• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help!! Brother in law stuck on i75 in atlanta for 20 hours!!!

Page 19 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
corwin said:
Actually it does help, if you pre-treat the roads and keep treating them then the snow is mostly slush instead of hard packed almost ice...it's still not great but better...and I'm betting they don't have very many trucks to treat the roads there

Why not just declare marshal law:colbert:😛
Click to expand...

 
Arkaign said:
Click to expand...

:colbert:

Marshal%20Law%201.jpg
 
(thick coating of solid ice) + (worst possible timing) = gridlock

Add-in some dumbass drivers and you get a nasty situation.

Atlanta has some of the worst traffic conditions - no matter the season. Gridlock happens with normal weather too. Last year, the ice came very rapidly at the exact time when there would have been traffic problems regardless of weather. It was impossible for the trucks to get out and do anything about it because they were stuck in gridlock with the rest of traffic.

Just a confluence of bad coincidences.
 
Ichinisan said:
(thick coating of solid ice) + (worst possible timing) = gridlock

Add-in some dumbass drivers and you get a nasty situation.

Atlanta has some of the worst traffic conditions - no matter the season. Gridlock happens with normal weather too. Last year, the ice came very rapidly at the exact time when there would have been traffic problems regardless of weather. It was impossible for the trucks to get out and do anything about it because they were stuck in gridlock with the rest of traffic.

Just a confluence of bad coincidences.
Click to expand...
BS. Everyone know the coefficient of friction is different down here.
 
I still think it's hilarious that the critics in this thread keep comparing snowfall inches when it had far less to do with the snow than THE THICK SHEETS OF ICE covering everything. It was an ice storm that did it, people, not the snow. I've seen ice storms do just as much damage when I spent a winter in Princeton, WV in early 1998 (there was a blizzard). Power was out for a week, giant boulders were blocking roads, landslides wiped out entire roads... they are lucky they weren't Atlanta.
 
CZroe said:
I think it's hilarious that the critics in this thread keep comparing snowfall inches when it had far less to do with the snow than THE THICK SHEETS OF ICE covering everything. It was an ice storm people, not a snow storm. I've seen ice storms do just as much damage when I spent a winter in Princeton, WV in early 1998. Power was out for a week, giant boulders were blocking roads, landslides wiped out entire roads... they are lucky they weren't Atlanta.
Click to expand...

:rofl:
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Ichinisan said:
That first video I posted earlier, I started out facing a stop light up ahead. I've witnessed police cruisers (those aggressive-looking Dodges) stopping at the light and then just sliding backward to the bottom of the hill. It's not even a steep hill.
Click to expand...
If only those cops had that cold northern determination then their car would magically grip the ice.

It's a yankee skill you know, to magically create friction in places where there is none at all. I think it comes along with the rudeness and bad attitudes.
Click to expand...

Yup.
 
rudeguy said:
:rofl:
Click to expand...

What? Like the ice wasn't bringing down trees and poles on Atlanta's roads? It was. There were trees down everywhere, though not nearly as many as there were during a certain blizzard in the '90s.

It cakes onto everything and weighs it down beyond the limits. Even when a pole can handle all the extra weight on the attached lines that are ice-encrusted, it can't handle it when the crown of an ice-covered tree sags onto the line too and it certainly can't handle it when trees out-right topple onto it from the extra weight.
 
Last edited:
CZroe said:
What? Like the ice wasn't bringing down trees and poles on Atlanta's roads? It was. There were trees down everywhere, though not nearly as many as there were during a certain blizzard in the '90s.

It cakes onto everything and weighs it down beyond the limits. Even when a pole can handle all the extra weight on the attached lines that are ice-encrusted, it can't handle it with the crown of an ice-covered tree sags onto the line too and it certainly can't handle it when trees out-right topple from the extra weight.
Click to expand...
Our trees definitely take a beating since we usually don't get much winter.
 
rudeguy said:
No but...


5373209a9c5869b8bc4a2ea51a9d0b3a66381fcb524bb05fc64d6759e755d6e2.jpg



Oh...and I found you!

73ioKiQ.jpg
Click to expand...

Not really. I drove all over the place during the worst of it. Saw cars off the road everywhere. Driving in those conditions with the tiny tires on my 2009 Chevrolet Aveo, I seemed to do pretty well for myself. I knew when to accelerate and I wasn't afraid to increase my velocity and slide around when necessary.

