Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: terryc on December 04, 2008, 03:47:17 AM
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Does any of you USA alembicians who live in the colder states of USA suffer major infrastructure problems when the snow arrives.
We have just had a small fall of snow and the whole of the north east of england seems to grind to a halt!
schools close, major traffic jams, airports closing, trains delayed and we don't get anywhere near the amount some of you guys get.
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Here in the Piedmont region of North Carolina the mere mention of snow results in panic buying of milk and bread and announcements of 2 hr delays the next morning. If it actually snows and sticks to the roads everything closes down for at least a day. The closures can be longer if the snow doesn't melt quickly. This is all for amounts that wouldn't even concern folks further up north.
Keith
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Up here in Montreal, Canada we can get upwards of 30 centimeter (12 inch) snow dumps - last year 3 of them in a 10-day period! The only thing that closes are the schools. We've developed an efficienf snow clearing system that works for us so most major roads are open with business as usual.
Ellery (Lowlife)
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Terry, lets be honest brits here - even WITHOUT snow we have major traffic jams, trains are delayed and the country grinds to a halt.
A case of grass greener on the other side? Absolutely!
Snow just compounds it further...yet another circumstance that makes me ask what the hell am I doing living in this country??
John.
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Here in chicago it's just the same............if i pissed on the ground i could ice-skate in it!
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white cloud..totally agree..my daughter works in Dubai and she sent some pics of her sitting at a beach bar in the sunset..yes what am I doing living here.
Anyway it has began to thaw so panic is over.
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When I lived in Anchorage it could snow knee-deep over night and they'd have the roads cleared by lunch time.
Here in Indiana we've had our first dusting of snow and the state is already running low on road salt.
Several years ago our mayor made national news by stating that God put it there. God can take it away.
John
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terryc - but is your daughter having a beer at that beach bar? Some would call that a darn good reason not to move to an islamic country.
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I grew up in Syracuse, NY. They average around 10 feet (3 meters) (http://www.city-data.com/top2/c464.html target=_blank) of snow a year because of lake effect snow from the Great Lakes. Somewhere I have a picture of telephone poles covered in a snow drift. Syracuse also has probably the best snow removal (http://www.syracuse.com/weather/snow/stories/ target=_blank) systems in the country, so it takes a lot of snow to have any effect there. I remember driving when it was snowing at a rate of 2 feet per hour, and at night when you can't even see the road in a white-out.
Now I live in the Piedmont... Like Keith wrote, all it takes is for someone to mention snow and everyone goes into a panic. And if it actually does snow, people start driving their cars into ditches. Most people just stay home, which is the best thing to do around here.
Mike
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Adriaan, I was in Dubai back in the early 1990's. It's true that alcohol isn't allowed there, but there are quite a few hotels that have bars. So, yes you can get drunk in Dubai. Dubai is a lot more liberal than some other Arab countries. Actually, my sister is working near Dubai now, in Fujairah. It's a great place to visit.
Mike
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Mike - I recently spent a weekend in Washington DC (crazy sort of sleep-over trip given that I live in Europe) and when ordering a beer to go with my meal at Dulles int'l airport I was asked for my ID to check my age.
It must have been my youthful looks - I'm 43 ...
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When you're 15, you hate getting carded, but when you're 40-something, it's an honor. Other than that, it's just another dumb law
Mike
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What's the other? ;-)
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Dubai looks great..more liberal than other islamic countries..that is why they attract the big contracts. The company she works for did some of the advertising for the new Atlantis Hotel which when opened made the Beijing Fireworks look like a small squib.
Do they use sand instead of salt in the USA/Canada, here in the UK there is talk of mixing brine & salt 70%/30% ratio to keep the roads clear but can you imagine the corrosive damage to vehicles since road salt is 20 times more corrosive than seawater. Ouch!!!
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We use either a brine, sand/salt or pure salt depending upon the road. Fortunately we don't need it much in my area so the corrosion you see in the northern climates is not as much an issue here. When I lived in Chicago and New England it didn't take too many years to turn an auto into a rust heap.
Keith
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Here in Kentucky they use rock salt sometimes mixed with sand. And, believe or not, they now pre-treat the roads with beet juice. Yes, the juice from vegetable. Rock salt alone is only effective at temperatures at or above 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Beet juice enhances it to make it effective at temperatures 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
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In Colorado we just get ready for the snow because we know it will get here. With the right temperatures it doesn't take much snow to cause problems. We got 1 inch of snow last night and the roads were slick this morning.
Most of the last few years Denver got dumped on in some spring storms. There were several times that it got between 2.5 ft and 4 ft (depending on what part of the metro area you were in) in a single storm. The foodhills outside of town got up to 7 ft. Last winter the pass near Steamboat Springs set a record with 585 inches.
The liquid and solid deicers are just a necessary evil. They corrode everything they touch. But drivers demand dry roads as soon as the last snowflake hits the ground. Being able to get from the cities and airports to the ski resorts is so critical to the Colorado economy that they do what they have to do to keep the roads clear.
The Colorado Dept. of Transportation is looking at a budget cut from $1.3 billion down to $0.8 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.
Rich
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When I lived in Berthoud, CO they used pea gravel instead of sand on the roads. When strong winds would come down out of the mountains it would pick that stuff up and really do a number on your cars paint job.
Keith
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Terry, what you describe is a phenomenon that occurs in fringe areas where there is a small amount of snow falling a few times a year or less. New England doesn't really notice if there's less than six inches falling, but the Washington, DC area gets ugly when an inch falls.
The areas that get more snow have invested in the infrastructure to clear the roads quickly and efficiently. Areas that see an inch a year don't bother because it will typically melt the next day. Drivers in snowy areas are used to it and capable of handling the conditions safely. Meanwhile, people who only see the occasional flurry either turn complete chicken and slow things down or pay it no heed and skid into their neighbors.
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Sadly, the 4 foot drifts forecast didn't happen in central Scotland. A pity as I love the snow. It's one of the reasons I moved to Scotland; to be nearer the mountains. This time of year is when I sharpen up the axes and crampons and head for the hills at weekends. Who needs the alps when we have this..
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/59069.jpg)
Graeme
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When I lived in Missoula MT, nothing ever closed down due to snow...they never even heard of snow days...
Now that I am back in eastern PA, even a few flurries freak people out.
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Well I hate the snow & cold, I am a summer person, that is why I loved florida when I went there on holiday, warm even in the winter months.
Warm spring & hot summer days so I can get out on my Honda Fireblade, which is now prepared for winter - on the paddock stands, battery saver plugged in and covered over in a locked garage until April.
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I love the snow and ice also! My front door is only four miles from the shore of Loch Lomond and I am surrounded by stunningly beautiful landscapes!
That combined with my love of hill walking suddenly brings back into focus my reasons for living in this part of the world!
John.
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I love the snow, but hate the cold!
Mike