Yesterday PENNDOT was caught with thier pants down. For those of you who don't know, PENNDOT are the one responsible for keeping the roads clean during inclimate weather (snow). Yesterday my area recieved 8-10 inches of some really heavy wet snow. It wasn't until the afternoon before any plow trucks got out on the road to plow. Why? well it seems they wern't ready for the snow. Not a single truck had any plows on them as they were still being used for road repair. They just wern't expecting any snow! Lets just say driving was HAIRY, to say the least. Even after they began to plow, they were not laying down any cinders to melt the ice. I would prefer to drive in snow than on a sheet of ice. In one of those hope they are OK but serves you right incidents, I was on my way home from work (in which no one showed up exept for myself) I was passed on on non passing road, by a pickup truck with 4 wheel drive. I was doing about 35, which was probably a bit too fast. Two miles down the road, I see the same truck, upsidedown in the woods. I do hope the person is OK, but serves him right. I ended up walking the last quarter mile home as I live atop a long hill, and my little 4 cylinder car would not make it. As I wlked you could just here the tree cracking under the weight of the heavy snow. Some where close and I began to worry that one might fall right on top of me. Here are a few pics I took on my cell phone while walking up the hill.
Great photos . . . make me nostaligic for my youth in New England. The Blizzard of '78 was a horror for many, but for me as a 12 year old boy, it was one of the most memorable and enjoyable weeks of my life!
I miss the snows Florida sucks. Down in the 40's this morning though, which apparently has never happened at this time of year ever down here.
After we got our 22 inches and our power went out for three days (off and on) you guys all made fun of we "Montanans", now its the turn of those in the NE of the US, and we are enjoying temps in the upper 60s and lower 70s mid-day with lows in the upper 30s at night. Nanner, nanner, nanner!
Hey now. I didn't make fun of you. I actually don't mind the snow. Rather I enjoy it. I just wish that the people in charge of keeping the roads would have been prepared for snow. Especially since my local news called for snow, though not as much as we actually got. I am currently without power myself, and when I called to inquire about it they said hopefully midday Thursday it should be back on. Well at least I have Internet at work.
I know you didn't Mike, others from Florida and Alabama and points south of the Mason/Dixon line did though. Since here in Montana we have recorded snow in all but two months of the year (July and August), between our last (June) and our first (Sept) nearly every year since records were being kept in the late 1800s. Mike Mansfield (our esteemed Senator and majority leader for years and years in DC) once responded to a reporter's query about what people in Montana did in the summer. Mike thought for a moment, rubbed his chin and replied; "well, if it falls on a week-end we all go fishing."
We got cold rain that day which caught a lot of people off guard. Nice sunny, Fall morning, then dark clouds and rain. The owner of the complex I'm working at, had just put down wood protector on the deck. I'm fairly sure most of it washed off. We always get the big snow when it isn't forcasted or when they call for a "dusting" of snow.
When I was driving OTR, I happened to be in Texas one time when they had a "freak" snow. This was prefaced by a freezing rain, and then a "dusting" of snow. Man-o-man, I swear the only time those guys were on the road was when they went across it from ditch to ditch.
A year or two ago, in Central PA, we had odd weather. In April. Things starting to warm up. Get a day of 70 - 80 degree weather. The next day, we got 8 inches of snow. Two days later, it was all melted away. The next day had 70's weather. Then again, the following day after that we got 6 inches of snow! It was truly peculiar.