That said, there were lots of places where 1mph wouldn't help you.
 
Not sure why this thread was resurrected, but that reminds me of my wife. It'll be snowing and we'll get maybe a half inch to and inch of accumulation and she'll say we have 3+ inches of snow on the ground. I typically just look at the top of our AC unit to see how much is on top of it. When people aren't used to seeing snow, they freak out.

The arguments about southerners not knowing how to drive in snow from northerners need to understand that that is partially true. The other half of the equation is that we get more storms that start with warm air and get slammed by cold fronts. In ATL, they get rain from the gulf and that hits cold air from the jet stream....then they go from 36 degrees down to 28 degrees and you end up with more ice on the road than anything under the snow and half the state is driving on bald tires. Luckily, the past 20 years have given most people FWD and AWD, so the only SOL folks are speeders and the few driving non 4WD trucks and sports cars.

Texas to Georgia and Arkansas to North Carolina/South Carolina typically get his the worst with ice storms/occasional snow storms. Up North, the temp is usually low enough that snow and visibility are the worst until the meltoff/refreeze occurs.

I've got family from FL to ME and everywhere in between and know that if you're on either side of 30 degrees you're safe....when you cross over, from warmer to colder, you're asking for slick/slushy roads and some serious accidents.
 
srp49ers said:
Oh, I completely forgot about this post!

He made it home alright, Spent the night in his car though. Hope everybody up north stays safe.
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, I would hate to be stuck in my car for that long. You southern folks don't have it like we do. We have salt trucks and snow plows that run day and night. If it gets too cold for the salt to work, people slow way down and leave plenty of room. Most of us drive heavy vehicles with good tires because snow and ice are just part of life.
 
CZroe said:
What? Like the ice wasn't bringing down trees and poles on Atlanta's roads? It was. There were trees down everywhere, though not nearly as many as there were during a certain blizzard in the '90s.

It cakes onto everything and weighs it down beyond the limits. Even when a pole can handle all the extra weight on the attached lines that are ice-encrusted, it can't handle it when the crown of an ice-covered tree sags onto the line too and it certainly can't handle it when trees out-right topple onto it from the extra weight.
Click to expand...

Of particular concern: We have a *LOT* of pine trees in GA. The ones we have out here seem pretty distinct from the others I see around the country. They grow really fast, and really tall (relative to the size of the trunk). There's no taproot and the entire root system of these pines is nowhere near as deep as it would be for most other tree species. Even giant ones get blown down in wind storms.

The adaptation of long-thin needles prevents it from holding much snow or catching much wind, so they generally don't need much anchoring in the ground. Due to their extremely rapid growth, the wood is weak and splintery. Couple that with the fact that they shed their lower branches all the time, no matter how big / heavy.

Unlike snow, a nasty ice storm causes ice to stick to the needles and weighs the branches down a lot. The lower branches (the biggest ones) fall off and destroy buildings, vehicles, utility lines, etc.
 
Ichinisan said:
Of particular concern: We have a *LOT* of pine trees in GA. The ones we have out here seem pretty distinct from the others I see around the country. They grow really fast, and really tall (relative to the size of the trunk). There's no taproot and the entire root system of these pines is nowhere near as deep as it would be for most other tree species. Even giant ones get blown down in wind storms.

The adaptation of long-thin needles prevents it from holding much snow or catching much wind, so they generally don't need much anchoring in the ground. Due to their extremely rapid growth, the wood is weak and splintery. Couple that with the fact that they shed their lower branches all the time, no matter how big / heavy.

Unlike snow, a nasty ice storm causes ice to stick to the needles and weighs the branches down a lot. The lower branches (the biggest ones) fall off and destroy buildings, vehicles, utility lines, etc.
Click to expand...

LMFAO

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

Are you really saying we don't have a lot of pine trees here in MI?
Where most Christmas trees come from?
Including...you know...the really big ones?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
 
rudeguy said:
LMFAO

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

Are you really saying we don't have a lot of pine trees here in MI?
Where most Christmas trees come from?
Including...you know...the really big ones?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was talking about. Christmas trees are entirely different from the type of trees I'm talking about. Not even comparable.

The things I'm talking about are 50x taller, straight up, and THEY SHED THEIR LOWER BRANCHES. Those lower branches are large enough to destroy homes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top