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Weather Alerts

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northland10
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Re: Weather Alerts

#676

Post by northland10 »

MN-Skeptic wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 11:46 am
Foggy wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 10:44 am The only thing I liked about winter was driving. I was pretty darn good at driving in bad weather.
My husband was the best winter driver. He had a smart driver's ed instructor in high school. The instructor had the students practice winter driving and stopping in an empty snow covered parking lot - easy to find in northern Iowa in the wintertime. My husband loved using the hand brake in his '56 Chevy pickup on the freshly snow covered street as he neared the driveway. He would get the skid and steering wheel turn just perfect to align the pickup to then drive straight into the driveway. Of course, the newer front-drive cars with great snow tires weren't nearly as fun. A lot safer, but not as fun.
I spent 7 years in hilly northwest lower Michigan with a rear-wheel, manual transmission, pickup truck. I got rather good with winter driving (I did have snow tires and weighted down the back end). Probably helped I grew up in West Michigan so already had winter driving experience (ice with a huge rear-wheel-drive Chevy Impala stations wagon, however, is no good). When then acceleration got worse and choppy on the old thing, it was time to replace it, with a four-wheel-drive off-road package pickup. It was nice not having to go on side routes around the really big hill or get annoyed with people who slowed down before going up a hill.

People in the Chicago area suck at winter driving. It is a simple rule. Don't do anything sudden. This, of course, is anathema to Chicago drivers. For them, a large monster SUV has all these safety things so it must be safe to gun it and slam the breaks or fly around the corner. They don't recognize a little thing called Newton's First Law. Always seems like it is the monster mobiles stuck in the ditch.

And speaking of snow in the Weather thread.. guess what is forecasted for this weekend? Yeehaw.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#677

Post by MN-Skeptic »

northland10 wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:18 pm
I spent 7 years in hilly northwest lower Michigan with a rear-wheel, manual transmission, pickup truck. I got rather good with winter driving (I did have snow tires and weighted down the back end).
My husband's father and brother were International Harvester tractor mechanics, so my sweetie had a couple of IH tractor weights that he would put in the back of his '56 Chevy pickup during the winter to help with traction.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#678

Post by Foggy »

People in the Chicago area suck at winter driving.
In our nation's capital, the best part of a quarter of the population changes every four years, and a whole passel of 'em come from countries that don't have snow none, like Egypt and Alabama. Plus, it's a rule: somebody on the radio or the Tee Vee says "snow" and EVERYBODY has to go to the grocery store RIGHT NOW to stock up on bread and milk and stuff. I've lived in eleven states, and DC is the worstest for people who have no idea how to drive in snow and icy weather.

'Course, as bad as that is, in Orange County, California and environs, nobody knows how to drive in the RAIN. :shock:

If'n it ever snowed there, everybody would just fall over dead, plop. :eek:



:whisper: Yeah, I've seen snow on Saddleback Mountain more times than I could count. It's a joke.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#679

Post by zekeb »

Winter weather watch for tomorrow. Not a lot of snow predicted, but with 50 MPH winds. It will be a good day to sit at home.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#680

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

Putting heavy stuff in my Dad's Camaro trunk to drive in snow and ice, them's was the good old days! :biggrin:
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Re: Weather Alerts

#681

Post by johnpcapitalist »

My Seattle-dwelling family would argue that Seattleites are the worst winter drivers. They do get snow once or twice a year, but because the temperature is often right on the boundary between liquid and frozen, they often get rain that turns to ice, and coats the roads. When people try to drive down the steep hills on the narrow one-way streets in parts of downtown, they inevitably skid out and ricochet from side of the road to the other, bouncing off the parked cars on either side of the road. I've seen videos of one driver hitting 8-10 parked cars while traversing one block.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#682

Post by Foggy »

See, that's why I'm perfect Dunning-Kruger in believing I'm a good driver in ice and snow.

One time, I forget what car I was driving, I was going down a not-too-steep hill on black ice, and I did a complete 360º spin while I was going downhill, at about 2 mph the entire time, and I didn't hit anybody. At the bottom of the hill I hit the accelerator and drove off like I had practiced it several times.

I'll has you know I was rotating AND revolving, just like the Earth goes around the Sun. That's just science, y'all. :mrgreen:
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Re: Weather Alerts

#683

Post by AndyinPA »

I did a 360 once on ice. Not fun. I had a college professor who was from California. He was asked what an earthquake felt like (obviously rare around here). He said it was like doing a 360 on ice.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#684

Post by northland10 »

Did a 360 with a 77 Chevy Impala station wagon in front of the High School on the way home from a musical rehearsal. Iced roads and rear-wheel drive but luckily nobody was around so I just kept going. I was actually taking it really easy on the acceleration but apparently, not easy enough.

