Southern Ohio's idea of a 'SNOWSTORM'

[Buglady]

We warmed up from 20 below zero to 5 above last night. Fun with chinooks... I hope this one stays long enough to melt all the ice that formed last time. (We'd had 2 feet of snow and the meltwater ended up pooling across every exposed surface just in time for it to plunge back down to -20C. Salt does not actually work to melt ice when it's that cold!)

The only think I hate about chinooks is they make me all fuzzy headed for two days before they hit, and I get a migraine when they end and it gets cold again. ><

[It shouldn't]

I live smack dab in the middle of the Lake Erie snow belt. 3" is a dusting here. Hubby's snow plow customers don't even want their lots plowed unless it snows more than 4".

When hubby was in the Army he was stationed if Ft. Knox (south of Louisville, KY) for a while. We used to be greatly amused when everybody freaked out if there was a snowflake sighted.

What I didn't understand back then and have not figured out to this day, is:
While living there, I noticed that a lot of people, if there was a dusting of snow on the freeway, would just pull their cars over into the break down lane and just leave then there. Seriously, every time it snowed, there were lots of abandoned cars on the side of the road. What I want to know, is how these people got home. I mean most cars were just sitting there, no mechanical problem visible, flat tire, hood up, etc, usually a mile or so from the nearest exit.

[Alpha Strike]

Annnyway, I can top the 3-6 inches of snow. It was about 38 degrees Celsius outside and we were PACKED at work. I kid you not, most of the registers were about 7-8 customers deep and the express lanes had a humungous line backed up past the entrance gates.

I'm confused. How does blazingly hot weather top 3-6 inches of snow?

It snows a lot in Iowa and I don't know what's wrong with that state but even the lightest dusting will shut EVERYTHING down...well, okay...at least EVERY highway for hours. Literally. Cheeselandialand, which is also in our service footprint, gets DUMPED on and the decision to close roads comes only after several inches have fallen. Not Iowa...2 inches an the highways come to a stop.

You must be dealing with the way western part of IA then, since I know this isn't the case for the Mid and Eastern part of Iowa. I live in the Iowa City area and nothing has been closed down, even with all the snow, ice, -40 temps and sleet coming down in the past couple of months. Some of the schools are on delay or cancel due to cold-related issues but local businesses are staying open. As far as the roads go, the plows seem to be doing a good job keeping everything cleared and driveable. I've been pretty lucky - my route to work is I-80 and that's the first road that gets cleared in our area.

The only think I hate about chinooks is they make me all fuzzy headed for two days before they hit, and I get a migraine when they end and it gets cold again. ><

The only chinook I know of is the massive transport helicopter. What are you referring to?

[jedimaster91]

I'm an idiot. Since school was cancelled today and I don't have to be into work until later, I figured I'd run some errands instead of sitting around the house all day. Big mistake. The nieghborhood was bad, but I thought if I could make it to <main road> I'd be fine. Usually, that's how it works. Side streets and neighborhoods are dicey, but main roads and interstates are pretty good. I live in the very back of the subdivision, so crawling along at no more than 5mph took awhile. To my dismay, <main road> wasn't much better. In my end of town, the main roads are curvy, narrow, two-lane, death traps on a good day, but add the snow and ice and I was praying not to start sliding into oncoming traffic.

Really, truely, my prescription refill could have waited a couple days for the roads to clear, but you never really know how they are until you get out on them, and turning around would have been more trouble than just going on. By the time I got back, the neighborhood was actually worse because it's been raining all day. Yes, RAINING. So now we have another layer of ice and Jedi is not going ANYWHERE. I slid trying to pull into the driveway. Mr Jedi* got a flat this morning on the way to the bus stop, so hopefully he can get a ride home from a coworker so I don't have to go out again.

*Mr Jedi grew up in Oregon and Idaho, so he thinks our snowphobia is hilarious. I keep reminding him that the snow's not the problem. It's the ice.

[Broomjockey]

The only chinook I know of is the massive transport helicopter. What are you referring to?

Chinook is the name of the warm wind that comes off the Rocky Mountains during Winters. Wind full of water comes off the Pacific, and when it goes over the Rockies into Alberta, the altitude causes the water to condense and precipitate on the BC side, leaving a dry wind to come to the Alberta side, which usually warms temperatures to above freezing for sometimes several days at a time.

