I sure hope none of you are stuck in ATL

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dparm

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I've got a friend who has been in the car for 7 hours and still is not home.


http://www.businessinsider.com/atlanta-traffic-jam-pictures-2014-1


66fceaabf64b3e034a0f6a706700925b.jpg


The stories coming out of Atlanta are crazy — people are abandoning their vehicles on the road, a baby was born in a car stuck in traffic, and 800 kids are stranded in schools as snow completely paralyzes the city.

The scene resembles the giant traffic jam depicted on "The Walking Dead" after Atlanta is taken over by zombies.

One to two inches of snow fell on Atlanta Tuesday, bringing traffic in the area to a near standstill. Atlanta's mayor has told people to stay off the icy roads, but thousands of people are still stuck. The dangerous road conditions have already caused hundreds of accidents.

The roads are so bad that schools in the area have suspended bus service. Parents are having a hard time getting to schools to pick up their kids, so hundreds of students might have to stay overnight.
 
Wow! Hope anyone and everyone there gets to and from safely.

I guess it's shocking seeing this as my first reaction is "that's all" but I guess it makes you realize how much different our weather is.
 
when weather becomes awful, we typically resort to calling in (and telecommute from home) instead of fighting the traffic for hours in futility.

Q.
 
For Atlanta to get snow is a very rare event, so it's a huge deal. This winter storm is all I've seen on TWC lately.


But since I live in MT, I have to say, 1-2" did this?
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Those people from areas that consider 2" of snow "just a flurry" might not realize why this has such an impact.

Snow just below freezing is especially slippery, and most people in Atlanta don't choose their cars or tires with snow in mind.
 
Originally Posted By: djb
Those people from areas that consider 2" of snow "just a flurry" might not realize why this has such an impact.

Snow just below freezing is especially slippery, and most people in Atlanta don't choose their cars or tires with snow in mind.



The roads were untreated, I saw not one plow. The forecast changed by the hour. A lot of people down here have rear wheel drive cars, or 2 wheel drive pickups and SUVs. On top of that, there are so many inconsiderate idiots that chose to block an intersection instead of stopping behind the white line when the light turns red. It is a total clownfest.
 
That is a mess of their own making and it could have been avoided.

Rather than stagger the times that people left work, they all left early and at the same time. Throw on top of that the schools all let out at the same time, with a bunch of people who aren't skilled enough to drive on a bit of snow, and it's clear what caused the problem.

If they can't handle that snow then they should have stayed at home that morning. The ones that did go into work should have staggered the times that they left instead of heading out the door all at once. If they would have varied the times they left most of the gridlock would have been avoided.
 
Originally Posted By: montero1
Originally Posted By: djb
Those people from areas that consider 2" of snow "just a flurry" might not realize why this has such an impact.

Snow just below freezing is especially slippery, and most people in Atlanta don't choose their cars or tires with snow in mind.



The roads were untreated, I saw not one plow. The forecast changed by the hour. ...


Yep it isn't the 2-3" inches of snow that is the issue it is the ice on the road. Additionally it hit much earlier than predicted...

We do have at least a few plows and sand but they were not out that I saw...

On the bright side, my dog LOVES snow...

snow.jpg
 
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Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
That is a mess of their own making and it could have been avoided.

Rather than stagger the times that people left work, they all left early and at the same time. Throw on top of that the schools all let out at the same time, with a bunch of people who aren't skilled enough to drive on a bit of snow, and it's clear what caused the problem.

If they can't handle that snow then they should have stayed at home that morning. The ones that did go into work should have staggered the times that they left instead of heading out the door all at once. If they would have varied the times they left most of the gridlock would have been avoided.


Yeah, the more I read about this, the more I think that people may have done this to themselves. Everyone insisted on driving home at the same time, instead of maybe waiting until later. They also start making moronic decisions from what I've been reading.

It sounds like a bunch of warnings were issued telling people not to drive to work if they could, and everyone ignored it.

I told my friend to just wait it out at a bar, or to just get a hotel, but he INSISTED that he needed to go home that night.
 
It took my wife 6 hours to get home yesterday (her drive normally takes about 30 min.). She was driving my '00 Acura 3.2TL. She had no problem with traction, it was simply the volume of cars on the road that caused the delays. I went to go pick up my little one from pre-K with my wife's '06 Freestyle and it took me 3 hours. The delays were from vehicles trying to make it up even slight inclines. The Freestyle's narrow A/S tires, heavy weight and FWD had no problem whatsoever. I waited for gaps to open up amongst the struggling cars and then I eased my way past. As I write this, my older daughter is still at her middle school where she spent the night with about 200 others.
 
birmingham AL got slammed too. I think they may have gotten a couple of feet. IDK--- I didn't pay that much attention. It's not flat in b'ham, so it only takes 1/2" to really cause problems, especially if there's ICE in that 1/2". AWD/4WD.... becomes much less effective over ice.

Like someone said above.... it's what we're used to. I have plenty of snow experience, and am very comfortable in it. I can say without a doubt that all the skill in the world won't do much good in my 2wd pickup with A/S tires. I know if it snows over 1/4", I'm useless in that truck on anything besides pure flat land. I'd fare better to take the FWD van, which will handle about up to 8", maybe 10" with some luck, or the wife's mdx, which does fine to about the same. But, since it rarely ever snows here, lots of folks like are fine with a 2wd/rwd.

be safe!
 
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Originally Posted By: meep
birmingham AL got slammed too. I think they may have gotten a couple of feet.

Someone who lives there told me they got two inches. However, he said that all roads are technically closed and so is the local airport.
 
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