Skiing Canceled Due To Snow
One expects lack of snow to ruin skiing, of course, but there is just something hysterically funny about canceling skiing due to too much snow. That is exactly what happened yesterday in Colorado, however. The massive storm that swept across the US - currently heading for the northeast - caused all kinds of problems.
Madison had expected three inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 30 mph Saturday. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences department postponed its annual Solstice Party, which was set for Saturday, until February.
"This is the most treacherous kind of weather that the weather can deliver," said department chairman Jonathan Martin.
The storm also complicated plans for some presidential hopefuls drumming up support for the Jan. 3 caucuses that kick off the nomination process.
Republican Mitt Romney canceled three campaign stops planned Saturday in southern Iowa, and former President Clinton canceled a rally for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, scheduled Saturday afternoon outside Des Moines.
In the mountains of western Colorado, the storm dumped up to two feet of snow, bringing moisture to a region that had been thirsting for it. A half foot of snow in Beaver Creek forced organizers to postpone a men's World Cup super-G skiing event from Saturday to Monday.
Eastbound Interstate 70 was closed for about three hours Saturday night leading up to Vail Pass in the mountains due to accidents on icy, snowpacked roads.
Heavy ice accumulations on power lines blacked out more than 14,000 customers scattered around Iowa, according to Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy. Thousands more were without power near Galesburg, Ill., Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said.
Unfortunately, there were also tragic accidents as a result of the weather:
In Indiana, a van carrying Purdue University's ice hockey team rolled over on an ice-slickened highway about 20 miles southwest of West Lafayette, killing one team member and injuring seven others, school officials said.
As a veteran of a lot of winter driving, I always dread the first storm of the season. Too many people forget how to drive in the snow and ice from one year to the next. The key is to always slow down. Always. It takes some people the first three or four storms to remember that. Do yourself a favor - don't have to relearn it every year.
By chuck, Sunday, 2 December , 2007 @ 5:02 pm
Slow down… and use snow tires. They make an amazing difference.