Alabama/Atlanta Snowpocalypse: When meteorology goes terribly wrong

mate, it's not that hard. This is not like the World Series 1989 earthquake that just happened with no warning and caught everyone by surprise. People could see this was coming. We had a winter storm warning where I live 18 hours in advance. I got all my important stuff the day before and then didn't go out in the mess. All it really takes is a teeny-tiny bit of planning and not having your head up your butt (which, admittedly, might be a lot to ask of some).

So your child misses a day of school? So what? A lot better than getting stuck in a cold car for 18 hours or whatever.

I do put media on the "essential" list. Maybe not at the same level as hospitals, police, EMS and so forth. But a notch above, say, advertising executive, insurance adjuster or fast-food worker. If there was no reporting, people would freak out.

 

Sort of like the Oakland Raiders draft strategy.

 

See, this to me is just stupid ignorance.

Just because someone has never dealt with something before, or deals with it so irregularly that it's essentially still an unknown, it does not mean the person has no sense.

Two inches of snow in the deep South is a HUGE deal. Anyone who doesn't think so really should reconsider journalism as a career field.

 

Defending incompetence is the mark of ignorance.
He's the one who took the shot at me.
I am here to discuss current events.

 

This stuff can be learned. I hope people there did learn.

If you aren't skilled at doing something, sometimes tis best to stay on the porch. I don't swim, so you aren't going to see me doing summersaults off the high dive board.

 

People act like this is some Halley Comet-like occurrence.
Two inches is not that fucking peculiar.
Now, this was a "weather event" deserving of the label.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/20-years-ago-today-atlanta-slammed-by-rare-blizzar/nWqcL/

 

I don't think I have seen it mentioned on this thread yet, but I wonder about southern cities having a capability to pre-treat roadways with a brine solution before it even starts snowing/icing.

It all comes down to money and equipment of course, but in the absence of a lot of plows, pre-treatment might work best and take out the variable of when the precipitation actually starts to fall.

 

The thing people aren't grasping is that when these people hit the roads . . . the roads were fine. Fine enough, anyway.

It was the NUMBER of people on the roads that caused the problem, that caused the initial traffic jams, that caused roads to freeze over more quickly than had a steady stream of traffic been running on them.

 

AJ McCarron has blamed the whole mess on inexperienced drivers too
selfish to stay off the road.

 

How did it happen?
Where to start...
1) Forecasters had the right idea with the snow, but in central Alabama they missed the location by 100 miles to the north. Birmingham got what they throught Montgomery would.
2) Gov. Pandering sent much of Birmingham's road equipment south to help Montgomery and points south. Granted it wasn't much, but there weren't enough things like sand trucks.
3) Forecasters really screwed this one up. People like "The Most Unwatchably Pompous Man in Alabama, Suspenders Division" predicted a dusting based on things hitting south. And they also could have survived the snow forecast -- couple of years ago, Birmingham was hit with three inches of snow on a Sunday and it was off the roads by 1 p.m. Why? It had been in the 40/20, 50/30 range for temps for several weeks. But it's also been freezing or below for several weeks (December's gas bill came today... FML), so the ground was colder.
4) Schools and businesses released everyone at once creating gridlock Took Ms. Slappy 8 hours to get home -- 4 1/2 to go the last eight miles and all on the opposite end of the compass than 280, which got all the attention -- on snowy, but not icy roads.
5) The cars. You aren't going up a snowy incline or stopping on a decline with bald tires. And the more people tried, the more the friction turned the roadway to ice. Did a follow up story the next morning and saw a car on the side of the road, that had obviously skidded and banged against the curb, snapping the ball joint. Slope to the inside of the curve where the car came to rest wasn't that tough, but I'll bet the four bald tires made it a bitch.
6) Stubbornness. Drives of cars and trucks insisted they could get where they were going. When one lane was blocked, they moved to the next one, slipped on the hills and blocked the way for everyone else.
7) It's hilly as hell here and there's a domino effect.
8) They can't drive in the snow

 

Finally, a voice of reason.

What's also apparently missed is that a good percentage of the population grew up somewhere else where they are familiar with how to drive in snow.

I'll try one more time to offer my personal account on the roads Tuesday that echo BTE's comments. My trek covered the entire northern arc of 285 and 85 North so it certainly covers a good portion of the metro highways (southern 285 and the downtown connector notwithstanding). 35 mile total trip that on a normal day runs about an hour to an hour and ten in heavy traffic/rain.

Came out of a restaurant after lunch at 1:20pm. That puts me at one of the late ones to the party of getting on the roads. On the car was a good inch of white fluffy snow, No ice, and the light and fluffy kind that is rather simple to drive in. I'm about half way between downtown and 285 on I-75. Try to head north back toward the office to perhaps pick up my stuff. Take a side road north because 75 north is backed up. Then, working toward another side road that goes back into toward the office (around the Weather Channel offices, ironically). That road is blocked and not moving.

See that the ramp from 75 to I-285 east is moving so I skirt over a lane and grab that. Figure i can take that to the next exit on 285 to jump toward the office or at least I'm headed in the direction home regardless. Come around the corner of 75 onto 285 that gives visibility into a number of roads in that area, and that's where I see armageddon and now know what we're facing.

285 east is at least inching along. I can view the frontage/side roads below to the south of my position and it's gridlocked. Three way stop where as far as you can see in any direction there are cars backed up one after the other. Intersection completely filled with cars and with nowhere to go because in front of them it's completely blocked as far as you can see. These folks are pretty much stuck in place.

Look across the road to the north to the other frontage road that runs parallel to 285--same story---cars at a stand still, backed up as far as you can see. I-285 west at a halt as well. It's now probably been at least an hour, getting near 3pm, and I've gone maybe 5 miles tops. Snow still falling lightly, maybe another half inch.
Probably one of the more surreal sites I've ever seen--I've lived for essentially the last quarter century in Chicago or Atlanta, and I've never seen that many cars in one spot in my life.

Moving slowly on 285 east toward the next exit and see it's blocked and backed up essentially to the highway. The decision that's been made already is confirmed--it's just a matter of trying to get home now. The further east I get on 285, the more it moves. By the time I get to 400 (proabably around 3:15), I'm normally about a 30 minute ride from home. Starts to open up more--I'm averaging 25-30mph on slushy wet roads.

Get to Spaghetti Junction and expect to have an issue getting on I-85 north, where you have to traverse the highest higway ramp in the city. Not a problem--no back up, no issue with traction, move easily around the ramp onto 85. Now about 3:30--15 miles from home. Still snowing.

85 is a breeze. We probably average 40 miles per hour over that 15 mile stretch and I'm home by 4pm. The one difference from where I was to where I live is that our county schools did not dismiss right at 1pm like Cobb county did, putting everyone on the roads at the same time.

Snow comes down for maybe a half hour more---done by around 4:30. 2 - 2 and 1/2 inches tops.

The driving only got bad as the sun went down, the temps dropped and the light snow packed into ice. If people had staggered their rides home, we probably had about a 5 or 6 hour window to get everyone home--very doable with the rather easy road conditions at the time. But, those poor bastards who sat in Cobb County, downtown, on 285 south couldn't move, and became sitting ducks as the road conditions worsened. Then even slight hills became a challenge for cars and semis alike, and still too many cars on the road, and absolutely no way for those clogged roads to be treated.

Only one man's experience. But, despite anything regarding the weather forecast or treated or non-treated roads, this was a situation created, caused and exacerbated by gridlocked traffic.

 

Let's cut through all the bullshit.

The real reason for the gridlock is racism: http://slate.me/1dejaFt