Dallas ice

[Dallas69]

Hi guys
We got 1" of ice Monday and that pretty much shutdown the city
No snow just ice
I know our friends up north will laugh at this but the city isnot prepared,just a few sand trucks
This year they sprayed some brine mixture on overpasses but it doesn't look like a success
Alot of folks with 4wds going 50mph and finding out they cant stop
We dont get much ice every year but when we do its bad

 

[Astro14]

Ice is incredibly hazardous. I'll take snow any day over ice. The only way to reasonably drive on ice is chained up on all four wheels. And it's not just Dallas, no city has enough salt trucks to undo an inch of ice...Mother Nature is the only on e who will get you out of this.

 

[Donald]

Sand or sand & salt mix is best.

 

[eljefino]

+2 on sand. Sun will beat down on it and soak it into the ice where it'll then split apart. And stay home! Best defense is no be there.

 

[Astro14]

Sand and salt, rock salt, not brine, works best. But I doubt Dallas has trucks that can even spread it. We still have ice all over our neighborhood streets from last week's snow. The city never plowed the side streets, just the main streets (and they did those incredibly poorly...as if they had no idea what plowing was meant to acomplish) and cars drove on the snow until it was compacted into sheets of ice. Cars crashed all over town. Still not great conditions.

Just waiting for warmer weather....

 

[Donald]

People do not always realize that (physics) salt does not melt ice, it merely lowers the freezing point of water. So if the salt lowers the melting point by 40 degrees and yet its -15F outside the salt will not help, but sand will.

Other deicer chemicals may do a better job, and of course it depends upon the concentration.

 

[Astro14]

Never salted in Winnipeg when I was there. Too cold to work. Rock salt works because it adds traction, like sand, and then melts those little holes that break up the ice. Tough on cars though, so lots of places don't use it. Colorado would spread magnesium chloride...ugh, dirty stuff, got all over everything, but a smaller impact on the Ph and salinity of mountain streams. Colorado's advantage was the strong sun that would come out a few days later and melt everything.

 

[d4d]

Looks like more snow and ice possible for DAL on the overnight tonight into Wednesday morning.The NWS has a Winter Storm Watch in effect for up to 4 more inches of snow and mixed precip thru noon Wednesday.

My son lives in DAL and although he grew up in Michigan driving in these conditions, his fellow Texan drivers have no clue. The DNT looks like the final lap at Daytona or Talladega at any given moment.

Best advice if possible- work from home if able and stay off the roads until temps moderate.

 

[Astro14]

Yikes! Snow on top of ice is even worse, because you can't see the ice and the traction is even less predictable than just ice...

Not a time to go out, even for work...

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Sand and salt, rock salt, not brine, works best. But I doubt Dallas has trucks that can even spread it. We still have ice all over our neighborhood streets from last week's snow. The city never plowed the side streets, just the main streets (and they did those incredibly poorly...as if they had no idea what plowing was meant to acomplish) and cars drove on the snow until it was compacted into sheets of ice. Cars crashed all over town. Still not great conditions.

Just waiting for warmer weather....


Dallas/Ft Worth and Arlington have become a LOT better since the 2011 SuperBowl Ice Storm

Freeways are sprayed and passable. Road graters have been out serving as snowplows. Bridges actually have sand on them. (instead of the brown sandy dirt that turned to muddy ice)

side streets still look like this:

 

[Dallas69]

Yea I stayed home yesterday but went into work today
The plant shutdown at 11am Monday and no second shift last night
Wednesday they are saying 3-4 inches of snow on top of what ice is left so it looks like fun tomorrow

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: d4d


My son lives in DAL and although he grew up in Michigan driving in these conditions, his fellow Texan drivers have no clue. The DNT looks like the final lap at Daytona or Talladega at any given moment.

Few people that live here are from here.

In the early '80s Dallas and Detroit flipped population numbers from the sheer numbers of people that migrated from Michigan. Dallas shot above a million. Detroit fell below.

My co-workers? Out of 8, one is from Connecticut, one from Chicago, one from Iowa, and one from Michigan.
My wife is from Ohio.

and in spite of all the Yankee transplants, few can drive on ice

 

[GMBoy]

Being a Texan for only 11 years I still laugh at the drivers around here. I come from Maryland and know how to drive in all sorts of winter scenarios...but down here they are truly clueless.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Being a Texan for only 11 years I still laugh at the drivers around here. I come from Maryland and know how to drive in all sorts of winter scenarios...but down here they are truly clueless.


I think I do pretty well.

and I grew up in Savannah, GA. A city that in 300 years has had measureable snowfall something like 3 times.

I had to drive about 140 miles round trip, every day during the 2011 ice storm. Got out of the city and people did a lot better. Of course there were the slack jawed yokels acting stupid in their 4X4s but they do that all the time and most of the time, they can get themselves back out of the ditch as long as they land right side up.

 

[dishdude]

Sitting at DFW right now, I must have missed the excitement since it's pretty dry out at the moment, just a little chilly!

