Alright Atlanta GRMers, I take it back.

I take back every disparaging word I said about the souths inability to drive in adverse conditions. MN got CREAMED last night, and the whole state is paralyzed. The only thing I'm seeing moving in stuff with 4wd, and plows. We started off the day with rain ( a lot of it, too) then sleet, then snow. THEN the temp dropped below freezing so now most of the roads are glare ice and the whole state is screwed. They've actually taken to abandoning cars on the highway here a'la ATL in the last storm, and one friend reported seeing a semi in the MIDDLE of 94 (our main e/w thoroughfare) stopped and putting tire chains on. It's complete gridlock. I've got friends east of me with NO power, and no way to get to me, because they're snowed in. And the temp is supposed to continue at least through today, plus wind, so not only is this crap not going to melt, it's going to drift. Then, more snow!

TLDR, I'm really sorry about being a northern snob. This is berkeleying stupid.

ahhhhh!

Southerners and now MN. You all need to learn how to drive.

I can drive to work in a Mclaren F1 car with slick tires through whatever weather you have.

Bobzilla should be by shortly to tell you why you can't drive for E36 M3.

all your loser no driving friends just need to take a winter driver training class, or drop a tire off the road for traction, then you could make it anywhere....lol

wait and SNOW TIRES ALL YOU NON DRIVING LOSERS NEED IS SNOW TIRES.

Toyman01 wrote: Bobzilla should be by shortly to tell you why you can't drive for E36 M3.

He's probably under a foot of the same snow we got yesterday- this storm is massive.

mndsm wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: Bobzilla should be by shortly to tell you why you can't drive for E36 M3.

He's probably under a foot of the same snow we got yesterday- this storm is massive.

Nope. It was 60 degrees here yesterday. We got rain.

I was shoveling snow from 7am until 10:30am, so by the time I finally left for work traffic wasn't too bad. However, I take city streets and don't use the highway; when I crossed over the Crosstown freeway at France Avenue it looked like a parking lot. The streets are all covered with ice, but there's packed snow on top of that which does provide enough traction to get by.

It was the 'perfect storm' to use a lame expression - rain in the mid 30s, followed by near blizzard conditions at 32 degrees, followed by a rapid drop into the single digits.

Also, I have snow tires, have taken winter driving, and do drop a tire into the gravel as needed on corners and the like. All that has taught me is I'm better off with Xbox and a bottle of bourbon.

stuart in mn wrote: I was shoveling snow from 7am until 10:30am, so by the time I finally left for work traffic wasn't too bad. However, I take city streets and don't use the highway; when I crossed over the Crosstown freeway at France Avenue it looked like a parking lot. The streets are all covered with ice, but there's packed snow on top of that which does provide enough traction to get by. It was the 'perfect storm' to use a lame expression - rain in the mid 30s, followed by near blizzard conditions at 32 degrees, followed by a rapid drop into the single digits.

Exactly. I haven't seen anything like this is a number of years, it was weird to see all the precip at the same time, it sort of overlapped in the east metro. I'm pretty sure I even got a little hail.

While I was out shoveling, my neighbor got his 4wd Suburban stuck in the alley so I had to help dig that thing out. I think his main problem was worn out tires; my 325ix crawled right down the alley without an issue.

Karma, also all your road salts are in the south

Toyman01 wrote: Bobzilla should be by shortly to tell you why you can't drive for E36 M3.

stuart in mn wrote: While I was out shoveling, my neighbor got his 4wd Suburban stuck in the alley so I had to help dig that thing out. I think his main problem was worn out tires; my 325ix crawled right down the alley without an issue.

Yeah, the wife was in a gonna kill me for playing Xbox mood, so I went and got her coffee and things to grease the wheels. no problems in the ms3 (snow tires, to be fair) but I'm watching the traffic and it is an absolute E36 M3show. I was out when it was doing all the precipitation at once last night, and that was a whole pile of fun- and people were already balling cars up left and right. They're actually advising NO travel in the southern 3rd of the state, it's pretty bonkers. So really, it's not a lack of driving ability, it's just how nuts it is.

Meanwhile, the sun is out in portland...

it is indeed!

A friend of mine took this shot on her way to work....

Not only is that photo old, there isn't anywhere near enough snow on the ground for what has happened there.

I've never seen it before, I figured it was legit- but you're totally right, we got almost a foot of snow- that's dust.

wvumtnbkr wrote: ahhhhh! Southerners and now MN. You all need to learn how to drive. I can drive to work in a Mclaren F1 car with slick tires through whatever weather you have.

Me too! Not very far, or very fast, but I bet I can get it to move at least a few inches before I spin off into a tree... Those are pretty safe in a wreck, right?

Turns out you need to be further north. We got nothing but a cold breeze in Saskatoon, and all the highways out of Regina (150 miles south) were closed.

The abuse for bad drivers shouldn't be heaped on Atlanta. My experience is that all Americans suck at winter driving. I was crossing Wisconsin a couple of winters ago, and lost count of the cars upside down. The roads were fine...I thought.

That doesn't count. Wisconsin is the leading cause of drunk driving in the midwest.

mndsm wrote: That doesn't count. Wisconsin is the leading cause of drunk driving in the midwest.

Is it like the ridiculousness that is Wyoming?

IE, they have a HUGE drunken driving problem, yet they have drive through liquor stores.

mndsm wrote: A friend of mine took this shot on her way to work....

Wow, the weiner wandered off the intended path and damn near wrecked 'em.
Who'd a thought?

If this is the first time, I bet it is being billed as "an accident."
If it has happened before, I suspect alcohol to have been involved. My personal experience suggests tequila.

Eye witnesses report having heard dolphin sounds?

According to the folks in Atlanta, everyone up north has snow tires. You should have been fine

Meh, on the face of it here in Atlanta the small amount of snow made it seem like a joke but there was more to it. So I get the ribbing. People complaining about not having snow tires was just a weak defense. Snow tires or not people would have still been in the same boat.

A couple feet of snow on top of more snow and mixing in the sleet and freezing rain that you are having up there, there is no berkeleying way we could deal with that.