(01-28-2014 06:10 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: I actually saw some places that were sanded, but that was more like the big interstate bridges that are expected to glaze over.
As to why not have them, it's because they need to actually be used about once a year, maybe, and that's a lot of money to just sit there doing nothing. It's kinda like "Why aren't New York and New Jersey more ready for hurricanes?"
That's a legitimate question too since they are coastal states.
Our police departments have enough equipment to repel the Spanish Armada, but if the sht really hit the fan we have a military. Why do we spend money on stuff like that but not on things like sand trucks (which can be used for other things during the summer) that could have been used dozens of times in the past decade?
(01-28-2014 02:55 PM)Matrix Wrote: Currently trapped at work and facing the possibility of having to stay here overnight, I'm stuck here and that is not a good thing.
Looking out a window and witnessing a ridiculous display of gridlock and cluster**** on 5th Avenue South between 18th and 19th street, traffic at a virtual standstill in all directions.
Looks like a scene from "The Walking Dead" out there. My home is 23 miles away from here, with only a quarter tank of gas and $5.50 in my pocket.
Hoping to figure out an escape plan before quitting time at 3. If this was a city like Cincinnati, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Madison, Milwaukee, Columbus, Chicago, St. Louis, or Boston, they wouldn't miss a beat in weather like this.
Don't get me wrong, I actually love the snow, it just that it only takes half an inch to paralyze this town and turn its local TV weather forecasters into drama queens. You're right, Birmingham simply isn't equipped to handle even a routine level of snowfall, let alone a real blizzard. Never has been, really.
That's because cities in Alabama can't justify the purchase of equipment that those other cities have just for the once in a decade snowfall we get. So we wait it out for 24 hours and go about as if nothing happened.
Sure they can. We had another event almost just like this last year. And James Spann keeps talking about how this is exactly like an event in 1982 where thousands of people had to spend the night in their cars.
We have had multiple snow events, but we don't buy anything at the governmental level to be prepared. All the snow equipment in the state was north of Birmingham, it's limited so they sent it to south Alabama and now back up here we're stuck.
We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on things like MRAPs and Humvees and fully automatic assault rifle attack teams for every police department in the state. We have not had to use them ONCE ever, except for that crazy guy that kidnapped that kid and even then we used the FBI's guys and equipment. There is money, and it could be spent more wisely, but it's not.
The state does have equipment and sent it where they thought it would be needed most. But this is a statewide problem. Cities cannot afford the purchase or the upkeep on this type of equipment like Band Dad said. You have to calculate probabilities. It's the same reason building here aren't built to earthquake specifications like they do in CA. We have had them and will probably have a pretty good sized one at some point. But it's not very likely.
Just like low income families, low revenue state and municipal governments have to figure percentages when it comes to buying equipment for anticipated risks. You allocate your scarce resources to handle what you feel is the greater, most likely risks. As recent news reports show, even though we know the winter brings a greater risk of house fires, we can't save everyone's life in every fire event.
(01-28-2014 06:54 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote: Just like low income families, low revenue state and municipal governments have to figure percentages when it comes to buying equipment for anticipated risks. You allocate your scarce resources to handle what you feel is the greater, most likely risks. As recent news reports show, even though we know the winter brings a greater risk of house fires, we can't save everyone's life in every fire event.
Just think. If they had built a domed stadium, everybody would have a place to sleep tonight.
(01-28-2014 03:14 PM)LairDweller Wrote: People talk about not having salt/sand or plows, which I get. But really, it has more to do with people being moronic.
I routinely drive in that much snow, well before the snow trucks get out...and we do just fine
(01-28-2014 03:20 PM)LightEmUp70 Wrote: The key is you routinely do it, while the people here don't. Sure, they should know to slow down to 15 or 20 mph, but they don't understand how a car is going to react on snow and ice. It's an especially big problem for people in pick up trucks who don't realize that the light rear ends put them at a severe disadvantage.
