Snowmageddon
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DonL
Jack of all trades Master of one
Nice.
I Love Mother Nature.
Stay home and crank up the electric blanket.
I Love Mother Nature.
Stay home and crank up the electric blanket.
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It's not so bad yet. I drove from Bellevue to Bothell this morning. I did feel the ABS kick in when I finally had to use the brakes.
Most of my Winter driving is in the mountains, and it's easier to drive there. In the city, there are more hills and sharp turns to navigate. I have the TV on, and some guy from Chicago tried going up a hill that had been blocked off with signs, and then slide back down it. He told the TV camera that people in Seattle don't drive as well as the people in Chicago. So they asked him why "he" slid back down the hill.
"My car wouldn't make it."
What a laugh. It's the hills and wetter snow dude. Anybody can drive on cold snow that is flat. If you're two years old you could navigate Chicago snow.
I've driven from the Eastern side of the state, where it's much drier, and as soon as cars go over the pass and head down toward the wet side, they start spinning. They were lured in by driving hundreds of miles on dry snow. Seattle is surrounded by water.
When I back pack over Cascade Pass; you will see a cloud bank that dissipates into thin air as the winds blow toward the East. I set up my tent a few miles toward the East in sunshine, while the West side is in cloud.
I'm driving an all wheel drive Highlander. It even has a snow button that electronically tweaks the settings for distributing power to the four wheels, limiting power to prevent slipping at times and the braking. But if you really have to crank a turn or stop quick; it is snow. There is just so much grip, or no grip at times.
Most of my Winter driving is in the mountains, and it's easier to drive there. In the city, there are more hills and sharp turns to navigate. I have the TV on, and some guy from Chicago tried going up a hill that had been blocked off with signs, and then slide back down it. He told the TV camera that people in Seattle don't drive as well as the people in Chicago. So they asked him why "he" slid back down the hill.
"My car wouldn't make it."
What a laugh. It's the hills and wetter snow dude. Anybody can drive on cold snow that is flat. If you're two years old you could navigate Chicago snow.
I've driven from the Eastern side of the state, where it's much drier, and as soon as cars go over the pass and head down toward the wet side, they start spinning. They were lured in by driving hundreds of miles on dry snow. Seattle is surrounded by water.
When I back pack over Cascade Pass; you will see a cloud bank that dissipates into thin air as the winds blow toward the East. I set up my tent a few miles toward the East in sunshine, while the West side is in cloud.
I'm driving an all wheel drive Highlander. It even has a snow button that electronically tweaks the settings for distributing power to the four wheels, limiting power to prevent slipping at times and the braking. But if you really have to crank a turn or stop quick; it is snow. There is just so much grip, or no grip at times.
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DonL
Jack of all trades Master of one
The Ice is the real bummer. Better reason to stay home and make babies, or at least practice.
Not true for people that live around Houston.
It is some site to see. Whole place shuts down.
Not true for people that live around Houston.
It is some site to see. Whole place shuts down.
Pipehacker
New Member
"Up to six inches of snowfall . . ." Rather wimpish, Terry. It sounds a little bit like Ian when he thought he was going to blow away in a 65 mph "hurricane."
But please do drive safely.
But please do drive safely.
It depends on the snow, and the hills.
When I fly back East, I'm amazed at how flat everything is. You guys have no idea of what a hill is.
Some of our hills around here are 1,000 feet. I used to live near the top of one of those, and drove it every day in the snow.
Iowa differs in elevation 200' over the entire state.
Washington goes from Sea level to 14,411 feet.
Our mountain passes got four feet of snow in the last four days.
My youngest is driving now, he spun out and bent a couple of wheels. That's how we learn here.
It's rare that we get much snow around Seattle. And it tends to last for just a day or two. Hardly worth chaining up the trucks. It's not like I take them up skiing. Though one year I did take the cube van up skiing. Pretty crazy.
This is Taylor when he was younger.
When I fly back East, I'm amazed at how flat everything is. You guys have no idea of what a hill is.
Some of our hills around here are 1,000 feet. I used to live near the top of one of those, and drove it every day in the snow.
