CherokeeGA Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I worked at the corporate HQ of a publicly traded corporation -- massively successful in recent years -- in Nashville. Our VP told my department before a forecasted snowstorm in 2010 that if he could make it to the office, he expected to see everyone else there, on time. The threat was clear. Of course, he lived a mile away from the office (located in a very wealthy suburb) while most of us had a 45 to 90 minute one way commute on a good day. All of us could have worked remotely with no real loss of productivity. So let's not be naive about the pressures employers create, and the false notions of who is an "essential" employee. This is why there is a civil emergency inside the perimeter for tomorrow. They know that unless they forbid them via the civil declaration, employers will demand all these employees drive in from the 'burbs with untreated ice sheets and cars still abandoned on the road. For those of you who don't know ATL very well - while there are neighborhoods inside the "perimeter" - the i285 beltway surrounding the city - many workers live outside it (for housing cost reasons) and commute in. Quite similar to Manhattan, where most of the workers live outside the island. The difference is, we don't have trains and ferries like they do - we are all in cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXinCanton Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I think it's safe to say you are a moron. I guess the southerners who tried to move but were literally spinning in place is because they don't know how to drive. Or maybe they were faking it? They were faking it too when they press on the brakes and their car doesn't stop. Or were they faking it when they tried to go up a hill but couldn't or even sliding backwards? Yeah they were just "freaking out". Us dumb southerners should learn how to drive on solid sheets of ice like you northern people...with your army of salt trucks of course. Right? It's funny they interviewed people from up north stuck in it and they couldn't believe how bad the roads were...they couldn't drive in it..HMMMMMMMM I wonder why. Maybe we should just change the laws of physics and properties of ice like you incredibly smart northern people so we won't freak out and complain excessively, right? Oh and the next time you northern folks start dropping like flies when it hits 90 degrees for more than a few days or god help you if you hit 100, I'll be sure to note the over reaction. Those who have heat exhaustion and stroke are just complaining excessively and should get over it. I'm in full agreement with this post! And I did LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Any comments making fun of southerners for this catastrophe is ridiculous. The biggest difference between this storm and ones in the past was the air temperature when the snow fell. Very rarely do you have a snow in the Atlanta area during the middle of the day with temps in the teens and low 20s. The dry powder stuck to the roads immediately, then you have thousands of cars driving over this snow melting the surface with their engine heat while compacting it harder and harder and refreezing, meanwhile temps have dropped well into the teens. I wasn't there, but I have seen it once when I lived there back in 2010, those roads had a half to one inch of solid glaze on them. No person from anywhere without four wheel drive or some type of ATV could navigate Atlanta's roads last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburns Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Homeboy really touched a nerve. I feel pretty confident that most of us northerners aren't thinking about the situation in this way. Snow is one thing, but ice is another. If enough of it accumulates it will cripple a location no matter where you are. I've seen it first hand in CT. The combination of conditions and incompetence by decision makers made it the disaster it was. I sincerely hope you guys can get everything back to normal soon. Lots of comments on CNN like this one. tsquared99 • 2 hours ago As an experienced NY driver just having navigated my way to the Atlanta airport I have to give the locals a break. These were the iciest roads I've ever been on. Cars fully stopped would slide sideways off the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherokeeGA Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Lots of comments on CNN like this one. tsquared99 • 2 hours ago As an experienced NY driver just having navigated my way to the Atlanta airport I have to give the locals a break. These were the iciest roads I've ever been on. Cars fully stopped would slide sideways off the road. True and accurate! Spouse has an F150 and he said he would see cars (and his own truck) slide, while sitting perfectly still, if there was even a few degrees' tilt to the roadbed. He has a newfound appreciation for some of the tech in his truck, for sure (he hasn't had it that long), although he wishes now it was 4WD instead of rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshM Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Ice is the great equalizer... my sympathies to all you guys, we all might have to go thru icy mayhem before the end of this winter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a5ehren Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Honestly, I'd probably be able to get out of my house right now, but the part of the street directly in front of my driveway is the only part that still has ice . That and the neighbors have parked 3 cars on the