Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire We Are a Nation of Weather Wimps?????

Weather Wimps - remember the picture last summer of Obama in a very lite rain and the umbrella.

Will - a few years ago, there was a tornado somewhere down south (Alabama?) that came out of the blue, without any alert being issued. Following this, I noticed that "tornado watches" were basically issued on the first of April, effective until the end of September, with "tornado warnings" being not only much more frequent, but covering larger areas for longer periods of time. I asked a member of one of the local television stations (who has since gone on to other work) about this and he told me that the National Weather Service had decreed that no such thing would happen again, hence the policy of over-warning. I think that the fable of the boy who cried wolf is apt reading. Best, John

some years ago a high wind in northern NV turned over a UPS set of triples doing all of 15 mph. At that time, they had a zero accident policy and were going to fire him but the union brought in a bunch of witnesses who said that he would have gone over even if parked (apparently a few did). He kept his job.

Lots of know-it-all Monday morning quarterbacks here from the looks of it. I have driven in snow, sleet and ice up north and in the mountains many times, but this time was different.

All of the forecasters got this one wrong and it happened really fast. All of the schools and places of business let out at the same time. The roads would have been jammed no matter what, but this turned to a sheet of solid ice within about an hour. A few jackknifed 18wheelers later and all of the major roads are parking lots.

I managed to navigate through it here in B'ham using side roads and got home from work, but it took me 10 hours. It is true that lots of people down here don't have experience driving in snow, ice etc., but the real problem was the truck drivers (from all over the country I might add) jackknifing and blocking entire roadways.

It is obvious that some people here were not taught as youngsters to keep their mouth shut when they do not know what they are talking about.

Yep, just like those dumb idiots killed by tornados in Oklahoma. Idiots should have taken weather forecasts as set in stone and gotten underground. Taken responsibility. Only stupid people suffer from weather. <sarcasm>

I was referring to rai, ice and snow...I should have specified, but I figured most people were smart enough to see that. I guess one needs to fill in all the blanks here .

Well, guh-huh, guh-huh, guh-huh...we'ze iz frum the souf there Capt. and sure nuf not smart & expurt like you! Ours peoples diez frum tornaders too...we'ze jest too stupid to git outta the wayz!


By the way. Per the conversation, the snow isn't the problem....this thread was talking about ice. Not snow or rain. Maybe you need some blanks filled in. Ya think?

Lots of born again socialists in Atlanta the last couple of days.

Yup...snow and cold never shut things down here, but let it rain on everything after it's been below 0 for awhile and we're down for the count. A lot of the roads in the Fairbanks area still had ice on them from the November rain when the latest round of freezing rain hit a couple of weeks ago.....not fun!

At times, unanticipated events will catch folks and do them harm - history is replete with same. Interesting though - haven't seen any prominent news features or emotional interviews with folks who wisely avoided getting caught by the mess down there.

Another member needing a bug removed. Ya you're right we never see ice No tornados here either. It is utopian paradise but don't tell anyone.

I'll go back and correct my post for you...

Amazing, the number of people who behave like they've never seen an act of God before.

I have seen clear ice on the roads a few times and it is very difficult to deal with even if one is experienced.
Tips:
Drive with one set of wheels on the shoulder where you are more likely to find some traction.
Drive WAY ahead of your car. Don't get surprised by someone else's mishap.
If something goes wrong in front of you, don't hit the brakes; hit the ditch. When in the ditch, get as far from the highway as you can to avoid getting hit from behind.
When you start to slide in your 4WD SUV, you are probably gone. Don't push it.
I have been on a road which was so slick my four wheel drive diesel would lose speed going up a very gradual incline. So slick that I could easily push the stopped truck around; if I could get traction for my feet, that is.
In truth, drivers in the north do not have to deal with extreme conditions such as those seen in Georgia very often. The roads in the northwest are usally kept pretty clear because everyone cries like babies if they are not. Fifty years ago, roads were not salted and the highways dept. did not attempt to keep them bare and dry all winter long. When we lived in northern BC back in the fifties, there were boxes of sand with a scoop shovel provided on hills for travelers to use if conditions were too bad.
Today, eastern Washington scools are closed or buses running late if they get 6 inches of snow. When we were kids, the lady driving our bus put chains on if it got bad. GD

It's simply a textbook example of bad road conditions, an unprepared road crew and millions of people trying to get home at the same time. Remember the disaster on Lake Drive in Chicago a few years ago? Same schit.

I can tell which people on this thread have never lived in a city...north or south.

this thread is funny! who woulda thought ice and snow are different down south.
Please teach me new stuff about your neck of the woods.
what temp does water freeze down there?
are you allowed to call it "black ice" when it exists, or am I being racist? (for those who don't know, look it up before responding)

what happened was you guys got a snow storm, congrats! I'd be willing to bet 99% of those who live down there have either A.never seen one
B.never driven/lived where they have them frequently
C.those who have, have been gone long enough to forget how to drive in them

hell we have folks here who every fall when it snows have to relearn how to drive. most don't drive cautiously and are oblivious to anyone else besides themselves.
what is funniest to me is the bread and milk shortages. out here beer is the first thing to be gone from the shelves.
BWAHAHAHAHA

so what if your highways and roads are closed for a few days, stay the [bleep] home! a little common sense goes a long ways. and for those of our members here who did know but just got trapped in the chaos, that sucks. sorry for you. but the ones whining that not enough was done by other people (especially in govt) STFU. you are ultimately responsible for your own well being.
welcome to winter bitches!

look up winter storm Atlas before you start flaming

Shortly after I got my DL at 16, I was driving one of the family barges through the Connecticut countryside, getting in a little practise, with my mother riding shotgun and my two younger siblings in the back seat. Weather forecasting in the 1960s was not sophisticated enough to tell us we were going to get caught in a freezing ice storm 20 miles from home.

We did not complain, or blame the government for failing to forecast the storm.

My mother, exercising her executive authority, bullied me into pulling into a service station, where a pimply-faced lad of 19 or 20 years, volunteered to drive us all to our home, in his car, on the sole condition that my mother keep absolutely quiet the whole way. That was a tough pill for her to swallow.

It was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. He was a damn good driver on ice. (And my mother damn near wet herself.) My dad had to drive me back the next day in his car to pick up my mother's car, which we had left at the service station.

We did not blame the government for the fact that we had to abandon our car overnight. But Americans were made of hardier stuff in those days.

(That last crack was not directed toward anyone on this thread, BTW.)

Also, don't select the tow/haul mode if you want slow down when going down an icy hill.

Yep. And Atlanta traffic is horrible on a good day in good weather! Add ice, then it only takes one or two knuckleheads and, wham, you have gridlock. Getting stuck in a traffic jam through no fault of your own doesn't make one an idiot. In ice I wouldn't drive across those raised viaduct roadways at the I85/I285 interchanges in my 4WD if I were the only one out there! I don't even want to think about it in "normal" traffic!
Thank goodness I don't live there. But I take a twice annual trip to Atlanta for business and have for over 15 years. I HATE driving in Atlanta. Wouldn't live there for love nor money...but I don't fault those who do nor condemn them all to the stupid camp because the city is ill-equipped to handle ice and snow.

I saw a guy make a house out of black ice a while ago.

I don't know what to call it, but I think we can rule out "niglu"...

John

I didn't have one of those. I just had thirteen speeds and a two position Jake.

But then I just learned I don't know nothing about driving let alone in truck eating southern weather.