Stay safe and warm Southern family!

[FedoraDave]

I really feel for my Southern family and friends. I've got friends in Nashville, and family in Virginia, and I know how crippling these conditions can be, especially for areas where they're not really equipped to deal with this kind of weather. An ice storm is always bad news, but if you've only got five salt trucks, as they have in Nashville, it's just not enough. Stay safe, everyone.

As far as my neck of the woods in Metro NYC, it was colder than a brass toilet seat today. Zero degrees when I left the house this morning! We're supposed to get snow overnight and into tomorrow, but apparently not to bad, according to NOAA.

[swenocha]

Nashville actually has 30 salt/brine/large-scale plowing trucks (as well as six backup trucks), and the state has 1,400 trucks running statewide, but yes it's a mess here nonetheless. Ice is the worst. The earlier forecasts had called for 8-12" of snow, and that would have been much more manageable. But when it moved further north, and the warmer temps in the upper atmosphere left us in sleet/freezing rain hell, it got a lot more dicey.

[teutonic terror]

Ice really is the worst!
That's usually our lot during the winter.
Snow you can maneuver in, but ice it doesn't matter how many wheel drive you have, they all spin!

[RickBeer]

The biggest issue, whether ice or snow, are the amount of drivers on the road that shouldn't be because they don't have a clue how to drive in the conditions. Even if you have four wheel drive, you stop the same as everyone else, and worse if you're a big heavy SUV or pickup. You can drive in most any conditions (not that you should) if you know what you are doing - but 9 out of 10 drivers do not and create the hazardous conditions. Big accident earlier this year on I-94 west of Ann Arbor made the national news with the amount of vehicles and fatalities. State police said that while conditions were bad, it was mostly driver error.

Many years ago (over 30) we were in Atlanta during a big ice storm that made CNN - trash trucks and cars sliding down a big hill. We were near that hill and could see it. Hotel had no cleaning service and only a small breakfast area due to workers not coming in. Wife and I drove to the mall, slowly, and walked around for something to do, more than 1/2 the stores never opened. Even here in Michigan they say how awful it is and when we go out we find it's fine - if you know what you're doing.

For new snow/ice drivers like Brewbirds (assuming Texas and no snow was your norm), when you can get out go to a big parking lot that you know (one without cement ties at the head of the spaces) and practice starting, practice stopping, practice turning. Learn how your anti-lock brakes work in snow. Learn how your traction-control features on your vehicle work, and how to disable them if you get stuck and need to rock your vehicle out of something (some cars apply the brakes to control a wheel, and you can burn them out easily). Practice, practice. I've been driving in snow and ice my whole life, and during our recent foot of snow storm I went out with my 4x4, which I didn't have a lot of experience with in the snow and tried out my e-locker (locks the back axle), turned off traction control, etc. to see how it reacted and learned from it. My traction control is via the engine, not brakes, so it works differently (i.e. it slows the vehicle when you're trying to accelerate which can be someone unnerving).

And if own a rear-wheel drive vehicle and cannot get up a hill, turn around try backing up - which gives you front wheel drive.

[BlackDuck]

And while your in that big parking lot practicing all those things that RickBeer said....make yourself lose control of the vehicle. Make it spin out, make the back end come loose. Get a feel for what your vehicle does when it loses traction and starts to slide. You'll quickly learn what to do to recover from those things. You'll learn the proper steering methods, you'll learn not to slam on the breaks but let the vehicle slow it's self down. That was one of the best things my Dad taught me when I was learning to drive while living in the snow belt east of Cleveland.

[JohnSant]

I agree with RickBeer and BlackDuck on the practice makes for better drivers. What I see today of driving is a nightmare to some of the teachers that gave us lessons on driving back in the day. My teacher was an old Farmer that put me to work in the fields and river bottoms, you had better learn or it would make for a long day(after getting stuck in mud and down to the axle). I use to say I could go anywhere a 4x4 would go in my 2 wheel drive PU, I now know better. It did take me some time to use my 4x4 with all the gadgets you find them now days but well worth the time. It should worry any person that gets behind the wheel of a vehicle and drives on these roads today, everyone needs to be a defensive driver. back in the mid 60's when I learned to drive(I'm not that old only 12 at the time) you could drive for miles and not see another car, now the big open spaces are almost bumper to bumper.

[Brewbirds]

So RickBeer are you the one that reported a clueless Snow newbie had just arrived?

Apparently I've been put under watch in case I try and leave the house. This was parked out front the other day.

New Driver Surveilance Vehicle .JPG (60.27 KiB) Viewed 630 times

Like I'm going to go out in this - NOT.

Next time it clears up I'm going to the nearest military surplus to stock up on MREs.