Severe Weather

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I mean look - I get that certain places that don't get snow/ice are ill-equipped to deal with these types of things, but have they ever you know...thought of asking for advice on what to do from states with experience (and yes I know it wouldn't be perfect advice, because states that do deal with it view this as no big deal), but they could at least say "oh gee...you're not equipped to deal with it at all...you should cancel school" or "oh gee mr. governor...you might want to tell all non-emergency personnel to stay off the roads today and close down the government"

No. In Cherokee County in particular, it's inexcusable. It's far enough north (and enough in the foothills) that the they have to deal with this at least once or twice every school year. It's not like it's Charleston or South Georgia where it might be a once a decade kinda of thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

"oh gee mr. governor...you might want to tell all non-emergency personnel to stay off the roads today and close down the government"

No governor in his right mind would ever touch something like open/close decisions for local schools. He'd get strung up no matter what he did.

As little as 2 hours before this started getting serious my FB wall was filled with people mocking systems that had planned to close at noon. Since last night there was a steady back & forth between natives who know how unsuited for this most areas are versus transplants making fun of the closings ... said transplants are mostly now stuck somewhere on I-75.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Here's a snippet from a FB friend about his day in Cherokee (I'll remove the names)

Daughter #2 got home at 12:20.Daughter #1 was called for her bus and made it home by 2 or so. Son #1 wasn't called and they stuck him on a second load bus AFTER the roads were good and icy. Bus slid in a ditch and I just got him home. Trying to devise a route to get Wife and Son #2 from the downtown Canton area.

edit to add: Keep in mind, parking lots & bridges & such were already iced up/snowed over in Canton by 10 or 1030a.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

No governor in his right mind would ever touch something like open/close decisions for local schools. He'd get strung up no matter what he did.

As little as 2 hours before this started getting serious my FB wall was filled with people mocking systems that had planned to close at noon. Since last night there was a steady back & forth between natives who know how unsuited for this most areas are versus transplants making fun of the closings ... said transplants are mostly now stuck somewhere on I-75.

Governor wouldn't close schools of course not. But Governor can close down state government offices and "strongly suggest" to large employers that they close for the day. They do that sort of stuff up here in huge storms. Then again, I suppose that'd be viewed as "government intrusion" and ignored, rather than as a sensible public safety precaution hmm?

[JPhillips]

Leon's bringin the ruckus.

[Ben E Lou]

Right, Jon, and that's where I say the Cherokee County thing is inexcusable. Any Southerner with half a brain knows that we don't have the equipment and infrastructure to deal with this stuff. It's far more cost-effective to just shut down everything and stay home than for local governments to own equipment that they might go a few years between needing to use. So when a rare big storm comes, just freaking shut 'er down.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Governor wouldn't close schools of course not. But Governor can close down state government offices and "strongly suggest" to large employers that they close for the day. They do that sort of stuff up here in huge storms. Then again, I suppose that'd be viewed as "government intrusion" and ignored, rather than as a sensible public safety precaution hmm?

Wouldn't have mattered much in Cherokee (the state government thing). It's largely a bedroom (and retail) community, the schools are almost certainly still the largest employer, followed by hospitals.

Have to keep in mind (I think) ...

Georgia = 59,425 sq mi
Massachusetts = 10,555 sq mi

[RainMaker]

The crappy thing about Chicago right now is we've been hit from both ends. It's one of the snowier winters we've had and one of the coldest on top of it. Usually it's one or the other, I can't remember a time when we got hit with both so much.

I'm also a fan of winter but this year has spoiled it. I just want a nice 50 degree day.

[miked]

Emory and GT closed at 1pm. Still was crazy around there. There's about 50k employees between Emory and the CDC (and CHOA) in that 1/2 mile radius. Every time it snows, there are 2 HUGE hills near campus that get iced and closed off. I was 2 cars in front of where they decided to cut off traffic (after I had waited an hour to go 2 blocks) and then it was much better. But every time it snows these 2 hills turn in to clusterfucks. Do they ever pre-salt it when people know it was guaranteed to snow 48+ hours away? Of course not, then shit hits the fan every time

[Alan T]

I grew up in Cobb county next door to Cherokee. We used to always joke that they would cancel school for even the chance of snow flurries back in the day. I guess they don't do that anymore it seems. The reality of Cherokee county is the very north part used to be really dangerous in any kind of ice or snow, so if any county in the area should know better, you would think it would be them

[Peregrine]

They're predicting 5-8 inches here overnight. Crazy - been a while since we had that much snow.

