How's our Southern U.S.A. members holding up in ice/snow/cold?

[Bucky]

I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, OH which was known as "the snowbelt" - which means, lake effect snow from Lake Erie would come inland and dump snow on us.  LOTS of snow on us!

Then, I moved to Central IL.  We get snow - but, not a lot (although, these last few years we've gotten more than we normally get).

I grew up in the Northern U.S. - and am used to snow and cold temperatures.

How are our Southern U.S. members handling the cold/ice/snow that you received yesterday and today?  Y'all (said in my best southern accent that I can muster up) are not use to the stuff.  I see on news reports that most things have shut down.  In the south you just don't have the equipment to handle such things (and normally, don't have a need to) and I'm sure most people who have lived in the south their whole lives have never driven on ice and snow.  That's a treat, isn't it?!    No matter how many years you have driven in it, you still don't like it.  It really scares me to drive when it's icy. 

I see on the news that some school children in Alabama and Georgia  had to stay at school as it was too bad out for the buses to take them home yesterday.  This will give the kids something to tell their kids some day about the time the weather was so bad they had to spend the night at school.   

I hope you all are warm, stay home and stay safe. 

GOOD NEWS . . . Spring is 49 days away!!!   

Bucky

[CMNK12]

  HAha  We all are fine here. Good old southern girl here with maybe 3 inches of snow and ice.  Yes it all does come to a screeching halt here because we do lack equipment to clear the stuff.

  We tend to get very excited too though because it is a rare sight. It is pretty to see from inside the warm house. Take care ya'll. Ck

[litliwlowa]

doing well in my neck of the woods in NC. We got maybe a couple of inches, but I am more inland than on the coast and I hear the coast got hit harder.

Folks around these parts don't do well in the snow, lack of experience driving in it. And so true Bucky, in that many in the south don't have the proper tools - mostly as we don't get snow often enough I suppose.

I stay off the roads, even tho I actually LIKE driving in snow (not ice but snow I like, and I know how to drive in snow), but some folks around here can't drive for a-hem on a good weather day let alone on a snowflake.

The cold, not doing well for me. We're not accustomed to single digit wind chills as persistent as they have been recent weeks. I hear we're supposed to have a small "heat wave" in the low 50's this weekend then back to the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr cold.

Today driving wasn't bad at all as far as the roads and the sun is shining. Tomorrow will be worse for driving as the melted snow=wet+freezing temps tonight again=the dreaded black ice.

But they did heavily salt the main roads very early this morning or during the night.

[Velcro]

It was bad here.  We had 144 wrecks with no injuries and 7 with injuries, most of them within a three hour window.  It was a long day. 

As far as kids, our problem was they were only forecasting a dusting in our area, it was supposed to stay south of us, so we got caught off-guard.  From the time it started laying on the roads and moved more north, within 15 minutes it was white.  So by they time they got the buses to the schools, it wasn't safe for many of them to be on the roads and they had to turn around.  That in turn caused parents to get out to get their children.  I am proud that by 5:00, we had all children home safely but I know we have some upset parents.

[Velcro]

P.S.  Half of my family is from Hinckley!  Home of the Buzzards! Lol.

[Carolina]

We're about two hours from the coast of NC.

I would say we got a bit over 3 inches.  Of course everything is closed, and people are not on the roads.

WE of course were out early to drive to the University of North Carolina Medical Center (about 35 minutes away) in Chapel Hill, to meet my husband's sister who has Multiple Myeloma.

He met with this doctor when she was first diagnosed 5 years ago, and now she has had all the treatments and is ready for a clinical trial, which he is conducting.  My husband is a research immunologist so he can talk the talk with the doctor.

Traffic was slow, but the further west we drove, the less snow there was.  And the main roads were pretty clear.

Any snow is a great crisis in the Southland.  Even the threat of snow closes down everything.

After growing up in the midwest, and living in the Northeast, it seems funny.  But since they don't have snowplows and lots of sand and salt here, you are at the mercy of the weather for sure.

My husband is happily shoveling off the walk and porch now.   

By the weekend it should be in the 40's and 50's again.

Hugs,  Elaine

[eye2dry]

We are from central Ohio, but my mother, sister and her family

moved to southern Louisiana 12 years ago. I spoke with my

mother last night and she said it was 18 degrees there with snow and

ice on the ground.  People getting over excited about it, crashing b/c they aren't

use to driving on it, school kids were sent home early...before it even

arrived and again stayed home the next day. People ravaged store shelves...

stocking up on batteries, milk, bread, etc......

Walk in the park for us Ohioans!

eye2dry

[Carolina]

Yes, eye2dry

I thought the same way when we first moved South.

I thought "Well, I can just salt and sand the walk and the driveway" when everything shut down for an ice storm.

And THEN I realized:  I cannot salt and sand all the way to work!  Nothing on the roads and streets to help with the ice.

So I was stuck, with my Northern attitude.

Hugs,  Elaine

[Velcro]

Yep, I've been getting tickled, and sometimes I'll admit, irked because everyone keeps saying, "Stoopid Southerners.  2 inches of snow and they freak.  Come up here where 2 inches for us is a daily occurrence.  We drive in it all the time."