street in pretty much the worst possible positions for trying to maneuver out. Not confident about the morning though, looking at all the moisture still on the melted parts of the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonGA Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 NWS has me getting down to 13 tonight but I don't see how it doesn't get lower. There is very little wind and clear skies. Snow cover should only enhance. We topped out at 29 after a low of 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SN_Lover Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 ...WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsutherland1 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 IMO, comparisons to the NYC area are not fair for several reasons: 1. NYC and its suburbs have a vastly larger snow removal/road treatment capability than Atlanta. 2. Part of what happened in Atlanta is that that the snow compressed into ice. When I was a graduate student, I had taken a trip to Chibougamau in central Quebec during the winter. Virtually all of the precipitation that falls there in the winter is powdery snow on account of the cold. Outside the small town, numerous roads were covered by packed snow that had compressed into ice. Travel in those areas was very hazardous. 3. Ice trumps winter weather driving experience. For instance, again going back to when I was a graduate student, I frequently made the drive from Montreal to Quebec City during the winter and spring. Late winter/early spring saw numerous ice storms. For all the winter weather driving experience the locals had, Route 20 always had large numbers of accidents during ice storms, even as Route 20 is fairly flat throughout the drive. One could only imagine if one tripled or quadrupled the number of drivers to make the highway comparable to some of the major thoroughfares around Atlanta. In short, I sincerely disagree with notions that this issue was largely or mainly a function of limited winter weather driving experience. Perhaps that made a small contribution. The bigger issues concerned snow that had been compressed into ice, questionable forecasts (not by NWS) e.g., the 0.1" one cited much earlier in this thread, and what appears to have been either a lack of a comprehensive snow management plan and/or a highly ineffective one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherokeeGA Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah a bunch of stores let people come inside to sleep. The photo you show was a CVS pharmacy store. Home Depot also had a lot of locations open for people to stay, and I know of some grocery stores that let people stay as well. Along with all the fire stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavarreDon Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Homeboy really touched a nerve. I feel pretty confident that most of us northerners aren't thinking about the situation in this way. Snow is one thing, but ice is another. If enough of it accumulates it will cripple a location no matter where you are. I've seen it first hand in CT. The combination of conditions and incompetence by decision makers made it the disaster it was. I sincerely hope you guys can get everything back to normal soon. To be honest I am not your typical Southerner. My family hails from the Bronx on my fathers side & New England on my mothers. I was raised in South Florida (which the vast majority of might as well be considered part of the Northeast). What touches my nerve is thread trolling idiots looking to get a rise!.....esp when our forum is in storm mode. Homeboy fits that bill rather nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Miser Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Us dumb southerners should learn how to drive on solid sheets of ice like you northern people...with your army of salt trucks of course. Right? It's funny they interviewed people from up north stuck in it and they couldn't believe how bad the roads were...they couldn't drive in it..HMMMMMMMM I wonder why. Oh and the next time you northern folks start dropping like flies when it hits 90 degrees for more than a few days or god help you if you hit 100, I'll be sure to note the over reaction. Those who have heat exhaustion and stroke are just complaining excessively and should get over it. lol so true. Ice sucks no matter what part of the world you are from. The photos I've seen from Atlanta have all shown icy roads with very little snow. You can do some research and find plenty of stories from the northeast where there have been multi-vehicle crashes due to ice. This link is to a 70 vehicle pile-up in Worcester, Ma. due to ice covered highway (freezing rain) from last December: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/01/massive-70-car-pileup-on-icy-massachusetts-highway-injures-dozens/ For people to think such is exclusive to the southern part of the country just have zero clue. I would like to believe that if the roads down there were just covered with 1-4" of snow, without the ice, we would not be seeing the headlines we are seeing today regarding accidents, schools housing kids and teachers overnight, etc. Regarding your comment on complaining about the 90F heat, if there's high dews included in that conversation then yes, I would be crying for daze and daze. Heat and humidity is not my friend. Living in Northern VA / DC for 3.5 years was enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossthread Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 One thing that perplexed me is the seeming lack of coverage of this historic