12/07 - WINTER STORM: SRN PLAINS

We didn't get total failure of the deflector, but got a good enough crack in it that we got a "heavy dusting"...prolly less than 1/2", but almost enough to get the ground white. Most of it is actually sleet even, but who cares...we got white stuff on the ground!! :D 8)
Angie
 
I'm glad to see the N.A.D.S. reference was taken and ran with......LOL. :wink:

Well - I got in at 5.30pm from my very interesting jaunt into Norman. The roads were a mixed bag - some were very dry with pellets just drifting with the wind across the road, and others had mounds of pellets and sleet and snow built up on the sides of the lanes. Still more roads - mainly the smaller roads in downtown Norman and even Main St. further west - were actually quite treacherous - a result I'm sure of the traffic compouding the lying snow and pellets and turning it into ice. While I sat at the bank I saw two people spin out in front of me LOL.

I did have some problems getting away from intersections here and there - and I was everywhere from the west side to the northeast side of Norman. The traction from standing still was difficult occasionally. I almost had a smash when some stupid ass changed lanes right in front of me on Gray St. in an attempt to get to his left turn. He made the left turn - good for him! I almost went into a spin from slamming my brakes on but hey it's allll good right? :roll:

I got back over to the east side about 4.45pm to Wal-Mart - and crossed over on Main to get to the store. 12th Ave was TOTALLY backed up with numerous school buses and traffic - it wasn't moving at all. I still don't know what the deal was - it was really weird. So after I got my groceries I checked to see if 12th was still the same - it was - and headed north to Robinson, then east, then south on 24th to home. Sad. I wish Norman would get it's damn roads straightened out. 24th Ave was pretty good - mostly dry.

The interesting thing will come when we all need to drive to work tomorrow morning. This stuff on the roads will freeze solid tonight and then with the sun coming out tomorrow it may melt a bit and turn into black ice. I'll have to watch myself on the way to the office!

I had fun out on the roads today though. It was nice to see some weather. This Normanite got out of her hibernation today and surveyed the good work done by Aaron Kennedy - N.A.D.S. coordinator extraordinaire. Very nice work!!!

KR
 
Nothing like sitting back and getting a good laugh. After being in Ohio the last 3 years, being back in Norman is always entertaining as how much trouble a little dusting can do. Not to mention I had to pause for a W.T.H. moment when OUN put out the winter storm watch. I know...its all relative. Winter storm watch means a lot of ice or a decent snow fall...not what we got today. I could still see my neighbor. Whimps. ;)

Oh well time to adjust...went through a good winter last year in NW Ohio with around 55" of snow for the season and every other storm dumping over 8 inches of snow.

Oh well, some year we'll get a good snow down here and some real wind chills....0 to 10 below...blah. Give me 30 to 50 below. :)
 
Saw about an inch of snow/sleet here in edmond, it started off just blowing around on the roads, but eventually it got packed down and now its like an ice rink... Oh well, I'll just be patient for a storm to approach from the southwest and dump a wet heavy snow down.
 
Don't worry, I think we also have a deflector shield here in Amarillo.
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I guess it really broke last May!
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ROFL Greg.....uh - yeah!!! If OUN had had chaseable storms like AMA had this past spring we'd be laughing all the way to the proverbial tornadic bank!!! :lol:

LOL - you guys should be in this house tonight - we have DFW television. It's a hoot to listen to all the news reports - at 5pm they had a special "extended" news program simply to report all the wintry weather - which amounts to some freezing rain and a bit of sleet. They're listing all the school, church and other closures that are in effect for tomorrow - "oh folks - don't go out tomorrow unless it's totally necessary!!!". Sheesh. :roll:

THE DFW ARCTIC BLAST OF 2005!!!!!!!!

KR
 
We're experiencing some major icing on the roads in Austin and Round Rock. My wife drove in from Milam county to our east and was almost hit by crazy drivers several times. There have been well over 200 calls to 911 in Williamson County alone since noon and the last report was about 100 car accidents in the metro area. This is likely to go up to 200+ be tomorrow. We're now under a winter storm warning until 8:00 am. One of my employees was a victim of a hit and run although the damage to his vehicle was limited. We'll see how things pan out tomorrow when we wake up!
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Nothing like sitting back and getting a good laugh. After being in Ohio the last 3 years, being back in Norman is always entertaining as how much trouble a little dusting can do. Not to mention I had to pause for a W.T.H. moment when OUN put out the winter storm watch. I know...its all relative. Winter storm watch means a lot of ice or a decent snow fall...not what we got today. I could still see my neighbor. Whimps. ;)

Oh well time to adjust...went through a good winter last year in NW Ohio with around 55" of snow for the season and every other storm dumping over 8 inches of snow.