Yes, it is true, most of us can't drive in it.  It's because it happens so rarely and we don't deal with it much (practice).  And like Elaine said, we don't get just snow.  It is always ice below and ice on top.  Our cities don't have the equipment to deal with it because they will not invest in something that happens so rarely. We have salt trucks, but only a few and not enough for all the roads.  And they don't prepare our roads before an event because 9 times out of 10 when they tell us we might get some snow, we don't.  Our roads and terrain is not flat, at all.  Even a "ground level" neighborhood has slopes, but we have huge hills and mountains out in the rural areas, so people do panic over supplies because something as small as this will keep them trapped in their house for a good week.  Most of us don't have 4WD, because unless you like to go out mudding on the weekends, we have no need for it but once every 5-10 years.

I had a friend on Facebook yesterday, from up North really tearing into all of us over our stupidity down here.  I told her that it would be like them getting hit with a hurricane.  Doesn't happen and they wouldn't be prepared or know how to deal with it.   We'd breeze right thru that.

[eye2dry]

Hello Velcro.

I am not sure what kind of "friend on Facebook" you have but I have never called any southern person stupid.

My in-laws  are from Kentucky, my husband lived in St Augustine Florida, I have family in West Virginia,

I lived once in Alexandria, Virginia.  I would also like to retire in central Florida some day.

My mother was not making fun or Louisiana folks b/c she is now considers herself one of them.

I was just relying an actual observation of what was happening by one who lives there.

No offense was ever intended.


Take care,
eye2dry

[Velcro]

Oh no...I'm sorry.  I wasn't meaning you.  Your post didn't offend me at all.  I'll be the first to admit we freak out because we are not used to it. 

[Linda196]

A friend of mine in Florida was thoroughly delighted by the unusual snow, she, her husband and their kids spent most of the day playing in it! Granted, it took them a few tries to round up enough layers of clothes to be comfortable, and she said her youngest looked inebriated trying to walk on ground that hadn't been that slippery before, but they made the very best of the situation! She took a ton of pictures, and they have memories to last a lifetime!

Kind of gave me a new appreciation of the beauty and enjoyment of our changing seasons, and the pleasure of knowing that we, personally and the infrastructure, are well prepared for snow, ice, whatever gets thrown at us. incidentally, we do experience hurricanes as well. Most of them are down to category 2 or 3 by the time they reach us, but we have had a couple of category 4.

Located near the Atlantic coast, we are in the perfect position for the "perfect storm" as seen in the movie of the same name. We are along the convergence point of the polar jet stream and the gulf stream, so we are no strangers to high winds, the only thing that keeps it from being a hurricane is the fact that the winds are gusting, not sustained.

[season]

I am from the south but live somewhat in the mountainous region so we are use to the snow. I will have to say that our school board does an excellent job at watching the weather and taking care of our children. They use every precaution. Some of the commissioners will get out very early in the morning to see if the roads are iced over and whether or not it is safe for the buses to travel.

Our community looks out for one another and if we hear anything, we pass it along.

I am in my fifties and we have had snow just about every winter. We don't have many accidents because we are use to driving on the snow. I think most of us stay in when the weather is severe and unsafe to be out.

I think each location has their on way of dealing with the weather and the roads and sometimes an area can be unprepared. And sometimes a weather warning will go unheeded as some people will get out no matter what is forcasted or predicted.

Our road department is very well equipped and right now we have so much salt on the road that it makes the vehicles look terrible but the local car wash is making a ton of money.

[susanep]

Here in east tn. we are use to some snow, but the school kids are out a lot with slick roads, because we live in the mountains. Most know how to drive in the snow, and most have the 4-wheel drive.

Now all this sub zero temperatures we had was unusual for us.

If we have the rare big snows as in close to or at a foot then we have problems, because trees come down, and where people live way out in wooded areas can't get out.

We don't have snow plows, but our road department also has been great in keeping the roads salted, and sometimes before the snow or ice get here, you can see where they have dropped a type of liquid stuff on the highways that keeps us going.

Back roads are on their own though, so that is why schools here have lots of snow days.

I am ready for spring.

Everyone stay safe, and stay home when you need to. I don't think we are through with winter yet. I dread when we start getting into the tornado season this year. Oh Brother!!

susanep

[Carolina]

So here we are in NC.  We got about 5 inches of snow on Wednesday.  Yesterday was in the 40's.

There were gazillion people shopping yesterday, and part of it was that schools have been closed since Tuesday.

Schools closed for four days, and so everyone has kids with them as they do their shopping.

FOUR DAYS.  I know, I know the side roads were still a bit icy on Thursday.

It is so odd to be somewhere in the South where the snow has actually hung around for more than a day.

The poor kids are losing their Easter vacation, and have to go longer in June, I think.

It wasn't even snow you could really play in. 

I guess all this climate change is going to make for some interesting 'weather'.

Jon Stewart's take on the Atlanta snow crisis called South Parked was "snort your swee'tea up your nose funny".

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-30-2014/south-parked

Hugs, Elaine