LOL! The South ...

[struggle4progress]

Friday's forecast was for 3-5 inches of snow beginning at 2AM today (Saturday)

So my workplace shut down at 1PM Friday "so everybody can get home safely"

[yallerdawg]

1. Hey.

We don't trust Republicans - or the weather forecast.

[In_The_Wind]

2. Most Southerners never learned how to drive in snow.

[Generic Brad]

3. Conditions are different in the South, not the drivers

It is way more slippery. I am a lifelong Minnesotan and recently moved to Kansas. I rarely had a problems driving in the worst of snow conditions when I lived in the upper Midwest, but down here it is different. Whenever there is a snow event there always seems to be heavy sleet or a layer of ice on the roads preceding snowfall. Earlier this week I slid through two stoplights despite driving slow, allowing plenty of time to stop, and knowing how to avoid such things (I used to drive truck) - and that was only on a dusting of snow.

There appears to be limited sanding and plowing here too. It happens so rarely I can see where it is not worth the investment.

I am not so quick to jump to the conclusion that Southerners don't know how to drive in the snow. They may have a lack of experience, but they also have a lack of infrastructure to deal with snow events and they get wayyyyy more ice.

[In_The_Wind]

8. I grew up driving around Atlanta. I stayed home when there was ice on the road.

[Fla Dem]

16. They don't pre treat the roads like they do in colder climes.

Thus allowing for the ice buildup under a thin layer of snow.

[unc70]

22. We pre treat in NC

And it helps sometimes, but not always. If you get significant rain before things start freezing, it tends to wash away the brine or whatever being used.

In the South, we also can get really heavy snow really quickly. For example, the official 24-hour record at Raleigh-Durham Airport is over two feet of snow, with nearby areas getting three feet that day. That is a lot of snow for anywhere.

This storm I got 5-6" inches while Raleigh most got ice. It is now going down to near 0 the next couple of nights.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Thank you.

The last snow we had was in 2010 here.
Lots of new drivers since then.

Plus, as you say, ice.
fast ice, cause the fronts that carry these storms move thru pretty fast, compared to the snows I used to know in the Pac. NW.

Driving home from work, in the dark, during a sleet storm, and/or Inch of snow over black ice=a mess.

[Still Blue in PDX]

26. That's exactly the case in Portland, Oregon, and we get laughed at by the whole country. nt

[struggle4progress]

6. Most Southerners may never have learned how to drive with even just the thought of snow

if they have to leave work at 1P to get home before the snow begins at 2A the following morning

Of course, it does take some time to stand in line at the market with your cartload of ten loaves of bread and eight gallons of milk ...

[In_The_Wind]

9. I seem to remember less snow around Atlanta 50 years ago.

Milk was delivered to our front door way back then.

[struggle4progress]

14. I can't remember where I put my glasses down five minutes ago

so I can't vouch for much of what things were like fifty years ago

Sadly, many of my contemporaries have even worse memories than me and can't even remember that fifty years ago I was smarter than everybody else, unbelievably sexy, and very very funny

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. lol!

[In_The_Wind]

24. It's their loss.

( I used to misplace my glasses when I parked 'em on top of my head.)

[PasadenaTrudy]

4. I sure as hell

wouldn't know what to do in the snow and ice. I've lived in SoCal all of my life and have never once driven in either one.

[struggle4progress]

11. Drive slow and don't expect to be able to stop or change directions quickly

On ice, without special gear, I cap my speed at about 12 mph

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. You'd get forced off the road up here.

The pictures of flipped-over SUVs in the snow is pretty much a staple. Ice is still ice, no matter if you've got anti-lock brakes or four-wheel drive.

[lastlib]

23. Drive like you have no brakes, no steering, and everybody out there is drunk.....

(the advice I got many years ago. It works.)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. I'm pretty sure that that's so y'all can stock up at the liquor store.

Wait - I was born in Virginia. Don't hate.

No, that's so you can get to the grocery store. Like this:

Robeson County, NC: Wet stuff closing in

Posted on January 6, 2017 by robesonian

Wet stuff closing in

News, Top Stories

County prepares for worst, hopes for best

Donnie Douglas - ddouglas@civitasmedia - Scott Bigelow - Contributor

LUMBERTON — The bread and milk have been purchased, the roads are being salted, and emergency officials are getting ready.

Now what remains is to see how hard a winter storm that is closing in on Robeson County hits. There will be plenty of wet stuff, but whether it is rain, sleet or the preferred powdery snow remains to be seen.



