Let's Have A Little Sympathy For People Struggling In Winter Storm Zone. It Really Was That Bad. Here's Why

In this image from Live Storms Media, the ice on the ground
was so thick and stubborn that a man resorted to using
a circular saw to cut and pry the ice from his driveway, 
The ice within the storm, and the long deep freeze
after it, has made cleanup for the storm especially
difficult and tedious in many places in the
Midwest and eastern United States. 

I'm seeing on social media a lot of snickering about people in the South, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic States not being able to handle the aftermath of the big winter storm last weekend. 

I'm also seeing a lot of frustration among people who live in cities hit by the storm because ice isn't cleared from streets and sidewalks. There's still huge snow mounds, and pathways in business districts are just excruciatingly narrow divots between piles of snow and ice.

The frustration is more than understandable. Who wants to deal with all that ice and snow and difficulty in getting around day after day? It can be downright dangerous. 

Much of the ire is directed at city officials. And in some cases, some town and city DPWs really dropped the ball with this storm. 

But overall, a couple aspects of this storm made the whole thing a long-lasting nightmare for millions of people who are not in Vermont or other parts of northern New England. 

Sure, up to 20 inches of snow fell on Vermont last Sunday and Monday. But this stuff was as light as feathers. We were able to clear all this stuff off our driveways and sidewalks without a problem. The snow was so filled with air that it settled a lot, Burlington, Vermont had 15.6 inches of snow in the storm. By Friday, the snow depth on the ground was down to eight inches.

Us northerns were smug about our snow clearing abilities, not understanding the difference between the fluff in Vermont and the cement-like crust of ice further south. 

In a broad zone from northern Texas and in Oklahoma all the way to the Mid-Atlantic States, the storm started as snow. Then a ton of sleet and freezing rain on top of it. 

Ever try to shovel three or four inches of sleet? You'd better be a bodybuilder if you try. Then throw in some freezing rain. The layers of snow and sleet get frozen into a solid, glacial mass that's almost impossible to hack away. 

The ice is so thick and stubborn in some places that a man in Lexington, Kentucky was seen using a circular saw in an attempt to cut and pry the ice from his driveway. 

South of the Great Lakes, northern New York and northern New England, snow and ice usually start to melt almost right after a winter storm ends. At least that's been the case in recent decades, as climate change has made extended periods of frigid weather increasingly rare,

But not impossible. The cold air has hung on relentlessly since that storm. A reinforcing shot of frigid air arrived yesterday, and will plunge temperatures to record lows in the Southeast tonight. 

Mississippi highways were still sheets of ice, with hundreds of stuck tractor trailers and other vehicles just sitting there. Cars were still sliding down hilly streets in Richmond, Virginia five days after the storm ended. 

In Washington DC, people are expected, under city ordinance, to clear the driveway in front of their homes within eight hours of daylight after a storm ends. Commercial properties face a $150 fine for not clear the walks and homeowners get $25 fines.

However, because the ice is so thick in DC, and it's been so cold, the city has temporarily suspended that rule. You still need to clear a path on the sidewalk, but if there's some snow and ice left that people can't hack away, the fines have been suspended for now. 

The temperature in Washington DC fell below freezing on January 23 and has been that way since. Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing in DC at least through next Saturday, except for a couple brief excursion into the mid 30s Tuesday and Friday. This in a city where the normal high temperature this time of year is 44 degrees. 

Also, snow that has a lot of sleet in it, like what's in Washington DC has now, doesn't melt nearly as fast as just powdery snow. 

New York City residents are grumbling about the snow, too, even though the Big Apple got very little sleet. The headline in The Gothamist Saturday was "New Yorkers begin to lose hope as freeze sets in and snow turns gray."

Garbage bags are beginning to pile up atop the snowbanks because the sanitation department has been more focused on snow removal than garbage. At least for the moment. The problem in New York is the same as elsewhere: There's been no thaw to remove the snow and no above freezing temperatures are in the forecast.  

It won't get above freezing in New York until at least next Saturday, and probably beyond that. 

As we head into February, millions of people will remain locked up in the ice and snow for many more days. A thaw will hit eventually, but it seems like forever before we'll see it. 

The winter of '26 is tough in so many respects. And that includes the weather.