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re: The Birmingham weather people dropped the ball big time
Posted on 1/28/14 at 10:59 pm to TheCheshireHog
Posted on 1/28/14 at 10:59 pm to TheCheshireHog
They're just not prepared for it here because it happens rarely. But back in Columbia, the only time I saw anything close to this level of fubar, we had 18" of snow in about 12 hours, thundersnow, major drifting and below 10 degree temps. And they still didn't call out the national guard.
Honestly, I'm not sure they'd get the trucks out in Columbia for the amount of snow they had here today. But people aren't familiar with it, and they panicked. Tens of thousands of people hit the roads at the same time. Hundreds, if not thousands, of wrecks. Police stopped responding unless there were injuries. Buses couldn't get to schools, and neither could parents. Which further fed the panic.
Honestly, I'm not sure they'd get the trucks out in Columbia for the amount of snow they had here today. But people aren't familiar with it, and they panicked. Tens of thousands of people hit the roads at the same time. Hundreds, if not thousands, of wrecks. Police stopped responding unless there were injuries. Buses couldn't get to schools, and neither could parents. Which further fed the panic.
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Posted on 1/28/14 at 11:09 pm to semotruman
Yeah snow is no bueno unless you're around it a lot. The highway departments in Alabama and Georgia aren't going to pay for the necessary equipment for something that rarely happens. Like I said, in the 4 years I lived in Atlanta it snowed one time for a grand total of about 1 inch. It doesn't surprise me at all that they weren't prepared today and of course the general population suffers for it.
On the other hand, like you were saying, in the past month or so here in Springfield we've had around 17 inches of snow I believe and I have yet to miss a day of work because of it. MDot is absurdly efficient when it comes to getting the road cleared. Them and the good ole boys that attach the plows to their trucks for the fun of it.
On the other hand, like you were saying, in the past month or so here in Springfield we've had around 17 inches of snow I believe and I have yet to miss a day of work because of it. MDot is absurdly efficient when it comes to getting the road cleared. Them and the good ole boys that attach the plows to their trucks for the fun of it.
This post was edited on 1/28/14 at 11:11 pm
Posted on 1/29/14 at 11:30 am to semotruman
It isn't as if this happens every time it snows in Birmingham or Atlanta. Snow in the Deep South is infrequent but it does happen about 3 times every 2 years on average in Bham and Atlanta. The problems with this particular situation is that all the forecasts had the snow and ice comfortably South of those areas. Models started shifting north in the hours leading up to the event and they were downplayed by local meteorologists. The second problem was the unusually cold ground temperatures cause sleet and snow to freeze instantly on roads. Two inches of snow in Bham and Atlanta causes a few problems but when it causes roads to essentially become ice skating rinks it doesn't take much to cause problems.
Heck, even here in Mobile we have a half inch of solid ice on the roads from the inch of sleet that fell yesterday. A car unsuccessfully tried to leave our relatively flat parking lot and spun its wheels.
Heck, even here in Mobile we have a half inch of solid ice on the roads from the inch of sleet that fell yesterday. A car unsuccessfully tried to leave our relatively flat parking lot and spun its wheels.
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