Friday, December 16, 2005

What is a Snow "Squall"?


Heather (that's her over there...isn't she cute?!) has asked an excellent question.

This time of year in Michigan, we get snow warnings, watches, showers and "squalls." And it often changes every day .


Snow Squalls are much more dangerous than snow showers. Initially because they are defined as "a brief very intense snow storm with heavy winds and near whiteout conditions." All of those things together make this quite a trecherous condition. A squall also seems to come out of absolutely nowhere, whereas with a snow shower you can see it coming and also still see through the snow--visibility is not so limited. There may even still be blue sky suring a snow squall, but because of the intensity of the wind and snow, you wouldn't ever know it.


The other reason that squalls are so stinkin' dangerous is that once the snow starts falling, people freak out and forget that they have anti-lock brakes, that there are other drivers on the road, and that they will loose control quickly and plow right into the snow bank. Or into another car. Crazy Michigan drivers. You'd think we would have learned by now...

13 comments:

Smerdyakov said...

Hah! Crazy Michigan drivers? Try driving in South Carolina when the get an inch of snow. I was stuck on a 48 mile stretch of I-26 for ten hours when the got a teeny bit of snow. We didn't move for so long that I ended up playing an entire game of Trivial Pursuit with a woman in the car next to mine.

anne said...

HA! That's hysterical! Not for those stuck in the car on the road...but the Trivial Pursuit part...really really funny...

People driving in snow always amaze me...along with the accident rubber-neckers. A-freakin-mazing

Jean said...

i dislike driving in the snow. i'd rather stay in and drink hot cocoa and watch the squalls. I think they're interesting when I can see them from a stationary place with nothing else moving around (like my home).

that is way too funny about playing Trivial pursuit. I'm sorry you had to sit there that long. Maybe Trivial Pursuit should be something that is mandatory in the "emergency kit" that everyone is supposed to have in their cars.

anne said...

Good call on that...'course I don't even have the typical emergency kit. I might have an umbrella in the car. That's about it.

Anonymous said...

I always though snow squalls were stupid sqirrels that forgot to stock-up. The way people talk around here confused me. I'm going to learn a lot from you!!

I never drive in the snow. Too scary.

Hillary said...

Hi Anne! Thanks for the link, I just saw it now! :) I'll link to you, too.

Ah, I wish we got snow... it slushes sometimes here (Vancouver, BC), and it causes sheer chaos! It's ridiculous!

Anyway just popping by to say hello!

Hillary said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Andria said...

Thanks for visiting my blog...

I imagine that Jeeps are a good thing to have where you live! Down here in the South, they're just a novelity most of the time.

The Trivial Pursuit thing? That's just a form of Southern Hospitality! I can't tell you how many people I've met over the years while waiting for the roads to clear. After a while, you learn to carry a cooler with snacks enough to share everywhere you go. If you're gonna be stuck, you might as well have fun!

Anonymous said...

HA i live in canada i get so much snow it gets down to -40 with -15 wind chill it feels like its -55 out and im a extreme skier so i love the snow.....

Anonymous said...

Ha i live in canada i get lots of snow it gets down to - 40 and with wind chill of -15 it feels like -55 out there but im a extreme skier so i love it...

Anonymous said...

oops! double post!

Anonymous said...

Wow thank you for this blog, i live in canada, and we have a snow squall warning today, and i had no clue what the heck it was and this made it make sense, so thank you:D also i hate snow, with a pashion its such a nuisence, driving is much more dangerous, bikign is nearly impossible and i love to bike to stay in shape, but for 4-5 months of the year i cant, and also ppl need to understand snow = slippery, like ppl come into an intersection with a stop at 60 thinking the snow is gonna give them magical breaking power and then blame the car when they slide threw the stop sigh and right into an oncomming vehicle.. well i guess that just the world we live in, and thats my 2 sence on the hole thing, once again thank you for this blog:)

Anonymous said...

That's so funny I'm from Canada and we get sometimes up to 1 meter of snow and we are getting theses ow squall warning right now! :D