Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Snow and Snow Days: Chicago vs. Washington, D.C.

Average Snowfall 

1. Chicago: 38 inches 

2. Washington, D.C.: 14.7 inches 


Number of Days School is Canceled Due to Snow

1. Chicago: About once every 12 years 

2. Washington, D.C.: About 12 times every two years (7 last year and 4 so far this year, even though it's been a relatively mild winter)

20 Comments:

At 2/02/2011 4:40 PM, Blogger Eric H said...

Spending on snow removal for each?

 
At 2/02/2011 5:08 PM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

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At 2/02/2011 5:31 PM, Blogger Bill said...

Here in Atlanta our schools were closed for a week after 3" of snow. We don't have enough snow removal equipment but we also don't have a clue how to handle what we do get every few years.

 
At 2/02/2011 6:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I grew up in Oswego County at the southeast corner of Lake Ontario. Average annual snow fall is ~150 inches. Yet, the county schools average fewer than five snow days per year. There are two major reasons for the low ratio of snow days to snow fall: 1. One-third of the county budget is spent on snow removal, road treatments with salt and sand, and road repairs in the spring. 2. By state law, vehicles cannot be driven during "snow emergencies" unless they have snow tires or tire chains.

It's possible to keep businesses and schools functional in heavy snow fall regions, but there are substantial public and private costs for doing so.

 
At 2/02/2011 7:42 PM, Blogger Hydra said...

I'm a new englander living in Virginia. Virginia snow is worse. Not always, but often, ne snow is dry and cold and it behaves like sand. Virginia snow is wet, heavy, and slushy. It is prone to redressed into lethal chunks or ruts like railroad tracks.

Also, I notice that here they are called snow plows, but in ne they are road scraper. For a reason.

In ne follow a snow plow at night and it is throwing a continual shower of sparks, which you never see in VA. I think they operate in ne with much more down pressure.

In my town in new England sop was to hire anyone who showed up to shovel the town sidewalks. You could have six inches of snow at midnight, and by dawn main street was clear, down to pavement.

Money and incentive counts, but so do conditions.

 
At 2/02/2011 9:07 PM, Blogger Hydra said...

Snow is different in the north. It can be dry, and almost like sand. In Virginia it is often heavy, wet, and slushy. Hitting a slushy area is like hydroplaning on steroids.

Frequently the slush redressed and acts like railroad tracks. I'll take six inches of northern snow over six inches of VA snow any day.

Also I notice that in VA they are called snow plows, but in NE, road scrapers. Follow one in NE at night and watch the sparks fly. VA seems to use more contractors intent on saving their equipment. They ride around with the plows an inch high, packing the slush into ice.

 
At 2/02/2011 9:32 PM, Blogger Michael Hoff said...

Ah, heck, with all the global warminizing going on around here, we won't need any snow removal equipment pretty soon.

 
At 2/02/2011 9:49 PM, Blogger Hydra said...

Saw a picture of hundreds of snowmen. Caption: crowd gathers to protest global warming.

 
At 2/03/2011 12:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just my opinion here: Mark you lose credibility suggesting an issue here. Err on the side of caution. One size doesn't fit all.

 
At 2/03/2011 6:23 AM, Blogger Don Culo said...

There must be more liberal democrats who are too lazy to plow the streets in washington !!!!

Liberals just can't handle the snow !!!!

 
At 2/03/2011 10:11 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

oopsie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/us/03chicago.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

"chicago humbled by powerful storm"

doesn't this sort of thing always seem to happen right after you open your mouth?

 
At 2/03/2011 2:35 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Thanks for the link morganovich...

Typical of the NY Times, trolling for the ever present victimization that runs rampant throughout this horrible country...

"In his 31 years of working for the city, Mr. Orozco said, “I haven’t experienced anything like Lake Shore Drive last night"...

Well apparently Orozco forgot about the winter of '78-'79...

I haven't...

“What was supposed to happen to all of the people who were already there?”...

Act like adults and figure it out...

Its not like the peopel weren't warned ahead of time...

 
At 2/03/2011 3:00 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

juandos,

"In his 31 years of working for the city, Mr. Orozco said, “I haven’t experienced anything like Lake Shore Drive last night"...

Well apparently Orozco forgot about the winter of '78-'79...
"

If you check the math, you'll find that Orozco probably hired on just after that disaster, so he can be excused. :-)

I, on the other hand, remember it well. I boarded a plane for home which took off as the snow began covering the runway. It was one of the last ones out. What luck!

 
At 2/03/2011 3:14 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

From the NYT article - thanks morganovich:

"On one standing-room only bus (with no toilet), passengers bonded over shared Cheez-Its, crossword puzzles...

...and the stench of urine.

 
At 2/03/2011 3:18 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Hey Ron H...

No, I understood the math going into the comment but I was also pretty sure the city didn't hire Orozco straight out of the cradle...

Funny you should mention taking a flight and being lucky about being able to get of town...

You were indeed lucky!

Considering that '78 - '79 was before the present day airport security regulations there must've been easily several thousand people (passengers and those seeing them off) who were trapped at O'Hare by the late afternoon...

What a zoo!

So you done good Ron...:-)

 
At 2/03/2011 3:27 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

juandos,

I noticed the NYT article mentioned that Orozco apologized. Do you have any idea why he would do that? Was the storm his fault?

 
At 2/03/2011 4:09 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Hey Ron H if I had to guess why Orozco was apologizing it was that he makes very good money (plus perks) being Daly's public whipping boy...

 
At 2/04/2011 10:11 AM, Blogger Rand said...

The big problem with Lake Shore Drive (Chicago) was the winds from off the lake pushing lake water over Lake Shore Drive and flooding it followed by freezing.

 
At 2/04/2011 10:16 AM, Blogger Rand said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 2/04/2011 10:16 AM, Blogger Rand said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 

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