[font size=1]Ralph Mullins, with three loaves of bread and several gallons of milk, is ready in the event he gets snowed in. The weather will start deteriorating late today, and Robeson County will get a mix of rain, sleet and perhaps snow during today and on Saturday.[/font]

ETA: it's snowing now. I'm in Alexandria, Virginia.

[struggle4progress]

7. Y'gotta start in th'mornin if y'gonna drink all day

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. I manage to hold off until noon, but on January 20, all bets are off. NT

[pstokely]

10. A SOUTHERNER MOVES UP NORTH

http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~hornby/amuse/story_snow.txt

Dec 8 5:00 pm - it's starting to snow. The first of the season and
the first one we've seen in years. The wife and I took our hot
buttered rums and sat by the picture window watching the soft flakes
drift down, clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It was
beautiful!

Dec 9 We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white snow covering
the
landscape. What a fantastic site. Every tree and shrub covered with a
beautiful white mantle. I shoveled snow for the first time in years
and loved it. I shoveled both our drive and sidewalk. Later, a city
snowplow came along and accidentally covered our drive with compacted
snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and
shoveled our drive again.

Dec 10 It snowed an additional 6 inches last night and the
temperature
has dropped to about 11 degrees. Several limbs from the trees and
shrubs snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shoveled again.
Shortly after, the snowplow came by and did his trick again. Much of
the snow is now brownish-gray.

Dec 11 It warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which
soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tires
for both cars. Fell on my ass in the driveway. $145
to a chiropractor but nothing broken. More snow and ice expected.

Dec 12 Still cold. Sold the wife's car and bought a 4X4 in order to
get
her to work. Slid into a guardrail anyway and did considerable amount
of damage to the right rear quarter pane. Had another 8 inches of that
white shit last night. Both vehicles covered with salt and crud. More
shoveling in store for me today. That goddam snowplow came by twice
today.

Dec 13 2 degrees outside. More fuckin' snow. Not a tree or shrub on
my
property that hasn't been damaged. Power was off most of the night.
Tried to keep from freezing to death with a kerosene heater which
tipped over and nearly burned the house down. I managed to put the
flames out but suffered 2'nd degree burns on my hands and lost most of
my eyelashes and eyebrows. Car slid on ice on the way to the emergency
room and was totalled!!

Dec 14 Goddam mother-fuckin' white shit keeps on coming down. Have to
put
on all the clothes we own just to get to the fucking mailbox. If
I ever catch the son-of-a-bitch that drives the snowplow, I'll chew
open his chest and rip his heart out. I think he hides around the
corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then comes down the
street about 60 MPH and buries our drive again. Power still off.
Toilet froze and part of the roof has started to cave in.

Dec 15 6 goddam more fuckin' inches of fuckin' snow and fuckin' sleet
and
fuckin' ice and god knows what other kind of white fuckin's shit fell
last night. I wounded the fuckin' snowplow asshole with an ice axe but
he got away. Wife left me. The car won't start. I think I'm going
snow-blind. I can't move my toes. More fucking snow expected tonight.
I'm moving the fuck back to Texas!!!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. I've seen something else like that, about the first snow in wonderful upstate New York.

Googling....

I can't find it now. Same outcome, though.

Meanwhile:

Frigid temperatures as low as minus 44 set records in Wyoming

That's a real minus 44, not a wind chill minus 44.

[sarge43]

27. pstokely, Northerners feel exactly the same way about the white sh*t

Don't care how long you lived in snow country, there is a patch of black ice always waiting to spin you into a dirty, stone filled drift and it will find you.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. Meanwhile, just south of the New York - Pennsylvania state line:

No Injuries In Early Morning Crash On Rew Hill



Foster Township Police Department added 7 new photos.

At 06:15 this morning Foster Township Police were dispatched to the 1400 block of Rew Hill in regards to a motor vehicle accident involving 1 vehicle over the embankment with 3 passengers.

No injuries were reported and the vehicle sustained minor damage.

Vehicle was pulled back onto the roadway by Schine Towing while The Rew Volunteer Fire Department assisted with traffic control.

No injuries: amazing.

[Laffy Kat]

18. Don't laugh.

They may not see it as often and when they do the conditions are much more treacherous. It ends up as sleet-covered and almost impossible to drive on. Here in Colorado, two to three inches is nothing, but there it's a big deal FOR A REASON. Just sayin.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

21. I'm about to log off. Drive safely. Stay warm. Have a nice weekend. NT

[LWolf]

25. I've been home since Friday night.

The snow is an inch above my front bumper, and about 3/4 of the way up my tires. I have to get to work tomorrow morning. I leave in the dark. It's still snowing.