The weather people had said there was a slight change for some snow for today, but no accumulations. I figured with all of the miscues where the weather people had predicted a few inches of snow that this time they’d have it right, only we wouldn’t get a flake. Going to exercise class, I saw that we were going to get a few flakes at minimum as it was snowing and starting to stick to the complex road.
An hour and fifteen minutes later when class was over, the snowfall had not stopped, but had rather increased. But the roads were still just wet and snow was rapidly accumulating on the grassy areas and places of pavement that were shaded. So I pulled into the supermarket to grab a few items. By the time some 20-minutes had passed and I was ready to check out, the snowfall began to really fall.
Getting into my car, the roads were now snowy and a bit icy. I made it most of the way home in 4-wheel drive, making sure to drive slower than normal. However, as I got into the lane to make a right turn to make the last jaunt to my complex, I started to press the brakes and started sliding. It wouldn’t have been a problem as I released the brake except a car pulled into the turn lane up ahead of me, meaning I needed to slow down or hit him. With only a few seconds to spare, I knew I couldn’t slow down enough to avoid an accident even with down-shifting, so up the sidewalk and up the snow-covered grassy hill that rises to a parking lot for Chilies is where I went. I wondered if I’d tip over since my vehicle was up on a hill and still sliding. Thank God it didn’t.
It took about a minute before I could back off the hill, off the sidewalk, and onto the turn lane thanks to the traffic that kept coming. I wondered if people were laughing at the smeg head in the SUV who went for a slide. It didn’t matter if they did or not because I knew I wasn’t speeding, yet was still going to fast.
So, I finally got to make my right turn and took the road to the next light nearly .6 miles away. I was going slow and even when I touched the brake to stop at the light, there was some minor sliding. A mini-van making a left turn into the lane I would be at once my light went green found himself sliding big time. I knew what he was going through as he banged both curbs before completely blocking the lane. Fortunately, he was able to get out of it and I was able to finish my journey home.
Taking an unscientific measurement, we had a good two inches in the grassy areas and over an inch on the sidewalk. Even as I write, the snow is falling hard and they are now saying we’ll get a few inches of snow with another big burst of snow coming about the time I head to work. Should be fun. ^_^
Update: 18:00 — Looks like we got three inches total snow, though the roads were clear when I came to work and there was no additional snow like the weather people predicted.