Icy roads, icy trees
We dodged last night's ice, but not the "wintery mix" that came down this evening. When I got off work at 5:00 p.m. it was cold and rainy and my car was iced over. I scraped it off and went to Kroger to get some milk and trash bags.When I came back to the car a short time later, the windshield had frozen over again. The streets weren't slick yet, but by the time I got home, the rain had changed to sleet and was sticking to the roadway.
Now the precipitation has ended. We have a crust of sleet over the ground and roads and a thin layer of ice on the trees. I am hoping that the ice is not heavy enough to break any branches. I also hope the electric lines don't break!
I was worried about Isaac, who didn't get off work until 9:00 p.m. He hasn't had much experience with winter driving, but he got home all right. He said that all the highways were encrusted and slick, but salt trucks were working on Highway 68/80. Near home, on our sideroad, his car fishtailed once, but he straightened it out and stayed on the road.
I don't think that there will be school tomorrow so Dennis and Isaac probably won't have to go anywhere in the morning. I'll go to work as scheduled. I'll try to allow some extra time for de-icing my car and opening the door.
Just a few miles farther north, the ice has been much more serious. I heard on the news this morning that Dawson Springs (about 20 miles northwest of Hopkinsville) was completely locked in, with broken trees blocking all four roads out of town. (The trees broke because of the heavy load of ice on them.)
In Hopkins County, just north of Christian County, a state of emergency has been declared because of the poor road conditions. No one is supposed to drive unless he is having an emergency or is traveling to or from work. Emergency shelters have been opened for anyone who needs to spend the night.
The word "snow" is in our weather forecast three times before President's Day (Feb. 22.) Old Man Winter isn't ready to give up yet. Nonetheless, my early daffodils have sprouted. They are several inches tall already.
2 comments:
Down here in northern Alabama where I work, the cold came after the rain. My doors were iced shut and I had to pour hot water over the edges to get in. Severe ice storms are probably more common here than severe snow storms, but we haven't had either in a long time.
Hi, Mark. We get quite a bit of ice in this part of Kentucky also. Over the 17 years or so that we've been here, I remember some real snowstorms and also several crippling ice storms. I'll take snow over ice anyday.
As an update, Christian County Public Schools are closed today, but it's school as usual at Hopkinsville Community College. I wonder why they cancelled classes last time for a minor snow and not this time when the roads are truly bad? The HCC President must be basing his decision on road conditions!
Isaac scraped off his car and left. I guess he'll be all right as soon as he gets over to Highway 68/80.
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