looksl ike we're going to get out first "big" snowstorm this sunday (Pittsburgh: chapel, eat)

[carfan11]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, Heaven forbid the track of the storm pass 50 miles south of where they forecast it to go 72 hours out. It just means Maryland and northern West Virginia will bear the brunt of the snow instead of southern Pennsylvania.

they shouldnt be scaring the public if they dont know the path

and even with their scaring penndot wasnt even ready

ultimate fail all around

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

PennDOT was caught completely unprepared for this. I just had a white-knuckled experience driving back to the East End from visiting family near Scranton, and Route 28 was so treacherous due to PennDOT's negligence that they CLOSED it and detoured everyone off of it due to accidents. I'm not sure why every little side street in the town they detoured us off into (Tarentum?) was nicely salted while Route 28, a MAJOR commuter belt, wasn't touched.

It could be that the accidents happened before the plows got there. That's how Atlanta ended up in gridlock a month ago; everybody started crashing before the plows got there. You can't plow a road if you can't move.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, Heaven forbid the track of the storm pass 50 miles south of where they forecast it to go 72 hours out. It just means Maryland and northern West Virginia will bear the brunt of the snow instead of southern Pennsylvania.

What s/he said, below:

Originally Posted by carfan11

they shouldnt be scaring the public if they dont know the path

and even with their scaring penndot wasnt even ready

ultimate fail all around

Absolutely! It must be something they learn in weather forecasting school. They do it out here, too.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by carfan11

they shouldnt be scaring the public if they dont know the path

and even with their scaring penndot wasnt even ready

ultimate fail all around

Better to err on the side of caution, don't you think? If they forecast 3" and you got 6" instead, you'd be blasting them for understating the threat.

By the way, the National Weather Service always tells people to stay up to date with forecasts, because they're capable of changing in the 72 hours leading up to the storm. And you need to start looking at the big picture before you judge a weather forecast, not just what happened in your back yard.

Here's a comparison of the forecast and actual ice totals in Georgia this past February 11-12:



The maps look pretty similar, don't you think? Of course, you'd be the person squealing about how they overstated the threat for metro Atlanta even though the forecast was balls-on accurate for the people to the east on I-20.

Ask the people in southern California if the weather forecasters were wrong in the last few days.

[greg42]

Of course now I'm eating French toast because of all the talk in here. We did buy bread and eggs this morning but I used old bread. Oh, and half and half was on the list too. No TP though, had plenty.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

PennDOT was caught completely unprepared for this. I just had a white-knuckled experience driving back to the East End from visiting family near Scranton, and Route 28 was so treacherous due to PennDOT's negligence that they CLOSED it and detoured everyone off of it due to accidents. I'm not sure why every little side street in the town they detoured us off into (Tarentum?) was nicely salted while Route 28, a MAJOR commuter belt, wasn't touched.

Lots of big assumptions in here. "Completely unprepared" "wasn't touched" "negligence".

The road could have been treated and still someone manages to crash in such a way that someone dies. For that they close the road. Or just a multiple vehicle problem that blocks all lanes.

Lots of stuff happens in the snow. It could have been any or all the things you say, but it also could be none of them.

[carfan11]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Better to err on the side of caution, don't you think? If they forecast 3" and you got 6" instead, you'd be blasting them for understating the threat.

By the way, the National Weather Service always tells people to stay up to date with forecasts, because they're capable of changing in the 72 hours leading up to the storm. And you need to start looking at the big picture before you judge a weather forecast, not just what happened in your back yard.

Here's a comparison of the forecast and actual ice totals in Georgia this past February 11-12:



The maps look pretty similar, don't you think? Of course, you'd be the person squealing about how they overstated the threat for metro Atlanta even though the forecast was balls-on accurate for the people to the east on I-20.

Ask the people in southern California if the weather forecasters were wrong in the last few days.

no need to assume what others would say

the georgia issue was more of a logistical thing (along with poor govt response as usual), when everyone was let out at same time and it caused gridlock

[Gee Whiz]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

PANIC!

"It's crazy. It's just crazy."

Shoppers rush to store to stock up ahead of winter storm | www.wpxi.com

We will have to stay home for forty days and forty nights, So I've heard.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by carfan11

no need to assume what others would say

the georgia issue was more of a logistical thing (along with poor govt response as usual), when everyone was let out at same time and it caused gridlock

I'm not talking about the response to the storm; I'm talking about the big-picture accuracy of the forecast, which they did a pretty good job with, as the maps illustrate.

By the way, here's part of my first post on this topic, with the salient point highlighted:

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The amount of snowfall largely depends on whether or not any sleet mixes in, and the duration of the sleet if it does, because sleet suppresses total snow accumulation. If precipitation changes to all sleet for a time, then that will subtract a few inches instantly, though it will still obviously be icy and treacherous. A snow/sleet mix can subtract an inch or two. If it stays all snow, then Pittsburgh will get the mother load out of this storm, unless it tracks slightly further south than forecast. A difference in as little as 50 miles in the track of the storm can mean the difference between 12" and 6" of snow.

And a 50-mile difference in the track of the storm can mean the difference between 8" and 4" too, for that matter.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by greg42

Lots of big assumptions in here. "Completely unprepared" "wasn't touched" "negligence".

The road could have been treated and still someone manages to crash in such a way that someone dies. For that they close the road. Or just a multiple vehicle problem that blocks all lanes.

Lots of stuff happens in the snow. It could have been any or all the things you say, but it also could be none of them.

Route 28 inbound wasn't in bad shape at all until I reached the Northpointe/Freeport area. That's when the tire tracks I had been following in the right-hand lane started to get covered, and the left lane truly wasn't even touched. Then traffic really started to get backed up. I saw a fender-bender off the road in the shoulder, followed by someone with a red pick-up truck putting up flares and closing Route 28. In the distance you couldn't even tell you were looking at a highway as the road wasn't plowed.