Slip Sliding Away

Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination,
the more you're slip sliding away
(Paul Simon, Slip Sliding Away)

Warnings are being issued all across the south about dangerous road conditions. Ice and snow, accompanied by plunging temperatures (coupled with a lack of equipment to handle that sort of thing in the south) is causing very dangerous conditions in many areas.

ATLANTA – Meteorologists warned the mixture of rain and snow that fell across the South a day earlier could make for icy roads early Sunday, with overnight temperatures in the upper teens and low 20s.
 
On Saturday, snow, rain and sleet spread across parts of the region, dusting lawns and shrubs with flakes and leading airlines to cancel several hundred flights.

"We're really stressing people should, especially in the north metro area, stay off roads as much as possible," said Laura Griffith of the weather service office in Peachtree City outside Atlanta.

The weather service posted freeze watches for Sunday morning in parts of Louisiana, including the New Orleans area. New Orleans put its freeze plan into effect to provide temporary shelter for the homeless for Saturday and Sunday nights.

Enough snow fell in Montgomery, Ala., for children to make snowballs to toss in front of the state Capitol, although the snow melted on contact with pavement.

Eleven-year-old Khryshanna Taylor saw snow for the first time Saturday in Montgomery and was unimpressed. "I have decided that I don't like snow!" she said as she hurried home after a brief attempt at a snowball fight.

Snow also fell as far south as southwestern Mississippi, with totals of as much as 3 inches, although the ground was too warm to allow it to accumulate. It was that area's first snowfall since 2001, the National Weather Service said.

Numerous flight delays are also mentioned in the story. Meanwhile, Accuweather is calling the brutal cold sweeping the Midwest and Northeast "potentially dangerous."

Potentially dangerous cold will have a hold on the northern Plains to the Northeast today, while lake-effect snow falls downwind of the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, a storm that dropped into the Northwest on Saturday will spread snow into the central Plains.

An arctic cold front will pass off the Northeast coast today, drawing the very cold air that has been hovering over the northern Plains behind it. Blustery conditions behind the front will make it feel even colder than actual temperatures from the North Central states to the Northeast.

Realfeel® temperatures will be frigid from the Great Lakes into the Northeast. The coldest air will make it to the interior portions of the Northeast and New England, where it will feel below zero degrees.

Actual temperatures in the northern Plains will be around 0 to 5 degrees. Once again, frigid winds will make it feel even colder. The expected temperature in Chicago for today is 12 degrees. According to the Associated Press, 20 warming centers will be set up across the city this weekend to help people deal with the dangerous cold. In addition, there are 100 homeless shelters scattered around the city. The Salvation Army is opening two more because of the bitter cold.

This is lethal cold, folks. The wind cuts like a knife out there right now – trust me. I just walked the puppy and she set a record for doing her business and running back for the door – and she loves being outside. Well, when it isn't this cold she does.