Snowlocaust

[GermanCdn]

Four and a half feet of snow, 12 inches of ice, -30 degrees tonight.  Anyone who wants to come visit to warm up is welcome

No thanks. I like to keep my penis on the outside of my body.

It doesn't seem like much, but since the south doesn't normally have snow or ice we aren't very prepared. No salt trucks large branches that have never felt the weight of ice. It got a little nutty last night.

I know, I was just having a little fun.  It's been a brutal winter up here (point in case, we had a 10 day chinook in the 50 to 60 degree range at the beginning of the month, and it only got rid of about 1/3 of the snow.  I have run out of places on my yard to put it).  Good to hear things are getting back to normal.  And you get used to the little guy turtling after a while.

[Haberdasher]

yeah when i lived in louisiana we had an ice storm that lasted for a couple of weeks.  everything shut down.  branches and power lines everywhere fell under the weight of the ice.  the deep south is just not built for that kind of thing and it was a bloody disaster. the energy companies don't know where to start because EVERYTHING needs to be repaired and re-strung, and everyone is bitching to high-heaven.

luckily for me i lived on the same street as a major hospital so my area was one of the first to get power back.  at that point i turned around to all my friends and said

[icecycle66]

Yeah it's bad.
It got so col last night I had to turn off my AC.

[haveyouseenhim]

What made it so bad is that it was mostly ice. We got a light dusting of snow near the end. The freezing rain is what took out all of the trees and power lines.

[Bret608]

yeah when i lived in louisiana we had an ice storm that lasted for a couple of weeks.  everything shut down.  branches and power lines everywhere fell under the weight of the ice.  the deep south is just not built for that kind of thing and it was a bloody disaster. the energy companies don't know where to start because EVERYTHING needs to be repaired and re-strung, and everyone is bitching to high-heaven.

luckily for me i lived on the same street as a major hospital so my area was one of the first to get power back.  at that point i turned around to all my friends and said

Keefe, was that ice storm in about '88-'89 by any chance? I was in LA at that time and remember my stepdad teaching me how to drive on ice, using a ghetto braking technique that kind of mimics anti-lock brakes.

We lived in the DC metro area for a while. They have trouble keeping the lights on there in normal circumstances, but ice storms seem to knock out the power every time. Wisconsin is definitely more used to dealing with it. But even then, a couple of weeks ago when it dropped down to like -20 degrees, all of the gaskets on the gas meter outside our house gave way and our furnace wasn't getting any gas. As you can imagine, it got chilly pretty fast. The gas company came and fixed it, no charge. Then, a few hours later, I came home from work and could smell gas outside our house! They had to come and do it all over again. Gas scares me.

[snz728]

Had a storm like that a few years ago, my street was full of broken trees, we called it Arborgeddon.

[Haberdasher]

yeah when i lived in louisiana we had an ice storm that lasted for a couple of weeks.  everything shut down.  branches and power lines everywhere fell under the weight of the ice.  the deep south is just not built for that kind of thing and it was a bloody disaster. the energy companies don't know where to start because EVERYTHING needs to be repaired and re-strung, and everyone is bitching to high-heaven.

luckily for me i lived on the same street as a major hospital so my area was one of the first to get power back.  at that point i turned around to all my friends and said

Keefe, was that ice storm in about '88-'89 by any chance? I was in LA at that time and remember my stepdad teaching me how to drive on ice, using a ghetto braking technique that kind of mimics anti-lock brakes.

We lived in the DC metro area for a while. They have trouble keeping the lights on there in normal circumstances, but ice storms seem to knock out the power every time. Wisconsin is definitely more used to dealing with it. But even then, a couple of weeks ago when it dropped down to like -20 degrees, all of the gaskets on the gas meter outside our house gave way and our furnace wasn't getting any gas. As you can imagine, it got chilly pretty fast. The gas company came and fixed it, no charge. Then, a few hours later, I came home from work and could smell gas outside our house! They had to come and do it all over again. Gas scares me.

Hey man!  Nope, this was in the late 90's.

[CurlyMo]

We ended up with 3" of snow around our house and the street going past us is still iced over. Every once in a while I see an SUV or a truck slipping and sliding past...I just hope they all make it past the bridge that is completely iced over...gotta love the preparedness of GA and most of its counties. Bro-in-law had to walk the last 3 miles home last night after parking his truck in a grocery parking lot 7 hrs in to his 10 mile commute home. Oh Hothlanta, will we ever learn? Meanwhile, our property is veritable winter wonderland for the dogs that aren't old enough to remember when this happened 3 years ago.

[jkokura]

You guys make me laugh! Move to Saskatchewan, that'll make a real impact on your understanding of cold!

But to be honest, I feel for you. When things are abnormal, that's no fun. If you're used to 4 foot drifts of snow around your car, and roads that are covered in snow from November to May, it's fine. But if you're used to believing snow is this story your grandma used to tell you to scare you, like the boogeyman or the tooth fairy, then all of the sudden it starts falling out of the sky... yeah, that can freak you out.

Jacob

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Spent about 6 year in Maine USA.

They have 4 seasons there. June, July, August, and Winter!

Living in the DC metro area now I do nothing but laugh every time there is 1" of snow and its like an alien invasion around here! Schools closed, government agencies closed, road warnings... etc.

Its all relative to where you live and how prepared people are for the inclimate weather.

[DutchMF]

It's been close to zero (celsius) here for 2 days now, people are whining, and the stories you are sharing make me hate those pussies! This is the only kind of 'winter' we had this year, so we are kinda blessed. Last year was different, we had 4 inches of snow, which remained on the ground for almost 2 months because of the low temps. That made commuting by bike a bit of a challenge, but I managed to fall only once! You guys are the real winter heroes, I'll get back to you when the sea level rises even more and half of The Netherlands disappears.....

You guys make me laugh! Move to Saskatchewan, that'll make a real impact on your understanding of cold!

But to be honest, I feel for you. When things are abnormal, that's no fun. If you're used to 4 foot drifts of snow around your car, and roads that are covered in snow from November to May, it's fine. But if you're used to believing snow is this story your grandma used to tell you to scare you, like the boogeyman or the tooth fairy, then all of the sudden it starts falling out of the sky... yeah, that can freak you out.

Jacob

Jacob, I was watching a Bigfoot-sighting movie on my lunchbreak today, filmed near Saskatchewan. Did you ever see a big hairy creature? I've seen you in some instructional videos, so I know it's not you! 

Paul

[billstein]

Just turned on CNN and that storm in the South is no joke. Cars abandoned everywhere on the freeway, people taking in those who couldn't get home. Serious stuff.

[haveyouseenhim]

But if you're used to believing snow is this story your grandma used to tell you to scare you, like the boogeyman or the tooth fairy, then all of the sudden it starts falling out of the sky... yeah, that can freak you out.

It's not that I am or anyone is freaked out. It's the impact it has on an infrastructure that isn't prepared for it. I've seen snow many times before. It's the ice that made this storm what it is.

I remember back in '93 we got 2 1/2' of snow and it didn't cause many, if any, problems around here.

I have to say it was quite fun going around helping folks out and just watching huge limbs fall from giant pines.

[icecycle66]

I love dogs in shoes.