Seattle, Nov. 22 Storm

[Wargus]

This one sucked.  Took 5 hours for me to get home Monday night: two hours to get from Renton to Winslow on Bainbridge Island, and 3.5 hours to get from there to the Agate Pass bridge (about 10 miles) due to accidents all up the road.  There was a bus in front of me, people would get off, run up to a stuck car & push it to get it going or to get it off the road, then they (and any stragglers from stuck cars) would get back in the bus.  Power was off, so the house has been cold as a witches nipple all day, finally came back on about an hour ago.

And her is firm evidence that people in this area don't know shit about driving in this weather:  video of idiots.

Ah, and one radio show was going over names to call it:  snow-mageddon, snow-pocalypse, snow-big deal, none quite fit.  They decided that snOwMG was appropriate.

[Isgrimnur]

Glad you made it home and none of the effects are permanent.

Me, I'm hoping that we don't get our yearly snow/ice storm until after the first of the year, as I don't have the PTO to take a personal day until then.

[Chaz]

Damn, I'm jealous.  Of course, I take public transit to work.  Here in Boston, it's actually been pretty warm this week.  I want snow!   

[Caine]

3 hours for me to get from seattle to my stop, less than 25 miles away.  we passed a semi that jacknifed and blocked the entire north bound freeway, plus the 15-odd cars that piled up behind him.  i had the distinct dis-pleasure at telling the 4 people who were waiting to go back north at the transit center that their bus was likely going to be delayed much longer due to that backup.  

at least i got home 30 minutes after that with no accidents encountered.  i also rode home with my lead who after the second hour said there was no way in hell she was coming in today that i didn't need to bother either.  

bus seats hurt after a while btw and standing up isn't much better either.  (i traded places half way through with someone who had been standing.  amazingly, only 4 of us did so, despite the obvious weariness of those standing.  

it sucked, but at least i wasn't stuck in traffic in my car.  

[Sarkus]

And those stories are why I always try and avoid long commutes.   

I used to have to commute between Kent and Bellevue for a job, a drive that was typically about an hour to go 20 miles during morning or afternoon rush.   That was bad enough.  Now I live about five minutes from work.  Luckily I had Monday and today off, so I've been able to watch the news while curled up with some hot chocolate and look out on my car under a few inches of snow. 

[Gryndyl]

Fortunately the 25 hour power outage is over and done with. It was starting to get a wee bit cold inside. And, in my experience, witch nipples tend to be pleasantly warm.

[lildrgn]

I was lucky too. Kirkland to Bellevue, with traffic, no snow, usually takes 20-25 in rush hour. The past 2 days? About 15 min!

[hitbyambulance]

i'm not in the country right now so i missed it

[Mithridates]

i'm not in the country right now so i missed it

I live in Michigan so I missed it too. 

[Crusis]

My wife was stuck on a bus in Sumner for 5 hours. There were so many accidents on 410 no one could get up the hill. She got home around 11:00 PM after leaving work at 4.

I'm working from home for the second day in a row. It was 12 degrees up in Bonney Lake last night. Brrrrrr.

[Sarkus]

I went down the hill near me earlier to do a little shopping and barely made it back up.  Slushy wet snow on pavement that hasn't been plowed or sanded.  So I'm bracing for having to walk back up it later when I come home from work later tonight. 

[Kagath]

i'm not in the country right now so i missed it

I live in Michigan so I missed it too. 

You be quiet. We'll be getting it soon enough.

[metallicorphan]

here in the UK-Manchester- it's pretty cold(forecasts say -1°C),they say it could be snowing by the end of the week,apparently it's already been snowing in Scotland

maybe this time we will be prepared for the Gritters/Road Salt,unlike the fiasco that happened last year


EDIT:just saw this on LOLcats

[metallicorphan]

-4°C tonight in MCR while the rest of the UK is milder,its in those places that there is Snow,we just get ice everywhere,however the forecast say that it will snow on Sunday in Manchester...huzzaah

[Misguided]

Never seen a couple of inches of snow bring a city to its knees. Road conditions were not that bad Monday at 4:30pm when I drove home (though people were driving 10mph for no reason--I know it got icy later, but it was pretty good at that point). I don't understand why there were so many accidents on the interstate. Were the conditions really that bad closer to Seattle or was it more the case that people here don't have a clue how to drive in snow?

[lildrgn]

IIRC, you're new to town, right? Anyway, I had a friend who moved here from Boston and he had pretty much the same response. Trouble is, we hardly ever get feet of snow like back east, so, accordingly, our snow preparedness both on a city and individual level is pretty poor. Add in hills, warm ground/freezing temps, drivers who think they have the necessary skills/SUV over-confidence, and you get complete and utter shutdown when it snows here.

Or, you could read this article, which sums it up pretty well:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013507661_weathermain24m.html

[Wargus]

Never seen a couple of inches of snow bring a city to its knees. Road conditions were not that bad Monday at 4:30pm when I drove home (though people were driving 10mph for no reason--I know it got icy later, but it was pretty good at that point). I don't understand why there were so many accidents on the interstate. Were the conditions really that bad closer to Seattle or was it more the case that people here don't have a clue how to drive in snow?

About 5pm the snowfall was significant enough, and it was cold enough that the accumulation was freezing to the roads faster than they could melt it.  Once traffic really stalled they couldn't get their equipment to the bad areas to put down salt and from there it just got worse. This probably would have been manageable had the worst part of the freeze happened overnight instead of rush hour.  The problem I had was an accident on the Agate Pass bridge blocked it for a few hours until they could get it cleared.  The rest of Hwy 305 was manageable.

Add to that all of the people with limited or no experience driving in snow, doing so in cars that perform poorly (saw a guy in a BMW Z3 trying to get around on the ice - comedy gold!) on bald tires to boot.

Yesterday I took the motorcycle out again only to discover the ice had not quite on the hill outside my driveway.  That was interesting. I stayed vertical skating from one patch of traction to the next patch of traction. Once I was past that it was all fine. 

[metallicorphan]

looked out this morning and at first i thought it had been snowing because of the frost,its apparently gonna be getting to -18°C/-20°C in the UK this week if the Media is to be believed..i know i can see my breath in my house,LOL

The UK's lowest ever recorded temperature in November was minus 23.3C recorded in Braemar, in the Scottish Highlands, on November 14, 1919.

anyway,its finally started to snow here(where i am i mean) this morning

[Huw the Poo]

Suffolk was blanketed this morning, after a weekend of snowfall.  We even lost power for a while on Saturday night.  I've actually been dreading it this year, because British schools close at the drop of a hat, and when that happens I'll lose pay because I'll have to stay at home with my daughter.

Parents who have relatives close by who can help out don't realise how lucky they are!