From King5: Puget Sound hit with new snow

This video from Portland shows what happens when you mix wintry roads, hills, and determined (foolish?) drivers.

I met a fellow yesterday who is from the Northeast US and passed something on to me: most of the roads, in say Boston, started as roads used by horses. Horses can bear loads on only so much of a grade of road, so the roads were put in to be gently sloped, rather than laying down a grid pattern. This meant that there's less slippage as such on those evolved roads. Out here, we're all about the grid baby, geography allowing, and thus have some crazy hills that are fine 99% of the time but totally impassible when you get a dusting of winter.

What's frustrating is that this stuff is not expected to melt today; it will get a little slushy and then refreeze. I hope it's all gone for good by the end of tomorrow. Huge globs of snow are falling off of the trees now.

A strange thing I learned: kitty litter can be used as a snow and ice preventative. When I tried to get the cleaning ladies car up the hill to our house yesterday, I scattered some kitty litter about in attempt to provide traction.

Nope. No good. It wasn't sandy kitty litter but rather pellet like litter. Probably clay based.

But this morning, where I scattered the kitty litter yesterday, is all melted. It prevented the new snow from sticking plus melted the snow and ice that was there. Hmm! Something to think about when our next time comes.

Just hopefully my road doesn't become the hang-out for the neighborhood cats.