Winter Storms

I noticed on the Weather Channel the other night they have started giving name to the winter storms that sweep across from Pacific to Atlantic. Not sure how long they have been doing this, but I was amused at the concept. I remember when the news channels first started naming the storms with catchy titles, so I decided to think back on a few memorable winter events here in Northwest Georgia.

SnowJam '82 - This was the first of 'events' that I remember. There was an ice storm in 1972 or 1973 but I don't think there were names. The snow began to fall around 2:00 in the afternoon and by the 5:00 rush hour it was total gridlock. I was working in Buckhead and living on Lenox Road. My normal commute of twenty minutes turned into two hours. The roads were packed and impassable. Cars were sliding here and there out of control and my car was three weeks old. It was chaos. My sister was in downtown Atlanta and it took her ten hours to go seven miles. The city was shut down for days.

The Storm of the Century - In the early 1990's, a major snow event converged over the state. We got 8" of snow in no time at all. It was awesome. We built a snow fort again (1st was in 1985 at a snow event I think was called Winter Storm 85) and skied down the hill in front of our house. Hubby had a 4-wheel drive SUV at the time and we braved the elements to rescue some friends with no heat. The grocery store behind us had no power and we got steaks for pennies from the coolers as they warmed. By noon the next day it was all melted and gone, except for the pictures.

Our Christmas vacation back in 200? we went to Colorado to ski and arrived as a massive storm landed on top of the state. They literally closed the expressway behind us as we drove from Denver to Breckenridge. The skiing was great, but after five days of non-stop snow it actually became a little boring. Never thought I would actually say those words, but too much of a good thing, etc.

Now we have names to contend with. Perhaps that will be easier than the catchy news program names, but I know I will miss the reporter out in the elements with their 'voices of impending doom' regaling us with every possible detail over and over again. If they ever do away with them, I might just swear off television completely!