event (at least in terms of ice and snow in the FL panhandle and SC coast) by the major news networks in the days leading up to the actual event. I work from home and when the Nor'easter from earlier this month was approaching, CNN and FOX both were warning everyone with weather reports seemingly every hour and then had reporters staked on every corner from D.C. To Boston to report on the first wind gust to the last snow flake. This event......I waited. As someone who has been reading these forums for years I had a pretty good idea something was going to hit, yet I did not see the major news networks (who are now rightly vilifying local responses) reporting any doom and gloom, providing warnings of severe ice storms, etc until the day of the event. Why? Because the *NEWS CYCLE* was reporting more important things, Like Justin Bieber, American Idol, DWTS, and the STOU address, Up-coming Super-Bowel, and the Clownshow happening in Washington, Just My 2 cents.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckinbronco Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 We have plenty of hills where I live north of NYC, and a dusting doesn't shut down the town. My area of Westchester County goes from near sea level to almost 500' elevation in about a mile, and yet I have worked countless delivery shifts, driving around town on residential streets, after 1-3" of snow fell. You can get up and down roads with minimal treatment if you are careful and think about what you are doing. I think southerners are complaining excessively about a small snowfall that should have had minimal consequences. Should roads have been treated and plows deployed? Sure. Do we need to act like this is the Day after Tomorrow for 2" of snow? Absolutely not. Asking everyone to stay off the roads because it snowed 1-2" is just totally silly. Even in a hilly area. Dude coming in here with that garbage comparison is like upsetting a hornets nest. Anybody who was stuck in their cars, Home Depot, churches, shelters etc for hours (myself included) will not agree with your post, doesn't matter if they are from Miami or Buffalo. You would have probably been the first one in the ditch yesterday due to your arrogant confidence in driving in winter weather compared to us dumb Southerns. Just ignorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SN_Lover Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah a bunch of stores let people come inside to sleep. The photo you show was a CVS pharmacy store. Home Depot also had a lot of locations open for people to stay, and I know of some grocery stores that let people stay as well. Along with all the fire stations. Not to brag but i am so thankful i live in Charlotte! The city really did do a good job preparing and has maintained their infrastructure and expanded and added roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEGa Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I think it's safe to say you are a moron. I guess the southerners who tried to move but were literally spinning in place is because they don't know how to drive. Or maybe they were faking it? They were faking it too when they press on the brakes and their car doesn't stop. Or were they faking it when they tried to go up a hill but couldn't or even sliding backwards? Yeah they were just "freaking out". Us dumb southerners should learn how to drive on solid sheets of ice like you northern people...with your army of salt trucks of course. Right? It's funny they interviewed people from up north stuck in it and they couldn't believe how bad the roads were...they couldn't drive in it..HMMMMMMMM I wonder why. Maybe we should just change the laws of physics and properties of ice like you incredibly smart northern people so we won't freak out and complain excessively, right? Oh and the next time you northern folks start dropping like flies when it hits 90 degrees for more than a few days or god help you if you hit 100, I'll be sure to note the over reaction. Those who have heat exhaustion and stroke are just complaining excessively and should get over it. of course we were all faking it. i mean who wouldnt just love to be able to leave work early for a snow day. Get in their car, then get stuck on a highway while theres a raging snowstorm in the 20s, not move for 8 or 9 hours then end sleeping in the most comfortable position possible? his bladder must not be that big, i mean we have all learned how to hold that gotta go feeling for as long as 18-24 hours heck we should all be so lucky. while i am sure it wasnt this perfect driver i saw my share of New Yorkers sliding into moving and even parked cars (imagine that) with a little ice on the road. they were faking to haha ?......hmmm you must be related to the honorable Governor Deal! LMAO Homeboy really touched a nerve. I feel pretty confident that most of us northerners aren't thinking about the situation in this way. Snow is one thing, but ice is another. If enough of it accumulates it will cripple a location no matter where you are. I've seen it first hand in CT. The combination of conditions and incompetence by decision makers made it the disaster it was. I sincerely hope you guys can get everything back to normal soon. well if you are from CT i guess you might be, but Washington DC isnt a northern town lol i lived there for about 12 years (and fortunately enough during the blizzard of 96 yay) and yall are not really "northerners" if you have seen a winter storm in dc then you know what i am talking about haha. the half from the colder climates laugh at those of us from the southern ones. of course dc has that great "leave day" ability where you can use a sick day or vacation day with no adverse affects if you dont feel comfortable getting out in your car (i just used metro on those days) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsaur Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 IMO, comparisons to the NYC area are not fair for several reasons: 1. NYC and its suburbs have a vastly larger snow removal/road treatment capability than Atlanta. 