Ice storm?
So Andrew and I are wondering if we will end up having to go to work tomorrow. No closings have been announced as of yet, but weather.com is showing it getting to 32 around midnight tonight and staying there all day tomorrow. And there is a 70% chance of precipitation (sleet and freezing rain, mainly) starting in the wee hours of the morning and lasting all day as well.
If this comes to pass, and the university does not close tomorrow, I'm not sure what I will do. I haven't driven on ice before, and I'm not sure I want to try it for the first time on my 17 mile commute, while pregnant (so if I have an accident, there are two of us to worry about). And given that a large chunk of my commute is over elevated freeways, I'm likely to either encounter ice or closed freeways, in which case I'm likely to get hopelessly lost. :P
Hopefully if the elevated freeways are icy, the city will be smart and close them. And hopefully if the freeways are closed, the university will be smart and close as well. But we'll see.
Anyone know how likely ice is to form if the temp holds steady at 32 for hours on end? What if it bounces between 32 and 33?
I did read something in the Chronicle earlier that indicated that a couple of specific interchanges were being sanded this evening. And that several other interchanges were going to be closed at 5 p.m. today and remain closed until the danger of freezing is past. One of said interchanges is the one from the Westpark Toll Road to 59 North, which I go through every morning. So if I do have to go to work and conditions are still bad, I'm going to have to find an alternate route around that, too (which means I get to go through the intersection of Fountainview and 59, which used to sometimes take me 20 minutes to get through). I'm planning to get up extra early tomorrow, so I can leave extra early if I have to go to work. Blah, just thrilling, ain't it?
[EDIT 7:54 a.m. 1/16/2007: No precipitation at all last night. Everything is functioning normally today, and I am at work. The Chronicle is still trying to scare us by saying it will probably rain in time for the evening commute, though, so we'll see...]
If this comes to pass, and the university does not close tomorrow, I'm not sure what I will do. I haven't driven on ice before, and I'm not sure I want to try it for the first time on my 17 mile commute, while pregnant (so if I have an accident, there are two of us to worry about). And given that a large chunk of my commute is over elevated freeways, I'm likely to either encounter ice or closed freeways, in which case I'm likely to get hopelessly lost. :P
Hopefully if the elevated freeways are icy, the city will be smart and close them. And hopefully if the freeways are closed, the university will be smart and close as well. But we'll see.
Anyone know how likely ice is to form if the temp holds steady at 32 for hours on end? What if it bounces between 32 and 33?
I did read something in the Chronicle earlier that indicated that a couple of specific interchanges were being sanded this evening. And that several other interchanges were going to be closed at 5 p.m. today and remain closed until the danger of freezing is past. One of said interchanges is the one from the Westpark Toll Road to 59 North, which I go through every morning. So if I do have to go to work and conditions are still bad, I'm going to have to find an alternate route around that, too (which means I get to go through the intersection of Fountainview and 59, which used to sometimes take me 20 minutes to get through). I'm planning to get up extra early tomorrow, so I can leave extra early if I have to go to work. Blah, just thrilling, ain't it?
[EDIT 7:54 a.m. 1/16/2007: No precipitation at all last night. Everything is functioning normally today, and I am at work. The Chronicle is still trying to scare us by saying it will probably rain in time for the evening commute, though, so we'll see...]