Posted on Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
Winter weather advisory issued for Monday morning traffic
By Cole Bertsos
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for rush hour Monday morning. The Pittsfield Township Department of Public Safety sent out a Nixle alert Sunday afternoon to alert motorists.
Steve Considine, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, said they are expecting 2 to 3 inches of snow between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday. He said drivers should take precaution when traveling the roads.
Monday will be overcast with a high of 23 degrees and low of 10 degrees, followed by the same high on Tuesday, with a low of 21 degrees.
The alert says visibility will be reduced in the morning and roads could get slippery.
See updated weather information on AnnArbor.com's weather page.
Comments
dexterreader
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:34 p.m.
I am not a snow lover, in fact .... I HATE it .... and yes, I also have to drive in it every day. I just plan to leave earlier when the weather is bad. But considering it's snowed EVERY day constantly for days now (yes, I'm whining big time), I think the road commission has done a darn good job keeping up. I live in a rural area and I've seen salt trucks consistently on the paved roads. I have no complaints and I appreciate what they do!!
a2roots
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
It is winter in Michigan and believe it or not it snow and cold is supposed to be our weather. Quit whining and pull your boxers or panties out of your crack and get on with the day.
dading dont delete me bro
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 11:31 a.m.
snowfail
Urban Sombrero
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:32 a.m.
I hope the roads aren't bad. Not because I have to drive (I do, but I like driving in the snow. It doesn't bother me a bit.) But because it seems like my patients are ALWAYS late, which puts my schedule behind. (I'm whining, I know.) I also worry about my son driving. I took him out last year (when he was just driving with a permit) and found an unplowed lot. I made him get himself into and out of spins. So, he's pretty well versed on snowy driving, too. But, not everyone else is. Last Thursday, he was rear-ended (by a student teacher!) turning into the parking lot at Huron. No one was hurt, thankfully. But, my poor car's rear bumper is chewed up pretty good. Oh well. It could have been way, way worse.
John Simon
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:51 a.m.
Exactly. Thursday was a bad call and things could've gone a lot worse. Many kids crashed as it was, but a lot of students, at skyline anyways, stayed home.
proudparent
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:11 a.m.
It's funny that everyone seems to forget that bus drivers are out as early as 6am picking up our children to go to school in these conditions. More than 20 buses were stuck Thursday morning due to the slippery roads. Some couldn't make it up hills and had cars trying to pass them, which then led to the cars sliding right into them. It gets very dangerous when the roads are not cared for earlier than 7am. I always end up driving my kids to school in this weather. My kids bus was over 40min late anyway. The transportation department needs to make better decisions when it comes to putting these buses out on the road. Do we all remember last year when the bus went in the ditch and turned on its side with kids in it????
John Simon
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:49 a.m.
Completely agree. And then you need to think about the districts decision to put thousands of newly licensed high Schooler's on the roads as well. Thursday many students and teachers crashed, others had terrifying experiences. Summing things up, everyone is at risk based on the districts decision. High schoolers, parents, bus drivers, and everyone around them.
dading dont delete me bro
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 3:11 a.m.
so maybe we'll get another 430am awakening phone call announcement for no school? then no sense going back to bed (or use trying to get back to sleep)
Urban Sombrero
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:29 a.m.
Did you get yours at 4:30 for the last snow day? Mine came at 6:00. I remember looking at my phone's clock and thinking, "Wow! This one came late!" lol
vintagetimes4me
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 3:06 a.m.
Putting head down & silently whispering **** snow day ***** snow day ***** let it be another snow day! What fun it is watching the excitement in your child's eyes for those Snow Days!! Night Pittsfield -- Night Ann Arbor schools -- ***snow day**** snow day**
C.C. Ingersoll
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:35 a.m.
Here's a lesson to all the haters out there who always seem to think that our road crews are irresponsible and/or lazy: We all know there's only two things you can do on the roads to get the snow off: plowing and salting. It's extremely hard to do BOTH at once, simply because if you salt the road and then plow afterwards all you're doing is essentially plowing all that expensive salt (Think of it this way: your tax dollars) off the road again into the ditch. This isn't magic folks, snowplows don't just ignore the salt and just plow the snow aside. Keeping this in mind, the cars and trucks on the road also shift the salt into the ditch as they day goes by. This is why they don't just salt the roads once a year in October. If you plow first and THEN salt -- that's a good way to go, but what if the snow is going to last all day? Accumulating up to four inches by the end of the day is the forecast they have to go by on Monday, this however MAY CHANGE. You plow and then salt and then later in the day you're forced to plow again, which removes all the salt from the road, again. So please don't complain that the crews are out only an hour before your daily commute at 7am. It's not because they refuse/don't want/don't give a damn about getting up at 5am to plow the road for you; it's because they CAN'T. The best and most efficient way to deal with a winter storm like this is to start at 7am, plow as much as you can off and then salt so that in the next 3 hours the rush hour traffic has a decent chance of getting to work. They repeat this process at 3pm to 7pm so that rush hour traffic can get home. In between those times is a crap-shoot; do you trust the weather service and gamble the chance of more snow and laying down more overnight salt when the storm might not be as bad as everyone expected, and then get reamed out for wasting Road Commission dollars for salting a road unnecessarily? Honestly? Give these people a break -- they know what they're doing.
justcurious
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:29 p.m.
Who's blaming the crews? It's their bosses that need to make better decisions. There should be plenty of salt left over from last year's mild winter. They Could consider sand on bad patches as well...