Well, sleet and freezing rain for the first three hours in Clanton. Snow set in about 10:00. And weatherman said it wasn't supposed to hit until after lunch. No big deal for me, because I live 5 miles from the office and if I hit the ditch my brother is 5 minutes away with truck (& tractor need be) to drag me out. The girlfriend on the other hand, different story. By the time I realized that this was hitting earlier and farther north, she was already at her office. In Montgomery. And she works for the State. I told her at 9 she needed to be on the road back home 5 minutes ago. Her supervisor said sit tight for a bit, Governor is closing the state offices at 1. Luckily she has the ability to not necessarily always listen to her supervisor, so she hit the road around 9:30. Iced over bridges and whatnot turned that 40 minute drive into hour and a half. People who actually stayed until 1 got screwed. Most of the bridges coming north across the river were closed, several wrecks on I-65, etc. Bad news. So, it wasn't just Bham. That being said, Bham was a mess. I didn't miss living there today. Looks like they were unprepared because the predictions were off. The usual north-south passes through the mountain shut down and I know several people stranded. Hate it for all those who got screwed.
That being said, we actually ended up with a nice little snow here in peach country, got the day off tomorrow to go to the farm and waste time, fire in the fireplace, drink in hand and chili in the crockpot. That was my day...
(01-28-2014 06:54 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote: Just like low income families, low revenue state and municipal governments have to figure percentages when it comes to buying equipment for anticipated risks. You allocate your scarce resources to handle what you feel is the greater, most likely risks. As recent news reports show, even though we know the winter brings a greater risk of house fires, we can't save everyone's life in every fire event.
Just think. If they had built a domed stadium, everybody would have a place to sleep tonight.
Yes, IF "MAPS" had passed, there might be a better "warming station" available tonight than Boutwell Auditorium. Just like UAB would have a better place to play football than "RAPS" Stadium on Graymont.
(01-28-2014 07:07 PM)BatesUAB Wrote: Well, sleet and freezing rain for the first three hours in Clanton. Snow set in about 10:00. And weatherman said it wasn't supposed to hit until after lunch. No big deal for me, because I live 5 miles from the office and if I hit the ditch my brother is 5 minutes away with truck (& tractor need be) to drag me out. The girlfriend on the other hand, different story. By the time I realized that this was hitting earlier and farther north, she was already at her office. In Montgomery. And she works for the State. I told her at 9 she needed to be on the road back home 5 minutes ago. Her supervisor said sit tight for a bit, Governor is closing the state offices at 1. Luckily she has the ability to not necessarily always listen to her supervisor, so she hit the road around 9:30. Iced over bridges and whatnot turned that 40 minute drive into hour and a half. People who actually stayed until 1 got screwed. Most of the bridges coming north across the river were closed, several wrecks on I-65, etc. Bad news. So, it wasn't just Bham. That being said, Bham was a mess. I didn't miss living there today. Looks like they were unprepared because the predictions were off. The usual north-south passes through the mountain shut down and I know several people stranded. Hate it for all those who got screwed.
That being said, we actually ended up with a nice little snow here in peach country, got the day off tomorrow to go to the farm and waste time, fire in the fireplace, drink in hand and chili in the crockpot. That was my day...
Today's event in Birmingham and Montgomery was NOT a bust. Meteorologists called for a dusting of snow in Birmingham, and 1-3 inches near Montgomery, Troy, and down near the coast including Mobile and Orange Beach. This is exactly what happened.
The forecast called for below freezing temperatures throughout the duration of the event. That is exactly what happened. The forecast called for a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain changing to snow. Again, this is what happened.
The general public really doesn't understand how difficult it is to forecast winter weather in Alabama, and especially, events that have wintry mix of precipitation all the way to the beaches of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. If there was a forecast of a "dusting" of snow in central Alabama, and temperatures were forecast to remain below freezing, put those two together.
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to understand how problematic snow falling is on the roadways in sub-freezing temperatures. Most drivers in Alabama are used to events with the temperature hovering right around 32 or 33 degrees, with slushy conditions and wet roadways. Not 20 degrees.
So, in closing, lay off the TV weather people. They were basing their forecast on data that NOAA and the NWS stand by. Nothing else needs to be said.
(This post was last modified: 01-28-2014 08:00 PM by Montgomery Blazer.)
(01-28-2014 07:57 PM)Montgomery Blazer Wrote: Really going to get on my soapbox here.
