News story shows difference in how Southerners and Northeners handle the snow storm.

[dixiegrrrrl]

RALEIGH, N.C. – The snow-and-ice storm that has shut down much of the South slowly rolled toward the Northeast on Tuesday, revealing a regional culture clash along the way.

Southerners seemed resigned to waiting out winter headaches such as slick roads and paralyzed airports. But people from Ohio to New York, who face up to a foot of snow in their third blast of winter in as many weeks, were already putting pressure on state and local governments to spare them from travel tangles and snow-choked roads.

In Atlanta, which had only 10 pieces of snow equipment when the storm hit, officials planned to bring in nearly 50 more pieces — the most resources marshaled for a storm in a decade. Mayor Kasim Reed said backup supplies of salt and sand were on the way, too.

Mail delivery was restricted to just a few places because postal employees could not get to work. Many schools and other institutions planned to stay closed Wednesday out of caution. The storm has been blamed for 11 deaths and many more injuries.

More:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110111/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_weather

[HopeHoops]

1. My wife taught in S.C. when they got a light dusting.

Two parents came to pick up their kids within about 15 minutes. The snow melted off within half an hour.

[LibertyLover]

2. 20 years ago I moved from northern New Jersey

to central Maryland and got a job in DC. A few weeks after I started, a small snow storm dumped 2 or 34 inches of snow on the ground. I got up at my usual time, got in my car to drive to the metro station and noticed that traffic was very light. The radio announced that the federal government was on liberal leave, which explained the lack of traffic. But what I had to laugh about was listening to people on the metro complaining about having to go to work in all that snow. I am still not used to everything coming to a screaming halt for small amounts of snow. This morning there are literally 2 inches of snow on the ground and my daughter's school is on a 2 hour delay. Of course yesterday they were dismissed 2 hours early because of the snow that was supposed to start falling in the afternoon, which didn't start until 5 pm or so. Last year with the Snowplosion it was really ugly here.

[blueamy66]

3. the Southerners have it correct

SNOW DAY!!!

I have a good friend in Atlanta who is having a ball!

[Raven]

4. Agree! I'm in NH and have about a foot on the ground now. Probably

about another 6+ inches to come.The only smart way to handle this (if you can) is to stay put. It takes a little advance planning but there is nothing as nice and as relaxing as a snow day.:-)

PS. Well...maybe a day at the beach would be nicer.

[Skittles]

18. my "snow days" would have to be at a hotel near work

some people just cannot have the day (night) off work

[Crystal Clarity]

8. I would agree w/that it was a rare occurrence

But you can't quit going about the business of making a living for a little bit of snow. If we were to do that here in the Northeast, people would be losing out on an awful lot of their income from November well into April.

I will agree that it'd be a fun thing to see an occasional break from routine. Who doesn't want to enjoy the anomaly of a work-place sanctioned day off? Cozy and warm inside w/a maybe the smell of some delicious slow-cooker meal permeating through the house all day. Sadly up here, that rarely happens unless we are talking about a mega-storm.

My area (where the snow has just started) is expected to get a piddly 6 to 9 inches. In other words, nearly nothing relatively speaking. So that means same-old, same-old for us. Not only a normal workday, but also very little tolerance for being late.

I love days like this when I don't have to go anywhere though. :-)

[wysimdnwyg]

5. I can explain it all (from a Southern perspective)

In Nashville, we get an average of 9 inches of snow per year. In the NE, 9 inches falls in a day. And that's not even a really bad storm. Needless to say, there are vastly different processes undertaken by the city/state governments. The north gets the plows going and the roads are usually clear pretty quickly. In Nashville, the salt trucks start rolling hours before the expected storm arrives. But salt can only do so much, and is largely ineffective when the temperatures stay well below freezing. Compounding the issue down here is that, typically, our snow is either preceded or followed by a period of sleet and freezing rain. This ends up making a very nice layer of ice on the roads. And when the salt does work, if the roads don't dry completely before it gets too cold, the moisture will refreeze overnight, making another layer of ice. Personally, I love driving in the snow as long as traffic is light. I just worry about the idiots out there who have no clue what they're doing. Unfortunately, that includes most of the drivers down here.

As for schools closing ahead of time and parents being worried about being able to get their kids, I always think back to the early 1980's when Nashville had a big, largely unexpected storm pass through in the middle of the day. We received 7" of snow in a few hours. Schools were closed early, but it wasn't early enough. Many kids were stranded at their schools because the buses were unable to even make it that far. Some of those kids were stuck at their schools until after 7:00pm that night. The parents were understandably upset, and ever since then the school systems around here have been extra cautious.

[kentauros]

6. I know these stories love to show how "unprepared" we are in the South,

but it all fails on one major point.

In the North, y'all get a form of precipitation that remains on the ground for weeks or even months (years/decades/centuries if you live far enough north.) Your entire infrastructure is built around this simple fact.

In the South, our main form of precipitation remains on the ground for a few hours to a few days (as with floods.) Our infrastructure is built around torrential rains, for the most part. Even that gets overwhelmed in extreme cases, just as extreme snow-storms overwhelm parts of the North. Y'all are prepared for that, too, like with snow-crawlers, snowmobiles and the like. We are similarly prepared with boats, canoes and ATVs large and small.

One other difference I've observed is that in times of flood, there's more damage to everything left behind than what I see from a major snowstorm. While both types of storm may produce hurricane-force winds (unless it's actually a hurricane, which is another matter entirely) flood-waters create more overall damage than a large buildup of snow. Sure, an inflatable stadium roof may collapse, but you won't see houses being ripped from their foundations by six feet of snow ;)

So, laugh at us silly Southerners because we can't handle a mild bit of snow and ice. We'll still be there to help out with our equipment when all that snow up there melts and you need someone to bail you out of the floodwaters :)

[hedgehog]

7. This really belongs in GD - except that it might end up going down in flames.

Set aside the distraction of how people react to snow and the different amounts areas get. "Southerners seemed resigned " vs "putting pressure on state and local governments"

In general, the first group has decided that some problems must be endured. In general, the second group has decided that government, i.e. the unified efforts of the group, can and must fix whatever problems present themselves.

There, in a nut shell, is the difference between red and blue states.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. blue and red have little to do with generations of weather behavior.

Fer instance...

In Washington state, on the west side of the Cascades, ( heavily Democratic)
snow used to be rare, you could go 3-4 years with not a flake landing in Seattle.
So when 6 inches dumps down, people do not do well ( esp. since Seattle is hilly).
And it freezes at night, making it much worse.
Not a lot of snow plows in Puget Sound area, usually no need for them.
Very urban area, lots of expectations that the city "should have" etc etc about snow removal.
This year people were stranded on the roads for up to 11 hours for a 20 mile drive.
Tons of newspaper stories about it.
Most people under 60 had no clue how to drive in snow.

but, in Eastern Washington, ( heavily Republican, mostly very rural)
it snows every year, the cars and trucks do just fine unless there are
(rare) blizzard like conditions, everyone carries chains, shovels, big bags of cat litter, sleeping bag, etc.
"just in case".
and people manage to get up to the 4,000 foot passes every winter, on snowy 2 lane roads, to ski.
I remember as a kid it was "normal" to drive up to the passes on a weekend just to SEE snow.
In an old beat up car, with practically bald tires, but with chains.
Hell, I remember as a young adult putting chains on my car.
Drove on the passes, drove in eastern Wash. in snow, thought nothing of it.

then I move down here, drove thru New Orleans in Dec. of 1963, less than 2 inches of snow on the road, and cars piled in ditches. Snow melted by noon, if memory serves.

Last year, when it snowed here in SW Ala. in Feb. ( we got about 3 inches on the deck) no one drove unless they had to.
Ice and snow stayed for 3 days.

Has nothing to do with politics, might have something to do with rural independence attitudes.
80% of Ala. is rural, very small towns.
Lots of Dems down here, btw.
But people here don't know how to drive in snow, are afraid to,which is probably good, since they will not cause problems for those who do know how to drive.
So they just stay home, stay safe, have a snow day or two, think nothing of it.

as for me , I enjoy the silence of no traffic and the beauty of the snow on the magnolias,
knowing it will not last more than 3-4 days.

but cold winters seem to be more "normal" here now....hmmmm.

[DBoon]

17. 3 inches of snow in Los Angeles, the National Guard would be patrolling

how does that fit the red/blue paradigm?

Fortunately, we have not had snow since 1949..

[old mark]

10. Really, it all depends-Last winter we had a snow storm that went way beyond

all predictions and shut down the interstate hiway near here, stranding miles of cars and trucks for nearly 12 hours...State Troopers and emergency services brought hot coffee and food, and helped people with medical problems, but everyone on that road stayed there overnight and more till they got it cleared up. If you get surprised by severe weather, you realize how helpless we all are in the face of nature, no matter where you live. The South gets a lot more tornados that we do up here, and I'll take snow over tornados any time.


mark

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. I'm with you on that one. I've never seen a tornado but am terrified of them anyway.

[TK421]

15. Been through one when I was in Florida...no fun, no fun at all

I could fill you in later if you like, but I'm going to get ready for work now

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Yeah, give me the details later when you have some time. :^)

[Burma Jones]

11. I grew up in the DC area, my wife grew up in upstate NY

When it snows, I am happy to wait it out. My Wife (the Yogi) starts getting really antsy and eager to show she cannot be slowed down by snow.

During last year's Snowmageddon (part 1) we had a three day power outage (which ended about an hour after the Super Bowl) and could not get out of our driveway. We have 3 kids (11, 9 and 3 at the time) and all of us had a very nice time making sure the fireplace was kept roaring and digging a path to the Propane Grill and keeping warm and cooking in the fireplace.....However, Snomageddon part 2 was forecast for a few days later than Snowmageddon part 1, we saw our opportunity, packed the kids in the car and headed south to Williamsburg and the Great Wolf Lodge, where I happily worked and the Wife and Kids hung out in the indoor Water Park and Played Magic Quest for three days.

[jobycom]

12. Proving once again that Southerners are smarter than Yankees.

Y'all try to force your way through the snow. We just move someplace where we can use snow as an excuse to stay home and watch Oprah.

[gratuitous]

13. Just keep the snow out of Oregon

Seriously, we don't know what to do, and get thoroughly bamboozled when our rain piles up instead of draining. People drive as far as they can, then just abandon their cars on the road. No pulling over, no trying to find a safe place to park, just stop and get out. It's astonishing.

I have limited abilities when it comes to driving in the snow, and I know it. I'll take public transit if I really need to go out, or just find a reason to stay home. But while I'm barely competent to drive in snow, there are a dozen others who have no compunction about jumping in their cars and driving like it's any other day. "Just gonna take a whole lotta floorin', Marge" seems to be the guiding philosophy.

Snow? Thanks, but no thanks.

[Fleshdancer]

19. States that rarely have snow will always react differently from states that do

It seems a bit silly to me to compare the reactions when one group experiences a large amount of snow every year while the other group hardly ever experiences enough snow to cause an actual disruption in their work week.