Snow in the south!

[mainewoods]

I feel for you guys down there, be careful. We have had 3 ice storms up in my neck of the woods this winter. Each one was 1" - 1 1/2". It still has not melted off peoples driveways yet.

 

[Cheesecutter]

You guys getting snow first then the ice are lucky, because the other way around REALLY REALLY sucks.

 

[Preston]

Tomorrow the weather service is calling for 12 hours of, what they're calling, freezing rain this a freeze of 1/2 to 1" of ice for two days. They are tell all us to expect wide spread power outages and at least 2 days without power.

Considered bad or not, I don't like and don't want it.

 

[slowp]

Back to normal here. Yawn.
http://www.theolympian.com/2014/02/11/2977896/series-of-winter-storms-blowing.html

 

[Vermonster]

Tomorrow the weather service is calling for 12 hours of, what they're calling, freezing rain this a freeze of 1/2 to 1" of ice for two days. They are tell all us to expect wide spread power outages and at least 2 days without power.

Considered bad or not, I don't like and don't want it.

Snow can be dealt with. Ice with power outages is a whole different ball game. All the deciduous trees and vines still holding their leaves down there will provide lots of surface area for the ice to freeze on. That means lots of limbs and trees on power lines. Good luck. Hope you have a generator, a wood stove and lots of shine.

 

[mainewoods]

Any ice storm is bad, no matter where it happens. People die , even up here, either from car accidents or running generators improperly. You guys be safe out there!

 

[naturelover]

Had a bad ice storm here a few years ago, but was isolated to one section of elevation here, just happened to be high enough to get it. It was hard on the trees, power was out for a bit. It was something hearing the trees snap like that, scary.

The 3' of heavy wet snow that came with superstorm sandy was devastating though. Power was out for many here, and few trees were left untouched. Whole swaths of trees were topped to toppled over, never seen anything like it.

We've had that much snow before, but not that early in the season, and unfortunately the leaves were still on the trees.

Poor trees have had it rough the past few years, the derecho wiped out quite a few of them too.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Dalmatian90]

The problem with the plow in our situation is with nearly a million cars on the road instantly, there is no place for the plow the plow. But in the right situation I can see that thing getting the job done.

You didn't need plows at least for the Interstates and other big roads, you needed pre-treatment and that can started several days ahead of the storm. Average conditions and pre-treatment, a 2-3" snow storm on state roads here all the plows are for is to clean up the shoulders where no cars normally travel after it stops.

Connecticut will spray the bridges and curves on a Friday if they expect any potential for icy / snowy weather over the weekend so they can try and avoid overtime. The chemicals will stay on the road for quite a few days, usually till the next precipitation.

Side streets and rural roads are a bit more of a challenge...pre-treatment can help, but you don't get the traffic helping them by pounding the snow into the chemicals and keeping it mixed up.

This is a big spray rig. ConnDOT has some tanks that take up the dump truck bed, but a lot of trucks just have a small tank that hangs off the tailgate:

 

[Dalmatian90]

Possible ice of "historical proportions" central GA, lotta snow up here. I bet we get both....

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/fxc/ffc/graphicast/image_full6.gif

Was coming here to post that if someone else hadn't...6/10" of ice in Atlanta, 1" on GA/SC border?

If that forecast comes true, it's going to be devastating. It would be really bad up here -- Connecticut's benchmark for ice storms is 1973 when 1/2" on a much newer and better maintained electric grid than today knocked out power for a week.

I think prior to the '98 Ice Storm, Quebec's electric grid was only designed for 1.5" of icing, and I can't believe Georgia and South Carolina can't be anything near that design standard.

 

[dboyd351]

Here's our chance at fortune! Open a camp for ice driving. Plow out some city streets on a lake, get some out-of-work for the winter demo derby cars, and charge a small fortune for an ice driving school. We could even give em a fish fry on the last day of camp!

Quite possibly one of the most fun times I had legally was when I got out of the Army and went to work driving for Schneider. They had a skidpad there at their school, and it's a cool feeling powersliding an 18 wheeler.

That sounds like fun!

 

[Preston]

According to what I just heard, the we are supposed to get up to 1 inch today. It's sleeting now with the wire having a coating of ice. It rain all night. Almost an inch of that. But after it leaves us, the weather service says it's turning up the coast all the way to Maine. So it ain't gonna be pretty for anybody. I figure we'll lose power tonight.

 

[zogger]

According to what I just heard, the we are supposed to get up to 1 inch today. It's sleeting now with the wire having a coating of ice. It rain all night. Almost an inch of that. But after it leaves us, the weather service says it's turning up the coast all the way to Maine. So it ain't gonna be pretty for anybody. I figure we'll lose power tonight.

Snowing medium heavy here with a little ice starting. but..it is bouncing around at 32 degrees so it might just switch to rain, so who knows. I've been up since 0 dark thirty and not a single vehicle has gone by yet.

