stuck in the worst portion outside town.

Some places are well equipped to handle this sort of thing, and people are equipped as well with the right kinds of tires. People who live in those areas sometimes can't seem to understand what a difference the equipment makes. It is not that people in snow states are tough - it is that their cities and highway departments have spend a boatload of money preparing for it.

Its not the severity of the weather, it is how unusual this weather is (well, that added to Atlanta's usual mess of traffic).

No doubt there will now be calls for the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia to buy snow and ice removal equipment, or to always shut down at the prediction of poor weather. If they do that, then in 20 years new politicians can blame the old (current) ones for wasting money on equipment that might be used once every decade or so, or for shutting down schools and offices when weather predictions are bad - especially when weather predictions turn out wrong.

 

[dudalb]

^This, but I understand how it could confuse northern folk. My wife is from VT & when she got in to FSU for grad school, I brought us a condo in Tallahassee, (that was a mistake) & the road leading to the complex had a very steep hill. When she first saw said hill she gasped & asked worriedly, "what happens in the winter? How will we get up this thing?" I blinked & said, "well... in Florida I imagine it gets a bit chilly & rains so... turn on the heat & wipers, & put a little more pressure on the gas pedal."

It's not just the south. If a storm like that dumped huge amounts of snow and ice on Sacramento, San Francisco, or Los Angeles,it would be a even worse mess since those cities have probably NO snow equipment,because snow is almost unknown there. In Atlanta, I understand it happens once in a while but usually in light amounts so they have a couple of snow plows...but not enough for the present crisis.. I am betting the three cities I mentioned (and I live in Sacramento) have NO snow plows,not a one, nada because snow is so rare there.

And then there is the issue of how many cities in the Mississippi Valley have almost no earthquake safety regs and little equipment for handling a quake despite the fact that they live on a huge fault, because it has been pretty much inactive since the huge quake in 1806.

 

[mortimer]

The same storm hit Austin on Monday, with about the same timing as the Atlanta storm. I don't understand why anyone left for work/school in the first place. We only got about .2 inches of sleet starting well into rush hour, but the whole city had pretty much taken the stance that there was a good chance it was coming, so most schools and businesses decided the night before on a 2 hour delay. Once it became clear that bridges and overpasses (and some roads) were going to be iced over and stay that way the rest of the day, the city pretty much shut down. We had several car accidents of course, but people weren't stranded and the roads were mostly empty.

Are the government officials who let this happen in some serious trouble? Or are they managing to avoid criticism?

 

[WildCat]

I don't exactly understand. I've seen pictures and I still see ground. Is there ice? I don't see much.

Is it just that there are absolutely no salt trucks or other snow equipment at all? I just doesn't look like much of anything but a bunch of parked cars.

It's the bubba factor.

 

[WildCat]

A perfect storm of ***************, really.

There's snow, and ice (which formed quickly, as in within a couple of hours). Plus we only have a handful of plows for a city of 8 million+ people. Combine that with everybody leaving work/school/state offices at the same time (right as said ice as forming), and things went to **** quickly.

Did 7.5 million people move to Atlanta since the last census?

 

[Giz]

Did 7.5 million people move to Atlanta since the last census?

There's the city of Atlanta (small) and then there's Metro Atlanta (big).

 

[Woolgatherer]

Atlanta Population:
5,475,213 (2009 est.) in the 28-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area, designated by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce