It's snowing outside....

Albie

Albie

Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
OK, hands up. Who thought this was going to lead into some blurb about "Where Eagles Dare" and posted in the wrong forum?

Nope, it's about snow. Today, the best part of southern England and most of Wales (and I believe the Republic was hit as well) has had around 4 inches (or 10 cms for the European in us) of snow. So what happens when such treacherous weather conditions occur? The whole country grinds to a halt! Schools close, shops shut, airports stop flights, people barely make it into work (well, I managed it). Folk north of the border (i.e. Scotland) look upon us with a wry smile and cannot believe how we fail to cope with it. "Snow is measured in feet up here", they say. The problem is, as it only happens to us once every three or four years and it lasts for around one (or at the most, two) day(s), there seems little purpose in spending time and effort to prepare for such a rare(ish) occurrence. Yes, we could (and should) do better, but we sort of manage - eventually.

So, out of curoisty, how do other nations cope? Is it as bad as us southern Brits, or is it just taken in your stride. I dare say the Canadians, the Swedes, etc that post here, cope admirably, but what about countries that suffer this occasionally? Do you, as a nation, cope?
 
We got a little flurry of snow outside, but none of it kept over here, as the ground was too wet. All that happened was that people got more soaked than usual, and therefore pissed off. We rarely get snow over here, but nothing much changes when we do, that I notice anyway. Once, in my memory, did we have a snow day, and that was the largest amount of snow that had fallen in something like thirty years, and half the school was missing due to it.
 
We had exactly that scenario two or three weeks ago. Everybody behaves like it's winter for the first time in their lives.
 
Don't you think it's much better in Sweden.

To the people who maintain roads, snow seems to come as a complete surprise every winter, with complete traffic chaos following. Meteorologists warn about heavy snowfall next week. Nothing is done. Snow falls. Roads are blocked up. The people who are supposed to prevent this kind of thing say; "how were we supposed to know there might be snow?".
 
We had one day of snow at the end of january and it was the end of the world, especially in the middle of France . I've heard that there was a 10 hours traffic jam on the highway coming from the south !!! And I can't believe what Shadow said . I always thought that we should take exemple on Scandinavians as they should know how to deal with such situations !!!
 
The last major winter weather problem here was chaotic.  The salt truck people expected high snowfall, so when we had freezing rain instead, the salt truck people weren't expected to come.  They came later which caused a problem for early drivers (before 7 AM).  (Note: Snow plow people and salt truck people cannot co-ordinate themselves).  Also due to new environmental standards that prevent massive salt residue on streets/highways, the salt trucks seem to go slower to ensure less waste, environmental damage and better spread of salt over a wider area.  It also seems that many drivers went very slow, even though there did not seem to have been a reason for it.  By the time I came on the road, (7:30) the salt trucks did at least one round and were on their second.  So the road was salted, yet traffic ground to a virtual standstill.  Sissies.  ::)
 
I live in L.A., and we got snow for the first time in ages: a very small dusting of snow in Malibu, with no real accumulation.  Major news.  I went to law school in Chicago, and they are very prepared for snow there and handle it well.  The city government has a battalion of snowplows and salt trucks that almost always get the important roads clear before the morning commute.  Beware if you park on the street, however, as the plows can imprison your car behind a wall of snow as tall as a person. 
 
Here in Tucson we got snow for the first time in years too. SNOW IN THE DESERT! WTF? Hell froze over lol. It was a surreal site to say the least.
 
Though Denver gets snow every winter, it usually doesn't stay on the ground very long. Because our winters are typically warm (at least, above freezing) and the air is always dry, it usually melts / evaporates away in a day or two. Thus, most snow creates the phenomenon that Albie complained about: people drive like they've never seen snow before, simply because they don't get many days to get used to it.

However, this year we've had the snowiest winter since the 1930s (for Denver). We had a blizzard just before Xmas - two and a half feet in one day. Then another foot a week later. Since then, three showers that gave us around six inches each, plus about six more showers good for another inch or two each.

Total that up, and we've had over 5 feet of snow in less than 2 months. Maybe far northern countries are used to this - heck, even the Rocky Mountains just west of Denver are used to this - but the city of Denver is not.