[RainMaker]

I think school was cancelled twice in my entire youth and this year they're going on like the 4th or 5th day of closures.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Right, Jon, and that's where I say the Cherokee County thing is inexcusable. Any Southerner with half a brain knows that we don't have the equipment and infrastructure to deal with this stuff. It's far more cost-effective to just shut down everything and stay home than for local governments to own equipment that they might go a few years between needing to use. So when a rare big storm comes, just freaking shut 'er down.

To be fair to them....

Since Sunday, the weather service has been saying everything was going to be south of Atlanta. They expect no more than trace amounts in Atlanta and north. Then this morning they added Atlanta proper into the warning, but still said Cherokee shouldn't expect more than a trace to an inch. They were not added to the warning till AFTER the roads started freezing over. It wasn't the school board that screwed up. It was the weather service, with all their computers and models, that still can't predict what the weather is going to be like an hour from now.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Can't wait for the 'Polar Vortex Cripples South' headlines on all the evening news telecasts and online sites.

Though I do have to admit that reading this thread makes you wonder just how stupid people are.

[Peregrine]

This class 3 killstorm is bearing down on us like a shotgun full of snow.

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

You've got to be kidding me. This one wasn't exactly a surprise...

neither was Katrina, doesnt mean people wont ignore the signs

[JonInMiddleGA]

[Ben E Lou]

We're getting freezing rain now. Thin coating of ice on our magnolia tree.

[Thomkal]

Have a friend who lives in Jasper, Georgia area. Not sure exactly where that is in relation to the talk here. She was notified by school at noon they were closing, went to go pick up son. Normally takes 30 mins. After an hour she was only 1/3 of the way there. Her husband called then and said he would go get him because his work was closer to the school. 2 hours later still hadn't made it to the school.

Texted her to tell her still hadn't made it, was considering leaving car to walk to the school and go get him and bring him back to the car. Crazy

[Thomkal]

Now have ice on the shrubs outside on front door here in Myrtle Beach. Saw a local forecast saying its going to stay pretty much all freezing rain and ice all night-may not get any actual solid snowfall until and between 6 am till 8 am, and maybe none at all, which would just suck after all the talk and preparations.

[miked]

The worst is yet to come. Freezing rain and temperatures in the teens = likely power outages and no ability to get around tomorrow. I haven't seen a plow yet today and I live 3 miles from some hospitals. Just spoke to a friend that works at GT and left at 1:30 (lives in Gwinnett) and isn't home yet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Have a friend who lives in Jasper, Georgia area. Not sure exactly where that is in relation to the talk here. She was notified by school at noon they were closing, went to go pick up son. Normally takes 30 mins. After an hour she was only 1/3 of the way there. Her husband called then and said he would go get him because his work was closer to the school. 2 hours later still hadn't made it to the school.

Texted her to tell her still hadn't made it, was considering leaving car to walk to the school and go get him and bring him back to the car. Crazy

Hey, that's where I grew up.

For relevance to the thread stuff, Jasper is 20 minutes +/- north of Canton. Next county north. I'll guess they live up/near Burnt Mountain, it's been pretty much impassable since morning, even had emergency vehicles end up in the ditch.

Bigger problem at this point may be trying to get back home/off the road once he picks up the kid

[Wolfpack]

All those incidents in North Georgia are pretty reminescent of what happened in Raleigh several years back with that snow/ice storm that crippled the city unexpectedly and trapped everyone in traffic (or in the case of some kids, school). Was pretty embarrassing because the national headlines were all about how the city got crippled by one inch of frozen precip. No one seemed to understand that the weather wasn't well predicted so there wasn't any reason to shut the city and prepare for what happened. Fortunately, I missed out on the fun because we were still in Michigan at the time, trudging our way through yet another long snowy winter while everything in Raleigh melted by the next day.

