What was your most Intense Moments during a Winter Storm?

[ShawnKrull]

Nothing too crazy for me, but can think of a few that had me sweating.

97 snowstorm- Not expecting what we ended up getting for snow, a friend and I were out driving around in our Jeeps dodging tree branches as they fell to the ground covered in snow and leaves that hadn't had a chance to fall off yet. Only had a few close calls, but the next day I spent most of my time checking on relatives and taking friends/family to places with heat since a lot of neighborhoods in the city were without power.

http://www.nebraskaweatherphotos.org/OCT97SNOW.html

December of 91- Driving on black ice from Lincoln to Omaha and back to pick up a friend on military leave......from Hawaii. Numerous cars in the ditch and wind to go blowing through the soft top of the Jeep practically blowing me off the road. Loosing traction while powering uphill in 4 wheel drive is never a good feeling.

 

[Dennis Dennison]

2 come to mind. Trudging my way thought snow drifts and blizzard conditions in an 18 wheeler in Eastern PA during that big one of 92??

Other was driving a fully loaded 18 wheeler from Oklahoma City to Amarillo Tx one very long night--seemed I got lucky and was far enough out on I 40 to have missed the road closures-I literally was the only vehicle out there moving-many were off the side or in the middle. I managed to keep rolling by running my right side tires off the side on the rough area for traction--it was an Ice storm and I swear when I got into Amarillo I must have had over 1/4 in of ice on the entire truck-I cant believe I didnt blow tires out under the weight of all that ice.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

#1 OU Finals Week Ice Storm 2009...EPIC, just EPIC. You know your F*&ed when your driving along 35 back from a night in OKC under a low overcast and you see glows of lightning off in the distance & ITS 32*F OUTSIDE

#2 DFW Snowstorm 2010 aka THE BIG BUST. 12.5" of snow in single day. EPIC forecast fail but it was awesome.

 

[Jane Herbert]

5th & 6th May 2010 for Clyve Herbert and myself.....over chasing for 5 weeks, we took a break between systems to head up to Montana to collect an antique barometer we'd bought 6 months earlier.....we'd been whinging about the road holding of the tyres on the Dodge Charger in the rain, but discovered that they were far more suited to snow driving....after collecting the barometer in Missoula, we hightailed it back as far east as we could get that night of the 5th, and arrived in Billings just as the snow started falling...Next morning saw us cleaning the windscreen with a credit card and hitting the road again.....heading SE, the snow got heavier, the temperature continued to fall, everything started to ice up (including the gear selector) and then they closed the Interstate......knowing that there was another system coming through, we took to the local back roads (fortunately cleared, although they were being covered by blowing snow almost as fast) and spent 6 hours that day driving / crawling through blizzard conditions the like of which we hadn't seen in Australia!!!!

http://www.stormchasers.au.com/usa060510.htm

 

[Jeff House]

Kansas City area spring break 1984. We had an ice storm as bad as the 2005 ice storm; both knocked out almost all electricity. Some people were out 2-3 weeks each time. However I was not there in 2005; so, watching the 1984 storm as a child is my most intense winter storm memory.

Rain began in the morning with temps right around 32. Due to the March timing the ground was warm and the streets never got bad. However it started to stick to trees and power lines immediately. Through mid-afternoon the trees drooped like I'd never seen before. Branches started to snap but the lights where still on.

By dark heavy ice accumulation continued with a slight breeze now kicking up. A huge limb on our elm tree crashed down. It sounded like lightning struck outside and barely missed shattering the glass storm door on our front stoop. Dad and I stepped out on the covered back porch to a surreal site as power began to fail everywhere. Occasional white pops were seen. However the most striking memory is those eerie green glows, with only a buzz, as other power failed. It was almost like frequent lighting at times. Pop, green glow, buzz. Slowly it seemed the whole city was going dark. The rain continued, along with that breeze that tipped the scale from major to catastrophic.

The next day it started to melt, especially by evening, though almost the entire city was without power. As a child I was fascinated by the trees raining a second time. I even wrote an essay called The Night the Trees Rained for school. I still have that paper; glad Mom kept it. At the time I was told it was excellent writing for a student that age. Perhaps it was the powerful experience that brought it out.

