I had heard about ice storms before. News reports told of roads and transportation systems shut down. They detailed the plight of hundreds of thousands of people without electricity due to cut power lines. But never having lived anywhere but Utah during cold winters, I had never experienced a real ice storm in person. In Utah, we usually only get the soft and fluffy stuff. It either melts almost right away, or builds up in soft piles that can be easily wiped away. Sometimes it gets a little soggy. But even the wet snow and slush is still squishy and somewhat easy to deal with.
Then I went on a business trip to Maryland in January. It was cold the whole week. That alone was notable. Obviously we have cold in Utah too. But the humidity in Maryland made that cold cut straight to the core. It reminded me of how much the humidity in Brazil made the heat feel hotter. Even once we entered nice climate-controlled buildings, the cold feeling lingered with me. I was glad I had my lab coat to keep me warmer while we worked.
I suppose it is that same humidity that helps in the formation of the ice in the ice storms. Our storm happened on our third day in Maryland. I was astounded. Finally, I had first-hand experience to help me better understand the difficulties that come with such a phenomenon. I walked from our hotel to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. On my way back, I saw a car that had slid over the ice through the disability parking stalls up onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged. Our rental car was a covered in a 1/2-inch thick layer of hard ice. One of my coworkers was the one to rent the car on this trip. So he got the "opportunity" to figure out a way to get it off the car. The little bit of paper towel we had left in the car the night before apparently was just not going to cut it. So he just got in the car, turned on the engine, and hoped the heater would melt the ice quickly. It didn't seem like it was working, when he spied something in the rear-view mirror. The rental car company had furnished the car with an ice scraper that had been placed mostly out of sight behind the headrest of the rear seat. We were saved from having to walk to work that morning. Still, the short drive was somewhat perilous. And we did witness one car slide into a curb.
To save wear and tear on windshield wipers, and to make scraping ice easier, most drivers in the area would lift up the wipers from the windshield when leaving their cars parked while ice is possible. Once again, this was a first for me. But I could see the benefit of that. Still, many people simply chose not to drive at all. When we did get to work, we soon discovered that most of the employees at the company hosting us were either late to work, or simply opted to not go into work at all that day. It hindered our schedule a little, but I wasn't about to speak critically of those who chose not to work that day.
Though the ice storm only lasted one day, the ice itself remained the rest of the week. I was fascinated by it. It was so foreign-looking and interesting to me. It coated lawns with a beautiful solid white dome. Sidewalks remained covered in a sheet of solid ice. Ice like that would only form in front of my house if I neglected to shovel the snow and allowed two or three days' worth of elementary school pedestrian traffic to pack it down.
The storm also prompted the closure of virtually all of the schools in the area as well. This in turn compelled President Obama to complain. Even the school attended by his daughters was closed for the day. Obama, supposedly toughened by years of living in the frigid Chicago area, was dismayed that a little bit of ice caused such a fuss. But I don't suppose that Obama had to personally drive out in that weather. Had he done so, I doubt he would have been so critical of the school administrators.
I for one do not blame them one bit.
