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Old 12-05-2009, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,982,899 times
Reputation: 19090

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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
So would the general consensus be for me to NOT try to drive my friends and I down to Alexandria at around 3 PM? How are the roads looking? My parking lot is covered. I will have to take a stroll out in an hour or two and see how the roads look.

I'd stay in--even if the drive isn't bad the event may be postponed. Instead, go for a hike in the snow. Look for animal tracks. Throw a few snowballs. Etc.
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Old 12-05-2009, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,623 posts, read 77,718,441 times
Reputation: 19103
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alanboy395 View Post
It's starting to stick here on the roads here and traffic is slowing down on 395. So I'd say park the Mazda for tonight.
Thanks for that. Looks like it's sticking to the roads here too. I'd be afraid of coming home after the sun goes down (when we lose that little bit of "radiational heating") and all of the water on the roads turns to ice.
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Old 12-05-2009, 10:59 AM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,690,028 times
Reputation: 3814
I have to laugh at the time-worn myth about "northern drivers"...at least the ones from New England!

I've spent a LOT of time in New England (college, visiting relatives, etc) and I think the worst drivers ANYWHERE hail from NY-CT-MA! They're HORRIBLE in good weather....so how is that they suddenly become superb drivers when it snows?

Answer: THEY DON'T...they stink in the snow too!!!
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Old 12-05-2009, 11:23 AM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,982,899 times
Reputation: 19090
If you're new to snow....

If you have bushes with long slender branches (roses bushes, for example), look to see if the branches are starting to bend from the weight of the snow. If they're bending a lot, you might want to shake the snow off the branches once the snow stops. If ice develops overnight on top of several inches of snow, it could break a branch that's already bending.
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Old 12-05-2009, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,623 posts, read 77,718,441 times
Reputation: 19103
I just hoofed it out for an adventure in this Winter Wonderland. About three inches of snow by my estimation and still coming down heavily. North Shore Drive and Temporary Road are slushy, but people seem to be navigating them just fine. Reston Parkway is mainly just wet with some slush. An ambulance and fire truck both just flew past me when I was walking near Parc Reston, so perhaps there has just been an accident though nearby. I can't believe how HEAVY the traffic is right now. I walked over to Best Buy and there are a considerable number of people milling about. Lots of people out and about here in Charter Oak enjoying the white stuff. My friends and I are all deciding via text to "play it safe." We might still walk over to the town center (a.k.a. "Downtown Reston") soon though to watch the skaters.
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Old 12-05-2009, 11:39 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,781 posts, read 15,817,228 times
Reputation: 10894
I drove this morning - couldn't help it as I had to pick up my daughter from a sleepover in Fairfax. The main roads were good but the snow definitely crunched a bit like there was icy rain mixed in. I'd hesitate to go somewhere if I really didn't need to. I'd go to a wedding but not just to go out for the sake of going out.

I was in a terrible accident many years ago on the Beltway after I warned all of my friends not to go out the night before. I thought it was better the next day and my friend and I skidded on the ice into a stopped truck on the Beltway (I was the passenger). I saw my life flash before my eyes - literally - and didn't think I'd see the light of day after the impact. I was so surprised when I was still alive after the crash. Thank G-d for seatbelts that's all I can say. So, don't go out - it's not worth it. There will be accidents left and right as the day turns to night and it freezes up on the road.
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Old 12-05-2009, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,295,823 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
("radiational heating")
Sounds like a Bushism: "radiational strategery".
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Old 12-05-2009, 12:36 PM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,393,725 times
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I'm in Alexandria and I've been driving around a little for the past few hours. The roads are completely fine here- it's no worse than a mild rainstorm really.

As long as the temperature stays above freezing, I don't think we have much to worry about. When it goes below, as it's predicted to, then we'll see how prepared our respective counties and cities were for this.
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Old 12-05-2009, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,457,811 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
I have to laugh at the time-worn myth about "northern drivers"...at least the ones from New England!

I've spent a LOT of time in New England (college, visiting relatives, etc) and I think the worst drivers ANYWHERE hail from NY-CT-MA! They're HORRIBLE in good weather....so how is that they suddenly become superb drivers when it snows?

Answer: THEY DON'T...they stink in the snow too!!!
Full disclosure: I'm from Boston (although we moved to this area prior to my learning to drive), and went to college in upstate New York (where I did a lot of driving in snow).

I haven't driven in every state, nor in every part of every state that I've driven in ... but hands down, the worst drivers are in Boston.

A few things I've observed:

1. People in northern states are generally better driving in snow than their counterparts in more temperate climates simply due to having more practice in the stuff.

2. The first snow of the season - north, south, east, west, it doesn't matter - is dicey. I don't know if people forget from one season to the next, but the first snow anywhere generally generates a rash of fender-benders no matter what the state.

3. The people in the DC metro area, being from all over the country, do fairly well in snow ... I just wish it was only snow, and not the much-dreaded "wintry mix" that this area often sees in lieu of snow.

We had a big storm in the late '80s - '86 or '87 - it was my turn to drive the carpool, and we fought our way from Dale City to Capitol Hill, arriving two hours later than usual. Within two hours, the government shut down, and we fought our way back home. The return trip took six hours, and the elevated part of 395 near the Pentagon was especially treacherous.

After that commute, despite making it home without getting stuck (or struck!), I vowed to stay home on days when it was snowing. Life's too short to risk playing bumper cars on 95.
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Old 12-05-2009, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Fairfax County
1,534 posts, read 3,729,272 times
Reputation: 509
Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
I have to laugh at the time-worn myth about "northern drivers"...at least the ones from New England!

I've spent a LOT of time in New England (college, visiting relatives, etc) and I think the worst drivers ANYWHERE hail from NY-CT-MA! They're HORRIBLE in good weather....so how is that they suddenly become superb drivers when it snows?

Answer: THEY DON'T...they stink in the snow too!!!
This native New Englander did a much better job driving on I-395 today than the idiot who wiped out into a snow plow.
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