Author Topic: It's snowing!  (Read 633461 times)

FatBloke

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #125 on: 17 December, 2009, 10:31:52 pm »
I think we might lose power soon. The lights are flickering an awful lot and t
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Wowbagger

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #126 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:04:41 pm »
I've just had a very exciting ride back from tai chi (all of 3½ miles).

It's snowing very heavily with a strong NNE wind and there appear to be vestigial drifts. I rode home on the pavement because I couldn't stay upright on the road where the cars had compressed the snow.

When I reached Victoria Avenue, which at 10.30 p.m. is normally pretty well empty, I was greeted by gridlock because the 1 in 20ish slope up from the park is too much for the expensive Mercs. Massive queues in all directions. I was delighted to leave the all behind, after first having photographed them.

What was perhaps most impressive was how at two sets of lights I encountered, the presence of a little snow seems to make it perfectly OK for motorists to take absolutely no notice that the light they are going through is red. Not just turned red, has been red for many seconds.

I will post some spectacular pictures soon.
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Charlotte

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #127 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:05:46 pm »
The telly keeps going funny.  But the SNO' is easling off.

I was going to be riding home from Clapham to Ealing tonight, but I was on the Brommie and got as far as Hammersmith before it really started dumping it down.

So I got on the tube  :D
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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #128 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:10:49 pm »
I've just tried various webcams to see what the weather is like near my dad's house. It seems that the fashion for webcams has died and most of them are offline. What a swizz!

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #129 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:14:51 pm »
I was thinking of grabbing camera and head out, but its warmer indoors

Quote
I will post some spectacular pictures soon.

Is looking forward to this

Wowbagger

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #130 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:15:48 pm »
Blimey! We are red on the Severe Weather Warning map! They reckon 15cm in the next 3 hours.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #131 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:35:50 pm »
The snow is settling a bit on roads with little traffic, ie residential, but the main roads are just wet.  There isn't much traffic, so what is out is expressing it's inner fuckwit and tanking it. :-\

For cycling, the wind seems to be a bigger issue than the snow, although so long as it was mostly behind me, it wasn't too big a problem, when I turned into it a bit, it was quite painful on my face.  It seems to be quite gusty, and it almost caught me out a few times.  It's more wintry showers than snow proper, so I suspect it'll mostly melt.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #132 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:40:48 pm »
Kept having light showers of snow here, didnt last long though.
Had a dusting, buts thats it. Nothing more has come.
Saturday night is when i want it to come. ILl be at my GFs, warm with her.
Tomorrow night and it will just be a bitch riding to hers.
Plus, if theres snow tomorrow i cant be doing with young kids throwing snow balls around on my walk to college ::-)


Don't question. It makes people angry.

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #133 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:45:04 pm »
I'm scared now.  Dasmoth set off from Cambridge on his bike some time between 9.30 and 10 and he hasn't made it home yet.  There's lots of snow, the cars are being really careful not to skid and it's bloody windy too.

 :( :'( :(

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #134 on: 17 December, 2009, 11:50:45 pm »
We had some showers this afternoon, but nothing significant - until now. Snowing quite hard in Reading now, & settling. It was frosty before the snow began.
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #135 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:03:27 am »
We got a blizzard here, with thunder and lightning!!  That's unusual.  :o

Cor. The author of Irregular Webcomic (who is an Australian and has never seen SNO) produced a comic strip in which there was snow and lightning and was roundly criticised and told that combination never happens! ::-)

Any good photos? I wanna see how well it compares to the Ozzie photoshop version.  :)

I'm scared now.  Dasmoth set off from Cambridge on his bike some time between 9.30 and 10 and he hasn't made it home yet.  There's lots of snow, the cars are being really careful not to skid and it's bloody windy too.

 :( :'( :(

Fingers crossed for him. If he;s anything like me, he's walking all the scary bits to be on the safe side.
Have you seen my blog? It has words. And pictures! http://ablogofallthingskathy.blogspot.com/

Wowbagger

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #136 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:05:39 am »












Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

dasmoth

  • Techno-optimist
Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #137 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:11:19 am »
Discretion proved the better part of valor, and I ended up taking the train.   Got me back in the end, but at times I was wondering if walking might have been quicker.

But the roads aren't in good shape.  Take care out there.
Half term's when the traffic becomes mysteriously less bad for a week.

Wowbagger

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #138 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:12:11 am »
There were at least 5 lightning strikes that I saw. The first wa while I was turning out of the Fairway into Eastwood Road. That was virtually overhead. A couple of minutes later there was another strike whose thunder reached me after a couple of seconds. There were at least 3 more flashes whose thunder I heard rumbling in the distance. There may have been some more, but I think there were some outages and the streetlights flickered. I wasn't sure what I was seeing at the end of the ride home.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #139 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:43:32 am »
That's been fun.  Just got in.

We've had 2.5 to 3 inches, drifting to 4 or 5 where really trapped (e.g. against the kerb).  It's stopped falling for the last hour and the residual groundheat is melting it from below.


Although I loved the quiet roads and heading through the woods, I couldn't resist heading for the main roads to see how the drivers were coping.

...
When I reached Victoria Avenue, which at 10.30 p.m. is normally pretty well empty, I was greeted by gridlock because the 1 in 20ish slope up from the park is too much for the expensive Mercs. Massive queues in all directions. I was delighted to leave the all behind, after first having photographed them.
...

