Have I mentioned I do NOT like Ice??

[Hound dog]

Seems that storm that has been causing much trouble in the midwest has finally reached us.

We've got about an inch of snow on the ground and it's sleeting. Supposed to stay a mix for a few hours then turn to pure sleet/ice......... oh, yuk! Last weather report I saw we weren't even supposed to get snow.........phht. Not so sure I "believe" them that the ice is not going to be much to worry about. I hope they're right because I hate dealing with ice. I'll be thrilled to take snow instead.......even if it's a lot of snow. Ice doesn't do so well around here, power outages are common when we get ice.

I have the boys tomorrow. Which means both sister in law and easy child have to drive in it........right at the time we'll be starting the freezing rain/ sleet part. sister in law only has to go about 20 miles. But easy child has an hour drive from here to Dayton on some rural highways that are not fun to navigate when dealing with ice. easy child has already promised to drive slow even if it makes her really late to work. Last thing she needs is another accident.

Taking Maggie out to potty in the morning is going to be an adventure. <<< me trying not to break my neck. LOL

 

[InsaneCdn]

Oh dear. I'm glad we're far enough north that sleet and/or ice rain are rare... not impossible, and a total disaster if we get it, but... I totally agree that SNOW is better than semi-frozen rain.

Even if it means we have to shovel off the roof every doggone week!!!

 

[HaoZi]

We got it, too. Peeking outside it doesn't look too bad, just a inch of snow or so. Storm's school hasn't even delayed, wonder of wonders, so I'm guessing no ice here so far. Seems the county north of us got hit, delays everywhere.

 

[HaoZi]

Spoke too soon, must be an ice/snow mix. Her school just closed.

 

[Hound dog]

NOT a good morning by a long shot.

Good thing I got up early anticipating the kids would want to leave early to allow themselves extra travel time. sister in law arrived at 5:50 am with 3 very sleepy boys..........Darrin nearly killed himself trying to get up my front walk/steps. (maggie did a non graceful tumble routine both up and down it just a few minutes prior going potty) sister in law rushed out of here fast because easy child had wound up in the ditch on her way to work.

So then, being mom, I start to worry.

easy child calls me. She's in one of those deep rural type ditches we have around here. Seems highways weren't too bad but when she turned onto the side road to go pick up the girl she works with.......one solid sheet of ice. easy child "drove" without even putting her foot on the accelerator so she was going slow enough....sliding but controlled.....she reached her co workers house and went to touch the brake and lost all control even though she'd ever so barely touched the brake and went right into the ditch.......just missing a telephone pole. She was frustrated because sister in law is determined he can "drive her out of the ditch" but she said she doesn't see how he's going to manage that (he's an excellent driver) because there is nothing but ice on the ground. No where for traction. AND her van is only inches from winding up lying on it's side.

sister in law is there now attempting to "drive her out of the ditch".

One guy stopped to check on her........he was driving down the center of the road.........nearly missed the ditch. Another guy only just barely missed the ditch with lots of slipping and sliding..........and seconds before sister in law arrived......another driver who had checked on her (obviously not going fast at all) wound up in the ditch in front of her.

I wish him luck trying to get a teetering SUV out of the ditch and off that road.........then getting his own car back off that road.

easy child called off, regardless. When she can get back to the highway, she's headed back home. She's shaky as hell but other than that ok.

I wish sister in law had just listened to easy child and let her call the sheriff and AAA. *sigh* Now I have to worry about both of them. ugh

 

[Hound dog]

It took nearly an hour but sister in law did manage to get easy child out of the ditch. But it made them both have to call off work. *sigh*

They just came and picked up the boys and took them home. No school today of course.

 

[Nancy]

I think it's not as bad further north because our schools are open. Main roads aren't too bad but side roads are very icy.

What I don't understand is that the temp is 23, how can it be raining/sleeting and turning to ice? Should it be snowing at that temp?

 

[Hound dog]

Upper atmosphere is warmer than the surface temp........which let's it fall as rain and freeze right away as it hits the ground, or shortly after hitting surfaces.

I'm just thankful it didn't develop into a full blown ice storm. Ice isn't expected to even last by afternoon........temps are supposed to raise to the point where it melts. Of course it was supposed to be in the upper 40's all week too and it never made it out of the 20's. lol Well......I think we're pushing 30 now.

 

[AnnieO]

Nancy, we have freezing rain... When it hits the ground it freezes. Which meant that the nasty mist coming from the sky did not freeze on my car since it was warmed up.

My road was HORRID. I live on a slight hill - just enough to be a major PITA when it snows or ices. After I got off that it was mostly slushy. The corners were slick but worse was the other drivers - some going WAY over the speed limit and some 10 mph. Aside from navigating around them, I safely did the speed limit all the way to work.