2. Part of what happened in Atlanta is that that the snow compressed into ice. When I was a graduate student, I had taken a trip to Chibougamau in central Quebec during the winter. Virtually all of the precipitation that falls there in the winter is powdery snow on account of the cold. Outside the small town, numerous roads were covered by packed snow that had compressed into ice. Travel in those areas was very hazardous. 3. Ice trumps winter weather driving experience. For instance, again going back to when I was a graduate student, I frequently made the drive from Montreal to Quebec City during the winter and spring. Late winter/early spring saw numerous ice storms. For all the winter weather driving experience the locals had, Route 20 always had large numbers of accidents during ice storms, even as Route 20 is fairly flat throughout the drive. One could only imagine if one tripled or quadrupled the number of drivers to make the highway comparable to some of the major thoroughfares around Atlanta. In short, I sincerely disagree with notions that this issue was largely or mainly a function of limited winter weather driving experience. Perhaps that made a small contribution. The bigger issues concerned snow that had been compressed into ice, questionable forecasts (not by NWS) e.g., the 0.1" one cited much earlier in this thread, and what appears to have been either a lack of a comprehensive snow management plan and/or a highly ineffective one. Yep, the lack of experience was the understanding that you can't make that hill, lol. These folks will forever know now that neither they, nor their comrade road warriors, nor their experienced semi drivers, can make that hill. But the next batch won't when it comes up again. I think had the city simply put piles of salt and sand, along all bridges, and hills, folks could have fended for themselves. Folks are very resourceful given access to tools. But no one was ready, except for most of us board members who stayed home.... with the possible exception of Mayretta, and Cheston, lol. Glad you guys made it out alive!!! And now a brief reminder...a big ice storm is coming..don't know when, but Atl folks prepare now!! T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC_hailstorm Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Sounds like one heck of a mess to me. Carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookout Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Homeboy really touched a nerve. I feel pretty confident that most of us northerners aren't thinking about the situation in this way. Snow is one thing, but ice is another. If enough of it accumulates it will cripple a location no matter where you are. I've seen it first hand in CT. The combination of conditions and incompetence by decision makers made it the disaster it was. I sincerely hope you guys can get everything back to normal soon. I can see why people up north don't understand why it gets as bad as it does to some degree when there isn't a big snowstorm. But the reality of the situation is, roads down here there is no where near the resources available to keep roads ok like there is up north. It has nothing to do with being used to driving in winter, or freaking out over an inch of snow, etc. People do not spend 15 to 20 hours in their cars for nothing. People don't abandon their vehicles and walk 10 or 15 miles just because they are "over reacting". And it makes sense that people would be pissed about having to do so because the city didn't do anything to treat the roads. So it really is annoying to hear people like him make such stupid comments when if he was stuck in it down here, he too would be doing the same thing because he and others up north are not so damn special that their vehicle can just levitate over the ice. I know many don't think like that but many people on the other hand do. You quite often will get a giggle or laugh from someone up north when talking about how the south deals with snow. But there is good reason why. Now, if one is to talk about the media going nuts over a dusting or an inch without much chance of the roads being that bad..now that's different because that really is stupid lol IMO, comparisons to the NYC area are not fair for several reasons: 1. NYC and its suburbs have a vastly larger snow removal/road treatment capability than Atlanta. 2. Part of what happened in Atlanta is that that the snow compressed into ice. When I was a graduate student, I had taken a trip to Chibougamau in central Quebec during the winter. Virtually all of the precipitation that falls there in the winter is powdery snow on account of the cold. Outside the small town, numerous roads were covered by packed snow that had compressed into ice. Travel in those areas was very hazardous. 