How Sprawlanta turned 2 inches of snow into a disaster (Colorado, highway, Atlanta)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Growing up in the snow belt, it was a ritual. Even in Richmond, my wife and I still have the blanket, food and water in the trunk out of habit. Never a bad idea.
You're right about the ritual. Even now, in metro Denver, where it's rarely *that* cold/snowy, I always make sure I have a hat and gloves with me in case I get stranded and have to walk somewhere in the cold. I also have a blanket in the back of my hatch. No food or water though.
Never done the food/water/blanket. Maybe I should? I always bring clothes that'd be appropriate for being outside in the weather, not really because I'm worried about being stranded but I might be outside for a bit and why be cold getting out?
Wool socks, boots, layers. No gloves, always mittens. I spilled a bit of coffee on a bag today. When I got back to my car it frozen solid. Whoops. Hmm. Might hike up a small mountain this weekend. Saturday looks chilly, but manageable. Might as well go up while there's decent snow cover:
You're right about the ritual. Even now, in metro Denver, where it's rarely *that* cold/snowy, I always make sure I have a hat and gloves with me in case I get stranded and have to walk somewhere in the cold. I also have a blanket in the back of my hatch. No food or water though.
My dad was always paranoid about getting trapped in the snow. Never mind that we lived in San Jose, California (where snow is a 300 year event lol) and coastal South Carolina (ok, well snow was a 75 year event...until the past couple years anyway). So I always keep a coat in the car, gloves and a scarf. The snacks and water are hit and miss. I really should put this back in. I have blanket to.
But it isn't really likely to get below 40 where I live. Maybe in the 30s a few nights a year.
My dad was always paranoid about getting trapped in the snow. Never mind that we lived in San Jose, California (where snow is a 300 year event lol) and coastal South Carolina (ok, well snow was a 75 year event...until the past couple years anyway). So I always keep a coat in the car, gloves and a scarf. The snacks and water are hit and miss. I really should put this back in. I have blanket to.
But it isn't really likely to get below 40 where I live. Maybe in the 30s a few nights a year.
Someone must have pounded it into his head to "be prepared".
Preparing for snow in the Bay Area is a bit absurd.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
Someone must have pounded it into his head to "be prepared".
LOL my dad was a boy scout. My friends do pick on me. I notoriously leave coats and scarves in the car, due to laziness. I always have multiples in there. At least everyone else will be warm if we ever got stranded. I also have a pair of flip flops. You know just in case my shoes really sucked that day. Packing tape.... a book....a few magazines ... you might need entertainment! Oh and I actually have a one of those Thomas guides of the Bay Area. (My car has GPS...and I have a smart phone.) But hey, you know those paper maps..........
A city with adequate mass transit at least has alternatives for people to get home or at least closer to home before they have to drive (park-and-ride situation) or get a ride from somebody. 2 inches of snow will NOT shut down a properly designed transit system, though it can obviously shut down a road system. Please stop this rhetoric that transit folks want to take you out of your cars, this sounds too much like saying the Government wants to round up all your guns...nonsense. Even with mass transit it will be most convenient for many/most people to drive on a typical day; however, in some situations like a snow storm you really do need another way to get around, even if it's just for part of the trip for that day. In many cities where snow storms are common people who normally commute by car will often take the train, or drive to the closest park and ride, instead of driving all the way.
The reason why people use transit is because snow reduces the amount of street parking so there may not be parking at the end of your trip(and digging out is impractical). Your car could also be trapped in the garage until either people dig out the alley or the alley gets plowed. The other day I got stuck three times getting out my alley and am forced to park on the street till the snow compacts a bit.
Also in burbs the patchwork of multiple government responsible for a length of road can mean that sections of the road may not be clear or as clear as possible due to disputes between towns and/or the county over who's job is it to handle that part of the road. However the burbs lean towards shutdown because no one can get anywhere till the streets are cleared.
In the city the side streets can become impossible to drive down if enough snow falls and will remain so until a snow plow comes. In addition older cars don't like to start in cold weather and door locks can freeze.
2 inches of snow and ice will shut down the road system which in turn shuts down the bus system. The reason why busses can continue is because there are enough snow plows and salt trucks to keep the main roads moving without that everything would come to an halt(i.e. Try to run a city bus on my unplowed side street at the moment and it would get ugly!). With rail the trains are equipped to handle snow or ice but ice can make rail useless and METRA can suffer delays due to cold.
2 inches of snow alone won't shut things down as a car can move through it at a very slow speed, but ice will. This is what it takes to keep a transit system going:
I just heard this a few minutes ago on NPR: last week's snowstorm in the northwest snarled traffic in Washington (presumably Seattle) and Oregon (presumably Portland). What do people expect when it snows?
I just heard this a few minutes ago on NPR: last week's snowstorm in the northwest snarled traffic in Washington (presumably Seattle) and Oregon (presumably Portland). What do people expect when it snows?
a bad commute=/= 2 day long paralysis.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.