First of all, 5 feet of snow doesn't pile 5 feet high. As bits melt and then refreeze daily, it packs down into 4 inches of solid ice with about 2 feet of snow on top. There was so much snow that only the main roads have ever been plowed. Side streets, like the one I live on, still have not been plowed even once this winter. If it were daytime, I'd go outside and shoot some pics for you of the deathtrap that is my street.

Why is it a deathtrap? Because the cars have pushed away all the snow, so you're left with that 4 inches of solid ice to drive on. And as cars have driven on that, they've eroded ruts where their wheels went. So one option is to try to drive on solid ice outside the ruts. I usually prefer that, but it can be nasty. I've found myself sliding sideways down my street s few times. The other choice is to drive in the ruts, which go all the way down to the street. However, this means it's difficult getting out of the ruts once you're in. And since there's just one track down the middle of the street, this causes headaches when another car comes along the other way.

Meanwhile, on the main streets which got plowed, the constant thawing and freezing has opened up gaping potholes. I'm not talking about minor annoyances - I'm talking about potholes that average four feet across and one foot deep. Axle killers. They're all over town. In fact, that's the reason that the side streets are getting no help. All the city's workers are filling potholes.

Behind my house, there's a small river with trails alongside it. This is where everyone around here goes to walk our dogs. When the temperature was below freezing, it was okay - the snow packed down along the trails so you could at least walk, even if you froze while doing so. But we've now had several warm days, and it's all melting into slush. So you're fine if you stay on the foot-wide bit of packed snow that hasn't melted yet, but anywhere else you step is a one-foot drop of snow and slush.

Anyway, there is a bit of good news. Those two-inch snows that used to make everyone act like idiots? No more. Now, two more inches is nothing to us. And remember how I said snow usually doesn't stay on the ground long? Well, in two weeks Denver will have a new all-time record for most consecutive days with snow on the ground (64). Again, maybe not so impressive to people farther north. I remember that growing up in northern Wisconsin, we'd always have snow on the ground from Thanksgiving to April Fools. But here, this is an incredibly unusual winter.

The other day, I finally saw An Inconvenient Truth. Some of the information in that movie about global warming makes me think that this winter is related to that. With the oceans getting warmer, the water evaporates into weather systems more easily. And a great deal of our snow, including the big blizzard, was a system that picked up water from the Gulf of Mexico. It's the same phenomenon that make Katrina destroy New Orleans. It makes me think that more winters are going to be like this in the future, and I've already decided that I'm going to buy a snowblower for next winter. Shoveling out of a two-foot-plus blizzard sucks.
 
Hey there, folks...

Gotta laugh... been reading the posts, and..? 3 inches..? 5 inches..?

I live in northern Norway, in a small hole in the ground (yes, my home town is that small and insignificant) a couple of miles from north-cape...

And I gotta ask, what do you do when there is 3 1/2 FEET of wet and heavy (and I mean REALLY wet and heavy) snow piled up in front of you front door, completely blocking you in..?
Simple:
Jump out of the bedroom window and start shoveling...  :bigsmile:

Already had to do it 4-5 times in the past 14 days...

That said:
I do realize a couple of inches of unexpected snowfall in a region of the planet where such things simply should not be can cause trouble...
But whit global warming and the planets weather-balance going all screwy...

Best get used to it, gents'...   
 
MisterAJ said:
That said:
I do realize a couple of inches of unexpected snowfall in a region of the planet where such things simply should not be can cause trouble...
But whit global warming and the planets weather-balance going all screwy...

Best get used to it, gents'...   
Click to expand...
You said it. I live in western France and 2 weeks ago we had say, 3-4 cm of snow. It was just like the end of the world (no school, problems with roads etc).  :lol:
 
Well usually in Vienna we get snow in the winter but not that much and especially downtown it melts into disgusting slush pretty fast. Its never really a problem in the areas where lots of people live, but in the outer districts (where my school is) they don't bother ploughing really because they have their hands full with the more populated places. We have had snow days, but they are rare. This year though we have had an unusually warm winter, even now. In the ski resorts they were panicking because it was too warm even to make fake snow for the slopes, and the glaciers were melting (yes, that bad). So, following on from SMX's post, I say it has to do with global warming, some places are getting warmer and others colder, and we'll just haveto get used to a white or green christmas depending on where we are.
 