 

[Stephen Levine]

Thank you for your awesome stories.
I have another one to add.. It was February, 1991 and I was on my cross country move from VT to SF.
Coming into Flagstaff, AZ that night, I saw something I had never seen before.. big nearly full moon shining brightly while large fluffy snowflakes were falling.
The next morning I awoke to the heaviest snowfall prediction that I had ever heard.. 25 to over 30 inches of snow within the next several hours just outside Flagstaff.
Snow was already falling and at least 4" already lay on the earth.
Concerned about impending road conditions, I chose to head out and continue my journey ASAP..
On I-40 not far outside Flagstaff are a couple very high elevation bridges.
Like clockwork, every time I got to the bridge, a huge semi truck pulled up along side of me and stayed along side of me for at least 20 seconds. The resultant thick cover of slush completely buried my windshield in live time so that even with wipers going, I couldn't see a thing outside my car. I drove blindly in terror praying that my car was still going straight on this bridge- it was a gigantic drop to earth below. This happened on two occasions.
Six hours later I reached SE Calif and experienced a remarkable season change.
Instead of heavy snow, partial sunshine and warm rather humid winds flowed upon me. In addition, there were scattered thunderheads in the sky.

 

[Keith Wilson]

2 come to mind. Trudging my way thought snow drifts and blizzard conditions in an 18 wheeler in Eastern PA during that big one of 92??

You might be thinking of the Superstorm of 93 which brought horrendous conditions to the entire Eastern US.

I guess the worst I can remember was in the winter of 78 when the huge snowstorm hit the central US / Ohio Valley. I wasn't even old enough to have a driver's license yet, but it snowed for 3-days. Snowfall totals were all over the board in our area (Western Kentucky), but the last measurement that we took was 27" in our back yard.
The roads were impassible thanks to 5' and 6' drifts and Dad was snowed in on his truck up in St. Louis, so I volunteered to walk the 3/4 mile through the woods (shortcut) to the store in town and bring back some basic necessities. Mom was frantic when I finally got home a few hours later with my clothes frozen stiff. She said that I looked like a snowman

 

[Jasson Dotts]

You might be thinking of the Superstorm of 93 which brought horrendous conditions to the entire Eastern US.

I guess the worst I can remember was in the winter of 78 when the huge snowstorm hit the central US / Ohio Valley. I wasn't even old enough to have a driver's license yet, but it snowed for 3-days. Snowfall totals were all over the board in our area (Western Kentucky), but the last measurement that we took was 27" in our back yard.
The roads were impassible thanks to 5' and 6' drifts and Dad was snowed in on his truck up in St. Louis, so I volunteered to walk the 3/4 mile through the woods (shortcut) to the store in town and bring back some basic necessities. Mom was frantic when I finally got home a few hours later with my clothes frozen stiff. She said that I looked like a snowman

I have almost the same experience that year. Except it was my Dad and my Uncle who had to walk through the woods to get to town. I had to show them where the trails started in the woods. I was bummed cause they wouldn't let me go all the way to town with them. Snowmobiles were useless due to the amount of snow fall. One of the best memories of my life was the fun us kids had that winter.

 

[Jordan Hartley]

White out conditions, we got 7 inches in just a couple of hours and the peak wind gust recorded in town that day was 53mph. Barely got home from work after getting sent home. Waited an hour then I walked a half-mile to an overpass with my snow sled and went at it for 30 mins back in 2007. Truly an incredible experience. Always wanted to experience blizzard conditions and I hit the jackpot that day!

 

[Kris Harmon]

I would have to say it was in January of 96. I was working as a police officer in a small town near Fort Hood Texas. We had a major ice storm hit the central Texas area with some places having as much as an inch and a half thick sheet of ice on the roads. Fort Hood had closed to all except "Mission Essential" personnel so that naturally meant that every GI and civilian employee from Fort Hood was on the highway going somewhere since they didn't have to be at work.

I worked 36 minor traffic accidents without incident. My 37th accident of the day was one of the most intense moments of my life. I was talking to the driver of a vehicle that had gone into the ditch and rolled onto its side. One moment the lady I was talking to was standing there, the next moment she was running in the opposite direction. I turned around just in time to see a white truck spinning out of control in my direction. I didn't have time to run, but I was able to twist my body to one side. The truck slid past so close that the driver side mirror caught the hood of my jacket. Luckily, the hood snapped onto the back of the jacket so I didn't get drug along with the truck.

The truck smacked into the car that was on it's side and knocked it over onto it's roof with the hood from my jacket still dangling from the side view mirror.


KHarmon