Iowa differs in elevation 200' over the entire state.
Washington goes from Sea level to 14,411 feet.
Our mountain passes got four feet of snow in the last four days.
My youngest is driving now, he spun out and bent a couple of wheels. That's how we learn here.
It's rare that we get much snow around Seattle. And it tends to last for just a day or two. Hardly worth chaining up the trucks. It's not like I take them up skiing. Though one year I did take the cube van up skiing. Pretty crazy.
This is Taylor when he was younger.
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Pipehacker
New Member
Iowa differs in elevation 200' over the entire state.
It's actually about 1200 feet difference:
http://geology.com/state-map/iowa.shtml#elevation
But since the high and low spots are well over 200 miles apart, you probably will not need ropes and crampons for the ascent.
What I miss about the mountains is seeing blue skies like those in your photograph. Mountains against blue skies are much nicer than corn against blue skies.
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Pipehacker
New Member
Or read a book called The Children' Blizzard by David Laskin and be glad that you are not trying to stay warm buried in a North Dakota haystack.
The snow fall in Seattle has been variable. Not too much where I live, but street out front is covered with 3" of iced over snow.
Our weather pattern is inverted. The air up high is moist and warm, but near the ground it's 26 degrees. That means that when it rains above, it turns into freezing rain. I tried to grab a flashlight from my car last night, and the doors were frozen shut.
At the moment, there are 200,000 homes without power for the next few days, from broken branches dropping on power lines.
Snow fall ranges between 1-3 inches to 11-14" depending on neighborhood. I think mine got about six, and then the street packed down with ice. Freeways are fine, but with the ice sheeting over the snow, the local neighborhoods are messy. It's much easier to head up to the passes, though some of those are closed for avalanche work. They're dealing with four feet of snow. Some streets are blocked by multiple trees over the roadways. In parts of our state, it's mainly forest. They don't take kindly to much snow and ice. Our trees can be 125 feet tall right up to the roadways.
Looking about the back.
Skiing at Crystal Mountain on Sunday, January 15th 2012
Our weather pattern is inverted. The air up high is moist and warm, but near the ground it's 26 degrees. That means that when it rains above, it turns into freezing rain. I tried to grab a flashlight from my car last night, and the doors were frozen shut.
At the moment, there are 200,000 homes without power for the next few days, from broken branches dropping on power lines.
Snow fall ranges between 1-3 inches to 11-14" depending on neighborhood. I think mine got about six, and then the street packed down with ice. Freeways are fine, but with the ice sheeting over the snow, the local neighborhoods are messy. It's much easier to head up to the passes, though some of those are closed for avalanche work. They're dealing with four feet of snow. Some streets are blocked by multiple trees over the roadways. In parts of our state, it's mainly forest. They don't take kindly to much snow and ice. Our trees can be 125 feet tall right up to the roadways.
Looking about the back.
Skiing at Crystal Mountain on Sunday, January 15th 2012
We didn't get that much snow, maybe 9" at my place.
We did get some nice ice in the form of freezing rain. I went to the pass today, and was amazed at the broken trees and limbs near the edges of the highway. No wonder so many of our highways were closed for tree removal.
Here is the tree in my front yard. It's pretty beat up with all these missing branches. I might just cut the thing down and start over.
We did get some nice ice in the form of freezing rain. I went to the pass today, and was amazed at the broken trees and limbs near the edges of the highway. No wonder so many of our highways were closed for tree removal.
Here is the tree in my front yard. It's pretty beat up with all these missing branches. I might just cut the thing down and start over.
Ballvalve
General Engineering Contractor
Rainamageddon: Dry until January, then everything at once. Spent a weekend with a backhoe opening up culverts - try living in a neighborhood with thousands of 200' tall burned pine trees that fall with every breeze. Probably should wear a hard hat in the car. And you dont leave home without a chainsaw.
This little copper roofed "fallingwater" guest house literally shakes when the creek gets going - and this is about 1/3 of a big flow. Don't worry, I bolted it to a monster boulder, so it would have to all go at once. Just beyond is a 400' waterfall - makes the house vibrate like a tuning fork in big weather.
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