Snowing here in Fairfax, Virginia...

[Monkeyleg]

I had my '65 GTO in the early 1970's when Milwaukee was getting hammered with snow. It was pointless to drive it.

I've tried every year to get my wife to do the parking lot training, but she just won't, so she'll never overcome her fear of driving in snow.

[K Frame]

My truck's got a limper in it.  Mtnbkr can attest that it can be a fun ride on ice.....

Remember. When you turn it turtle, that is the OFFICIAL start to winter in the DC metro region!

[mgdavis]

A bump for this video of horrible winter driving from Seattle a year or two ago. ( I know it says Portland, but it's really Seattle.)

People here have no idea how to drive in the snow and ice. We get about two or three nasty icy days a year, and everything shuts down for it. School gets canceled for a 1/2" of snow on the ground.

[Jamisjockey]

Remember. When you turn it turtle, that is the OFFICIAL start to winter in the DC metro region!

I've got a couple Utah winters under my belt....not much around here that can ruin my day.

[K Frame]

I've got a couple Utah winters under my belt....not much around here that can ruin my day.

Oh, just wait. You'll be doodling along, all smug and secure in your knowledge that YOU know how to drive in crap weather, when some yutz, whose native language has 782 words for sand, but ZERO words for snow, does something INCREDIBLY stupid right in front of you, forcing you to take the kind of drastic measures that you would never even have to contemplate in a place where everyone knows how to drive in crap.

Cosmopolitan Washington, DC.

Home to Congress, the Smithsonian, and more people who should never be behind the wheel of a car than anywhere else on the face of the earth.

[Jamisjockey]

Oh, just wait. You'll be doodling along, all smug and secure in your knowledge that YOU know how to drive in crap weather, when some yutz, whose native language has 782 words for sand, but ZERO words for snow, does something INCREDIBLY stupid right in front of you, forcing you to take the kind of drastic measures that you would never even have to contemplate in a place where everyone knows how to drive in crap.

Cosmopolitan Washington, DC.

Home to Congress, the Smithsonian, and more people who should never be behind the wheel of a car than anywhere else on the face of the earth.

Now that there is a good point.
 

[K Frame]

I'll tell you, it was a shock and a half when I first moved down here from Central Pennsylvania, where people knew pretty much how to drive in crappy weather.

[Jamisjockey]

The entertaining part is the overreaction by the local media.  Every little storm comes on like TEOTWAWKI.

[makattak]

The entertaining part is the overreaction by the local media.  Every little storm comes on like TEOTWAWKI.

And toilet paper and water fly off the grocery store shelves.

Honestly, when is the last time ANY storm in the DC area shut things down for more than two days?

Do people REALLY need that much toilet paper to last TWO DAYS?

[Jamisjockey]

And toilet paper and water fly off the grocery store shelves.

Honestly, when is the last time ANY storm in the DC area shut things down for more than two days?

Do people REALLY need that much toilet paper to last TWO DAYS?

I really wonder why they don't already have enough TP for two days.

[K Frame]

"Honestly, when is the last time ANY storm in the DC area shut things down for more than two days?"

2003. President's Day, IIRC.



It snowed for over 30 hours.

I was able to get around in it, but things were pretty much shut down in Northern Virginia for quite awhile. There simply wasn't enough equipment to deal with the amount of snow we had. Some people didn't have their streets plowed for nearly a week.

[makattak]

"Honestly, when is the last time ANY storm in the DC area shut things down for more than two days?"

2003. President's Day, IIRC.



It snowed for over 30 hours.

I was able to get around in it, but things were pretty much shut down in Northern Virginia for quite awhile. There simply wasn't enough equipment to deal with the amount of snow we had. Some people didn't have their streets plowed for nearly a week.

I remember that storm. I was only snowed in for a couple days. Apparently some people were stuck longer.

Nevertheless, people tend to over-react. Again, why does toilet paper disappear?

[mtnbkr]

We were at Massanutten for that storm.  We got home a few days after the snow stopped falling and our street would still be tough to navigate by a regular vehicle.

I learned how to drive in the snow, in the mountains, with a 2wd vehicle, yet I frequently stay home for the day when the snow is bad because of "them".

Chris

[K Frame]

"Again, why does toilet paper disappear?"

My personal theory is that snow is a laxative.

I was taking my Subaru into parking lots that hadn't been plowed, and it was doing a fine job. I was leaving a 7-11 lot when a full-size pick up got stuck.

I felt smug.

The previous big snow we had that really impacted the area was in 1996.

I was snowed in with the ex in the midst of a marriage that was melting down.

That was uncomfortable as hell.

[charby]

yet I frequently stay home for the day when the snow is bad because of "them".

Chris

I don't blame you there, I still don't get how folks that live outside the snowbelt get so freaking worked up over a little snowfall but don't do shot when a hurricane is coming there way.

Speaking of that, I need to gather up a few supplies for the winter in case of extended power outages due to ice storms.

[K Frame]

"I still don't get how folks that live outside the snowbelt get so freaking worked up over a little snowfall but don't do shot when a hurricane is coming there way."

It's what you know and are used to.

[RaspberrySurprise]

A bump for this video of horrible winter driving from Seattle a year or two ago. ( I know it says Portland, but it's really Seattle.)

People here have no idea how to drive in the snow and ice. We get about two or three nasty icy days a year, and everything shuts down for it. School gets canceled for a 1/2" of snow on the ground.

Wow it looks like someone repealed half the laws of physics.

[Sawdust]

Hell, when I was in college, they *never* cancelled classes because of snow.

Then again, I did attend UC Santa Barbara. 

Sawdust

[Monkeyleg]

I don't know why people outside the snowbelt get freaked out, either.

A few years ago I was driving through Indiana, doing 80 to 85 mph. It was snowing a bit, but light by Wisconsin standards. A trooper pulled me over and was acting as though I'd been doing 180 mph. He was ranting about all of the cars off the road, the interstate closed ahead (what?) and everything short of a nuclear attack.

When I got to Indianapolis, I was shocked to find the interstate closed. It was maybe 4-6" of snow, and they closed the interstate?

[K Frame]

I'm now in Central Pennsylvania. Had the wintery mix on my way up. No one was doing anything stupid.

[RocketMan]

A bump for this video of horrible winter driving from Seattle a year or two ago. ( I know it says Portland, but it's really Seattle.)

People here have no idea how to drive in the snow and ice. We get about two or three nasty icy days a year, and everything shuts down for it. School gets canceled for a 1/2" of snow on the ground.

Actually, it is Portland.   The outside of the old Civic Stadium downtown is shown in the last part of the video.  I used to work at KPTV many years ago when the studio was just a few blocks from there.

[erictank]

"Honestly, when is the last time ANY storm in the DC area shut things down for more than two days?"

2003. President's Day, IIRC.



It snowed for over 30 hours.

I was able to get around in it, but things were pretty much shut down in Northern Virginia for quite awhile. There simply wasn't enough equipment to deal with the amount of snow we had. Some people didn't have their streets plowed for nearly a week.

I remember that one.  I was in Central VA, still working at the nuclear plant, and not even dating the woman I'm now married to (but we were friends by that point).  She was at a convention near Baltimore - and was snowed-in there for 2 extra days, IIRC (the attendees ended up making up a T-shirt to commemorate the event - "DonnerCon 2003"  ).  I was held over at work that night, the double-time pay started about the time I went to sleep at 11PM and carried through until I was able to leave at the end of the next day's shift, at 7PM.  That was nice...   Driving home was still interesting, but doable.