I did slide a bit when turning into the sitter's driveway, and had a heck of a time walking in... Especially considering I was carrying a baby in a car seat! Once I got to their sidewalk I was good - they salted that. Actually they salted the driveway too but it wasn't quite as melted.

Weather Channel says it's supposed to be 47 today... Kids are off school and I had a "report no earlier than 10 AM"... I got here at 8:30. Boss isn't even here... So I'm "not working" till then. (HA, HA, HA.)

 

[buddy]

I hate ice too! We just got a few inches of fluffy white beautiful snow. Still, I hate driving on slippery roads.

 

[DammitJanet]

We dont do well in either but normally if we get anything its ice and like you say ice is awful. Last weekend we had snow on Saturday afternoon but it didnt stick to anything because it was 50 the day before. Awful pretty though! Probably our only snow this year...lol. When we get ice its horrible because all of our electric lines are above ground and tree limbs come down. Roads, especially back roads, are awful.

 

[Liahona]

Glad they are both safe.

 

[susiestar]

It has been bad here too. We had no school Thurs but I had to drive to Tulsa to the doctor. Their roads were totally clear. Once I got out of town onto the main part of the turnpike, the road was totally clear. Until then it was a real mess, and several times I had no choice but to pass people because they were doing 30mph on a 75 mph road. It was dicey one time, because only one lane was totally clear, but if I hadn't passed I would have been rear ended. Later in the day I heard that one of the 30mph cars was totaled because a SUV hit them from behind, just couldn't slow down fast enough or get over. The SUV tried to get over, but slid out. it happened about five or ten min after we passed the car.

We don't get much snow here. We get ice. This year was very mild so far, but it isn't at all uncommon to get 3 or more inches of ice with a bad storm. No one here knows how to drive on snow, but most are good with ice. One thing that easy child and sister in law NEED to do is to start carrying a bag of kitty litter in the car. Biggest one they can find, and in a plastic bucket is best. Scooping is okay but the older kind is just fine and cheaper. WHen you get stuck in ice, you dump some kitty litter around the tires and in a track to the road. It makes a HUGE difference. I have seen semi's get out of ditches and medians with this. If the ice is too solid, dump your coffee or a water bottle on it to help bond the kitty litter to the ice to give traction. Not a lot of liquid, just enough to help make them stick together. If you can, put a bit more litter over the liquid.

I am glad that they all made it home safe. If easy child and sister in law have AAA, have her talk about the cost of having AAA pull them out (that they are already paying for even if they don't use it) and the cost of having sister in law not work for a day. I had to do this with husband at one point and it took showign him the $$$ involved to get through. Or tell easy child to stop calling him until AFTER she is out of the ditch or the tow truck is there.

 

[in a daze]

Chicago. Enjoying the lack of snow this winter. Prefer freezing sub zero cold to snow! We got 4-5 inches yesterday, the most all year. Triple A worth the money, highly recommend, especially if you have an older vehicle.

 

[Hound dog]

I have been fussing at easy child to keep an emergency bag in her cars for some time now. She does keep a large first aid kit in there that I got her. The bag was supposed to include a change of clothes, water, food (high protein, high energy bars), flash lights, various tools & equipment that might be helpful to one stranded on the road.......a blanket and kitty litter. She had just picked up a warm blanket for the car.......and thankfully she had packed her lunch for work so had food/water to work with......and wound up using. sister in law was back out of my door too fast for me to hand him a bag of kitty litter.

They do have AAA. This is what frustrated easy child so much. There was no need for sister in law to come get her when the sheriff and AAA could've easily handled the situation. But sister in law was determined. Now in his defense......it really hasn't been that long since his wife wrapped herself around a telephone pole. I think he needed to see for himself she was truly ok. Know what I mean??

 

[InsaneCdn]

Lisa ... car kit. Up here, it's vital, given our temperatures, and the miles of roads that are in the middle of no where (often, no cell coverage for 10 miles or more)
We find that the protein/energy bars age too fast in a kit. We are told to carry candy-coated chocolate. It doesn't make a mess in the heat (you WILL forget them in the car!), and warm up fast for eating without using much body heat to do so.
Most critical items are a blanket per person, change of footwear (including socks), candles in sand or other heat source (canned heat works well) and something to light them with, traction aid (kitty litter, carpet strips, commercial grip strips, etc.), shovel, a pour-bottle of winter window cleaner (to clean headlights and windshield if necessary), safety markers, lighting, and paper towels.
We also carry a snow-suit (one or two piece) per person and extreme temperature gear that you won't need (balaclavas, double-lined waterproof elbow-length mitts, etc.)

 

[DammitJanet]

Even here I think I would carry those little packets that you can open that heat up your hands or feet for at least ten hours. They make them for hunters and they are very cheap.

 

[HaoZi]

Looks like tomorrow into Wednesday we're expecting freezing rain/sleet followed by 2-4" of heavy wet snow. Yippee. Snow is a four-letter word in my household.