Ice diving sucks.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#685

Post by Estiveo »

I hydroplaned and spun out in heavy rain on the 101 in South San Jose a million years ago. Start of morning rush hour, hit nobody & nobody hit me. Ended up facing south in the north bound lanes, but traffic had stopped so folks waited while I got turned around.

I don't recommend it.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#686

Post by northland10 »

We had our first snow. Some good-sized flakes for a short period. Of course, nothing stuck.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#687

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Re: Weather Alerts

#688

Post by jcolvin2 »

johnpcapitalist wrote: Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:16 pm My Seattle-dwelling family would argue that Seattleites are the worst winter drivers. They do get snow once or twice a year, but because the temperature is often right on the boundary between liquid and frozen, they often get rain that turns to ice, and coats the roads. When people try to drive down the steep hills on the narrow one-way streets in parts of downtown, they inevitably skid out and ricochet from side of the road to the other, bouncing off the parked cars on either side of the road. I've seen videos of one driver hitting 8-10 parked cars while traversing one block.
The snow that Seattle gets is usually a product of warm wet moisture coming in off the Pacific (40-55 degrees year round) meeting a mass of sub-freezing dry air coming south from BC and places further north. Almost invariably, the dry cold air hangs around after the snowfall for days, sometimes pushing the temperatures into the low twenties or the teens at night. To the extent that the snow melts during the sunny days following the snowfall, it refreezes at night. Moreover, we have limited snow removal equipment. This results in a lot of our snowfall being driven on and turning to compact ice at night. Fun! We are lucky this only happens a couple of times a year.

When was younger, I was one of the few people in Seattle who would put chains on their car for city snow driving. Four years ago, I finally bought a car with AWD so that I would not have to deal with the problem again.

Seattle does get some freezing drizzle (black ice), but it does not cause the craziness you've seen in the snow videos.


The above is a compilation of traffic camera videos from early 2021. At 5:35 to 5:45 you can people attempting to navigate up the hill up to I-5 (going east up Cherry St.) that I use for my daily commute.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#689

Post by MN-Skeptic »

My Seattle sister, having grown up in the Upper Midwest, puts very good snow tires on her pickup at the beginning of winter so she can navigate the Seattle streets. That said, she’s also smart enough to keep off the roads when the inexperienced drivers are making it dangerous.

That reminds me of one particularly bad snow day here in Minnesota. My husband had driven me to work because of the predicted snow. When they closed my company in the early afternoon because of the roads, my sweetie picked me up and drove me home. He was all ready to drive back to his job until I told him that while I knew he was an excellent driver, he was going to be sharing the road with idiots who would plow into him. He stayed home.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#690

Post by jcolvin2 »

MN-Skeptic wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 12:42 pm My Seattle sister, having grown up in the Upper Midwest, puts very good snow tires on her pickup at the beginning of winter so she can navigate the Seattle streets. That said, she’s also smart enough to keep off the roads when the inexperienced drivers are making it dangerous.
Totally agree. I do my best to stay off the streets if there is even a threat of snow, mostly to avoid the idiots. (I grew up in South Texas, and my only prior experience in driving in snow is the occasional trip to a ski area.) But sometimes, if we are trapped in the house for days by lingering icy conditions, we start running out of food or other necessities and are compelled to make a foray out. (Amazon and other delivery services are making being housebound somewhat less irritating.)
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Re: Weather Alerts

#691

Post by Foggy »

Off Topic
Before this summer, my only visit to Seattle was in February, 1996. It snowed. :(

This summer I had a great time in Seattle, and got to meet jcolvin2! We spent a couple hours touring the zoo, and it was fun.

My only regret is, the best Thai food I ever had was within walking distance of the hotel, a little place called Thai Ginger in the Pacific Something Building downtown. I shoulda talked them into opening a branch in Rawly.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#692

Post by jcolvin2 »

Foggy wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 1:13 pm
Off Topic
Before this summer, my only visit to Seattle was in February, 1996. It snowed. :(

This summer I had a great time in Seattle, and got to meet jcolvin2! We spent a couple hours touring the zoo, and it was fun.

My only regret is, the best Thai food I ever had was within walking distance of the hotel, a little place called Thai Ginger in the Pacific Something Building downtown. I shoulda talked them into opening a branch in Rawly.
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Probably Wild Ginger. It has two other locations in the Seattle area, and provides food for the Triple Door, a small music performance venue/eatery located next to the downtown location. Because of Covid, I missed a performance last night (for which I six tickets) by a folk trio called Uncle Bonsai. It was their 40th Anniversary. First World Problems.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#693

Post by Foggy »

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jcolvin2 wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 1:37 pm Probably Wild Ginger.
Nope. It's Thai Ginger, and it's in a downtown shopping mall called Pacific Place, at the corner of Olive St. and 6th Ave. Top floor. Wonderful place.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#694

Post by jcolvin2 »

Foggy wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 1:59 pm
Off Topic
Nope. It's Thai Ginger, and it's in a downtown shopping mall called Pacific Place, at the corner of Olive St. and 6th Ave. Top floor. Wonderful place.
Off Topic
I'll have to try it. Pacific Place also has a Din Tai Fung (a Shanghai-style dumpling restaurant chain out of Taiwan), which is one of our go-to places for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, along with a bunch of EV chargers in the parking garage for our plug in hybrid.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#695

Post by MN-Skeptic »

jcolvin2 wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 12:56 pm But sometimes, if we are trapped in the house for days by lingering icy conditions, we start running out of food or other necessities and are compelled to make a foray out. (Amazon and other delivery services are making being housebound somewhat less irritating.)
Minnesota in general is real good about getting the highways cleared after it snows. Most of the Twin Cities suburbs are also great at clearing their streets. My suburb does a wonderful job, especially on the main streets, so it’s rare that I have to wait more than 24 hours to drive on decent roads. I’ve also got great winter tires and all wheel drive, so I’m set. It’s Minnesota. It snows. We deal with it.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#696

Post by jcolvin2 »

MN-Skeptic wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 2:26 pm Minnesota in general is real good about getting the highways cleared after it snows. Most of the Twin Cities suburbs are also great at clearing their streets. My suburb does a wonderful job, especially on the main streets, so it’s rare that I have to wait more than 24 hours to drive on decent roads. I’ve also got great winter tires and all wheel drive, so I’m set. It’s Minnesota. It snows. We deal with it.
People from the Midwest (especially the Old Northwest) are always baffled at how a few inches of snow can completely paralyze Seattle and Portland, sometimes for days.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#697

Post by northland10 »

When I lived in Northwest Lower Michigan we had great plowing. Our county was way above even the counties next door. I remember when the late 90s blizzard crippled Detroit, we lost one day of school. I think our county actually had 4 times the amount of snowplow than the entire city of Detroit and we only had around 14,000 people in the whole county.

Down here, my village is really good. The county is okay. IDOT must want to protect their plow blades as they don't let them get anywhere near the ground. My village has a contract to do the state roads in the village and even though they lose money on that deal, it is well worth it as we have businesses that don't want to lose folks because the state does not know how to plow a road.

They don't even have undercarriage blades, only the front ones. Also, nobody uses sand here (I realize in some places like Evanston, the shared sewer system can't handle it but outside of cities like that...).

I avoid driving in winter because of other drivers as well.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#698

Post by zekeb »

jcolvin2 wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 4:14 pm
MN-Skeptic wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 2:26 pm Minnesota in general is real good about getting the highways cleared after it snows. Most of the Twin Cities suburbs are also great at clearing their streets. My suburb does a wonderful job, especially on the main streets, so it’s rare that I have to wait more than 24 hours to drive on decent roads. I’ve also got great winter tires and all wheel drive, so I’m set. It’s Minnesota. It snows. We deal with it.
People from the Midwest (especially the Old Northwest) are always baffled at how a few inches of snow can completely paralyze Seattle and Portland, sometimes for days.
We had perhaps a half inch of snow yesterday. One school district had a two hour late start. I had to ask myself what that superintendent will do this winter when the roads are covered with a half inch of packed snow for several days. He must be from Floriduh. This is a rural school district, so city busses running on time is no issue. Four inches of snow was no big deal when I was a whippersnapper. We knew there was going to be school and we never bothered to turn the radio on and listen for school closings. People are a bunch of ....... now a-days.
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Re: Weather Alerts

#699

Post by Frater I*I »

You fine folks should see what happens when it snows in central GA and it sticks....good times :thumbsup:
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Re: Weather Alerts

#700

Post by Maybenaut »

The DC metro area gets an average of 17” in a normal year, so long as the jet stream stays relatively flat. Winter storms will march across the country and we’ll see a few inches of snow when they arrive here, a few times a year.

Every now and then the jet stream will dip to the south and pick up a lot of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. When that happens, our snow is measured in feet.
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