How Is Everyone Doing After The Storm?

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Hysteria sells. The media sensationalizes the weather for ratings. The higher the rating, the more they can charge advertisers. I too miss the Weather Channel when it was a service. Not this silly, infotainment channel.

 

As for 4 wheel drive, yes,  it's a blessing. Shovel all the snow that our plow piled in front of my space? Hell no. Drove right through that sucker.  BUT, there are limitations. I can't tell you all the times I have seen from my windows SUV's hopelessly stuck and subsequently abandoned once snow is over 11 inches or so. 

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Uggghhhh! My Storm has just Begun! Can't decide what days to call off on & today is already starting to look like one!

-- Dave

 

[DADoES]

 
Awaiting the bluster that is to arrive within the hour.

Current prediction 29°F tonight, 24°F or 25°F Mon night.

 

[whirlcool]

The storm came through here about an hour ago. The temp is now 41F with a wind chill factor of 30F. The wind is a howling.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Giving credit where it is due

At least the Weather Channel's Local on the 8s format is much improved. Not only are the graphics better, but they have dropped the damn vocal music when you are trying to read the reports and even worse, the "singing" continued while the announcer tried to talk over it. Another improvement is that local weather data continues at the bottom of the screen while they play weather porn above it so weather does not take a backseat to "entertainment." NBC has shit for brains. Everything has to be entertainment and commercials.

To give you an idea of how stupid and talentless our Comcast office is, they are still running homemade ads where various professional groups like the local Chamber Pot of Commerce and businesses are still wishing Season's Greetings with Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa while dressed in red. Never mind that Hanukkah ended weeks ago and these ads just started appearing last week. These ads were the first I have heard Kwanzaa mentioned this year.

 

[cornutt]

I agree that people just aren't taught to drive these days, or they think that their super-duper cars will get them out of any and all situations, or whatever. We live at the top of a small mountain -- not real high, but the road going down is steep. The total vertical drop is about 900'. Now, for those of us of a certain age, what is one of the first thing we were taught when we learned to drive? Use a lower gear for steep descents. But you would not believe the number of times I get behind someone who clearly has no experience with mountain driving, and by the time we get to the bottom, I'm smelling their brakes. People just assume that no matter what, all they have to do is point the wheel in the general direction they want to go, and the car will take care of it.

 

[whirlcool]

In Germany on some autobahn's they have special ramps built into the side of downhill runs in steep terrain where if you overheat your brakes and lose them you can pull off into one of these exits that actually takes you up an incline to dissipate the inertia you have from going downhill too fast.

 

[alr2903]

48F. with strong wind and drizzle. 14f. forecast for Monday a.m. If I understood correctly air travel is already snarled.

 

[washman]

Weatherbug just chirped

In addition to a wind chill warning, we are now under a winter weather advisory.
Rain to turn to ice to snow with 2-3 inches along with the howling winds.

This is the last year I will run my Glacier Grip snow tyres. They are half worn and only marginally better than all summer season tyres.

PA loves using salt. Lots of it in fact so I am not too concerned about getting to work tomorrow or Tues. Battery was replaced last fall so it has plenty of ooomph to turn over the motor when it gets cold.

 

[whirlcool]

The problem is below 14F or so salt looses all it's effectiveness. Down here they use sand on the roads to provide traction.

 

[rapunzel]

"In Germany on some autobahn's...

...they have special ramps built into the side of downhill runs"

Same here in Australia and these ramps are big enough to take large runaway trucks as well.

 

[wayupnorth]

16 now here and going up. Supposed to get heavy rain late tonight thru tomorrow and then a big freeze. Just what the roofs need. Welcome to winter storm Ion. Our licence plates may say Vacationland, but nobody in their right mind would take a vacation here now, except to the ski and snowmobile areas where they still got plenty of snow and you dont mind cold.

 

[Ultramatic]

Stoping ramps

 

 

In Puerto Rico, the highways have them as well, their covered in gravel to help slow and then stop the runaway vehicle. Oddly enough, even though these highways are part of the US Interstate (Intrastate?) system, I haven't seen these ramps in the northeast.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to highjack the thread.

 

 

[angus]

Unbelievable how people with their oversize SUVs drive on ice. Went out Friday night locally for a quick dinner with friends just to break the housebound feeling and left the restaurant at around 10pm. It was around 3 degrees or so and the roads were fairly slippery. Of course i questioned my own sanity for even attempting to go out but I took it slow even though my Audi has quattro all wheel drive. I just remembered what my father and my driver's ed. instructor taught me when learning to drive - that was no amount of four wheel/all wheel drive will help on ice. Being careful and going slow will.

I was just amazed at the number of SUVs that were passing me on I-95 going full speed and more. I was only on the highway for three exits and stayed to the right doing my 40 mph and even with all wheel drive could feel that it wasn't stable. Lucky there were no major traffic incidents as a result. Maybe I am just getting older and more apprehensive...

 

[NYCWriter]

David and Anthony ...

... you said it!

David, I'm amazed more accidents don't happen from people simply *losing* their brakes by the time they get to the bottom of a hill. I can tell from the brake lights, too, that they're riding those suckers the whole way down.

Anthony, I've found that as I get older, even when it's just raining, I'm more comfortable these days avoiding the interstates altogether and just taking local roads. During inclement weather they're just as fast, and I get to avoid the idiots who not only want to mindlessly go 60 mph during a storm, but also those who want to go 80+ mph!

 

[jeb]

snow

When I was a child in the 60's we lived in rural Ohio. The best we could hope for was a snow plow going down our road once after a snow storm ( of course this made the hills great for sledding by packing down the snow). All the parents work in town and I don't remember any of them missing work, and this was before 4 wheel or even front wheel drive was popular. They all just took it in stride. If they were really lucky the cider truck would lay down a 100 foot patch of ciders every 500 foot (really screwed up sled riding). Schools were seldom close and we had much more snow back then, I have pictures to prove it. -5 degrees felt the same then we just wore insulated underwear and boots to school now most students around here wear shorts all year round and may change from flip-flops to tennis shoes if it is cold enough, then complain it's too cold to go to school. I listen to the radio and that same school has the record for most closings every winter. We seemed to be getting softer as time goes by. Jeb

 

[mixguy]

Artic Air

The Artic air that brought you all that snow is just starting to reach Louisiana this evening. Expecting a 50 degree drop by 5 am, all that cold has no moisture left to bring us any snow. Christmas holiday end for school kids tomorrow, should be an interesting day for them. The blasts of winds are at least drying up the streets before the cold glazes anything.

 

[rapunzel]

"We seemed to be getting softer as time goes by"

And more idiotic.

 

[jamiel]

Just finished second shoveling of the day. We did about 4" at 1 pm, then about 5-6" just now; Already told not to come in tomorrow and work from home; I actually do prefer to go in. Have about a 10 mile drive into Detroit; but have covered sheltered parking so it's not much of a hardship.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I came home after the Southborough wash-in to a broken hot water pipe. It's behind an outside wall in the basement bathroom. The firm that finished off the basement (before I came onto the scene) sheetrocked and drywalled everything so there's no access to any pipes whatsoever. Weirdly, the water is definitely draining outside as there's no water in the basement. The area the water's draining into is underneath the back porch. The porch is made of cinder blocks so there's no access to the area under it. Fortunately, it's not my house; it belongs to the estate of my roommate who passed away in June. The estate lawyer has been notified and the ball is in her court. In the meantime, there's no hot water. I am not amused.

This is just the latest in a series of problems with this house. It was flipped and my former roommate and his partner (also deceased) got royally ripped off as far as I'm concerned. The phrase 'money pit' comes to mind.