Ice Storm headed to the Ozarks

[Rudi]

It looks like you are ready. Up here in the PNW we got snow and then freezing rain on top of it. PTL the power stayed on. I was stocked up on food and had lots of wood in. My cat was very unhappy. Still a good bit of melting needed.

 

[Retired W4]

My daughter lives just North of Little Rock and I'm worried about her. Arkansas has some pretty extreme weather. I lived there from 1987-92, flying for the Army, and we got our share.

 

[Faulkner]

My daughter lives just North of Little Rock and I'm worried about her. Arkansas has some pretty extreme weather. I lived there from 1987-92, flying for the Army, and we got our share.

Metro Little Rock shouldn't be too bad, less than 20% chance of ice at this time.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Probably too late to get, but strap-on cleats for ice are just the ticket when you have to walk on that stuff. I've got a pair in the garage for the aftermath of ice storms.

(Just don't wear 'em in the house!)

Good luck!

or my very "Old style" pair of golf shoes, with the metal spikes !!

 

[BC38]

You hit on one of the reasons I avoided going south during the winter. when I was trucking. Most of the south is not even close to equipped for it. Roads end up really crummy, driving skills for crud weather are poor, and parking gets to be a problem when the urge to keep going is overcome by better judgment...

That also applies to the Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Portland areas of the PNW. 90% of the people haven't a clue how to drive in snow & ice, and the road crews don't have half the equipment they need to deal with it.
Spokane on the other hand is different. Here people know how to drive in the snow, and the road crews have the equipment and are right on top of it as soon as the weather turns. Heck, most of the time they will spray ice-melt on the street in front of my house BEFORE it even starts snowing & freezing most of the time.

 

[Doug M.]

I remember back in the mid 90s reading a story in the Spokesman-Review comparing the snow removal there to a couple places in the east. The Toledo OH manager responsible for addressing snow removal said he would get fired if he only achieved what Spokane considers a good performance. It's all perspective. Compared to growing up in upstate NY just off Lake Ontario, I have never seen a full sized plow in Washington.

Faulkner: my brother has lived in Conway for many years now and he is completely acclimated to considering 20F cold, etc. My other brother is just outside of Buffalo. The contrast in views is hilarious. I have not been outside today (just woke up) and am hoping there is no ice on the roads here as I need to go to the pharmacy.

 

[Skeet 028]

Never liked ice stoms back in Md. Snow never bothered me...when much younger we really got some snow on the Eastern Shore. Except for some times in the 60s and 70s they got the roads clear or close 'nuff. Here in Wyoming....kinda like up in Alaska...you see someone stopped in the 20-40 below weather or the blizzards...you stop to see if they need help. otherwise most here do pretty well driving cept some of the young'uns. I came across South Pass below Lander once..the snow was really light but almost hood deep on top. came through ok...but it was as bad one way as the other. They shut the road down shortly after we got through. From Lander to home snow was only 8-12 inches deep...My wife's 2007 Ford F-250(gas) is probably the best truck I've ever driven in snow...other than my crash truck or rescue truck working the FD.
Y'all be careful down there in that ice country. Stay off the road if possible

 

[BC38]

I remember back in the mid 90s reading a story in the Spokesman-Review comparing the snow removal there to a couple places in the east. The Toledo OH manager responsible for addressing snow removal said he would get fired if he only achieved what Spokane considers a good performance. It's all perspective.

Perspective is right - and mine is comparing Spokane to Seattle - where I lived for 29 years. Spokane does a fantastic job compared to the Puget Sound metroplex.

Compared to growing up in upstate NY just off Lake Ontario, I have never seen a full sized plow in Washington.

Based on that comment I'm not sure if I've ever seen a "full sized plow". I see 12-yard dump trucks with a plow blade maybe 12' wide and 4' high plowing in Washington, but I'm not sure if that fits your definition of a full sized plow. I've never been to upstate NY and don't know what they use for plowing.

 

[Doug M.]

Well, when I was a kid, they were 3 axle class 8 trucks with blades so big I could not reach the top of the main blade. They would drive down city streets fast enough to generate sparks for a good bit of the truck's length. Some were so big they had to have a spotter in addition to the driver.

It may well be that technology has changed and my memory no longer reflects reality. When I was trucking, if the weather was bad I stayed on the Thruway (I90, mostly) because they had their own trucks and worked like heck to keep it clear. I went to Maine in the 1993 winter hurricane and got stuck in Oneida because Indy Mack took off my good winter blades as they had no idea what it is like to run in lake effect snow. I got the last room Saturday, and the Red Cross fed us from snowmobiles. I had to work out by running laps of the hotel. 36" of snow in a day was not a record, or particularly close, and got very cold the second day (Sunday), well below zero. I ad to have a service call to get the truck running and get new wiper blades on Monday AM. Before I got back on the Thruway, the road was not only bare, but DRY.

 

[robrossk]

The storm is rolling through St Louis area now. Woke up with a nasty coat of ice. Main roads are good but side streets still icy. I could skate on my driveway right now. Should warm up soon to clear it all away.

 

[llowry61]

Living in central Ohio we don't deal with too much snow but they do a good job clearing the roads and use the dump tucks with a blade attached.

The first time I saw heavy snow removal equipment was in Minnesota. They had center bladed earth movers pushing snow. I had never seen plows the size they use either.

One of the guys I was going to visit said that planning his snow removal from his driveway was pretty complicated. He said they often got snow hitting in November and wouldn't have a thaw till April, so if you didn't plan where to push it you had to move it twice.

 

[old bear]

I prefer my ice with about 2 oz. of good bourbon, just sayin'

If I remember correctly it 3 oz, good bourbon

 

[twodog max]

Here in my corner of the Ozarks we mostly dodged the bullet. Ice coated everything early but the power never went off. It has warmed some the ice is gone and it is raining. West of here it was worse