C.C. Ingersoll
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 6:31 a.m.
I'm voting you up SoccerMom, I'm just going to say "DOH!" and withdraw with a little grace here...
proudparent
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 4:13 a.m.
What about bus drivers? They are out on the roads at 6am. Does the road commision consider this?
SalineSoccerMom
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 2:23 a.m.
C. C. - No offense because I agree with you that it isn't the road crews fault at all. But your comment about salting and then plowing didn't make sense. Have you ever seen a county plow truck? The plow is either in front or under the cab (in front of the salt spreader). They usually plow with the salt coming out the back.... Just sayin'
C.C. Ingersoll
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:50 a.m.
And just to head off anyone before they go all: "Salt isn't expensive!" http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/07/thieves_swipe_road_salt_from_w.html It's expensive enough to encourage thieves to steal and resell it...
Martha Cojelona Gratis
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:11 a.m.
@jcj, i think this is the wrong forum for you. clearly you do not understand the frustration of drivers in AA No need to keep inserting your comments to put other drivers down or to defend the road commission. no one agrees with you.
MgoBlueMomma
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:55 p.m.
Well said Johnny. People love to complain but do nothing about it. The road commission can NEVER make anyone happy. Never mind that for the past 2 weeks, ALOT of the drivers barely get to see thier families because they are putting in extra time to try and make the roads safer for everyone. Even the complainers and the ones that are running late that still insist on got 70 on slippery roads, or the ones that don't slow down and pay more attention to eating their food and drinking their coffee.
jcj
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:31 p.m.
johnnya2 Yours was a voice of reason in the wilderness.
going nowhere
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 10:02 a.m.
@ johnny if i could i'd give you 10 votes up
johnnya2
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:48 a.m.
This is NOT the forum to vent your frustration with driving conditions either. Maybe attend a ROAD COMMISSION meeting. This is the NEWS organization giving the NEWS. It is not your personal whining forum because you think driving slower is NOT an option. Tell me how the road commission causes ANY accident. It is moronic drivers. The road commission has no control over white out conditions, weather that drops from 60 to under 20 in less than 24 hours and icy conditions. In fact, it is the lower taxes lower taxes crowd who cry about ths stuff all the time, You want the road perfect and cleaned all the time. PAY FOR IT. Otherwise be quiet or stay home
dading dont delete me bro
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:40 a.m.
maybe i should leave now for work...
Goober
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.
Go figure!
grimmk
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 5:30 a.m.
I'm already at work. It's getting home and doing errands I gotta worry about. I knew I should have bought that dog sled.
DBH
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 3:04 a.m.
Why do you even care who votes it down or why?
dading dont delete me bro
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 2:57 a.m.
who votes this comment down?
Gramma
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:18 a.m.
OMG 2-3 inches of snow in Michigan! I don't understand why this warrants a weather advisory. Plows can't start plowing until the accumulation is about 2-3 inches. Salt will do no good on snow whenever it might be applied. The reactions of people to these stories sound more like I'm in Memphis or a Southern State.
Goober
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.
I agree with you. We seem to forget that we live in a climate that can present snowfall. In fact, we forget how to drive in this stuff.
jcj
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.
Stop the whining! I just spent the weekend driving from Ann Arbor to Grand Rapids and back and it was no day at the beach. All those wonderful counties elsewhere must REALLY be elsewhere because the roads were bad all weekend over that way!
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 1:50 a.m.
Not very customer oriented, but certainly we we would expect.
David Cahill
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 11:55 p.m.
The bizarrely unreliable forecasts over the past week or so mean we should treat this forecast as a perfect "negative barometer": No snow in the near future.
Ross
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:02 a.m.
Not sure what you're talking about, David. They pretty much called all the snow events over the last few days. Lake effect-derived snowfall can evolve and shift rapidly. In general you shouldn't trust anything over 3 days out anyway. There is most definitely a period of snow coming through tomorrow - just check the radar and see for yourself.
Local Cat
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 11:46 p.m.
Wow 2-3 inches and you people are already in a panic wondering if the road commission will be out. If you people can't drive in that stay home. Society has become a bunch of sissies over the years!
MRunner73
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 10:54 p.m.
No. The National Weather Service Office out of White Lake issued the Winter Weather advisory. It entails Washtenaw county as well as others that border I-94 for the 2 to 3 inches of snow. It seems Pittsfiled Township relayed this message throough the Nixle alert. Hopefully, this means road crews will be out ahead of the snow event and not wait for a shift change like on previous occasions. Any weather type alert or advisory always originates from the local National Weater Service office.
cornelius McDougenschniefferburgenstein jr. 3 esq.
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 10:40 p.m.
be nice fellas.
Ross
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 9:35 p.m.
Someone fwd this story to the road commission, quick.
Ross
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:04 a.m.
Just trying to be inflammatory, by the way. I rather enjoy driving on super-snowy roads. A test of skill and vehicle capability, if you will.
gary
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 : 9:20 p.m.
Of course outside of Pittsfield Township, there will be no snow. Expect the Road Commission drivers to stroll in about 7, and get out on the roads by 8:30 or 9.
jcj
Mon, Feb 4, 2013 : 12:23 a.m.
Did you happen to know the drivers were out at the end of last week from 4am -8pm a couple mornings? I thought not you would have to leave your comfy couch to realize what goes on in the real world. Try getting yourself out of bed 10 min early!