 

[DBMaster]

I have been here since 1976 (DFW). There have been far worse storms than this. In fact, I thought we were past the point of this even being possible this year. Shows you what I know.

The roadways themselves are not designed with ice in mind. There are MANY elevated sections and high, curving overpasses. Ice gives you almost no traction and four wheel drive doesn't help much. I remember that in some of the really bad ice storms (I'm talking 2+ inches of solid ice hidden under inches of snow.) the roadside ditches were mostly littered with SUV's. There are too many people from too many places. Too much highway construction leading to pooling water that freezes overnight and narrowed, rerouted lanes. I'm surprised we only had 200 accident in the area yesterday.

No matter how expert you are at driving in this stuff it won't help you when the driver next to you, who can't drive well on a dry road, skids and sideswipes you.

In fact, the area has many more assets for dealing with this than ever before. In the 70's and 80's all they did was spread sand, which then led to a rash of cracked windshields when the ice was gone and the gravel started getting kicked up by tires. Now they have sand, salt, brine, and even some "plow" trucks." You can't do much real plowing around here because of all the glued down lane markers. They have been softening the ice with salt and brine and then scraping the slush, in some cases. Just too many miles of elevated roadways. The stuff comes in suddenly and is gone in 2-3 days. The best thing is just to stay home - if you have that option. I guarantee that there are a lot of people who lost a day's pay yesterday, anyway, after wrecking their cars. So, as with anything else, YMMV.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I have been here since 1976 (DFW). There have been far worse storms than this. In fact, I thought we were past the point of this even being possible this year. Shows you what I know.

The roadways themselves are not designed with ice in mind. There are MANY elevated sections and high, curving overpasses. Ice gives you almost no traction and four wheel drive doesn't help much. I remember that in some of the really bad ice storms (I'm talking 2+ inches of solid ice hidden under inches of snow.) the roadside ditches were mostly littered with SUV's. There are too many people from too many places. Too much highway construction leading to pooling water that freezes overnight and narrowed, rerouted lanes. I'm surprised we only had 200 accident in the area yesterday.

No matter how expert you are at driving in this stuff it won't help you when the driver next to you, who can't drive well on a dry road, skids and sideswipes you.

In fact, the area has many more assets for dealing with this than ever before. In the 70's and 80's all they did was spread sand, which then led to a rash of cracked windshields when the ice was gone and the gravel started getting kicked up by tires. Now they have sand, salt, brine, and even some "plow" trucks." You can't do much real plowing around here because of all the glued down lane markers. They have been softening the ice with salt and brine and then scraping the slush, in some cases. Just too many miles of elevated roadways. The stuff comes in suddenly and is gone in 2-3 days. The best thing is just to stay home - if you have that option. I guarantee that there are a lot of people who lost a day's pay yesterday, anyway, after wrecking their cars. So, as with anything else, YMMV.


Best quote right here.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I have been here since 1976 (DFW). There have been far worse storms than this. In fact, I thought we were past the point of this even being possible this year. Shows you what I know.

1979 Ice Storm. I was still living in Georgia. I remember watching the Cotton Bowl Parade because my cousin was in it. I don't know how my aunt got her to downtown Dallas.

1983 didn't have any precipitation. Record level high pressure but the temp stayed below 19°F for weeks. I had a two stroke. It was a pain to start and then would smoke the entire time I rode it. Every business that left their sprinklers on made a skating rink. Plumbing systems that were not designed with weeks below freezing made for busy plumbers.

1987: I actually rode my motorcycle in that ice storm. Ahh to be young and stupid again. I probably could have walked to work nearly as fast.

1989: Ice. Record low temperature. I walked for that one (still no car, just the motorcycle)

There were a bunch in the '90s too. One I missed because I was up north in school. One my boss had to come get me in his '80s Mercedes 300 because I still only had a motorcycle. Remarkably good car on the ice. low acceleration and heavy weight. One I had my Suzuki Swift. It was like a slot car - I couldn't get out of the ruts.

1998: Ice storm in Toronto. I watched it on the news and had a good chuckle. Car crash, car crash, car crash, car crash, car can't get moving... Look at that! The Canadians drive as bad on ice as we do.

2002: Drove my Mustang home from work - 5mph at a 45° angle. Try not to stop because it will take a full minute to get moving again. luckily I worked late and no one was out.

2011: Super Bowl Ice Storm. Everybody was from Western PA and Wisconsin. Not a problem for the fans...I mean maybe if they were expected to leave their cold home states and come to a warm southern state. Find us in single digits.

Yep! this one was a breeze. It's snowing now. Probably won't stick.

 

[simple_gifts]

There is no "knowing how to drive on ice"; one just doesn't.

When the real wheels of my 2300 hit the road (VERY small incline) and the back end of the truck starts sliding down the street, it is time to shut it off go back inside.

 

[rshaw125]

Yep we have had ice recently. Pick ups and SUV's first in the ditch. I suppose they think the laws of physics don't apply to them. I even saw a Jeep go straight into the guard rail.