"Winter" in Alabama

[brimic]

This has been an odd winter.

Yes
All of the snow has been blown by some sort of jet stream south of me, and piling up on the east coast.
I currently have about  4-6" of snow on my lawn- it would normally be 4x that much this time of year.

[Marnoot]

I saw some epic bad winter driving in Utah.  Speeding usually being the culprit, with following too closely being a close second.

Yep. Too many people with A/4WD that think that means they can stop more betterer too. The worst is always the first snow storm of the season, like everybody forgot that snow and ice are slippery. Though it is satisfying seeing some idiot speed by you in his 4WD pickup or AWD luxury SUV, then seeing them spun-out or turtled a couple miles down the road.

[mtnbkr]

We had 8-12 inches of snow on the ground here last week. Temperatures just shot up this week and all that snow (aside from the plowed piles) was gone by Thursday...

At which point we got 3 inches of snow on a frozen ground. Which, looking at the forecast will likely be gone by Sunday.

This has been an odd winter.

If you have a basement, keep an eye out for water ingress.  Flooded basements are an issue where you are.

Chris

[makattak]

If you have a basement, keep an eye out for water ingress.  Flooded basements are an issue where you are.

Chris

We have a sump pump that's been working hard the past couple of days. Otherwise, our basement would have been underwater.

Thanks for the heads up.

[bedlamite]

I'm going to have to plug my sump pump back in. This weekend it's supposed to get above freezing for the first time in what seems like months.

[Monkeyleg]

There's another advantage to living in the south: no basements. Our houses in Milwaukee always had basement problems, with cracked walls and leaking.

The downside to not having basements, aside from not having the additional storage space, is that slabs tend to move more, and will need mudjacking.

[Ben]

The downside to not having basements, aside from not having the additional storage space, is that slabs tend to move more, and will need mudjacking.

Is that a Southern soil thing? Outside of hillsides and big earthquakes, or poor home siting, I've rarely seen foundation problems of that sort in CA.

[vaskidmark]

I don't see what all y'all are nattering on about snow removal and clearing roadways and parking spaces and bad drivers and .....

Last time Richmond (Va) had any real snow was the blizzard of 199whatever when the plows (such as we stole from Northern Virginia) came through early and often, keeping not only the major arteries but the neighborhood streets clear - by piling it all up against the cars parked next to the curbs.  And when the snow turned to slush/sleet the plows kept coming through, keeping the roadways clear and the snow covered with slush/sleet packed almost to the roofs of the parked cars.  After almost a week of temps staying below freezing and nobody able to get their car out to go rent a jackhammer to free their car, the Mayor was asked just what he planned to do about removing all the snow/slush/sleet.

The Mayor announced an absolutely foolproof plan that would cost the city next to nothing - May!  The snow/slush/sleet removal plan worked so well (and almost a month ahead of schedule) that he was elected to another 4-year term!

Tell me now that we Southroners don't know how to deal with snow.

stay safe.

[vaskidmark]

Is that a Southern soil thing? Outside of hillsides and big earthquakes, or poor home siting, I've rarely seen foundation problems of that sort in CA.

In the coastal and piedmont areas we have shrink-swell soil or just plain clay that tends to slide about when wet.  Also, certain parts of the South are where the glaciers decided to stop and leave all sorts of rocks.  Get out towards the mountains and you strike either granite or coal.

stay safe.

[brimic]

If you have a basement, keep an eye out for water ingress.  Flooded basements are an issue where you are.

Interesting problem that arose one year about 10 years back...
All of the houses in the subdivision were 5-10 years old at that time, and on high and dry ground and people's sump pumps rarely, if ever, ran. We had a lot of snow melt off slowly, which saturated the ground, every rain for the next 2 months caused people's sump pumps to run 24/7. The people who hadn't previously replaced the cheap pedestal pumps put in by the builders with submersibles, ended up with flooded basements. OF course, with JIT inventory systems in place, all of the big box stores within 50 miles were sold out of submersible pumps.
I had a spare pedestal pump, which I took over to the neighbors on a friday night after the neighbor lady called and said her basement was flooding- for the next day, her dad and I swapped pumps back and forth every hour or so as they overheated.
When her husband got home from work on Sunday, the flooding had stopped, but he soon installed a submersible with a battery backup.

[MechAg94]

What is this snow stuff y'all are talking about?  Down here they shut down half the stuff if it even threatens to be wet and close to freezing.  Of course, I work in a chemical plant in an area where it rarely freezes so freeze protection is never tested.  If we have a hard freeze that lasts a while, I will likely be working. 

