Early Winter Storms Try Men and Womens' Souls (Not Yet, Vermont)

This February, 2019 ice storm in northwestern Vermont 
was treacherous enough under foot. But the roads became
skating rinks, causing hours long traffic jams.  In the past
couple of weeks, this type of thing happened in two places
that got hit by modest winter storms. 

We've had precious little snow here in Vermont so far this winter, but the flakes will surely fly.

We skated through the first snowfall of the season back in mid-November pretty well. We had our share of car crashes, but it seemed to me it wasn't as bad as I've often seen with the initial white day of the winter. 

Depending on the timing, the consistency and intensity of a snowfall or ice any time of winter, but especially early on, things can get really horrible fast. 

I remember an example back in February, 2019 when freezing rain suddenly began falling across northwestern Vermont just as the evening rush hour began. The ice, the sliding cars, the fender benders and all that had practically all area roads at a standstill. This included Interstate 89.

What was normally a half hour trip home from work turned into a four or five hour ordeal for many. 

Like I said, we've been lucky so far this early season. And aside from some light snow in the forecast for at least parts of Vermont Sunday and Sunday night, we're still not looking at any big winter storms. 

Other cities and regions have not been so lucky this winter.  

I've got two examples that will make you shudder and be very happy it hasn't really snowed much in Vermont this season, much to the chagrin of skiers and riders.

It snows in Vancouver, British Columbia every winter, but their Pacific Coast climate usually brings them a steady diet of rain, drizzle, fog and clouds.

When it does snow, it's often a wet slush, which is especially treacherous under the wheels of vehicles. 

As December opened, Vancouver received about four inches of wet snow. Not a biggie. But in that hilly city, with the storm timed with the evening commute, it caused chaos. Some people were trapped behind backups and fender benders on highways for eight hours or more. Yuck.

If you don't see the image below, click on this link to view the mess. Or, click on the image below if you see it. After that, scroll down, as I have another example, as I love to be cruel. 

Next up, we go to Minnesota, especially around the Minneapolis metro area.  As we well know, Minnesota is a wintry, snowy state.  You can make an argument that Minnesota is even more wintry and horrible in the winter than Vermont.

But, apparently, people can't drive in the snow in Minnesota, either. During a wintry period from November 29 to December 2, MDOT logged 506 crashes.

MDOT also has an amazing array of traffic cameras, which offer hours of entertainment showing us people not exactly being competent in winter weather. 

From the very worthwhile to subscribe to Wham Slam Traffic Cam channel on YouTube, here's a great compilation of the Fails of early winter in Minnesota, in and around the Minneapolis metro area. Again, click on this link if you don't see the image below, or if you do, click on that.