 

[mainewoods]

Power outages seem to be doubling by the hour near Atlanta. We are only getting 18" of snow where I am so it isn't bad for us. You fellers down south be safe, the weather guys don't use the word "catastrophic" very often.

 

[zogger]

Wet sticky cold snow/sleet mix here. If it gets just a tad colder, it will suck.

 

[bigblackdodge]

zogger, I know this is gonna' sound weird... but cracking open every faucet (and anything else) in the house, both hot and cold, is your best chance to avoid pipe breakage.
It ain't the ice that normally breaks the pipe, it's the increase in water pressure between the ice block and closed faucet, toilet, washing machine, dish washer, or whatever.
The ice will expand in the direction of least resistance, meaning downstream and thereby increasing water pressure in the pipe.
Eventually water pressure gets high enough to cause freezing water to expand radially as well as longitudly, and the pipe will break at the slushy end of the blockage where the new ice is forming, not in the solid center of older ice.

If you have your own well pump and pressure tank, shut down the pump and release pressure from the pressure tank as well. Ya' gotta' give that expanding ice somewhere to push the water or... well... it's a-hell-of-a-mess.

Good luck man‼
*

Spider, that's Awesomely Accurate Advice right there!!! Thanks for posting that. Most folks haven't a clue how to prepare for weather like this down South.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigblackdodge]

Even so, there's pressure... and the idea is to eliminate all pressure so the ice expands longitudly and applies the smallest amount radial pressure possible on the pipe. If there's, say, 45 PSI water pressure in the pipe and pressure tank, and the ice pushes water back into the tank, pressure will increase, which causes the ice to put even more radial pressure on the pipe. If water pressure in the pipe is zero (rather than 45 PSI), and stays at zero (because it's open at the pipe end), any radial pressure applied to the pipe by ice will be at least 45 PSI less, likely even more more.
See what I'm getting at??

*************************************************************
OK... back to this morning...

We get ice a lot... a whole friggin' lot... freezing rain that puts that slippery-azz glaze coating on everything.
We got ice this morning, put a glaze on top of the hard-pack, and then it friggin' snowed on top of it. Near impossible to walk out to the work van when I left.
Man I hate front-wheel drive on ice. Just ain't no friggin' way to steer the damn things under power, the front just has a mind of its own and wanders all over the ice.
The main road wasn't too bad once I got to it... but gettin' to it was an adventure, runnin' sideways more than runnin' straight.
There is the one little "hairy" spot; a 10 MPH left hand curve at the bottom of a hill, on a crushed limestone road... and using brakes ain't an option on ice unless ya' wanna' get real cozy with the ditch.
I took a picture with my phone just before I crested the hill... just before I gabbed the wheel with both hands. I went over the crest at a crawl, but likely was doin' something 'round 20 MPH, maybe a bit more(?) at the bottom (weren't looking at gauges). Used the same technique that's always worked before; stick the left front on the inside edge and whip around it sort'a half-azz sideways, bounce the right rear off the snow bank piled on the far side by the maintainer if need be.... then start breathing again and check your shorts. It sounds a lot more dramatic than it really is (LOL, it really ain't all that bad) and there ain't a "ditch" to go in on the curve down at the bottom, but if ya' try to "drive" around it and lose the front end into that piled snow... well... you're walking from there.

Anyway... here's the pic from this morning...

View attachment 331088

OH... ya' haf'ta make the curve, going straight puts ya' into the river‼
*

Again, clarity. Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigblackdodge]

That should be good for a 100 feet or so. Such a waste.
We had a city up here years ago and declare an emergency, called in the army to shovel sidewalks. The city is the joke of the entire country. Now it has a crack smoking mayor, but hes smart enough to not consider wasting the militaries resources, when a little ice storm left the city without power over the holidays.

I was just thinking, for an area that doesn't get much ice/snow, using pickup trucks isn't a bad idea. But wouldn't it be better to just leave the tailgate down, and using a shop broom, just trickle the salt/sand out of the hinge gap between the bed and the tailgate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigblackdodge]

Hey Zogger, I'm just South of y'all. In Southern Floyd County, we've had 'Slush Puppy' type mix falling for the last few hours. Still have a couple inches of Snow/Ice leftover from yesterday. The reports I'm hearing are that Snow will start up around 5pm and drop 5-6 inches by around 11pm or Midnight. Hope you guys stay safe and warm up there with no busted pipes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zogger]

Hey Zogger, I'm just South of y'all. In Southern Floyd County, we've had 'Slush Puppy' type mix falling for the last few hours. Still have a couple inches of Snow/Ice leftover from yesterday. The reports I'm hearing are that Snow will start up around 5pm and drop 5-6 inches by around 11pm or Midnight. Hope you guys stay safe and warm up there with no busted pipes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lucked out last time, but we had power. If the power goes out, who knows.

 

[bigblackdodge]

Does your house seriously not have an access to the crawl space?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk