[t6dpilot]

Well, I just returned from ATL working a trade show with colleagues. It was the worst situation that I have ever witnessed - EVER! Much worse than the big blizzard that hit Chicago a couple of years ago. What made it bad for us was that we stayed 20 miles north of town to keep our hotel bills reasonable. That made us part of the Atlanta commuter traffic. In my opinion, it was the expressway cluster*** that made this situation so bad. Being seasoned upper midwesterners, we got off the highway after seeing how bad it was. Thank God for Google Maps and GPS. We had a speedy 3 hour commmute to our hotel near the intersection of 285 and 75 in Vinings. Hell of a lot better than everyone else out there.

It was not ice that fell, but the problem was that the 2 or 3 inches of snow quickly became ice pack on the roads. The previous day was warm so the ground retained heat for the beginning of the storm. That caused the snow to melt, which is typical of the south. Heck, I figured there might just be a dusting on the grass and everything else would melt. Wrong! The temperature steadily dropped quickly and the wet snow/slush turned into ice. And with the heavy traffic on the expressways, they packed the snow into more ice making the sitation really bad. The secondary roads were not a whole lot better, but there were less vehicles and you still had some regular snow for traction. Pick your way carefully and it should be OK.

Having an AWD or FWD car was key. RWD and you were toast. The hills were the main issue combined with slippery condition incompetence. If you just kept moving and managed your energy, you could get up and down the hills. Use the snow covered areas to gain lost traction. What was funny (actually sad) was that a lot of drivers pressed the gas when the wheels started to spin. Can't get anywhere, spin the wheels more. I saw so much tire smoke it was ridiculous. When we finally got back on the road Wednesday, you saw a ton of wheel spin marks where they would go forward for a few feet then sideways for 15 feet. Everybody was doing it and I think even the FWD cars were having difficulty. Stopping on a hill or just before was the kiss of death for many.

Our hotel was a refugee camp with people sleeping all over the lobby, in the parking lot in their cars, and on the street in their cars. 285N just outside our window was stopped all night and into the late morning. We headed back downtown at 11:00 and found the roads OK, but icy. We planned on retracing our previous path and found that the secondary roads had become choked with abandonded and stuck cars on the hills. Went past a couple and then got block by one near the entrance to 75S. Decided to chance it and get on 75. It was wide open going south, but at a standstill going north. We were one of only a handful of cars going south to the city. We felt just like the penultimate scene from The Walking Dead. Just add snow and abandoned cars. Should have stopped and gotten a photo...