I knew we had an ice storm coming thanks to Facebook warnings. Everything will be closed for the next day or two. When Pam woke up from her nap yesterday, we went off the mountain to pick up some groceries, water, and dog and cat food. We were running low of everything. As we arrived at Price Chopper, I could see that the parking lot was full. The grocery store was packed! Why do all these people wait until the last minute before a storm to buy groceries? Don't they plan ahead? This is upstate New York, fer Pete's sake! Winter storms happen! Don't these people pay attention?? What is wrong with people???
We left Price Chopper and drove to Tractor Supply for the dog and cat food. When we came out, it was raining. Drat. The roads in the city were just wet, as it was as we started up the mountain. But I've been driving around here for a long time. I know that where the road gets sun during the day, it can be wet, but where it's shady, it can be ice.
I also learned a trick from a trucker many decades ago. Listen. If you can hear the water being kicked up by your tires, you're good. If you can't, the roads are frozen over.
It was just wet half way up the mountain, but then I saw tire tracks on the road. I listened, and didn't hear anything. I waited until I was on a straightaway and hit the brakes. The Kia's anti-lock brakes started chattering. I was only driving about 30 MPH, but decided to get off the ice covered bare pavement and took Barlow Road, a back road that was snow packed and sanded. Much better. We arrived home without incident, but we were both surprised to see that the car was coated with about an eighth of an inch of ice.
We loaded up both toboggans with our supplies and pulled them easily along the icy highway. When we got to our steep downhill driveway, we had a hard time holding the toboggans back.
The freezing rain is supposed to continue all night, but on Monday it's forecast to warm up to 44. Then on Tuesday, the high is going to be 5. It's like the old saying. If you don't like the weather in upstate New York, wait a minute.
We left Price Chopper and drove to Tractor Supply for the dog and cat food. When we came out, it was raining. Drat. The roads in the city were just wet, as it was as we started up the mountain. But I've been driving around here for a long time. I know that where the road gets sun during the day, it can be wet, but where it's shady, it can be ice.
I also learned a trick from a trucker many decades ago. Listen. If you can hear the water being kicked up by your tires, you're good. If you can't, the roads are frozen over.
It was just wet half way up the mountain, but then I saw tire tracks on the road. I listened, and didn't hear anything. I waited until I was on a straightaway and hit the brakes. The Kia's anti-lock brakes started chattering. I was only driving about 30 MPH, but decided to get off the ice covered bare pavement and took Barlow Road, a back road that was snow packed and sanded. Much better. We arrived home without incident, but we were both surprised to see that the car was coated with about an eighth of an inch of ice.
We loaded up both toboggans with our supplies and pulled them easily along the icy highway. When we got to our steep downhill driveway, we had a hard time holding the toboggans back.
The freezing rain is supposed to continue all night, but on Monday it's forecast to warm up to 44. Then on Tuesday, the high is going to be 5. It's like the old saying. If you don't like the weather in upstate New York, wait a minute.
Stay warm my friends, cats and dogs..
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