That's the thing though. Houston is not Minnesota. We're not used to any of this. I don't know if you're questioning whether they did the right thing in closing down schools, city buildings, and businesses... but if they hadn't this would've been literally 10x worse with the amount of traffic Houston has at rush hour in the morning.
Nope, they should have closed everything they did and then some. I am just commenting that even in Minnesota, you will see hundreds of accidents from 'just ice'. It doesn't matter how often an ice event occurs, there will tend to be hundreds of accidents regardless of the location. There does not have to be any black ice involved.
I would agree with that most definitely. The original argument was that the city of Houston overreacted (and they did, especially the media) and that closing down business and city hall was the wrong thing.
In this day and age with so many folks able to telecommute, it is better to be safe than sorry. I am fortunate in Minnesota, that if the forecast is for ice or 3+ inches of snow, I can work from home. I've had a few ice adventures and I'd prefer not to have any more.
I am going to disagree with the definition. Everytime I have heard black ice referred to it is from exhaust freezing on the pavement because it is so cold. That is why it is so dangerous as it can form even when there isn't any snow or other form of moisture. Glare ice sounds more like what that definition is but perhaps the terms are used interchangeably. With all of that I agree with Bobrek said. As far as getting an ice scraper, blue windshield washer fluid and kitty litter (non clumping) I still say for the cost of those it still makes sense to get them even in a city like Houston. They are cheap and can save you a lot of headaches when ice does occur. Also ice forms on car windows even without an ice storm as just from condensation on a car window that is below freezing which in most years the temp in Houston does drop down to a few times.
Black ice was called black ice because it's so thin on road surfaces, you can't tell the dark pavement from the ice. I don't think it really matters where it comes from - I think it's the thin nature of the ice on the road that gave it its name. I think they've even mentioned black ice forming on the decks of the boats on Discovery's show, Deadliest Catch.
So I decided to get Amazon's Prime (2-day shipping) service. My 2nd ever Prime shipment began its journey on January 31st. I'm still waiting for it to show up, but check out the vacation trip it's taken : I especially like how it actually got to the Dallas area where I live, but was sent back to Indianapolis due to bad weather. I can't wait to see what kind of shape my package is in. But alas, I may not see it tomorrow since we're expecting a new batch of ice and snow. Woo!
I've been watching several packages from amazon all day, too. UPS should have been out this weekend, catching up.
I have lived up north by the Canadian border also. I have lived in Vermont and lived in Houston. It was easier getting around on the ice in Vermont than in Houston. There was a lot less traffic including 18-wheelers on the road moving cargo from the ship channel. There is about 6-7 million people in Houston metro compared to the tiny populations Vermont or Minnesota. There will be more accidents based on the number of drivers alone. Rush hour in Vermont never bothered me, driving from one city to another to work. While driving, it was very easy to stay several hundred feet behind another vehicle. In Houston even with fewer drivers with ice on road, you still come across bottlenecks by downtown and the Galleria, during rush hour. It's bumper to bumper. It is so much easier to drive with dedicated winter tires or chains than all-season or summer tires on ice. It wass easier to keep the roads covered with de-icing chemicals, because the chemicals are not washed away from rain. This past weekend, the chemicals were washed away by the rain and then the ice was formed. Many of the highway/freeways didn't have much ice, because there was no overpass. We were driving over freeways on hills and mountains. Ice doesn't form as easily when the underside of a freeway is sitting on the ground instead of exposed to air. There was more snow than ice. Snow is so much easier to drive on.
I did the same thing, ordered NBA2K11 on Feb 2nd, and it is still chilling in Mesquite TX trying to get here... ho hum... prime my ass.
So, this is my fourth snow day not going into work in the last seven work days. It could have been five but I went in last Thursday. Gotta love North Texas! They shut down if someone pisses on a school sidewalk and it freezes. Come on down for more ice/sleet/pellet/snow weather events next week!
UT did not cancel classes. Friends saying its icy as ****. should just cancel to avoid any possible accidents
I hope everyone brought their bumper cars to work. Hope this precip moves out or rush hour might really suck today. Winter Weather Advisory in effect from noon today to 6 PM CST this evening... The National Weather Service in Houston/Galveston has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for freezing rain which is in effect from noon today to 6 PM CST this evening. An Arctic cold front will move quickly across the area late this morning. Temperatures will quickly fall to below freezing by early afternoon. Any lingering precipitation behind the front will likely freeze on contact with the surface. The potential exists for ice to form... mainly on elevated roadways including bridges and overpasses. Ice accumulations are expected to be light. The precipitation is expected to taper off by late afternoon. Temperatures this afternoon are expected to drop into the 20s. Accompanying the freezing temperatures will be north winds gusting between 20 and 30 mph. This wind and temperature combination will cause wind chills to fall into the teens and 20s. Some locations may even experience wind chills in the single digits. Precautionary/preparedness actions... Bridges and overpasses in the advisory area may become covered with a thin layer of patchy ice making driving hazardous.
yeah i was on accuweather and noaa all night, at 2am and then it said the weather in austin around 10am would be 37, but right now its actually 22 and it has already frozen over. They didn't cancel classes however but now theyre saying it will sleet until 11, then possibly snow at noon, followed by freezing rain at 1.
Everything I'm pulling up says precip will be done in houston by 3pm and freezing temps won't hit til 6pm at the earliest.
Nothings on radar in your area anymore and the Houston radar looks pretty clear behind the front. If the temps drop in a hurry the moisture thats already on the roads may freeze on bridges.