At any rate, if this thing is going to crack the half-foot mark like some forecasts were beginning to show last night, it's going to have to work a bit harder than it has been. Snow's been very lightly falling since a little after 5 and is now finally beginning to coat the surfaces a bit.

[JonInMiddleGA]

At the moment I've got one friend who left to pick up her kid 6.5 hours ago & still hasn't made it home, another who is at 4 hours & counting still trying to get there, another who made it after 4 hours.

[RainMaker]

Why is it taking so long? I'm always baffled at the stories down South about this stuff. Is it people are just not used to the weather?

[cartman]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Why is it taking so long? I'm always baffled at the stories down South about this stuff. Is it people are just not used to the weather?

The big issues are that rarely is it snow, it is ice. And on top of it there isn't the infrastructure to send out salt/sand trucks en masse to put substances on the road to get traction in icing conditions. So you end up with people trying to drive on skating rinks.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by cartman

The big issues are that rarely is it snow, it is ice. And on top of it there isn't the infrastructure to send out salt/sand trucks en masse to put substances on the road to get traction in icing conditions. So you end up with people trying to drive on skating rinks.

This.

[Ben E Lou]

I'm starting to read some frightening stuff on FB. This just popped up a few minutes ago:

Any Vinings area friends who could take in my friend Charles and his 5 year old, Leif, tonight? They've been driving since about 1:00 and still haven't made it to Marietta.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by cartman

The big issues are that rarely is it snow, it is ice. And on top of it there isn't the infrastructure to send out salt/sand trucks en masse to put substances on the road to get traction in icing conditions. So you end up with people trying to drive on skating rinks.

I guess tires on cars aren't made for this weather either. I know there is a huge difference in tires designed for snow and no-snow.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I'm starting to read some frightening stuff on FB. This just popped up a few minutes ago:

Sounds about like what I'm hearing. Nearly 7 hours for a friend to pick up her son from a stuck school bus near Dunwoody ... meanwhile her daughter has been on a bus since 1230p and still hasn't gotten home.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I guess tires on cars aren't made for this weather either. I know there is a huge difference in tires designed for snow and no-snow.

Yeah, no one in the South changes tires with the seasons. Even with snow tires, if it is a half inch thick sheet of ice on the roads, they aren't going to make a difference.

[JonInMiddleGA]

For those who find the Georgia troubles so perplexing, here's what seems to be developing:

A lot of schools started sending kids home early about the same time people were being released from work early. Instant rush hour, with the addition of both buses and snow/ice.

edit to add: DOT spokesman said they had relatively few seriously icy patches on the interstates right now but the trucks can't get anywhere near 'em to salt them. Virtual gridlock on the highway (as every rush hour is) and those trucks don't exactly zip in & out of traffic. Emergency lanes are clogged with abandoned cars, wrecks, etc.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Update: that one stranded girl finally landed at a friend's house ... 7.5 hours after she got on the bus to go home.

For those that know the Atlanta area, this is freakin' Dunwoody for Chrissakes. Kids could have crawled home blindfolded faster than this clusterfuck.

[RainMaker]

This sounds like horrible planning on the part of the schools. Didn't they see this coming?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

This sounds like horrible planning on the part of the schools. Didn't they see this coming?

Some places yes, some places not nearly so much so. Northern suburbs (like Cherokee, Bartow, etc) were told all week that they'd get little to nothing from this. It was expected to hit basically south of Atlanta for a change.

Instead, the north got pounded pretty good (4 inches snow + ice still coming down) about an hour north of Atlanta where I grew up. Meanwhile those who were expecting to get hit ended up with at/less than the 2" predictions and a couple hours later than expected.

edit: the gripe for some of those who got surprised is/will be that it took far too long to react to the changing conditions, this was a steady build all morning starting before 10a. Waiting until 12p-1p to start loading buses, some of which had to do a route and then return/reload for a second route was very bad decision making (and as Fulton Co showed, albeit with its own set of issues, you can turn the decision VERY quickly even in a VERY large system)

[chadritt]

FYI: Theres a Facebook group called snowedoutatlanta where people are offering places to stay or at least warm up. https://www.facebook.com/groups/397839673695382

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Some places yes, some places not nearly so much so. Northern suburbs (like Cherokee, Bartow, etc) were told all week that they'd get little to nothing from this. It was expected to hit basically south of Atlanta for a change.