3. Ice trumps winter weather driving experience. For instance, again going back to when I was a graduate student, I frequently made the drive from Montreal to Quebec City during the winter and spring. Late winter/early spring saw numerous ice storms. For all the winter weather driving experience the locals had, Route 20 always had large numbers of accidents during ice storms, even as Route 20 is fairly flat throughout the drive. One could only imagine if one tripled or quadrupled the number of drivers to make the highway comparable to some of the major thoroughfares around Atlanta. In short, I sincerely disagree with notions that this issue was largely or mainly a function of limited winter weather driving experience. Perhaps that made a small contribution. The bigger issues concerned snow that had been compressed into ice, questionable forecasts (not by NWS) e.g., the 0.1" one cited much earlier in this thread, and what appears to have been either a lack of a comprehensive snow management plan and/or a highly ineffective one. Your posts on this have been truly stellar Don. Thank you for the time to put your wisdom to keyboard. True pleasure to read. Yeah a bunch of stores let people come inside to sleep. The photo you show was a CVS pharmacy store. Home Depot also had a lot of locations open for people to stay, and I know of some grocery stores that let people stay as well. Along with all the fire stations. Who would have ever imagined seeing people sleeping in home debot's, grocery stores, other stores along those lines, being stuck in their car for more than 15 to 20 hours before giving up and abandoning their vehicles and walking 5, 10, 15 plus miles? Kids having to spend the night at school, others being stuck on buses all night or not getting home until midnight. The craziness goes on and on. I have never heard of any of this ever happening before anywhere in the country. I know of course there have been gridlocks, big problems with ice, etc but has anyone ever heard of things like this ever happening before anywhere? lol so true. Ice sucks no matter what part of the world you are from. The photos I've seen from Atlanta have all shown icy roads with very little snow. You can do some research and find plenty of stories from the northeast where there have been multi-vehicle crashes due to ice. This link is to a 70 vehicle pile-up in Worcester, Ma. due to ice covered highway (freezing rain) from last December: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/01/massive-70-car-pileup-on-icy-massachusetts-highway-injures-dozens/ For people to think such is exclusive to the southern part of the country just have zero clue. I would like to believe that if the roads down there were just covered with 1-4" of snow, without the ice, we would not be seeing the headlines we are seeing today regarding accidents, schools housing kids and teachers overnight, etc. Regarding your comment on complaining about the 90F heat, if there's high dews included in that conversation then yes, I would be crying for daze and daze. Heat and humidity is not my friend. Living in Northern VA / DC for 3.5 years was enough for me. Yeah I know and honestly I wouldn't blame you..hell I hate it too lol. But I just said that because of his comments. And just like him, we are often mocked or laughed at by those up north over us going nuts over an inch of snow or that one or two inches of snow shutting down an entire city. The same type of thing goes on with people up north with heat that we find very common but we don't mock people up north to the degree we are mocked over the snow. Fact is, it's common sense that people who are not accustomed to certain weather are effected more when something happens they are not used to. But in this case, it had nothing to do with that because whether you are used to snow and ice or not, you aren't going to be able to drive on roads that have turned into sheets of ice. At any rate, there was some melting today, of course, with the sun being out but I have to believe there is some truly slick spots out there now that the sun has gone down. The amount of black ice has to be widespread for sure. I hope people don't under estimate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TayfromCarolina Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Any comments making fun of southerners for this catastrophe is ridiculous. The biggest difference between this storm and ones in the past was the air temperature when the snow fell. Very rarely do you have a snow in the Atlanta area during the middle of the day with temps in the teens and low 20s. The dry powder stuck to the roads immediately, then you have thousands of cars driving over this snow melting the surface with their engine heat while compacting it harder and harder and refreezing, meanwhile temps have dropped well into the teens. I wasn't there, but I have seen it once when I lived there back in 2010, those roads had a half to one inch of solid glaze on them. No person from anywhere without four wheel drive or some type of ATV could navigate Atlanta's roads last night. ^^^ This is the best statement I've read yet. As someone who spend 9 hours navigating a 10 mile commute from downtown Raleigh to North Raleigh during a similarly unexpected light and very cold snowfall in 2005 to strike the stretch between Raleigh and Norfolk. It was all very very bad timing. And the fact that Atlanta is so big and has so much traffic to begin with made the situation worse. Everyone should take should take this as a learning lesson for the future. I saw a many a standed car then in person just as I've seen on tv and media the last day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TayfromCarolina Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I can see why people up north don't understand why it gets as bad as it does to some degree when there isn't a big snowstorm. But the reality of the situation is, roads down here there