"Hey! Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Hello from the SNOWY south, ya'll!

As I'm sure you've heard, unless you've been living under a rock, Winter Storm Leon shut down the city of Atlanta...and most points north, south, east, and west of the city.

Traffic on all of our mayor roadways ground to a stop as the storm rolled in around 1:00PM yesterday...and stayed that way.

And is STILL that way in many places.

Here, have some pictures...

Six lanes of parking lot.

 

And here's a view from overnight. 

No flights moving in or out of Hartsfield-Jackson International.

 

Now for the one or two of my readers who do not live in this area, let me explain WHY 2.6 inches of snow brought a major metropolitan area to a chaotic halt.

 

This is the south, the Deep South to be exact.  We get weather like this...well...let's just say that in my lifetime I can count the total number of times I've seen what we would call 'serious snow' on one hand. It just doesn't happen here that often. 

 

Yes, we usually get one 'snow day' a year but the difference is that in the south our 'snow' is actually more 'ice' than fluffy white stuff. 

 

And ice, boys and girls, causes all the problems and makes all the difference.  Because snow is inconvenient, but ice can kill you.

 

Yes, we have snowplows and gravel/sand to spread on the roads.  And yes, the DOT is working to get things cleared up as best they can.  But resources of this nature are limited here because of how rarely we see this type of weather event. 

 

So we deal with it as best we can...confident that the sun will come out the next day and melt it all off by lunchtime.

 

Because after all, this is the part of the country where you can get frostbite and a sunburn in the same week. 

 

On a more serious note, I would just like to take a moment and give a huge shout out to all the businesses and individuals in and around Atlanta who opened their doors and homes to stranded motorists last night.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking it upon yourselves to selflessly help your fellow man in a moment of real crisis. 

You saved lives and you're heroes. 

- HistoryDiva