D.C. area road conditions vary from snow to slush to ice
The Grid Spouse took the Polar Bear plunge into the frigid waters of Chesapeake Bay at 1 p.m. Then I had the tough part: I had to drive us home along Route 50 and the outer loop of the Capital Beltway.
What's normally about a 40-minute trip took an hour and a half. We saw plenty of busted vehicles along the sides of the highways. There were plenty of snowplows, salters and sanders out, but the snow at mid-afternoon was coming down at such a rapid rate that their work was quickly covered over.
Your best bet is to avoid doing what either of us did today. But if you must go onto the roads, I offer these suggestions:
By
Robert Thomson
|
January 30, 2010; 4:05 PM ET
Categories:
Driving
,
Safety
,
Weather
| Tags: Dr. Gridlock, snowstorm
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Posted by: HoofHearted | January 31, 2010 12:19 AM | Report abuse
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Dr. Gridlock,
I always enjoy your comments, but I have to add one here now for the safety of your readers.
During a winter storm in which there is precipitation and the outside temp is less than 25F, the WORST thing you can do is have your defrosters on. The WORST.
What will happen is the defrosters will melt almost anything that hits the windshield but, because the outside temp is so low, the defroster simply cannot overcome the cold temps to keep the windshield clear. The precip will simply melt and freeze, melt and freeze. Next thing you know, you're driving blind (kinda like those folks on the Beltway reading while driving).
Having lived in upstate NY where the temps sometimes got up to minus 10, the rule of thumb is: if the temp is less than 25F, keep the windshield COLD. In this case any precipitation (snow) that hits the (cold) windshield will simply be deflected and not be melted and stick.
Less than 25, keep the windshield COLD!
Best from Potsdam NY.