is no where near the resources available to keep roads ok like there is up north. It has nothing to do with being used to driving in winter, or freaking out over an inch of snow, etc. People do not spend 15 to 20 hours in their cars for nothing. People don't abandon their vehicles and walk 10 or 15 miles just because they are "over reacting". And it makes sense that people would be pissed about having to do so because the city didn't do anything to treat the roads. So it really is annoying to hear people like him make such stupid comments when if he was stuck in it down here, he too would be doing the same thing because he and others up north are not so damn special that their vehicle can just levitate over the ice. I know many don't think like that but many people on the other hand do. You quite often will get a giggle or laugh from someone up north when talking about how the south deals with snow. But there is good reason why. Now, if one is to talk about the media going nuts over a dusting or an inch without much chance of the roads being that bad..now that's different because that really is stupid lol Your posts on this have been truly stellar Don. Thank you for the time to put your wisdom to keyboard. True pleasure to read. Who would have ever imagined seeing people sleeping in home debot's, grocery stores, other stores along those lines, being stuck in their car for more than 15 to 20 hours before giving up and abandoning their vehicles and walking 5, 10, 15 plus miles? Kids having to spend the night at school, others being stuck on buses all night or not getting home until midnight. The craziness goes on and on. I have never heard of any of this ever happening before anywhere in the country. I know of course there have been gridlocks, big problems with ice, etc but has anyone ever heard of things like this ever happening before anywhere? Yeah I know and honestly I wouldn't blame you..hell I hate it too lol. But I just said that because of his comments. And just like him, we are often mocked or laughed at by those up north over us going nuts over an inch of snow or that one or two inches of snow shutting down an entire city. The same type of thing goes on with people up north with heat that we find very common but we don't mock people up north to the degree we are mocked over the snow. Fact is, it's common sense that people who are not accustomed to certain weather are effected more when something happens they are not used to. But in this case, it had nothing to do with that because whether you are used to snow and ice or not, you aren't going to be able to drive on roads that have turned into sheets of ice. At any rate, there was some melting today, of course, with the sun being out but I have to believe there is some truly slick spots out there now that the sun has gone down. The amount of black ice has to be widespread for sure. I hope people don't under estimate it. I have: http://raleighskyline.com/content/2006/11/21/the-half-inch-of-snow-that-paralyzed-raleigh/ Kids slept in Schools and the whole gammut... I learned to always have a full gas tank if there is any chance of snow. And at least a couple snacks in the car and some water in the trunk. It was a horrendous night then just as yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookout Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I have: http://raleighskyline.com/content/2006/11/21/the-half-inch-of-snow-that-paralyzed-raleigh/ Yeah I'm aware of that one and some others. But What I was referring to was people sleeping in stores, walking 15 miles, being stuck for 20 hours, kids being stuck at school or on buses all night, etc. I know it was bad in raleigh, i just don't remember ever hearing the stories we have heard out of atlanta..and birmingham too for that matter. Just curious if rdu had similar horror stories. Then of course there is the huge blame game going around immediately between the mayor/governor, schools, and the nws. With the media just blasting the mayor and governor. Likewise, atlanta's mayor visibly being angry at the media and angrily attacking them for how they are reporting on the crappy job he has done. He was just on cnn doing it again. Did anything similar to this happen over in raleigh with the elected officials, media, nws, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Miser Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 At any rate, there was some melting today, of course, with the sun being out but I have to believe there is some truly slick spots out there now that the sun has gone down. The amount of black ice has to be widespread for sure. I hope people don't under estimate it. This. It will be interesting to see the reports later tonight and tomorrow regarding additional accidents, etc. Hopefully the news has been educating people on the dangers of refreeze/ black ice, etc. Looks like at least the roads will be clear by tomorrow, with some lingering patches of snow hanging around til Friday. Enjoy it if you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonGA Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I have never heard of any of this ever happening before anywhere in the country. I know of course there have been gridlocks, big problems with ice, etc but has anyone ever heard of things like this ever happening before ? I was still in the womb but snow jam 82 was just like this. People abandoned cars and slept wherever they could. My dad spent 12 hours in the car trying to get my aunt from dunwoody. We got a lot more snow back then but it iced the roads like this and it was also frigid leading up to