Getting Dicey

Here is the weather forecast for the DC Metro area for this weekend: BIG SNOW. People around here don't exactly drive well in any amount of snow, never mind 20 inches. Already there is an inch on the ground, with lots more to come.

Part of the problem as Mrs. Nod pointed out is that the temperature frequently hovers around freezing -- which means sometimes above and sometimes below. This leads to melt and re-freeze (better known as ice) -- and no one drives well in ice: it's a physics thing. Got 4-wheel drive? Great. Got 4-wheel stop? Didn't think so.

In addition to snow, we get varying amounts of sleet, hail, freezing rain, freezing fog (really!), and sundry mixed precipitation. Conditions are constantly changing, roads are not exactly straight and level, and there is a high transient population who have never seen snow.

You might not be afraid of snow driving, but you'd better be afraid of that other idiot on the road.

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 20 INCHES THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN BETWEEN 11 PM AND 2 AM TONIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL BE HEAVIEST BETWEEN 8 AM AND 6 PM SATURDAY.

* TEMPERATURES... UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT... LOW TO MID 30S IN COASTAL SOUTHERN MARYLAND.

* WINDS... 10 TO 20 MPH THROUGH THE EVENT... WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO 30 MPH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE VERY RAPIDLY SATURDAY MORNING AND WILL MAKE TRAVEL EXTREMELY TREACHEROUS.