Greg Jordan: Winter officially begins Dec. 21, but I feel like it's here already
Nov. 17—Well, Sunday I saw snow for the first time this year. What I said when I saw it on my porch isn't fit for print. I used to love winter with its sleigh rides and snow days off from school, but the love affair is over.
Whenever winter arrives, I predict plenty of vehicles in the ditch, fender benders and rear-end collisions.
This happened when we got heavy rain, and dispatchers were predicting another round of wrecks when snow and ice hit the roads for the first time.
People refuse to adjust and drive according to the road conditions.
When the road gets slick from rain, snow or ice, it's a good idea to slow down.
You can't keep driving as if the weather is sunny and the roads are dry.
One time, a member of our law enforcement community complained that Mercer County people can't drive in the snow, and I agree.
When snow sticks to the pavement, I mentally prepare myself for another demolition derby.
I still remember a winter when a big snowstorm hit us suddenly.
I was still at the newsroom when it arrived, but it gradually spent itself and left local roadways under a layer of wet snow. After waiting a while, I decided to head out.
Keeping on high alert, I crept down Bluefield Avenue, reached Princeton Avenue and finally reached Route 460.
Stranded cars and trucks were everywhere as I went up the incline to the highway, swerving and striving to keep from getting stuck.
I actually made it to Route 460 and headed home, getting off at Maple Acres Road because I didn't want to risk climbing Crumpecker Hill.
Turning off Maple Acres onto New Hope Road was a challenge, but no other vehicles were coming and I made the switch without any trouble, swerving to maintain traction. I finally got home and plowed my car into its parking lot.
About half an hour later, a state Department of Highways plow passed my home and left clear pavement in its wake.
I estimated that if I had waited a little longer and let the snowplow drivers do their job, my commute home would have been a lot easier.
We really don't give those drivers enough credit.
Plowing highways and spreading salt so we can get to and from our destinations safely is hard work. I try to stay well behind the plows since that salt they're spreading is almost like gravel.
More importantly, getting too close to them is hazardous when the roads are still slick. I give them a wide berth and pass them only when I think it's safe.
We usually have an advance story when a snowstorm or any other serious weather event is approaching the region.
Writing a weather story is tricky because a slightly warmer or colder temperature, changing wind or any other factor can alter the forecast.
I still remember an incident years ago — I think it was back in the Seventies — when then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller warned the public that a major blizzard was heading for West Virginia. My family and just about everybody else I knew rushed to the grocery stores, got out the snow shovels and prepared for the worst. Schools closed early and events were postponed or canceled.
Then the blizzard didn't happen. I don't think we even got a good snow flurry that day. Rockefeller was criticized for making a false alarm, but the mess would have been much greater if he had said nothing or downplayed the approaching storm.
Winter officially begins Dec. 21, but I feel like it's here already. Now is the time to slow down when snow and ice stick to the roads, and it's the time to pay extra attention to the weather forecasts.
And we have to remember that those forecasts are going to be wrong sometimes.
If we keep these factors in mind, we will survive this winter and appreciate the spring even more when it finally arrives and drives the snow and cold away.
Greg Jordan is the Daily Telegraph's senior reporter. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