the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookout Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I was still in the womb but snow jam 82 was just like this. People abandoned cars and slept wherever they could. My dad spent 12 hours in the car trying to get my aunt from dunwoody. We got a lot more snow back then but it iced the roads like this and it was also frigid leading up to the storm. Interesting. They've been recalling that all day today on the news and mentioning how bad it was then (although I don't think they mentioned abandoned cars and so forth) However, those around for that all said they think this was even worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NGTim Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I hate to see this turn into a North vs South thing. that is really a shame. aren't we bigger than that? I mean, most people in Atlanta are transplants anyway ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbsolutZero Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 The mission statement tells you where to draw the line, "for the protection of life and property". The history of previous similar events should tell you when you need to draw it. Look at Atlanta this morning. I doubt anyone cares if the snow totals missed warning criteria by .5"? Correct, no one would have cared, however they will care if we issue 20 false alarms over the next 3 years and then are faced with the *forecast* of the next Snow Jam 2017. The mission statement is our life, we live by it. Implementing it takes hard work, good science and training and rational judgments based on all available data. I have feedback from a survey of 30 EMs and decision makers on winter weather. Private conversations with them also. Many of them are just as critical on over-warning as under-warning. We lean towards the worst case, sure, but like the April 2011 tornadoes and Joplin tornado, how well do people heed warnings when false alarms are/were increasingly prevalent? Good discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltadog03 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I will chime in a bit.....I think in the case of ATL, it sounded like broadcast media downplayed a lot!! NWS, and some other media (I had them getting 1-2") did a pretty good job. I don't know if wsb, etc downplayed it that much like it would be no big deal. not sure, but sounds like it from what I have heard/saw on tv. In fairness, the models didn't really put much snow down up there until it was too late. I know yall know, but I am one that I like to make my own forecast for everything. I DO rely on multiple models to do that, BUT I don't just show the output on air and say this is what might happen cuz they show it. The other tv stations do that down here and its just WRONG. Here is this model., that model...etc....they even show a screenshot of the big 4 and say this is the range. IMO that BS!! Now, I DO think this is the case where people get so caught up on how much snow is going to fall kind of a thing and instead they don't worry about how cold it is. Its been a cold ass month and the ground is pretty solid/cold. Even an inch of snow on the ground is going to make a complete NIGHTMARE on the roads and it showed. The HUMAN error **IMO** that was made in BHM was that everyone got caught up in how much snow was going to/or didn't fall and didn't realize that it was in the 20's and ANY snow was going to stick and create problems. Some people blasted BMX (NWS) on here and I didn't think that was fair. There was so much virga coming out of the returns, that it was only too late to really have something in place. Are we human, YES, are we going to make mistakes...YES...BUT, I also agree with xtreme, the role of meteorologist is now the ambassador of the station. I get it that we are the "hook" but I think we need to be less pulled around and be able to only concentrate on weather. I studied this stuff night and day for 3-4 days. I hated the family time I lost with my wife and kids, but I had to do it for my career and they know that and thankfully are very understanding. My point to that is, I couldn't image having to go all the time to speaking events and stuff as Spann does. When the hell does he sleep? Hope that didn't rant too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNash Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Correct, no one would have cared, however they will care if we issue 20 false alarms over the next 3 years and then are faced with the *forecast* of the next Snow Jam 2017. The mission statement is our life, we live by it. Implementing it takes hard work, good science and training and rational judgments based on all available data. I have feedback from a survey of 30 EMs and decision makers on winter weather. Private conversations with them also. Many of them are just as critical on over-warning as under-warning. We lean towards the worst case, sure, but like the April 2011 tornadoes and Joplin tornado, how well do people heed warnings when false alarms are/were increasingly prevalent? Good discussion. Wow, really good point. The cost of a bunch of false alarms looks very low compared to the cost of a real warning that basically went unheeded. Any basic cost/benefit analysis could show this. Maybe the memory of this will make civilians and politicians realize that it is better to overreact than underreact. Or maybe they'll just pretend that absolute certainty is possible and look for scapegoats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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