Oh well, some year we'll get a good snow down here and some real wind chills....0 to 10 below...blah. Give me 30 to 50 below. :)
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LOL I hear ya David. I grew up near St. Paul, MN, where avg snowfall is about 55" / yr, and the avg high temp in mid-January is 19 degrees. I'm sure there are folks on here who live in even snowier locales... So, it is quite humorous to watch the news coverage about the 'brutal cold', and the OUN winter weather product telling people to "stay inside Wednesday if possible". You'd think we're seeing -30 temps and -50F windchills. Heck, OKC has been colder in the past few years... Feb 2003 saw a day with a high of 15F, so this isn't that bad, especially since we got MAYBE 0.5" of 'snow' here in Norman... It was half pellets, half snow really. I'll take the 20F high with the "extreme" (per TV met) wind chills of -5 to 5F over a cold Minnesota day anytime (cold meaning the high stays <0F).

Oh well... I was going to meander over to Petsmart this afternoon, but it would have taken me 30 minutes to go ~5 miles, not because it was that slick out, but because some folks drive side-by-side at 5mph :roll: Yes, the road may be wet, or snowcovered, but that doesn't mean you have to drive slower than I walk. I didn't see too many vehicles with ABS or traction control (similar to ABS, except for when you're accelerating) either. Just make sure you stay plenty far behind the vehicle in front of yeah, don't make any sudden turns/lane changes, and you're probably okay to drive like you would in heavy rain (~25-30 in a 35mph, etc). If ya wanna drive 2mph on Main Street, that's fine, but don't drive next to someone else who's also driving insanely slow.
 
Here's a question from someone who grew up in a different country let alone a different state......

How come Oklahoma's road/transport agency only treats the roads around here reactively, rather than proactively???

I have never ONCE seen a gritter or sander out BEFORE an event is anticipated. They always wait until the frozen preip. is falling or has fallen, and has caused the roads to become treacherous - and THEN occasionally I will see one of their rusting, delapidated sanding trucks trundle by on Main.

What's the deal??? Don't they stay up with/believe the weather forecasts???

Seems like - when I was growing up in Scotland - I would always see gritters and sanders out like the night before an anticipated winter weather event.

KR
 
In Fort Collins Colorado, a place that averages about 45" per year, they would run street cleaners after every snow melt to remove the salt and gravel. I never understood this. I grew up in upstate NY, and leaving that stuff on the roads throughout the winter really helped - especially that layer of salt - always melted these tiny snows like we just got in Norman.

Yea, and plows came down every single residential street in upstate NY. They only hit the primary and secondary roads in Norman (and Ft. Collins, believe it or not).


greg
 
Our city doesn't plow any secondary streets unless we get over half a foot. The city of Detroit has a similar "rule".

Up north by my grandparents, in a heavy lake effect snowbelt in the middle of no where (think >25 miles to the nearest store, and 3 miles to your nearest year-round neighbor) - they only plow major highways (there are no express ways). Even so, between the months of December and late March, the major highways are all two tracks (they don't salt). All other streets are considered seasonal, and if you happen to live on that "seasonal" road, you better have a plow that can handle a couple feet of snow / 250 inches a year.
 
The year before I left TN, they started treaing the roads before a snow/ice event with some kind of spray on solution...I think it was a calcium chloride solution to prevent the ice from forming. That stuff would wreck absolute havoc on your car, but...it stopped a lot of the icy road problems too, as in I was able to drive in two freezing rain events with no problems. Today was on my way to work when I almost spun out at a stop light here on Hwy 9. Called them and told them if they wanted me to come in that was ok, but they'd need somebody to pick me up (they usually call a cab for such occasions). They called me back a few minutes later and said the shift was covered. No problem...got some studying done for finals. Seems like Norman got the icy roads today. Like Karen said, the roads will be "interesting" in the morning.
Angie
 
Oklahoma is crippled by the most miniscule winter events, just like the rest of the country is by severe weather. It's give and take, depending on what a ceretain part of the country is used to. This is the time of year when all the yankees make fun of us southerners. In 5-6 months we'll be laughing at the yankees as they panic over linear junk which will trigger TVS algorithms along their gustfronts :wink:
 
Oklahoma is crippled by the most miniscule winter events, just like the rest of the country is by severe weather. It's give and take, depending on what a ceretain part of the country is used to. This is the time of year when all the yankees make fun of us southerners. In 5-6 months we'll be laughing at the yankees as they panic over linear junk which will trigger TVS algorithms along their gustfronts :wink:
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:lol: Very true... I can deal with -20F temps, but I've never experienced such a long, hot summer before I moved down to OK. MN media mets handle winter weather better; OK mets handle convective/severe weather better (MUCH better)...
 
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