Seen similar here.  Locals will know the hill from Rayleigh Weir up into Rayleigh.  That was too much for many cars, mostly the big posh ones - the drivers are relying on their technology and have forgotten how to drive?  Mostly just sitting there wheelspinning until slowly sliding sideways across the road.  Fortunately they didn't hit anything.  I wish I could say the same about the wreckage on the Rayleigh Weir underpass that has closed the A127.

What also amused me was the driver behaviour.  :-
 - When on a main road that has been gritted and had enough traffic to pound it in and turn it to slippery slush, drive at 10mph in a queue with big stopping distances.  Excellent - but why turn on the rear fog lights?  It's not even snowing!
 - When on a gritted road that has had little traffic, stick to 20mph even though the road is treacherously slippery thanks to the tyre tracks being compressed slush that is freezing because the grit hasn't been churned in yet.
 - When on a main dual carriageway with 50mph average speed cameras, slow to 30-35mph.


The road conditions and traction are identical on ALL those roads  ::-)  

 - When the wheels spin, just accelerate harder, then stop, put it in first gear, floor it again.   The only exception to this was the Somerfield lorry driver stuck on the hill out of Rayleigh, he was pulling away and getting 6 inches before spinning out, then rolling back 3 inches and trying again and getting another 6 inches forward.  Slow progress but he DID make it.
 - I also came across the first abandoned car; on a flat horizontal residential road that wasn't gritted but packed icy snow.


If it doesn't melt away overnight, then it's going to be mayhem in the rush hour  :thumbsup:   And when the frustrated drivers complain that "the roads haven't been gritted" (as we know they will) I know for certain that they have been - I've not only seen loads of gritters I even overtook one  ;D ;D ;D :thumbsup:

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #140 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:48:36 am »
Question for wowbagger and all other Southenders. 

Have the cycle paths been gritted?   I raised this last year and as they're a cycling town they said they'd look at getting this onto the winter maintenance schedule.

I am betting this year will be like last year - untreated and will remain icier for longer than anywhere else.

her_welshness

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #141 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:49:08 am »
I did a late shift tonight, ending at 8p.m. As I was leaving Clapham the first few flakes were starting to appear. By West Dulwich it was turning solid and I was starting to worry so edged onto the off-road cycle path towards the Horniman Museum. The downhills of the A205 towards Forest Hill were indeed quite scary and I was glad that I had my cycling glasses on so I  could partially see. Thankfully Mr Welshness had ordered in pizza. George the cat is now sulking because he hates snow and it is really heavy here in SE13 land!

The A205 beckons once more tomorrow as it is very well gritted  :thumbsup:

SNOW!!!!!!!

Wowbagger

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Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #142 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:55:37 am »
Question for wowbagger and all other Southenders.  

Have the cycle paths been gritted?   I raised this last year and as they're a cycling town they said they'd look at getting this onto the winter maintenance schedule.

I am betting this year will be like last year - untreated and will remain icier for longer than anywhere else.

The only cyclepath I used today was at about 7.30 p.m. between Dawes Heath Road and Progress Road on the N side of the 127. It wasn't snowing then but it hadn't been gritted or salted. I was quite concerned using Dawes Heath Road, actually, and I should probably have stayed on the Eastwood Road as far as Progress Road.

The platform at Rayleigh Station was a sheet of ice and I would imagine that most untreated surfaces would be similar, in part at least.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #143 on: 18 December, 2009, 12:58:08 am »
Quote
Have the cycle paths been gritted?

No idea  :-\
We have just been riding around for the last hour or so. Was fun and I think I have seen three snowmen already.
What have I learnt tonight?
Bromptons are not the bike of choice for the snow :D

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #144 on: 18 December, 2009, 01:00:33 am »
Moves Domestique up one extra point in the Nutty Rankings.  (1.5 points if you're on the Brompton Tyres)

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #145 on: 18 December, 2009, 01:01:58 am »
Quote
(1.5 points if you're on the Brompton Tyres)

 :smug:  :D :D :D

They did seem to grip the road better than a ford escort van that skidded into a parked car next to the Westcliff Hotel, at least I stayed upright, just   8)

simonp

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #146 on: 18 December, 2009, 01:11:23 am »
I walked back from curry as the cars had compacted the slush into a hard layer. And I was on fixed. Saw a car hit a parked car then drive off. Didn't get the number but it was a dead end so I knocked on the door and they think it's the neighbours' car so we left a note. Hope we can identify the people who did it as it left a badly dented door and side panel.

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #147 on: 18 December, 2009, 01:12:18 am »
Quote
(1.5 points if you're on the Brompton Tyres)

 :smug:  :D :D :D

They did seem to grip the road better than a ford escort van that skidded into a parked car next to the Westcliff Hotel, at least I stayed upright, just   8)

It's +2 points if they're green belted Kevlar ones.

I've had them sideways for ages when off-roading  :smug:

I've also eaten tarmac a few times because when they let go they really do  >:( :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #148 on: 18 December, 2009, 01:42:30 am »
It took me about 20 minutes, but in the road I've just written in massive letters "WANKERS!" in the snow so all my neighbours can see it in the morning. The "!" was done in piss just for that personal touch  :P

It will probably be gone in a few hours at the current snowfall rate  :(
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

Re: It's snowing!
« Reply #149 on: 18 December, 2009, 02:07:43 am »
Appearing on YouTube in a few minutes,  bobb's neighbours post full frontal video of bobb pissing in the street.