It was quite bizarre going in to a club on tuesday night when it was a little cold, coming out a couple of hours later and finding a thick layer of snow covering the ground. All I can say, is that it's a pain in the arse where I live because it's the hillilest town I've ever known, so I have to walk at a snail's pace everywhere so I don't end up on said arse. It took me over a minute to walk down my front drive last night, which is at this angle /, and not lit in the slightest.
 
Another problem we have with cold snaps such as these is the fact that old people die in their homes as either they cannot afford to turn the heating up, or their homes are not very well insulated (or both). I have read somewhere that this is not such a problem in Scandinavia, as their homes are better insulated (can any Scandinavians verify this?). But once again, this comes down to been ill-prepared for adverse conditions. As SMX stated for his part of the world, the best part of England has also mild winters (and warm summers) so for the temperature to fall below -5 Celsius does not happen that often for a sustained period of time. I've always thought that it is easier to warm up when it is cold than to cool down when it is hot - but for the older generation (i.e. over 80's) it is not so easy.

One positive thing the snow offers, is spectacular scenery.
 
Well, there's insulated and then there's insulated. It all depends on what you compare it to, sure the houses in Sweden are insulated better than those in Spain for example, but between Austrian and Swedish homes I see no great difference. Plus I don't think those little red summer huts that are so stereotypically Scandinavian are all that well insulated :P (oh, wait, thats why we only use them in the summer). Honestly, I think its just that in Sweden everyone knows they will die if they don't have heating and electricity, so they save up and spend less on other items (buy frozen food, etc etc). Speaking of electricity, the electricity bills are atrocious in Sweden because, of course, the government take advantage of the extremely inelastic demand for it and tax it heavily. Sorry, I digressed. :blush:
 
Oh yeah, man...

Same rotten deal in Norway... Once the power companies see the opertunity they scream out load about power shortage, low water reservoirs (hydro-electric power), and juice up the prices...

A few years back, old people were literaly freezing to death in THE MIDDLE OF OSLO!!! ...just because some greedy pig-f¤%ker made sure they could not afford the electric bill...  :dead:

Same thing this year:
They make up a phony story about a "power-crisis" and tune up the prices...

bunch 'a BS, is what it is...  :censored:
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
.....

Why is it a deathtrap? Because the cars have pushed away all the snow, so you're left with that 4 inches of solid ice to drive on. And as cars have driven on that, they've eroded ruts where their wheels went. So one option is to try to drive on solid ice outside the ruts. I usually prefer that, but it can be nasty. I've found myself sliding sideways down my street s few times. The other choice is to drive in the ruts, which go all the way down to the street. However, this means it's difficult getting out of the ruts once you're in. And since there's just one track down the middle of the street, this causes headaches when another car comes along the other way.

.....
Click to expand...

I sure know what that is like.  ;)
It is hard to figure out how to travel to your buddy's house just down the road in those conditions.  Do you wait a while for the car to warm up and then go through the damn compacted ice paths OR do you walk and fall and bang your head on those ice paths.  We had not had a winter like that for at least 3 years.  I'm not waiting for them to come back either.
 
Here in Newfoundland, Canada the snow is at an average depth of 3 feet after two weeks of fairly warm weather melting it. We have another storm forcasted for tomorrow morning though.
The drifts can get as high as 7 or 8 feet, and the sides of the streets have banks higher than that from the ploughs.

The rest of Canada usually mocks Vancouver when they get snow, because they're always unprepared. The twon in which I grew up (pop. 15,000) owns more snow removal equipment than the city of Vancouver (pop. easily over 1,000,000). It's nuts.

I love seeing footage on the news when Atlanta or the Carolinas get a light dusting of snow....they just go farking apeshit.
 
How I envy you!  We don't have any snow on Mexico City.  When I was in Canada a couple of winters ago, I was so glad that I could see that kind of weather, oh how beautiful that was.  Perhaps, maybe some of you, take that for granted.
 
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