[TriLUG] OFF-TOPIC - Snow "Storm"?

[Scott G. Hall]

On 01/21/2005 09:55 AM EST, "Byarlay, Wayne A." <wab at purdue.edu> wrote:
> So, did any Tri-luggers get caught in the "Storm"? I hope nobody had
> any accidents...
> 
> We midwesterners can't help but shake our heads whenever we hear about
> an inch of snow gridlocking an entire city.  :)  Glad nobody was hurt.

As a transplanted Midwesterner myself, I too found it incredulous.
Basically the problem was the ground slightly warmer than the air, and
the thin snow layer turning to ice on sun-shadowed hills on the big
major highways and on side streets.  Unlike in Indiana where the roads
are almost all straight and level, the roads here wind around a lot
and have relatively large grades.  Ice on those slopes make it almost
impossible to move forward -- there were some nice pictures from the
local TV helicopters showing 4WD SUV's sliding sideways and down hill
even though they were trying to move forward, and 18-wheelers trying to
move forward and jack-knifing and blocking the roads.

Now add to that the school systems letting their kids out early in the
middle of this.  This causes a flood of cars to enter the road system
as parents take off of work and go to pick up their kids.  And others
panicking about the backups starting, and they too flooding onto the
roads avoid the emergency situation.

A bit of ice and a flood of cars caused a gridlock.  Now the salt trucks
and DOT vehicles -- caught totally off-guard because of faulty weather
forecasting -- can't move around the traffic and solve the ice problems
in the slick areas.  This causes the situation to last for 6 to 10 times
longer than it should have.

The panic was a result of warm weather near or above 70 degrees for most
days since Thanksgiving up to even last week.  The people here were just
not ready for winter or any minor winter condition.

As a Midwesterner, I can make another observation -- North Carolinians
do not know how to drive.  They can't drive in a minor rain -- they tend
to gridlock even then.  They can't even use turn signals!  And we expect
them to be able to drive with a little ice?!?  If it were up to me, all
North Carolinians should stay home during any inclement weather, and let
only those of us from the North and Midwest who know how to drive out.

Winding steep roads.  A little bit of ice.  An ineffective DOT.  Bad
timing by the school systems.  Add drivers who can't drive.  That was the
cause of the problem yesterday.

-- 
Scott G. Hall
Raleigh, NC, USA
ScottGHall at BellSouth.Net