Today's event in Birmingham and Montgomery was NOT a bust. Meteorologists called for a dusting of snow in Birmingham, and 1-3 inches near Montgomery, Troy, and down near the coast including Mobile and Orange Beach. This is exactly what happened.
The forecast called for below freezing temperatures throughout the duration of the event. That is exactly what happened. The forecast called for a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain changing to snow. Again, this is what happened.
The general public really doesn't understand how difficult it is to forecast winter weather in Alabama, and especially, events that have wintry mix of precipitation all the way to the beaches of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. If there was a forecast of a "dusting" of snow in central Alabama, and temperatures were forecast to remain below freezing, put those two together.
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to understand how problematic snow falling is on the roadways in sub-freezing temperatures. Most drivers in Alabama are used to events with the temperature hovering right around 32 or 33 degrees, with slushy conditions and wet roadways. Not 20 degrees.
So, in closing, lay off the TV weather people. They were basing their forecast on data that NOAA and the NWS stand by. Nothing else needs to be said.
I do agree with laying off the TV weather people. None of them do much work. It's all computer modeling these days; they just read the data.
(01-28-2014 07:57 PM)Montgomery Blazer Wrote: Really going to get on my soapbox here.
Today's event in Birmingham and Montgomery was NOT a bust. Meteorologists called for a dusting of snow in Birmingham, and 1-3 inches near Montgomery, Troy, and down near the coast including Mobile and Orange Beach. This is exactly what happened.
The forecast called for below freezing temperatures throughout the duration of the event. That is exactly what happened. The forecast called for a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain changing to snow. Again, this is what happened.
The general public really doesn't understand how difficult it is to forecast winter weather in Alabama, and especially, events that have wintry mix of precipitation all the way to the beaches of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. If there was a forecast of a "dusting" of snow in central Alabama, and temperatures were forecast to remain below freezing, put those two together.
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to understand how problematic snow falling is on the roadways in sub-freezing temperatures. Most drivers in Alabama are used to events with the temperature hovering right around 32 or 33 degrees, with slushy conditions and wet roadways. Not 20 degrees.
So, in closing, lay off the TV weather people. They were basing their forecast on data that NOAA and the NWS stand by. Nothing else needs to be said.
I do agree with laying off the TV weather people. None of them do much work. It's all computer modeling these days; they just read the data.
Are you seriously so naive you think all TV weather people do is "read data"?
Outside of precise Doppler imaging of tornado signatures (highly valuable) I don't think what the local TV station gives you on a day to day basis is much more substantial than what you'd get if you told an underwear model to read the NWS forecast on the air.
They had this one right though. It's the school/municipality/business admins that blew this by being coy and not respecting the forecast.
(01-28-2014 07:57 PM)Montgomery Blazer Wrote: Meteorologists called for a dusting of snow in Birmingham, and 1-3 inches near Montgomery, Troy, and down near the coast including Mobile and Orange Beach. This is exactly what happened.
Are you sure about that? Because I'm in Vestavia, and there is 2.5 inches of snow on the ground, which is substantially more significant than a dusting.
(01-28-2014 07:57 PM)Montgomery Blazer Wrote: Meteorologists called for a dusting of snow in Birmingham, and 1-3 inches near Montgomery, Troy, and down near the coast including Mobile and Orange Beach. This is exactly what happened.
Are you sure about that? Because I'm in Vestavia, and there is 2.5 inches of snow on the ground, which is substantially more significant than a dusting.
They screwed up. Sorry.
They assimilated their public forecast based on model runs, MOS/FOUS data, and radar trends. Everyone agreed on a forecast of a dusting for the Birmingham metro.
The most I've seen is 1.5 inches in the Birmingham area; I highly doubt you received almost 3 inches. If you did, it is what it is.
There are always irregularities and anomalies when dealing with winter storms in this part of the country. It's impossible to get it 100% right.
The thousands of people who were stranded today, I wonder - did they take 30 seconds to look at radar trends and temperatures before they left?
Did they take the time to research moisture data and models such as the NAM and GFS?
A Winter Storm Warning was in effect, even as far north as Birmingham, even though it was not warranted. If they didn't want to get stranded, DON'T DRIVE ANYWHERE! CALL IN SICK TO WORK OR SCHOOL.