[former csr slave]

Peppergirl...I was chatting with a friend of mine who lives in the Capital of our fine state...two hours to go 20 miles, two inches of snow. I laughed. Last week we had a Level One Snow Emergency for 1 inch of snow, if even that.

I am almost out of milk and have to go to the store tonight, I am not looking forward to it. Maybe I should teach my kids to drink powdered milk....

[Salted Grump]

Regarding 3-6 inches of snow causing a panic; I'd like all of those WIMPS to move up to here.

We had Almost 450 Centimetres of snow last year. (roughly Sixteen FEET) Without Lake-effect snow. Cities closer to the great lakes got it even worse.

[Broomjockey]

We had Almost 450 Centimetres of snow last year. (roughly Sixteen FEET)

Well, not quite 15 feet. But still, that's a lot. Honestly not sure if I'd trade that for our regular -30s or not.

[freeatlast]

I live in the Indianapolis, Indiana area and for the last couple of winters it has become a joke because the weathercasters will predict heavy snow, schools will close in anticipation and then we get an inch or two. Last night into today, they forcast 1 - 3 inches. Left for work early just in case (new job - woo hoo) and arrived very early. It snowed all day, but I was in training and didn't pay much attention. Boss lady came in around 4:15 and sent us home because the computer system was down and the snow was still coming down. It took me over an hour to make a trip that is usually 20 minutes. I get home and turn on the news only to find out that our forecast has changed and we are now expecting 6 - 12 inches by late tomorrow morning. The weathercasters are really happy that we are finally receiving the snow that they have predicted. I would rather that they had been wrong again. And, no, I didn't stop and buy out the store on the way home. As long as I have plent of cigarettes and Mt Dew, I'll be just fine. Who needs food...

[tamezin]

I live in the midwest, and we have had a lot of 'faux' snowstorm warnings this year. Not to say we haven't had our share of bitterly cold days, and a few skiffs of snow here and there, but honestly this year was nothing last last years blast of ice.

We were supposed to get..wait for it..wait for it..4-6 inches over a 5 day period of time. OMG it is 'SNOWNAMI 2009'. Forget armagedon, it was white fluffy stuff, gently falling to the ground to STEAL your soul and EAT your children. Run .. Run .. no slide as fast as you can, you can't escape it, you can't hide from it.

Oh wait, we never actually got anything. Yes, today is the last of the 5 days of 'SNOWNAMI 2009' and our perciptation measured in trace amounts. Yes, there were areas slightly south of us that got hammered, but I swear listening to the news you'd think it was the end of life as we know it.

[wraiths_crono]

Doing 50 mpg.

B

Wow that's some good gas mileage LOL, we assume its MPH instead.

[Kaylyn]

I got stuck in Columbus OH for a week (Christmas to New Year's) because of a stupid snowstorm. Granted, it was 1-2 feet of snow. I was coming into Ohio when it started, and by the time I got to Columbus you couldn't see the lanes on the interstate anymore. I pulled into a truckstop, got the last spot available, and went to bed. The next morning they were plowing the parking lot, I called to find out if the roads I needed to use to get to my pickup were going to be closed. They were, so I notified dispatch and got an extra day off.

I wake up the next morning ready to go...and the plows decided the area in front of the spot I was parked in, as well as the three to my right, were the perfect place to pile up the snow they had plowed. I wasn't able to get anything done about it for a couple of days, and then by that time the temperature had gotten to just above freezing for the day, enough to start the snow melting, then plunged to below zero (F) that night. This means I now have a waist-high chunk of ice in front of me. And the plows the truck stop used were dinky little ones attached to sports pickups, not heavy-duty enough to break up the ice.

What gets me is they saw me getting in and out of my truck the day they were plowing, for food and bathroom and stuff. I had my truck idling the whole time for heat and to keep the fuel from freezing, and they still piled it up in front of me. Then they had the audacity to get annoyed with me and the truck stop begged them to move their mess! The manager of the truck stop was angry with them, and assured me they would be looking for a new plowing company. I probably should have called Corporate about it, but I'm not that pushy. I wound up having to get a hotel for a couple of nights because my truck was almost out of fuel after about five days of idling. The guy that finally brought a heavy-duty plow to free me couldn't believe the other guys had done that and was super-nice to me.