I saw a presentation for Dow Chemical in Freeport.  Looking at the last 30 years or so, their most expensive weather related incidents have been due to freeze conditions (only a couple of incidents).  That was more expensive than hurricanes that have hit the area.  Since it rarely freezes for more than a day, they just aren't as prepared for it as plants further North.

[Hutch]

One of my very favorite TV memories was a woman-in-the-parking-lot interview at a local TV station, ragging on all us dumb southerners (obviously redundant, in her mind) that "couldn't handle a little snow" in her nasally Chicago accent.  They kept cameras rolling as she backed slowly out of her parking place... and slid 50-75 feet, pranging her car and two others.  Instant Karma, served up cold.   

[Perd Hapley]

pranging

Is that a southron thing?

[Hutch]

Actually, I'd heard some very proper Brits use the term, and I thought it useful, so I adopted it.  So, I guess, it's southern now.

[Boomhauer]

One of my very favorite TV memories was a woman-in-the-parking-lot interview at a local TV station, ragging on all us dumb southerners (obviously redundant, in her mind) that "couldn't handle a little snow" in her nasally Chicago accent.  They kept cameras rolling as she backed slowly out of her parking place... and slid 50-75 feet, pranging her car and two others.  Instant Karma, served up cold.   

Is it wrong to laugh whenever that happens?

[RoadKingLarry]

Is it wrong to laugh whenever that happens?

It would be wrong not to laugh..

[brimic]

One of my very favorite TV memories was a woman-in-the-parking-lot interview at a local TV station, ragging on all us dumb southerners (obviously redundant, in her mind) that "couldn't handle a little snow" in her nasally Chicago accent.  They kept cameras rolling as she backed slowly out of her parking place... and slid 50-75 feet, pranging her car and two others.  Instant Karma, served up cold.   

That's normal driving in Chicago- snow or no snow.
I had a friend from Chicago in college- he believed that bumpers were put on cars for the purpose of parallel parking- you backed up until you bumped into the car behind you, pulled forward until you bumped the car in front of you, then backed off a foot or so. Leaving a parallel parked space used the same bumper skills.

[Ben]

That's normal driving in Chicago- snow or no snow.
I had a friend from Chicago in college- he believed that bumpers were put on cars for the purpose of parallel parking- you backed up until you bumped into the car behind you, pulled forward until you bumped the car in front of you, then backed off a foot or so. Leaving a parallel parked space used the same bumper skills.

That seems to be a not uncommon big city, limited parking (e.g., NYC) modas operandi. Likely a cultural thing where the people who do it think it's no big deal. Personally, I'd be pissed if I saw someone doing that to one of my vehicles, regardless if it was my baby or a beater. I had someone use my F-250 as a parking (actually, most likely a backing up) aid once at the work parking lot. They missed my big beefy bumper and squished the end of my tailpipe. I was only lucky that they didn't hit it with enough pressure from that angle to crack my diesel DPF. Of course I wasn't there when it happened, and no note on the windshield or anything.

[MechAg94]

Is it wrong to laugh whenever that happens?

IMO, self induced pain/adversity is nearly always funny.  What I often have a hard time with it the really painful "prank" stuff people do that shows up online. 

[vaskidmark]

That's normal driving in Chicago- snow or no snow.
I had a friend from Chicago in college- he believed that bumpers were put on cars for the purpose of parallel parking- you backed up until you bumped into the car behind you, pulled forward until you bumped the car in front of you, then backed off a foot or so. Leaving a parallel parked space used the same bumper skills.

Want to keep other drivers from cuting you off/tailgating?  Get some decent dents.  They see those and know you don't care about adding another one or two.

Know how to spot the undercover feds?  They have shiny cars with no dents or dust/mud.

stay safe.

[Hawkmoon]

Not this year.
If people go a week without snow, they forget how to drive in it.

I blame it on modern automotive technology.

First came wide-spread 4WD or AWD. People found they could go in conditions where they previously had not been able to go. The forget that they may be going thanks to 4WD/AWD, but each tire is right at the ragged edge of traction, and 4WD go does not equal 4WD stop.

So then along came anti-lock brakes. People think, "Cool. Now I won't slid when I apply the brakes." What they overlook is that anti-lock brakes simply electronically release the brakes when the computer senses skidding (locked brakes). So, where they are expecting MORE brakes, they in fact has LESS brakes.

All of which may explain why, the morning after the first snow storm of last Winter, I got all of three miles from home before seeing a Ford Explorer on its roof in a ditch.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

My jeep crapped out morning of last storm and I loved watching people freak out seeing a minivan go in and out of my neighborhood. Tire chains for the win. Some folks have never seen chains


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk