Cold

My sympathies go out to my friends in the South who will be dealing with snow and ice today. It has been snowing here for a week and very cold with windchills as low as -9 where I live, but most of the snow has not been accumulating more than a dusting. Burlington was experiencing whiteout conditions yesterday, but we just had light snow because the mountains stopped most of the snow from the west. Some places on the eastern side of the mountains received snow, but where I live, it’s been only a dusting. Tomorrow, we may get 1-2” of snow, but that doesn’t compare to northern Alabama who will get 2-4” of snow. My weather app actually says 7-8”, but that’s not what the meteorologists down there are forecasting, Even if they get 1-2”, it’s more like us getting 8-12” because they are just not prepared for winter weather. No one has snow tires, and I’d be surprised if very many people are aware there is such a thing as snow tires. Some places have a supply of salt and sand for the roads, but only the state has plows, so only the state roads get plowed. In other words, if a person lives in a rural area, they will be stuck in their homes. Roads are usually closed, which means if you get out on the roads and have an accident, insurance will not cover it, and trust me from experience, anyone who gets out on the roadways will have an accident. The last time I experienced a winter storm in Alabama, the roads were covered in nearly an inch of ice. It was tricky to even walk on the roads, let alone drive on them. Every car I saw went into a ditch. The good thing is that it should not be a long lasting winter weather event; the temperatures should reach the lower 40s by tomorrow. That being said, there will most likely be massive power outages due to the weight of the ice bringing down power lines. Rural areas in Alabama losing power is no different from rural areas in Vermont losing power, you could be without electricity for days.

If you are wondering, my family lives in the southern half of Alabama, so they should experience rain but no snow. As bad as it is when North Alabama gets snow, they do get snow more often than South Alabama. In my lifetime, I can think of only four major winter weather events in the area of Alabama I grew up in. We’ve had more hurricanes and tropical storms than we’ve had winter storms with ice/snow accumulation. South Alabama is not prepared at all for winter weather, and it usually means you are stuck wherever you are for days, usually without electricity, because the crews to restore power also can’t get out until the icy conditions are gone.