Instead, the north got pounded pretty good (4 inches snow + ice still coming down) about an hour north of Atlanta where I grew up. Meanwhile those who were expecting to get hit ended up with at/less than the 2" predictions and a couple hours later than expected.

edit: the gripe for some of those who got surprised is/will be that it took far too long to react to the changing conditions, this was a steady build all morning starting before 10a. Waiting until 12p-1p to start loading buses, some of which had to do a route and then return/reload for a second route was very bad decision making (and as Fulton Co showed, albeit with its own set of issues, you can turn the decision VERY quickly even in a VERY large system)

Also I'm pretty sure there was some reaction to cancelling schools the first week of year, when it was supposed to snow, but never did. I know that people got really pissed off when Decatur schools canceled schools for the threat of snow the night before that never materialized (and then canceled schools again for 6 degree weather the next day).

May have made administrators a bit gun shy this time.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Hey, that's where I grew up.

For relevance to the thread stuff, Jasper is 20 minutes +/- north of Canton. Next county north. I'll guess they live up/near Burnt Mountain, it's been pretty much impassable since morning, even had emergency vehicles end up in the ditch.

Bigger problem at this point may be trying to get back home/off the road once he picks up the kid

Well glad I was able to give you a bit of an update then. They just moved there in the last month-some welcome to the neighborhood. She says the road (hill) is basically near the school is closed down. Her husband did make it to the school at least-not sure if on foot or by car. They and about 15 other families are going to have to spend the night in the school gym. But better there than stuck in a traffic jam for hours.

[miked]

This lady was just being interviewed on the news and was talking about, how after the last debacle in 2011 they were so much better prepared. They added tons of salt barns and a few trucks and they were "so ready to prove themselves" but they can't because of the traffic. If they were so ready to prove themselves, maybe they should have gotten the trucks out on the roads before the storm hit to pre-salt. There are just too many yankees down here to be this bad at snow.

[Thomkal]

Well I guess this is why you want Jim Cantore in your town during a storm:

Guy Tries To Attack Jim Cantore During Live Shot, Immediately Regrets It

[Thomkal]

lots of freezing rain here in Myrtle Beach everything pretty much covered in ice-live in lot with trees down one side, a few on the other side and one in front of the house which is likely the most vulnerable as its by itself with no protection from other trees. Hope we don't lose any or lose power-that would suck big time.

[Ben E Lou]

Opened the front door to take a look outside. I could hear ice on the magnolia tree. Lights just flickered here.

[cartman]

Projected to hit 19 degrees at my house tonight. Back to a high of 78 of Friday.

[ISiddiqui]

It's supposed to be in the mid 60s in Atlanta this weekend while its 21 right now. Crazy stuff in the Southern US.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by chadritt

FYI: Theres a Facebook group called snowedoutatlanta where people are offering places to stay or at least warm up. https://www.facebook.com/groups/397839673695382

That's surreal. It's moved into a "survival" situation.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by cartman

Projected to hit 19 degrees at my house tonight. Back to a high of 78 of Friday.

Hank Hill must be into an all-out propane emergency at this point.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Opened the front door to take a look outside. I could hear ice on the magnolia tree. Lights just flickered here.

uhoh. Yeah I could hear the ice on the shrubs outside the front door here.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

That's surreal. It's moved into a "survival" situation.

Interesting question came up today here: "I wonder who the beneficiary of this Snow Jam will be"

It was Snow Jam '82 that saved a failing restaurant .. that would become famous: Longhorn Steaks

LongHorn Steakhouse - Features :: GO: AirTran Inflight Magazine

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Well I guess this is why you want Jim Cantore in your town during a storm:

Guy Tries To Attack Jim Cantore During Live Shot, Immediately Regrets It

Who the hell decides to eff with someone nicknamed the Angel of Death?

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

This sounds like horrible planning on the part of the schools. Didn't they see this coming?

Winter weather forecasting is really hard: where is the precipitation and where is the ice line.

In Houston, you had the opposite problem today. We got hit pretty hard last Friday and it looked bad again today. However, it wasn't that bad so we have people complaining about how they cancelled school when they shouldn't. So they're taking heat from the other side.

SI